Inside the Studio: A Conversation with Tomorrow's Sound

A Small Room, A Clear Process

In a Copenhagen apartment studio, an emerging producer we will call Alex is building tracks with a modest setup and a very deliberate process. They asked us to keep the focus on the work rather than the name, which fits the conversation we had: less about mythology, more about habits, listening, and learning how to use new tools without letting the tools lead.

Starting Out

Magz: When did you know you wanted to make music?

Alex: I am still not sure I wanted to "make music" in the romantic sense people talk about. I grew up playing bass in punk bands, most of them pretty rough. What pulled me in was the sound around the notes as much as the notes themselves. I liked texture, space, and how a track could feel physical.

My parents assumed I would end up in engineering. They were not completely wrong. I just engineer sound instead of bridges.

Magz: What was your first serious piece of equipment?

Alex: A cheap MIDI controller and, at first, an unlicensed copy of Ableton. I was sixteen and broke. I bought a proper license as soon as I earned money from music. That mattered to me.

But the main lesson was that gear is not the whole story. Some of the tracks that opened doors for me were made on very ordinary equipment. You need tools that work, but after that it comes down to taste and decision-making.

How a Track Starts

Magz: Walk us through the beginning of a track.

Alex: It changes on purpose. If I start every song the same way, I get the same result back. Sometimes it begins with a sample: a voice memo, a bit of room noise, a sound from outside. Sometimes it starts with bass. Sometimes I ask an AI tool for variations on a harmonic idea just to see where it goes.

The important part is that the first idea is only a prompt. I still have to decide what is worth keeping.

Magz: There is still a lot of debate about AI in music. Where do you stand?

Alex: I understand why people are cautious. There are real questions around copyright, credit, and how the industry treats working musicians. But on the practical side, AI is useful when it removes tedious work or helps me hear something differently.

It does not replace taste. It does not know why one chorus should stay empty or why a bass note needs to drag slightly behind the kick. Those choices are still human.

Influences

Magz: Who shaped your ears?

Alex: A lot of different people. Early electronic records, punk, funk, ambient music, contemporary classical music. I like artists who were willing to sound unfinished while they were discovering something.

Brian Eno is important for that reason. Wendy Carlos too. Missy Elliott and Timbaland. Different worlds, but all of them changed the vocabulary.

I am also influenced by Scandinavian design. Not because I want music to sound like furniture, but because the thinking is useful. If an element does not earn its place, remove it.

Magz: How does that show up in a mix?

Alex: Restraint. Space. Letting a sound be simple if simple is enough. A lot of inexperienced producers keep adding layers because silence feels risky. Usually the better move is to cut something.

Working With Other People

Magz: You have already worked with more established artists. How did that happen?

Alex: Slowly. I shared works in progress, gave feedback to other people, and kept relationships going without trying to force anything. The first bigger collaboration came from a remix I posted for fun. That turned into a conversation, and eventually a session.

Magz: What is hardest about collaboration?

Alex: Remembering that the song matters more than your pride. Sometimes the best idea in the room is not yours. If you cannot accept that, collaboration becomes exhausting.

When it works, though, it is great. Someone else hears the gap in the song before you do. Someone else pushes a part you would have left half-finished. That is the value.

Tools, Including AI

Magz: What does your setup look like now?

Alex: Still pretty simple. A laptop, interface, monitors, a MIDI keyboard, and software I know well. I would rather know a small set of tools deeply than spend all day testing plugins.

Lately I have been using AI-assisted tools in a few specific ways. Stem separation is a big one. With something like SplitFire, I can isolate parts from a track and study the arrangement in detail. That is useful for learning, not just production.

I also use AI to generate variations on a melody or rhythm. Most of what it produces gets discarded. That is fine. If one fragment points me somewhere unexpected, it has done its job.

Magz: What advice would you give someone just starting?

Alex: Start with what you have. Finish songs. Do not wait for the ideal setup. And listen widely. If you only study one genre, your instincts get narrow very quickly.

Making a Living

Magz: How do you piece together an income?

Alex: Production work for other artists is the main part. Then some sync licensing, some small streaming income, and a sample-pack business that grew almost by accident.

The goal is not really luxury. It is sustainability. I want enough stability to keep doing careful work.

Magz: How do you see the industry right now?

Alex: It is easier to release music than ever, which is good. It is also harder to hold attention, which is difficult. The upside is that artists can build direct relationships with listeners. The downside is that everybody is now expected to be a creator, marketer, editor, and analyst at the same time.

Looking Ahead

Magz: What are you working on next?

Alex: A full-length album, which is forcing me to think in terms of sequence and structure instead of isolated singles. I am also interested in sound for physical spaces, installation work, things like that.

And I want to teach more. There is a lot of avoidable gatekeeping in music production. People learn faster when information is shared plainly.

Magz: Any last advice for aspiring producers?

Alex: Trust your ears, but also protect them. Take breaks. Do not confuse technical knowledge with musical judgment. And keep one part of music separate from metrics. If every decision is about performance data, the work gets thin very quickly.

Postscript

After the interview, Alex played an unfinished track built from processed noise, a restrained drum pattern, and a bass line that held the whole thing together. It was detailed without sounding crowded. More importantly, it sounded like someone had made choices.

That may be the real dividing line in modern production. The tools are easier to access now. Taste is still the harder part.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Follow Alex's journey on SoundCloud @[redacted] and stay tuned for their debut album, coming 2025.

Got someone we should interview? Send suggestions to magz@splitfire.ai