KSHMR talks producing for Justin Bieber & Beyonce, making sample packs, and learning through failure

Check out KSHMR’s new label Dharma Studios featuring “Sounds of KSHMR Vol. 5” on Splice:
https://on.splice.com/4bQVI9g

Before he was selling out festival main stages at Coachella and Tomorrowland, Niles Hollowell-Dhar — better known as KSHMR — was quietly writing hits for some of the biggest names in music, including Selena Gomez, Enrique Iglesias, Snoop Dogg, and Chris Brown. He eventually stepped out of the shadows and built one of the most distinctive sounds in electronic music, going on to release his landmark Sounds of KSHMR sample pack series on Splice — now spanning five volumes and setting the gold standard for producer tools worldwide.

In this Ctrl+B conversation, Splice host @dontgodcj sat down with KSHMR to talk about the journey from ghost producer to global DJ, the philosophy behind failing in order to ultimately learn and succeed, and what it really takes to build a sound that transcends genres. Plus some wild stories of Justin Bieber, Beyonce, Jay-Z and other celebrity encounters that might surprise you…

Ctrl+B is a series of conversations for people who live and breathe music culture – powered by Splice. Hosted by: @dontgodcj

Join Splice’s Discord community: https://discord.com/invite/splice

00:00 Intro
03:25 #RIPsplicestudio
05:28 Searching for his producer voice
06:16 Rivers Cuomo session
07:29 Unsolicited advice for Justin Bieber
10:43 A pivotal moment with Enrique Iglesias
11:22 Finding a voice in EDM
12:50 Why Rivers chose KSHMR
13:56 Fumbling the bag with M.I.A.
15:41 Living with Carnage/Gordo
17:14 Beyonce writing camp
21:03 Getting snitched on by Jay Z
22:55 Making things awkward with Katy Perry
25:11 How failure helped
26:41 The legacy of Like a G6
30:42 Bringing Indian culture to EDM
33:26 Indian sounds are a cheat code
35:30 The importance of storytelling in music
37:54 Writing a children’s book on ecstasy
39:30 KSHMR_bet_on_himself_and_won.wav
43:00 The sobering reality of film scoring
46:50 Releasing the first Splice artist pack
48:33 The appetite for sounds from India in EDM
50:29 The flute loop
51:06 Sounds of KSHMR Vol 5 (“I go in thinking this is the only pack”)
55:20 Getting accused of using your own loops
57:01 Using other people’s sample packs
58:34 Production superpower/weakness
1:00:20 Falling in love with 100 gecs
1:01:21 Hobbies outside of music
1:02:22 “What do you want your legacy to be?”

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