We were lucky to catch up with Travis Price recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Travis, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
I’m a man that moves at my own pace in life. I work extremely hard in the studio every day and with some luck, that brought me to the door of countless learning opportunities and moments of growth. At times, it’s a rush of fulfillment. Other times – it’s incredibly humbling.
One thing that helped me a lot is taking initiative to make your life as peaceful as possible. To me, that means minimizing toxicity from your every day thought process, cleaning your space, being active, taking care of yourself and listening to Tribe. This approach is even more crucial when applied to the people you hang and collaborate with. The saying goes “it’s all about who you know” But I think not knowing certain people can be equally beneficial to you.
In my opinion, once people grow up and become able to effectively consider other perspectives in everyday life – it opens their mind creatively. Also, you never want to bring your problems to a studio session. It’s bad for business.
Travis, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Hey I’m Travis Price, or @heyyytrav on instagram. I’m 28 years old and I started off making beats when I was in college. Now, I’m out here in the sometimes sunny Los Angeles. It took a few years, but I feel at home and I’m very blessed to be around so many amazing and talented people 24/7.
Mostly, I make hip-hop, R&B, and dance music. From a business perspective, I am a one stop shop for beats, recording mixing and mastering. I don’t find a ton of joy in engineering, but I do when I really believe in the artist I work with. The vibe has to be right. Otherwise, it’s strictly transactional and that can quickly snatch the soul out of everything for me. I believe what makes me stand out is my attention to detail and student mentality. I’m going to dissect your music from an artist and engineer perspective and we’re going to take a few risks along the way. And if you don’t stop me we’re going to take a lot of risks.
My biggest selling point is my taste level. I listen to legends, underground artists and everything in between on a daily basis. I’m very confident in what I like and what sounds good to me. I’m the listener you worry about when you take shortcuts in the studio.
Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?
Started as an interesting concept that helped people to see the dynamics of creation and ownership in an abstract way. Ended as the millennial equivalent to beanie babies.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Never get into a space mentally that you can’t take a step back from. What I mean by that is don’t get too attached to the way you view something to the point where it can be a detriment to your progress. It’s not always obvious when that’s happening, but as artists, we’re constantly reevaluating ourselves anyways so when you get really good at it – this becomes second nature.
For a long time, I didn’t believe in sampling. I feel like that’s something I probably shouldn’t admit because there is no reason to think that way. I guess I was looking to prove myself as someone that can produce at the level of a professional musician because I wanted to work with them. After a year and a half of making my own samples, I chopped this Japanese soul record and realized not only how naturally I picked it up, but also how fun it was. Now, I’ve done it so long I consider chopping samples to be my #1 strength as a producer.
In short, I keep a peaceful life and a clear head. I try not to be my own worst enemy.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: heyyytrav
- Twitter: heyyytrav
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@heyyytrav
