The emotions that music can invoke in people are incredible. Nothing else in the world can take you right back to a place or a time than music. That’s how powerful it can be.
1. Tell us about your background and journey.
I started writing and producing at a very young age, around 11 years old. And I spent every day for years writing, creating, and learning. My ambition was to be an artist and so that was my focus for many years. Being an artist doesn’t earn much money so I had to get a job to fund it all and ended up working for 10 years as a senior manager at the Home Office and Cabinet Office in the UK.
After a while, I realized that being an artist just wasn’t for me so I tried producing others and everything just clicked into place! From there I steadily built a network of clients and built my producing business from the ground up. I left my job after about 18 months of producing.
2. What fascinates you the most about music?
The emotions that music can invoke in people are incredible. Nothing else in the world can take you right back to a place or a time than music. That’s how powerful it can be.
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like or listen to music so its reach is infinite and makes it a universal language of sorts. And I think that’s quite magical.
3. What is your thought process before producing a song?
The most important thing for me is understanding the artist's vision because I am ultimately responsible for bringing that vision to life. I spend some time talking to the artist about their ideas for the song and also spend some time listening to a selection of reference tracks they have given me.
By listening to the artist's reference tracks, I can feel the instrument choices, the mixing approaches, and the general direction. It's also important to listen to the artist's demo as that will tell me what kind of sound they're aiming for. Then the rest is down to experience and judgment!
4. What challenges did you face in the initial days and how did you overcome them?
Being taken seriously was a challenge in the very early days. When you have no major credits under your belt and your name isn't known, it can be difficult to get people to trust you with their music.
I had to do some work for free in the beginning to build up a showreel abs credit. It was an investment that paid off as the clients I worked for free ended up hiring me to produce other songs and are still clients to this day.
5. What message would you give to aspiring music producers?
First of all, be patient. It takes time to be that good at producing that you are the most experienced person in the room. It's a marathon, not a sprint so don't be too disheartened if you're several years into producing and still feel stuck in a rut - the work will come, the clients will come and the money will come, just keep working at it every day.
Secondly, become familiar with multiple genres and also songs on the charts. No matter what music you produce, your artists are likely to ask you to fuse genres together and create a chart-worthy song. Listening to the charts and different genres will help you to learn the core elements of what binds these songs together, and that will help you with your own projects.
6. Which music artist do you admire the most and why?
I have such a wide range of musical influences! I tend to be influenced by songs rather than artists. I have a lot of respect for Finneas and the type of music he produces - everything on Billie Eilish's albums was recorded on the most basic setup in his bedroom and yet he was able to produce something really different and marketable at the same time.
That takes a lot of talent and skill. I've also been a big fan of 1975 for some time. Their genre-blending songs are absolute masterclasses in modern music production.
Aubrey Whitfield is a British Music Producer, songwriter, and musician based in London, England. She has worked with some of the brightest and best artists in the world, including Simon Webbe (Blue), Kelly Clarkson, Soul II Soul, Little Mix, George Shelley, Paige Turley, and J-Fla. She has also written and produced songs for TV and film via publishers BMG and Universal.
Aubrey is also proud to be one of the very few successful female Music Producers from the UK and I do all she can to promote the important role of women in music. She is also an author and has written many music articles for organizations such as The Voice Council, Music Gateway, Airgigs, Kollab, Open Mic UK, and Audio Issues. She is an ambassador for Ollo Audio, Warm Audio, and Black Rooster.
Interviewed By - Serene Ingle
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