LAMP Weekly Mix #267 feat. Jack Roy x Peitzke

This week we are very excited to introduce you to a new duo hailing from Santa Barbara (Jack Roy x Peitzke) that popped up on our radar at the end of last year. One half, Jack Roy has already shared some amazing music with us and we were honored to drop his debut single with us 'Juices' a few weeks back.MR PUZL: Gents! Thanks for joining us this week and for dropping a super mixtape; we’ve been jamming on it all weekend. Tell us a bit about how it all came together and what inspired the track selection.Jack Roy x Peitzke: The track selection was a combo of some recently discovered tracks, along with some older go to jams that we have been playing out for the last few years. And of course, we had to sprinkle in a few tracks of our own. We have had the opportunity to open for some amazing artist in our home town, so we are quite familiar with putting together a more mellow & upbeat opening set. That is what we were stemming from in this mix.MP: We’ve already had the fortune of working with you, Jack, on a release to kickoff this year and had some demo from your collab sent our way which we’re excited to reveal soon as well. How did you guys first start working together and what do you feel is the goal of this partnership?JR x P: We have been friends since the ripe younger years of middle school. We knew that music was something we were both extremely passionate about, so about 2 years ago, we decided to pull the trigger and move down to LA to see if we could make something happen. One day, we just decided to start a track together and things instantly started to click. We realized we had a solid chemistry in terms of songwriting and producing, which I think is generally pretty difficult to come by. Many artists you work with will have a much different vision for the direction of a track, but we found that our two individual styles completed each other really nicely. The goal of our partnership is to create some groovy tunes for any one who is willing to listen.MP: Do you have a particular style in mind that’s maybe different from your solo work?JR x P: When we work together, it’s as if two mystical worlds collide. Our individual styles definitely blend together to create a hybrid of both our sounds. We definitely love working around some obscure samples to start our tracks together. A lot of our music has some hints of Brazilian influence from Peitzke’s sister’s secret stash.MP: I’ve been up to Santa Barbara a few times to catch a few shows there. How would you describe the vibe up there, and what are you doing to try and promote the scene both locally and to others thinking about visiting?JR x P: Santa Barbara is a great place to live, we both grew up here and really enjoy the general vibe and pace of things. We both ended up moving back to SB from LA after just 7 months (constant noise complaints from other tenants in our apartment were a big reason). LA is great for making connections, and there’s obviously so much going on in the music scene, but we are both a lot more comfortable in SB, and it has a lot to offer on a smaller scale. We play a lot of gigs locally and have a great group of friends and artists that keep us inspired. There are also a ton of really amazing acts that come through town, ranging across all musical genres. Plus, when the mood is just right, you can find some of the grooviest mountain parties around!MP: As you continue to explore your collab together what have you learned about one another so far that’s helped your workflows? Did you both share similar habits or was it more of adapting to different styles at the beginning?Ryan: Working with Jack has improved a lot of my production techniques, and I’m always inspired by his work ethic. He’s constantly working on music, which keeps me motivated and focused on my own work.Jack: Peitzke has got the fastest fingers in the West. When he is behind the computer, our workflow is definitely kicked up a notch. God bless his soul. I’d say my strong suit is in sampling techniques and percussion, while he brings the keys and melodic elements to a whole new level. Bringing our individual strengths together makes the whole writing and production process move so much smoother.MP: If and when you’re in the same space, do you guys have a preferred studio setup? What kinds of tools, software etc do you normally run off of?JR x P: We work in Jack’s studio which he’s really dialed in nicely. It’s a very comfortable space with a great vibe, which always helps us get in the zone for writing and producing tracks. We have a Nord keyboard that we usually just use for MIDI; a full drum set, Bongos, Roland TR8s, MOOG Sub Phatty, Micro-Korg & a mucho sexy Fender Strat. Our go to inbox VSTs are Arturia’s Mini V & Prophet. Jack uses Logic and I use Ableton. When we start a track on his computer he will do the majority of the production work, and vice versa when we start one on mine. In general the songwriting is usually split pretty evenly. MP: You open up a blank project in your preferred DAW. What’s the first thing you get to work on?JR x P: We usually start right away by recording some basic percussion from the TR8. Then we go to our secret stash of vinyl rips and try and get creative with some sampling. From there, we say a few Hail Marrys...MP: What’s the last?JR x P: The last things we work on are minor tweaks to the production and mix. We like to let the song sit for a while and give our ears a rest, otherwise it’s easy to lose perspective and get lost in the track.MP: Where do you find your inspiration for the tracks your producing at the moment?JR x P: We are often inspired by pretty obscure, random old tracks we find online ranging across all genres. Movie Scores, Jazz, Funk, Música popular brasileira, Bossa Nova, ect.. Much of the time we will end up sampling elements from these inspiring songs. Other times we will just listen to some electronic tracks that we are both really into and say “It’d be cool to do something like this”. Those tracks will often end up sounding completely different than what we were initially were going for.MP: As you guys turn your focus to audiences outside of your local stomping grounds what kind of message do you hope share with them? If there was one place, say this weekend, you could be performing your music at where would it be and why?JR x P: We’d like to share a generally positive vibe with our listeners, and hope to inspire anyone fellow musicians/producers listening to have fun with the creative process. The one place we’d love to play this weekend would have to be at some kind of undisclosed outdoor gathering with great sound & great friends.MP: Let’s have a bit of fun!Ryan, as your bio states, you were once a zookeeper. If you were granted the powers to turn into any animal what would it be?Peitzke: Full disclosure, I was never actually a zookeeper. That was a bit of an ongoing joke that I kept rolling with. If I could be any animal, it would have to be the Albino Kakapu. It’s matings ritual are very similar to my own, and I’m entranced by its beautiful songs. I could listen to (and often do) those bird calls until the cows come home!MP: Jack, being a multi-instrumentalist and purveyor of groovy vibes, if you could turn into any instrument, what would it be?Jack Roy: Pan Flute because of the soothing nature of a gentle wind blowing over all my holes :)