We recently connected with Emmanuel Harrison and have shared our conversation below.
Emmanuel, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
As a producer, self taught engineer and artist there is a lot of information out there on what I do. Everyone has different ways and opinions on how to produce, engineer and make music but there is no right way. Crafting music from scratch or using samples or your writing style is all up to you so that was difficult for me trying to learn the craft because at the end of the day I had to take things I liked from YouTube tutorials, masterclasses and producer friends to create my own style of production and artistry. For me there was not a faster way. It took hours messing with kicks and snares and writing Good lyrics then sometimes bad ones to really get it right. This journey is long and frustrating at times but is also the most fulfilling once you have your unique style.
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 Emmanuel Harrison. I am from Cheraw, South Carolina born and raised. I moved to Greenville South Carolina to go to North Greenville University. I graduated North Greenville and 2022 with a bachelors degree in music and worship. While I was in school, there was a recording class and it taught a small portion of production. I was fascinated about producing and wanted to be a producer so I stayed at class and learned more. My pastor from back home saw that I was learning a lot of production stuff and bought me a laptop and Ableton live. From there, I’ll begin my journey to learning Music, production, and engineering. I grew up on gospel music Christian hip-hop like Lecrae & Andy Mineo and I really enjoyed Lofi music. R&B was a fascination that I came across later on and the production style was so intriguing to me that I started to really dive into making R&B beats. Ever since then, I’ve worked with different friends of mine who wanted to pursue music. I produced for myself and mixed and mastered for myself. One of my friends known as Thesis Likes to record a lot of vocal stacks similar to how Beyoncé does her vocal stacks. It really taught me how to mix a lot of tracks together and still make it sound full and not overbearing. Another one of my Toughest challenges that I faced was trying to mix songs for other people that have different ideas than what I have. Trying to stay humble enough and true to the art while also staying true to the artist that wants their desires. It’s a tough choice sometimes but creativity always rules, doing something “correct”
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I think as a creative and as an artist when you first get into Artistry, there are two mine sets you can have. Your first mindset is enjoying the art and just creating for fun. The other mindset is using something you’re good at like rapping or singing or producing to make a lot of money. If you’re taking music seriously and you want this to be your full-time job, you tend to fluctuate back-and-forth between these two mindset. It’s a struggle because you want to do this because you love it, and also you want to make money and enjoy life. When you are trying to make money, sometimes it’s hard to be creative and true to yourself. When you are trying to look at the algorithm to see what makes it pop or looking at other creatives thrive on something that isn’t as creative you tend to lean towards just doing things to make money or to be seen. I had to learn that looking at other people and comparing myself takes away from my creativity. There are a lot of people thriving and being successful and that is awesome but trying to be them and be like them because that is how they got successful, takes away from the uniqueness that I have and what could make me successful .
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
Being a creative is vulnerable. Sharing your hard work and people immediately judge it and consume it is something that is not for the weak. It takes a strong mind and The ability to be vulnerable, regardless of who likes it or who does it. Usually as a creative for me, I am a producer and an artist. That is what I came in the music business for. I didn’t come to be a promoter or a marketer or businessman. I came in it to make music and share it with the world. Now and days you can’t just be one thing. I can’t enjoy the luxury of just making music and not worrying about it anymore so it’s hard to pivot and be the social media person while also being the money manager while also being on tour and likable for people to take pictures, and want to know who you are. Most of the time you didn’t sign up for that. True creatives want to create not be famous.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/mystroproductions
- Instagram: _mystroproductions
- Youtube: Mystro Productions
Image Credits
Brendan Plake
Anna Melvin
Atom Black