The Beginner's Perspective: Getting Started
Sarah Mari, hoping to improve her own skills, explores music production from the perspective of a beginner by interviewing Building Beats’ workshop leaders. This first interview is with Jess Dilday, aka PlayPlay.
PlayPlay is a NYC-based DJ, music producer & educator. They have been performing for over a decade, starting off on turntables with vinyl, and since learning to perform on everything from CDJs to controllers to hardware synthesizers & drum machines. PlayPlay combines their penchant for percussion and bass with nostalgic hip-hop and classic house samples in their music. Their music has been featured on NTS Radio, BBC Radio 1, and more; they currently hold residencies at Half Moon Radio & Flux Factory. PlayPlay loves to share their skills with as many people as they can, and has a particular investment in mentoring women, gender non-conforming artists, and others not traditionally represented in the DJ/beatmaking industry.
(For the full interview, check out the video above)
Sarah: Was there a certain moment where you decided to dedicate more time to music?
PlayPlay: Well, yeah, I’ve just always been obsessed with music. I’ve really wanted to DJ since I was 16 but at that time it was a total boy’s club so I wasn’t able to really get in and do anything until later after I’d had a career or two. Then I found this person whose DJ sets I really liked…she would DJ at the bars around town and I would follow her around carrying her records and picking her brain; she became my mentor.
My thoughts: As someone who grew up in a family that valued academic success over a passion for the arts, this statement really resonated with me. Without initial encouragement, I was too intimidated by the men dominating the scene by the time I wanted to really give music a try. The endless mansplaining about the nuances of recording techniques and countless conversations about it being ‘too hard’ to make any living from music was almost enough to make me call it quits. Then I learned a bit about Steve Lacy. Thus began my interest in making music from the comfort of my own home.
Sarah: And how about production - how did you get into that?
PlayPlay: Production-wise I did it all on my own. Lots of YouTube, lots of courses online. Whatever I could find for free, I taught myself with. I never had any formal training with music production.
My thoughts: Well would you look at that…another person who rejected the idea of formal education. I feverishly emailed recording studios all around LA (where I am originally from) hoping I could learn a thing or two. I spent some time working in a studio but I was aware that I wasn’t really in this to work in the music field producing other people’s music. I wanted to make my own but I didn’t want to use a full studio. Yes, there are benefits but the accessibility is very limiting with cost and time.So even though the experience didn’t necessarily propel me anywhere job wise I was still able to deduce what I wanted if I were to continue with music.
Sarah: When people decide to turn this into a career, people try to develop a brand or identity to associate with and I’m not sure if that’s because of how prevalent social media is and how important it is on social media. But did you think you had to go through that process?
PlayPlay: I definitely have a brand now, but I remember when I was first starting out I was stressed out about coming up with a name. I came up with my name thinking about this thing we used to say to each other in elementary school:
“Go Jess, it’s your birthday, not for real though, just for play play.”
It’s an ear-worm that has never left. I was just gonna have that as a placeholder and come up with a more “professional” name later but then that one kind of stuck.
My thoughts: I currently don’t have a name and have spent a lot of time trying to figure one out. I thought about old nicknames I had been given growing up: Kitty Cat, Marigold, Calamari and Shamu (given to me by my ever-so-charming brother). I then came to realize that most people called me by my full name. Most likely because as long as I can remember, there were always at least 2 Sarah’s in all of my classes (Thanks mom and dad!). People insisted that my name rolls off the tongue when said all at once. Not necessarily something I will stick with but it’s something to consider!
Sarah: How do you feel like you gained a following? I feel like there’s a lot of ways to really get connected with people.
PlayPlay: Any following that I have is mainly due to a mix of my social media presence, IRL supportive friends/networks, and the people who come to my parties when I’m DJing. Also just because I have been doing this for awhile. If you keep going for long enough and building your skills you’ll likely get a following just from persistently doing the work.
My thoughts: With the uncertainty that COVID brings, what will networking for new artists look like? Yes the internet provides a good enough platform to promote oneself but with no clubs or places to meet people IRL where do newcomers go? Just release and hope for the best? DM people on Instagram to see if they’ll promote a track? These are important questions to pose but taking one’s time is still key here; with persistence and time the answers will come and the following may build.
Sarah: When you started producing, were you driving yourself crazy trying to mix it and get it to a point where you wanted to release it, or were you at a point where you were like, ‘I’m going to put this out there and see what the response is,’ because I feel like people go through that approach differently so I’m curious what your experience was.
PlayPlay: Oh yeah, I have an experience with this…I started producing music around 2012 but didn’t release anything until 2015 or 2016, so three years of holding back, mainly because I was so paranoid my mixdowns weren’t good enough. Listening back to them, yes, some of them weren’t ready, but a lot of them were. I didn’t know some of the key knowledge about mixing right away either. I spent a long time sitting on my tracks (and I tend to still do that) but there have been things where I’m like, “Nah, I’m just gonna go ahead and put it out,” and it’s been good.
My thoughts: I have been making music since about 2015. Most of what I have recorded so far are just vocal recordings; my focus is often singing, with minimal instrumentation if any. Going from voice memos to GarageBand to Logic Pro X; I’ve improved my recording abilities while also moderately improving my equipment. With the discovery of Splice, I was able to see the music I was making in a more complex and developed light that has really pushed me to keep going.
Sarah: What advice would you give to your younger self when you were just starting out? What are the main things you wish you knew going into this?
PlayPlay: That I was going to be in it for a while, so I could just chill - this is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. I would tell myself to do this because it’s fun to be creative and not for egotistical reasons; to make music for myself and not for what I think other people would like. The most creative things tend to come out at that point. I would tell myself to keep going with the weird stuff…
My thoughts: I feel this immense pressure to figure myself out and to put out music accordingly, but I know that I should relax and be patient with myself. The reason I never kept up seriously with music in the past is because I often get discouraged quickly when I feel like I’m not making a big enough impact or making enough of it. But I know that in time, the ideas will come and form a cohesiveness that I, someone who has little experience or knowledge, isn’t able to conceive right now. The sound will develop, the skills will strengthen and the security I feel as an artist will grow. Growth takes time and I’m in it for the long haul.