Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Andrew Spedick. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Andrew, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
Finding a mentor was important for me. Having a teacher who can show you how to avoid making the simple mistakes helps leapfrog some of the growing pains of learning a new skill. I had an excellent mentor who was a few years older than me but always willing to share new tips and spend some time teaching me how to fill in the gaps in my knowledge.
I think a lot of people are scared of being unoriginal when they venture into the creative arts, and while thats admirable, I also think it tends to lead us away from one particularly helpful method of learning; imitation. Using reference tracks and drawing inspiration from your favorite artists is how we learn how to do the foundational things correctly. Speaking personally, if someone were to ever go “Hey is this [insert amazing artist]?”, I’d be anything but upset. Being mistaken for the people we admire is not only incredibly satisfying, its the first step towards developing your own, unique take on that inspirational sound.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Andy Spedick, and I’m a Bass Music producer who goes by Slick Portal. I was born in New Jersey in a little spot called Toms River, but I moved out Denver in 2018 to live closer to my brother who was working for Vail Resorts at the time.
I originally started out as an indie acoustic songwriter, playing piano since age 6 and guitar since age 11. We also had a local theatre program that I was involved in from an early age as well, so the thrill of performing has pretty much been baked in from the start.
During undergrad, I worked with a mentor who showed me the autonomy of electronic music and the basics of working with Ableton. Gripped by the potential, I quickly self-taught sound design, mixing, and the fundamentals of DJ-ing.
Almost 15 years later, Slick Portal is the culmination of several music projects and years of dedicated hard work. The arrangements have a polished snap, the basslines are fat and catchy, and the production fits seamlessly into the top genres of the moment.
My debut single has already racked up thousands of plays across Spotify, Soundcloud, Apple Music, and Youtube, and is available on about a dozen other streaming services as well. You can follow me on almost every social media platform at @slickportal (@slick.portal on Instagram & Threads).
Come see me play live in Denver on 8/24 with Chuck Shadow at Beacon and with Treyy G and Neon Noir on 9/22 at Clubhouse Studios on Santa Fe.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
“You need a service and a passion.”
What I mean by this is that if you put too much pressure on your “passion” to make you money, it kinda sucks the passion out of it.
I quit my professional career prematurely 3 separate times in pursuit of my musical career. I say prematurely because I am further along in my musical career than ever, and I’m doing it while simultaneously working professionally in the digital marketing space.
My professional career is where I use my education and skillset as a statistician, data scientist, and marketing specialist to keep myself financially secure. It provides me the income necessary to pursue music with an investment mindset and put my resources into advertising and branding.
The difference in momentum between my last few ventures where I was on fixed, minimal budgets, and my newfound ability to properly invest and absorb unexpected trouble could not be more stark.
The work I do professionally aligns with my morals and allows me to help others do things they’re not technologically savvy enough to do themselves. That’s my service.
And the remainder is wide open for me to pursue my passion.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Put pressure on the people in power to compensate and invest in the arts, whether thats government, venue owners, promoters, or record labels and stream executives.
We need a more equitable way for artists to earn a living as the current situation could easily be described as “exploitive of the artists”.
Also don’t forget to buy some merch! Most of that goes right to the artists and helps them afford time-off to work on music which really benefits you in the end! Its like a one-time kickstarter payment for the people who make the music you love.
In the end, just keep going out and seeing shows! Keep live music alive and there will always be a market for amazing new artists.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.slickportal.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slick.portal/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/slickportal
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-spedick/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/slickportal
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOYBBru9Q8o_vYKCwOosqSQ
- Other: https://linktr.ee/slickportal