Make It Sound Like the Record: Harvey Mason Jr. on Music Production (Episode 99)

Everything you do is an audition.

Harvey Mason Jr. has written and produced for legends like Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Luther Vandross and Elton John, and for stars like Justin Bieber, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Chris Brown. He has produced music for films including Dreamgirls, Pitch Perfect, Sing and Straight Outta Compton, and serves as a leader at the Recording Academy.

In Episode 99 of The Career Musician, Harvey tells Nomad how he went from college basketball to jingles to the top of the record business, and what a young music producer or songwriter should actually focus on. It is a short episode packed with straight answers.

From the court to the jingle business

Harvey grew up taking piano lessons and shooting jump shots at the same time. He played four years of basketball at the University of Arizona, then tore his ACL in his senior year. His teammates went to the NBA. He did not. He was depressed, and music became his therapy.

In Tucson there was no record business, so he started a jingle company, writing 30 and 60 second spots for local shops and restaurants. He calls it real training: compressing a story into a short spot, working in every style, and above all listening to the client. That skill carried straight into making records, where you are listening to executives, artists and everyone else with a stake in the song. Every jingle check bought another trip to LA to shop demos, or another piece of gear for his home studio. That is Make Music Your Business from day one.

"It's probably harder to be a professional songwriter than it is to be in the NBA... You have to take the initiative and you have to just start."

Harvey Mason Jr., 15:17

Until your demo sounds like the record, don't come back

Harvey heard plenty of no's. The turning point was an A&R executive at Motown who, instead of saying no, sat him down and played a finished record next to Harvey's demo. Then he told him the truth.

"Until your demo is as good as this record, don't come back."

Harvey Mason Jr., 16:52

Harvey tried every excuse: no studio budget, no singer. The answer was that those were excuses. He drove back to Arizona listening to that record and rethought how he wrote, produced and worked. It stopped being about noise coming out of his fingers and became about how to make something great and competitive. Nomad's version: we are not making demos, we are making masters. That is Luck = preparation + opportunity.

Bring the right energy to the studio

Asked about studio etiquette, Harvey was clear. Talent is assumed. Anybody he works with has to be a master of their craft. What makes him want to work with someone is energy: collaborative, open, positive, solution based. A yes person, he says, not a yes man. Someone with a bias for yes who wants the best result, no matter who comes up with it.

Egos, he admitted, are not something he does well with. The artists already bring enough ego for everybody. That is Low maintenance / no drama, from one of the most in-demand producers in the business.

Start with people at your level

For a young musician starting out or moving to LA, Harvey says the starting point has not changed much. Find people at your level to work and grow with. Go backstage, go to clubs and music schools, and find the best singer and bass player you can get. That builds your body of work, and it gives you a place to practice without getting knocked down. Do it a lot. Then market yourself with music that is competitive with what is already on the streaming services. Until it is, collaborate more and meet more people. Work begets work.

Excellence is the marketing

Nomad asked where young musicians should put their focus with so much talk about marketing. Harvey's answer was simple. The only way to stand out as a musician is to be excellent at something. He found one drummer purely through Instagram videos, sent a DM, and now he does sessions for Harvey. If you are average, no amount of marketing will build a sustainable career. Raise your bar until it matches the best people on your career path, and people will find you.

His favorite memories are not the famous names. They are the days you start with nothing, sit at the piano or guitar, and leave with a song you are proud of, sometimes with icons and sometimes with young artists, like Chris Brown at 14 at his very first session.

The takeaway

Take the initiative. Make your demo sound like the record. Bring a bias for yes and leave the ego outside. Grow with people at your level, and let excellence do the marketing. When you are ready to get in front of the people who hire, start with the free Get the Gig Guide.

Get the gig. Keep the gig. Build the career.

Watch on YouTube or find every episode on the TCM Podcast page.