The Re:Generation Music Project mixes the rhythm and sampling approach of song construction by five electronic DJs and producers with the music genres of the past.
Directed by award-winner Amir Bar-Lev ( The Tillman Story, My Kid Could Paint That ), the documentary follows a variety of collaborations: Mark Ronson with the Dap Kings, Eykah Badu with Trombone Shorty, Mos Def and Zigaboo Modeliste, Skrillex with the Doors, DJ Premier with the Berklee Symphony Orchestra and Nas, the Crystal Method with Mary Reeves and the Funk Brothers (R&B); and Pretty Lights with Dr. Ralph Stanley and LeAnn Rimes.
With the participating artists determined to find common ground, the recording sessions proceeded smoothly except for Pretty Lights (a.k.a. Derek Smith). Early scenes find him coming to grips with a style he doesn’t understand. Choosing the classic “Wayfaring Stranger” to cover, he then clashes with the Nashville establishment, particularly Stanley. Eventually, Smith gets what he needs from the bluegrass icon and during a later session with LeAnn Rimes to create the updated version that he seeks.
The result as well as his remix can be heard on the soundtrack album. Featuring all the tracks created in the film along with remixes by Zedd, Apathy, Bonobo and Static Revenger, it is available as a free download.
Produced in association with the GRAMMYs® and presented by Hyundai Veloster Re:Generation will be shown in theaters Feb. 16 and 23. For more information, visit www.regenerationmusicproject.com or www.facebook.com/regenerationmusicproject.
JPG: How did you get involved with Re:Generation Music Project ?
PL: They just reached out to me. I was connected through my management and they brought it to me. The whole project was laid out for me. At first I was a bit skeptical ‘cause they wanted me to do the country thing but as I learned more it seemed like something that would be really cool and I could learn a lot from it.
JPG: Was it a matter that you pulled the shortest straw? How did you get that musical style?
PL: I’m not really sure how I got selected but I’d like to think that I got the most difficult genre because I would be able to pull it off. (slight laugh)
JPG: You say that now. I watched the film and during your segment, especially when working with the Nashville musicians and Ralph Stanley, you looked like a deer in the headlights who just shit himself.
PL: (laughs) I have not seen the film yet. I’m sure the drama was built up quite a bit but to be honest there was only one moment ever where it was really a bit hectic for me, when I first met with Dr. Ralph Stanley. But it was fun. I’m comfortable and used to working with musicians in the studio and conducting and composing on the fly, and everyone I worked with in Nashville was cool.
Once I found an old traditional country song that I felt like I could fuse into my style then it was all good from there. It was no more feeling like a deer in the headlights as far as my subjective perspective.
JPG: The look in your eyes when you were working with the musicians and Stanley looked like, “What did I get myself into…”
PL: There was a bit of that, for sure. (slight laugh)
JPG: Then when you worked with LeAnn Rimes, the look on your face was much more relaxed, giving the impression, “I’m working here. This is nice. She’s cool. She takes direction.” I felt better for you then. I felt horrible for you earlier.
PL: (laughs)
JPG: The other DJs created an original song for their collaborations. Why did you choose to do a cover of “Wayfaring Stranger?”
PL: It happened so fast. They hit me up and then I was in the studio literally the next week. A big part of this project was learning about the history of the genre. And one of the biggest things I learned, that was surprising to me, was the connections between the roots of country music and bluegrass and how I produce hip-hop and electro hip-hop soul music today. And that connection was that the music was constantly being recycled and evolved by new artists. Back in the ‘20s and the ‘30s it wasn’t like a lot of these bluegrass and, in the beginning, country artists were writing songs and lyrics. They were putting their own twists and tastes on traditional songs and evolving them.
The connection to my music is I started by sample collaging and taking snippets and pieces from vinyl and collaging them together, and then adding my own instrumentation, synthesis and programming and whatnot. I saw that connection and really wanted to put that in there. So, I did a lot of research and found this song “Wayfaring Stranger” that I wanted to take the same approach a country or bluegrass artist from the ‘30s or ‘40s or ‘50s would have taken. I just felt like it made sense and it clicked with not only how it happened back then in the genre that I was studying but also with the way that I produce currently today.
JPG: I liked that in your approach you took lines from the many different versions of the song in order to create your version. It really showed that you did your homework.
PL: Yeah, that was a big part. At first I thought there was a handful of versions and then I realized that there was an endless amount of versions, and realized that all these artists had taken liberty with the lyrics. So, I decided that I would do the same thing. I combined lyrics from different versions but also put my own lyrics in there and twisted it up and changed a few things to make it fit with my style in a more modern element.
JPG: Since you haven’t seen the film, I’ll have to tell you what Mark Ronson said at the end. Since he was recording in New Orleans, he was comparing gumbo mixing all these ingredients to how different elements came together to make up his musical contribution. He said, “Musicians today combine influences and obscure colors of where everything came from” in order to make the music of today and that “in a drive to be original music will keep evolving. That’s what regeneration is.” What’s your view of regeneration as far as music and the film?
PL: Regeneration is a big part of what my music has been even far before I was part of this project. That’s what I pride myself in with my style is being able to take elements from genres that span a whole century and regenerate it, to use the word, and make something new and original out of it. That’s something that I’m good at and that’s something that I do. So, being part of this project was…maybe that’s why I got country because that’s a big element of my style already and it was taken on making it a bit more difficult.
JPG: And you made it work. When was the song recorded because I saw you last July at the All Good Festival and I thought you may have played it?
PL: No. I actually hadn’t played it at All Good. It’s funny because I had done a remix of John Denver’s “Country Roads” for that festival. That was my first jump into remixing and producing in the country world. So, it’s kind of ironic that that happened right before this project.
I didn’t play this song live until my show at Red Rocks and it was an early manifestation of it.
JPG: How long did you have to record the song?
PL: One session with the players in Nashville and then one couple hour session with LeAnn in Chicago. Then, I pulled everything from there, took it and later reprocessed everything through a bunch of analog equipment in order to make it sound a lot older than it was. Actually, I produced it all on my studio tour bus.
JPG: Did you bring in LeAnn after the initial session because you felt you needed another voice in there?
PL: Yeah, that’s exactly how it happened.
JPG: Have you heard a reaction from either of the artists about the final result?
PL: Only LeAnn, she apparently is a big fan of it. I think she loves it. I haven’t talked to Dr. Stanley yet but I look forward to hearing his thoughts on it.
