Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott Korchinski.
Scott, before we jump into specific questions about your music, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was eight years old in the garage when I first played drums on a baby blue plastic trash can. My dad played when he was younger and taught me the building blocks: paradiddles and flams and sixteenth notes. I fell in love with it and began lessons as soon as I could. My mom is musical too, having sang in choirs all her life. Basically, I got lucky and was born into a family that loves music!
Around age 13 my brother and I started messing around with the Fruity Loops music production software, making beats inspired by video games we’d play. My drum teacher gifted me Ableton Live around then — I spent the next five years tinkering with and learning its ins and outs.
The journey since has been one big exploration: employing new styles I hear or experimenting with sounds I’ve never heard before. I try something new each time I make a song. It’s what keeps the inspiration flowing!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It sounds strange, but making music can be tough. There’s a lot of mental back and forth. I constantly compare my work to others to help me improve and evolve, but at the same time that can make you feel inadequate. The most difficult part for me has been the internal battle between thinking a song is fire and ready to go versus not good enough for release yet.
And then there’s the performance component. Each time I’m about to play a show, I get a sense of dread about screwing up or making everyone go deaf or something. But by halfway through my set I’m having a blast, so it’s totally illogical, yet that doesn’t make it any easier! The more I perform, the more I realize tons of artists endure the same thing, so I’ve found reassurance in that.
Please tell us about your music.
I specialize in crafting electronic music with organic, natural elements. There are so many innovative producers out there pushing creative boundaries, so it’s hard to find a niche, but I pride myself on combining experimentation with more palatable sounds in a semi-mainstream way.
I’ve always enjoyed blending melodic elements with grittier sounds. Lately I’ve been testing taking a sound, like a leaf crunching, and warping it beyond recognition. I can then make a dozen new sounds from that first source. Sometimes I’m inspired to create a whole new track based entirely around that sound. I’m psyched to keep pushing my experimentation even further while making my songs stick out as catchy and memorable.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I’m quite open to the unknown. I think this has been helpful throughout my career in all different types of ways. For example, usually when I begin making a song, I have no idea where it’ll go. I’ll start by experimenting with one sound and see how far I can take it, without having any greater vision for the song at the end. Slowly a song comes together over time, and often it’s one that I could never have imagined from the beginning of the process.
Even while preparing for shows there is no way of knowing whether the audience will enjoy what I’m doing. Still I do my best to rest with that uncertainty and trust my instincts. It allows me to try things I wouldn’t normally do.
Having an unknown future is frustrating for us as humans and can lead to anxiety, but I believe over time you can learn to look past it. If you can acknowledge the discomfort of unpredictability and get back to work, you can continue marching towards your goals.
Contact Info:
- Website: houndtrack.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/houndtrack
- Facebook: facebook.com/houndtrack
- Twitter: twitter.com/houndtrack
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3nw1z931Oc4JMbF4rGfz6O
Image Credit:
Jayden Becker (all outdoor shots)
Jean Boher (for indoor shot with blue/purple lighting)
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