Call & Response: Kory Burrell
(11 min)
What do you do when a song, melody, or sound catches your ear? Maybe you ask Siri to identify the song, add it to a playlist, then go about your day.
Kory Burrell goes much, much deeper… diving head first down the rabbit hole of curiosity.
The New York producer, composer, mixing engineer, and songwriter has used his thirst for knowledge and appetite for unique sounds to build a body of work that utilizes his sonic awareness to create nuanced, intentional, and impactful music.
In this interview, Burrell shares how he discovers new sounds and how that adds to his own well of experience, taking all that he learns and applies to his collaborations, production music, and more.
Lab Notes (LN): If you had to boil your artistic journey into one sentence, what would it be? (Run-on sentences accepted and encouraged.)
Kory Burrell (KB): Countless hours staring at Logic: profusely curious about music, sound, songs while trying to have meaningful moments and create meaningful work with great people / artists.
LN: Reading through your bio, it sounds like you take a lot of joy in the act of discovery, spending time “seeking out sounds” and your “voracious sonic palette.”
How do you describe what it feels like when you find those sounds or records that, as you say, “feel exciting, new, and profound”? Can you share a recent or standout example?
KB: My interest in production kind of started with an obsession with decoding sounds. In my later teens, I would spend a lot of time trying to recreate sounds and instruments I heard on some of my favorite albums. I would tinker around with Logic stock plugins or VSTs - trying to recreate synths or drums or guitar sounds. I didn’t understand programming or engineering or DAW operation then so a big part of the joy was sort of tinkering and stumbling my way in to a convincing recreation.
As I developed and better understood techniques for production, it became easier for me to sort of decode (what I think) is going on. That immediacy is fun in its own right. And I still do a lot of this decoding & tinkering - practicing making and recreating sounds. But I think the excitement still centers around that element of mystery in the sounds and arrangement. If something grabs my ear and I feel like I can’t immediately craft up an effects chain or concept of how the sound was achieved, I’m super intrigued. Sometimes it’s less about the actual sounds themselves and more about the application of a sound or instrument.
But overall, it really comes back to that element of surprise or unexpectedness for me. In more recent years I’ve been a deep fan of works by artists and producers like Blake Mills, BJ Burton, Jake Luppen, Dijon, Mk.gee, Whitney - to name a few. These folks seem to find ways to create unique, idiosyncratic sonics and fit them in to songs and arrangements in tasteful, interesting, and purposeful ways.
LN: With an ear for unique sounds being a central part of your art, does that make it easier to be a chameleon as opposed to having a single primary instrument or relying mostly on your voice?
How does that affect your ability to switch between working as a producer, mixer, and composer?
KB: In some aspects, for sure. In my opinion, being a strong producer calls for you to be able to deeply and somewhat intuitively understand the sound of a project or record. I know some producers like to approach work like “this is my sound and if you want that, come to me.” But I take a lot more joy in that chameleon approach. I’m pretty much always striving for a nuanced understanding of the project so we can try to create a distinct, nuanced sound. I don’t want to create dilettante-esc works.
For me, this means it’s necessary to have a deep and wide well of music knowledge and sounds, and a love for a range of mix and production techniques. A student of music and sound. The more kind of “intellectual research” I do on various types of sounds & songs, the easier it is to intuitively make strong, nuanced creative (and technical) decisions at whatever level - whether I’m composing, producing, or mixing.
LN: When composing production music, do parameters amplify the weight of selecting the right sounds or do they simply provide a canvas for you to work?
KB: Maybe a bit of both. Sometimes working within a box or with some rules can be quite liberating. Music making with modern technology can feel so limitless. There are effectively no limitations except what the CPU can handle. Implementing some rules or trying to create in a box can help cultivate some interesting creative problem solving or creative choices. It can also help focus the project. At the same time, too many restrictions can lead to really stale, unimaginative approaches. All of it should really be about discovery.
At some point within the project I’ll likely set up some kind of production or arrangement parameters. But it’s vital to try the ideas and sounds that might seem on the periphery, and to present those ideas to the project lead or director, etc because sometimes that’s where you discover the really interesting version of the project or song that neither of you expected.
LN: You’ve delivered some excellent dark pop for us with albums like Hyperpop (HK-20), Under My Bed (UND-58), and Tell Me Where You Wanna Go (LMTL-047). Independent of this interview, our writeups each noted these for their unique sounds and production.
What makes pop music such an effective medium for pushing sonic boundaries?
KB: Thanks! I really loved making those albums for The License Lab catalogue. I think, as with all art, people just need an entry point : something within the work that’s familiar or relevant for them to connect to. This is different for everyone, of course. But given the definitive characteristic of “pop” is that it’s generally enjoyed by a large, diverse audience, it’s really interesting to use the numerous motifs, themes, and elements that help define “pop” music as a vehicle to deliver more obscure ideas.
Take a 4 to the floor beat, for example. Anyone who would hear that beat would probably immediately identify it as a dance song. Simply because of the 4 to the floor beat, immediately most listeners have an anchor to understand the song. From here, you can really play around with the song elements or production - going super weird or abnormal - and seeing how far you can push the boundaries before you’ve distorted that anchor and feel like you can’t inherently recognize what it is.
“A little bit of honey helps the medicine go down” kind of thing. Pop structures give us the framework to deliver weird ideas in formats that an audience at large can likely connect with.
But it’s vital to try the ideas and sounds that might seem on the periphery, and to present those ideas… sometimes that’s where you discover the really interesting version of the project or song that neither of you expected.
LN: You’ve created music under a number of different names including Dogwood Last, House Husband, and Eidetic Haven, each with distinct identities and collaborators.
How do you know when a new project has begun or if a new song should live under an existing umbrella?
KB: Lately it’s been a little less clear exactly what lives with which project. There’s a bit of cross pollination going on between the music and ideas these days. When I’m writing for myself, I try not to decide in advance “this is going to be a Dogwood thing or a House Husband thing.” Usually at some point within the process of making the song it becomes relatively clear where it will live. And if it’s on the edge of what I might have historically classified as Dogwood or Eidetic Haven or House Husband thing, I might put it aside for the time being — sometimes you just need more songs to contextualize this outlier. Or maybe I ask myself if the song is maybe the next evolution of the project’s sound. I try to stay open to the fact that the identities of these projects evolve and change. Nonetheless, if the song feels truly way outside of any of my existing projects, I’ll consider putting it in a new place. Sometimes I’ll send things to other artists if I think it might fit their sound or be an interesting collaboration. I have some other personal projects cooking in the background that I haven’t committed to yet. A lot of times I just hold on to songs in anticipation that the place for it will come in the future. But overall, I’m not overly precious about these things. I just want the projects to be intentional, distinct, and focused.
Pop structures give us the framework to deliver weird ideas in formats that an audience at large can likely connect with.
LN: From song titles, to album artwork, to sonic inspiration from Brooklyn DJ’s, to your collaborators, New York seems to find its way into a lot of your work. Can you tell us about living in Queens and how that has influenced your art?
KB: I think above all living here and being in the proximity to so much great art gives me a personal sense of permission and accessibility to be creative. Growing up in a small town in PA, weird and interesting music and art was kind of foreign. Great records, great music, great musicians, great producers - that was happening somewhere else. In New York, it’s here. At my home studio here in Queens in particular, I’m just over the Bushwick / Brooklyn border. But it’s rather quiet compared to a lot of places in the area. I like that it can feel like a sort of respite from the city, while still being just a short walk from the Bushwick scene. I think it all keeps me motivated and inspired.
LN: When looking through the work featured on your website, we’re immediately met with your recent producer credits, working with artists like Thrower, KSENIIA, Amy Zou, and Darvishi. What do you enjoy most about producing and what do you look for when it comes to working with new people?
KB: Having the opportunity to work on a diverse range of material, and create in a lot of different ways and for different purposes has always been what’s drawn me to production. I love a lot of different music and I love creating lots of different kinds of music. Keeps it all fresh and inspiring. But beyond the music, definitely the people and the special moments while making music with them. I feel so fortunate to have met such incredible people through this work. It’s so deeply special and soul filling.
When it comes to new folks - it’s really about the quality of the music and how we connect as people. If the music is interesting, I feel like I can bring some perspective or value to the work, and I feel like the artist or band and I vibe well, I’m usually pretty excited to make stuff together.
LN: What inspires you, what gives you hope?
KB: Art and music in general is still incredibly inspiring and exciting. Creating with folks. Conversations with friends. I also teach music production and songwriting with a few nonprofit organizations around the city, so teaching and working with students over the past couple years has been really fun and inspiring. Yeah I guess now more than ever I feel I have a great community of friends and artists and collaborators. I feel pretty fortunate and I try to stay with that energy.
LN: What do you do when you’re not working on music?
KB: I’m a fairly active person (I’m a bit of a professional putterer / tinkerer). I rarely struggle to fill my time. I’ve recently gotten back in to running. Bouldering / rock climbing has been a big source of joy over the past couple years. I dabble a little in some cooking. Lots of podcast listening. I’m currently renovating my studio so there are endless things to tinker and tweak with at the moment.
LN: What are three things about you that wouldn’t want left out of your Wikipedia page?
KB: Oh jeez. I guess 1) I’m self taught. I went to school for communications and writing 2) I was nominated for an Emmy in 2017 for scoring work 3) In 2020 I was contracted to write a kind of thanksgiving themed jingle / song for Steven Yeun's character to sing in the 2021 film The Humans. The idea was ultimately ditched but probably one of the funniest gigs I've had in the last few years.