July 13, 2025 • 24 mins
Join your host Lynn Hoffman on the classic replay of Music Saved Me with Riley Smithson, who is known as Shrimpnose, an LA based electronic and hip-hop producer known for his musical innovation. Riley shares his deeply personal story influenced by his profound experience with stuttering and he truly knows the healing power of music.
A Note to our Community
Your support means everything to us! As we continue to grow, we’d love to hear what guests you might find interesting and what conversations you’d like us to explore next.
Have a friend who might enjoy our conversations? Please share our podcast with them! Your word of mouth recommendations help us reach new listeners that could benefit from our content.
Thank you for being part of our community. We’re excited for what’s ahead! Check out our newest podcast called “Comedy Saved Me” wherever you get your podcasts.
Warmly
Buzz Knight
Founder Buzz Knight Media Productions
Support the show: https://musicsavedme.net/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Music Saved Me.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
We have to be a vessel for the music more
more than anything, because it's really easy to get stuck
and kind of hate what you're doing if it becomes
more of an intellectual thing than a feeling thing.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
I'm Lynn Hoffman and welcome to another episode of the
Music Save Me Podcast, where we dig deep into the
healing forces of music. Today, we are so excited to
be joined by a producer and an incredible instrumentalist, Riley Smithson,
also known as aka shrimp Knows. Now.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Shrimp Knows knows the.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Healing power of music up close and personal from a
very young age, and we're so grateful that he's here
to share his story with us on Music Save Me.
Shrimp Knows, Welcome to the show. It's great to have
you here.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here now.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
First I want to offer some congratulations because you just
performed it one of Canada's biggest electronic music festivals. I
believe it's called Shambala.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yep, that's the one.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
And also I think a little magazine called DJ Magazine
just named you the up and coming emerging artist to
watch for. So thank you for being here at the
custank you so much just blowing up.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yeah, I mean, it's all the stuff i'd take in stride.
I'm thankful for it, but try not to get too
hyped up for myself about things.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
You need to fit through the doorway.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Well, I read that you started playing the drums at
the age of five, and it was more so a
means for you to be able to communicate, which I
think is really interesting. It wasn't necessarily just because you
loved to play the drums. Can you sort of connect
us with a little bit about that time and what
(01:52):
brought you to connecting with music?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Sure, of course. So my dad got me a drum
kit when I was about about four or five, and
at the same time I developed a speach impediment that
I still have. It's improved quite a bit the last
few years, but growing up it was pretty hard in
school and making friends and stuff like that. And my
(02:21):
mom and dad are both in a band together and
have have been my whole life, and they play with
the band on the weekends. So growing up I would
often be at home alone without much to do other
than play instruments and kind of teach myself how to
play instruments, and yeah, that was always felt like a
(02:46):
language I could be fluent in a lot more easily,
you know it? There, How do I put this? I
didn't have blocks or obstacles in my way when I
was playing drums or playing guitar or whatever it was,
which kind of made me fall in love with that
(03:09):
so to speak.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Do you think that, basically, when you look back at
that time in your life, that that was the moment
that you realized how powerful it was? I mean, were
you even did you comprehend that even at that early age?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
It Since I was a little kid, it's always been
what I've wanted to do. To be honest, I had
other interests also, I wanted to you know, I liked
paleontology when I was a little kid. Yeah, complete opposite,
but yeah, it was always the thing that made me
(03:43):
feel good and felt natural and was something I felt
good at without having to try too hard. And it's
having something that made me feel expressed was important growing
up when I couldn't verbally express myself all the time
the way that I wanted to. That's right.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
I read that you there were times that you couldn't
talk at all, that you just couldn't express anything. That
must have been extremely frustrating, especially as a kid growing up.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
And yeah, yeah, and the hard thing too, was in school.
A lot of teachers even didn't understand what I was
going through. And the speech pathologists at the school I
went to weren't good people. Frankly, they the methods that
they were teaching me didn't They weren't for me, didn't
(04:35):
make me feel good. And yeah, it was just incredibly
frustrating not being able to say how I was feeling.
And it really led to me struggling a lot with
my self esteem and anxiety. You know, a lot of
people think that having a stutter stems from anxiety, but
(04:57):
really it's the other way around. Like I'll I'll get
caught up on a word and that's why I'm anxious.
I'm not. It's not like I feel anxious first and
then I get stuck on a word. You know. It's
it's kind of interesting.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Yeah, you would definitely not think that it would be
the backwards.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Yeah, incredible.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Yeah, it's very much so like a neurological thing. It
shares a lot of the same neurological pathways.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Is herrets interesting?
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Is there any connection with that and maybe dyslexia as well.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
I don't know. I actually don't know. That's that's a
good question to ask.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
That's what I have continuously fought with my whole life,
and I wonder.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
If that's that's connected. That's I'm going to look into that.
I'll let you know what I find out.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Yeah, somebody's smarter than I might might have an answer.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
You have.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
You talked about being at home and learning about how
to play instruments, or rather learning how to play instruments
on your own, and that's that sent and of itself
something very special. What was what was the thing that
drove you to want to play so many instruments? I mean,
you play a lot of instruments.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
That one just availability they were. I had drums and
guitars and the bass guitar and all that at home,
So it was around and wanting to have a fuller
spectrum of expression. I suppose one thing that's kind of interesting.
I'm left handed, and I play all my instruments backwards.
(06:42):
Like a lot of people, if they're left handed, they'll
buy a left handed guitar or those string of guitar
backwards so they can play it that way. But I
just flip it upside down and play it upside down.
It's kind of not super common. Basically, any guitar teacher
(07:05):
would tell you not to do.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
That, Yeah, that's for sure. But then again, they would
tell you that you have to read music.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Yeah, which I also don't know how to do right.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Yeah, And it's not necessary to make music. Yeah, although
we're probably making people cringe right now.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Well, I mean, I don't know. There's a lot of
professionally trained musicians and instrumentalists that can write music and
play music really perfectly, but can't write music or you
know what I mean. They have a hard time improvising.
I don't know. I would much prefer being able to
improvise to be to being able to read charts.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
I agree. I agree.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
It's like being a good chef. You just take you experiment. Yeah,
and it's more fun that way. What significance did Garage Band,
one of my favorite all time games of all time,
have in play a role in your journey.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
In gosh In probably seventh or eighth grade, I was
pretty young. I used it to make like a class
project I made. I had never recorded or produced anything before,
but I made like a song for a video for
(08:22):
a class project, and I realized how I could make
music on a computer and how cool that could be.
I didn't really get into production production until a couple
years later, in my senior year, I got my first
computer and took it a little more seriously. But yeah,
(08:44):
I guess a class project was what made me start
to experiment in that realm.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
That's really cool.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
On a side note, I have to tell you I
had a class project when I was young as well,
and I brought in music as an example. But this
is going way back because I'm old, and I brought
in a copy of the song Frankenstein, the rock song
I'm not even going to tell you because it's so old.
And I played the whole thing just because it had
(09:12):
the very first time they used synthesizers and music.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
That's how cool.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
And I had to make the whole class wait for
the synthesizers to play, which didn't happen to the end
of the song. Teacher, I remember, she just looked baffled,
like that was very interesting.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Thanks for show and tell today. I've never told that story.
I just had to tell you because it was so similar.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
But back to you do you recall what exactly or
when you found this incredible strength within yourself to be
secure and embracing your imperfections.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Great question. I don't know. I think just going through
the tumults of being an adult, a young adult, a
twenty you know, eighty in the twenty five year old.
There's a lot of personal stuff that people go through
that I'm sure a lot of people can relate to
(10:10):
relationships and friends passing and you know, things like that.
And I don't know. I think I'm I won't say
I'm the most confident person in the world, but when
it comes to music, I try to not get in
my own way too much. I kind of I think
it's important to let If I write a song, I
(10:34):
try to let it be what it wants to be,
and I try not to overcontextualize it too much or
think about how it could be better. You know, I
try more so to feel how it could be better
than think how it could be better, because I can
get in my own way if I think about it
too much.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
Yes, because being a good producer is really cut into
the meat of it, as opposed to because you could
linger for you're birthing a child. Basically you're like your
inner thoughts and personal feelings out through music exactly.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
It's not an easy thing, not at all. Yeah, I think, yeah,
we have to be a vessel for the music more
than more than anything, because it's really easy to get
stuck and kind of hate what you're doing if it
becomes more of an intellectual thing than a feeling thing.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
That's for sure.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Tell us about some of the artists who to this
day have made a connection to you and who have
helped you through some of the tough times.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Absolutely, Gosh, I could go on and on about this.
God I would say. I would say the producer Shlomo
was the first, first one I got really really obsessed with,
and in that vein also gold Panda, Flying Lotus. But
(11:58):
in the last couple of years I've gone down more
of a folk route. I got pretty big into Bony
Ver and Elliott Smith and Alex g and just kind
of like the indie semi electronic folk route has kind
(12:19):
of hit the spot for me a lot more the
last couple of years.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
I've been hearing a lot of it lately too, and
there's a lot of great stations now that are playing.
It's really my go to music now is electronic. Do
you find that happening a lot with people that you
talked to of all ages?
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think the cool thing now is
that there used to be like a kind of a
connotation with electronic stuff that it was maybe just dubstep
or just house music, or it was very like genre focused.
But I think we're at a point now where it's
(13:01):
like listening music. It's it's a less genre and more feeling,
which I am excited about.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Yeah, I want to ask you about that. I talk
to a lot of artists, musicians, writers, but this new
form and I say new because it's not so new,
but it really is new for mainstream. Would you agree?
What is what is the quality of electronic music in
(13:29):
terms of how it strikes emotion even without like a
word song or spoken Yeah, what do you think it is?
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Well? I think part of it now is that we're
at the point where we are trying to blend influences
and just me specifically, I in my music, I tend
to incorporate a lot of acoustic guitar, which is maybe
a little untraditional for most electronic artists, but it is
(14:04):
it's a very emotive instrument. You know you can. You
can really get a lot out of it and kind
of tell the listener what to feel, so to say,
I think that makes for an interesting route now that
we're trying to blend influences and take it in a
direction things haven't gone before.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Yeah, you can't always put your finger on it, but
there's there's just something special about it, and I mostly
do find myself listening to that, especially in the car.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Yeah, it's really cool.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Can you describe how it feels when a fan shares
with you the positive impact that your music has had
on them and what it means to them?
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Of course? Yeah, at first it was a little overwhelming. Honestly,
I didn't quite know how to receive it at first,
But now I definitely and very flattered anytime somebody has
something to say. People have told me songs of mine
have just saved their life. Somebody met their fiance through
(15:11):
a song of mine.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Can you tell that story real quick?
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Yeah, So somebody was in a yoga class and a
song of mine was playing in the yoga class, and
after the class they went up to the teacher and
was like, Hey, what song was that was playing? And
it happened to be my song Cherish and they have
been in a loving relationship ever since.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Just because you went to ask the teacher the name
of that.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
That's great, I know, right, Yeah, it just takes one
one thing and music is a big part of that.
And speaking of music, the World Pushed Against You is
your newest project. Can you tell us about the process
of creating it and some of your favorite songs that
we should be listening for.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Yeah, so this is a very I don't know if
like it's a dancier project than most of the stuff
I've released in the past for a couple of reasons. One,
I like performing quite a bit, and a lot of
my music in the past wasn't super performance oriented, so
(16:23):
I would find myself in this place where I would
have to make a bunch of music just to perform
and then not really have a way to release it
because it was like two worlds that I didn't know
how to bring together. But this is like my first
real attempt at trying to release an album that I
can play out, that other DJs can play out if
(16:43):
they want to. And I wanted it to be still
authentic and still like emotional music and still feel like me.
But yeah, it was. It was a great exercise in
trying to incorporate all my same elements but have it
be more dance floor. I guess appropriate. I would say
(17:07):
one song I'm particularly excited about on it is Destroyer
featuring gold Banda. He's he was one of the first
artists I got really into when I got into electronic stuff.
I toured with him last year a little bit, and
he's just a sweet guy and he sent me a
(17:31):
couple of modular loops and I kind of took over
the Collapse. I kind of just went crazy on it
because I was excited about it, and it ended up
being like a very cerebral, like seven minute long. It's
the longest song I've ever made. It's like a the
(17:52):
bpm on it starts slow, and throughout basically the whole song,
it speeds up slowly, so it's like kind of this
natural crescendo type thing. And yeah, I don't know, I
just felt like a creatively. It's something I'm proud of
because it's, uh, it pushes all the boundaries that I
like to push. It's maybe a little It's definitely not
(18:15):
a pop song, you know what I mean. It's not
something that would be on the radio. It's it's pretty weird,
but it's a personal favorite of mine.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
More a little more upbeat than typically what visceral versus
like a visceral brooding dark sort of. This would be
a little more opposite of that.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
It's still brooding. Sure it's a little bit in there
you go, but yeah, it's uh, it's just a journey.
I guess that sounds a little cliche to use that word,
but that's the best word I can think of.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
I don't think it's cliche at all. But you know,
I do need to ask you something because I'm sure
there are some listening who are just learning about you
now and they want to know, like myself, you have
a beautiful nose. Where did the name shrimp nos come from?
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Please explain?
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Of course, there's a few people, just you know, I
can think of just two that pop in my head
that have a name like that. One would be meat
loaf and the other jelly roll. So nice, shrimp roll,
shrimp roll.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Shrimp nose is a very unique name.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
So in high school, I had this really good friend Brandon.
He was a very eccentric guy. He would always be
saying eccentric, weird, stuff. And one day, as I was
pretty new into producing, maybe like a year or so in,
I was recording some clips of him to maybe use
(19:45):
in a song, just him being a goofy guy, and
out of nowhere he screams John shrimp nose. It used
to be John shrimp Nose. I cut the John off
a couple of years ago.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
I love that and that and it just stuck from there.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Yeah, I heard it and I loved it immediately. It
was it doesn't mean anything, which I like. It doesn't
take itself too seriously, you.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Know, but it's catchy.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Yeah, it's catchy, simple, and it makes.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
People want to come see you, just to see I hope.
So I have to say I was a little curious too.
You always wonder where people get their names from. But
I think that's really cool, and I think you're really cool.
Thank you for our listeners. Now, can you tell us
how music can lift you up and give whoever's listening
(20:42):
a greater confidence in their own life? Because you know
what you're what you struggle with on a daily basis,
it's sort of unimaginable that you could turn it around
and not only produce and create such amazing music that
helps others, but also get on stage and perform it
in front of them too. I mean that's huge in
and of itself. So what kind of advice would you
(21:04):
give to anyone listening right now?
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Sure? Of course, So with my speech, I've struggled quite
a bit. It affects basically every part of my life.
It was the reason I dropped out of college. I
was having a really hard time participating in classes and
it affected my self esteem quite a bit. It affects
me ordering a cheeseburger at McDonald's, It affects stating, It
(21:31):
affects making friends at parties or meeting people professionally at shows.
Not to be too woe is me right now, But
my point is music has been one thing that I
can be in control of that brings me confidence through that,
(21:51):
And I think that's the really beautiful thing about it,
in the sense that the key to SICSS is just
consistency over time basically, so if you just commit yourself
to something, it will reward you the longer that you
(22:14):
commit yourself to it. And make music that makes me
feel good and I hope makes other people feel good.
I do make it primarily for myself. I know a
lot of artists try to make music for other people.
But I have no shame in saying I'm selfish and
I make it for myself because I like it.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
I think that's the best stuff ever. I think that's
such great advice.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
You should do what's good for you, and then if
it resonates with others, that only gives you more fuel
for the fire to keep going, as opposed to trying
to figure out what everyone wants to hear or see.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Yeah. Yeah, if you want confidence through music, you gotta
primarily do it for yourself. You know, you got to
make what you want to here. You got to know
what you like and what you don't like. You know,
don't go along with something that's popular and that you
don't like. I can be, what's the word, pretty picky musically.
(23:12):
There's a lot that I don't like, But me knowing
that I don't like it informs me as to what
I do like, and you know, helps, it helps the process.
So just be be sure of what you like and
what you don't like, and try to make things that
you do like. I suppose no, and what.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
You said nails it hard work. I mean, just keep
working at it, keep doing it. The more prolific you are,
eventually it does pan out.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Absolutely, it's great advice, and thank you so much for
sharing your power. It's a very powerful story that you
have to share with people, and I think it's it's
an amazing story and I'm so happy for you, and
I'm so glad that you want to wanted to come
on Music Save Me to share your story. Riley Smithson
Shrimp Knows come back and visit us again on Music
(24:01):
Save Me.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Will do. Yeah, absolutely, good.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Luck with everything you have going on. You are the
one to watch, so we'll be watching you.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Thank you so much, Thank you,
Music Saved Me.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
We have to be a vessel for the music more
more than anything, because it's really easy to get stuck
and kind of hate what you're doing if it becomes
more of an intellectual thing than a feeling thing.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
I'm Lynn Hoffman and welcome to another episode of the
Music Save Me Podcast, where we dig deep into the
healing forces of music. Today, we are so excited to
be joined by a producer and an incredible instrumentalist, Riley Smithson,
also known as aka shrimp Knows. Now.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Shrimp Knows knows the.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Healing power of music up close and personal from a
very young age, and we're so grateful that he's here
to share his story with us on Music Save Me.
Shrimp Knows, Welcome to the show. It's great to have
you here.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here now.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
First I want to offer some congratulations because you just
performed it one of Canada's biggest electronic music festivals. I
believe it's called Shambala.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yep, that's the one.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
And also I think a little magazine called DJ Magazine
just named you the up and coming emerging artist to
watch for. So thank you for being here at the
custank you so much just blowing up.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yeah, I mean, it's all the stuff i'd take in stride.
I'm thankful for it, but try not to get too
hyped up for myself about things.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
You need to fit through the doorway.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Well, I read that you started playing the drums at
the age of five, and it was more so a
means for you to be able to communicate, which I
think is really interesting. It wasn't necessarily just because you
loved to play the drums. Can you sort of connect
us with a little bit about that time and what
(01:52):
brought you to connecting with music?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Sure, of course. So my dad got me a drum
kit when I was about about four or five, and
at the same time I developed a speach impediment that
I still have. It's improved quite a bit the last
few years, but growing up it was pretty hard in
school and making friends and stuff like that. And my
(02:21):
mom and dad are both in a band together and
have have been my whole life, and they play with
the band on the weekends. So growing up I would
often be at home alone without much to do other
than play instruments and kind of teach myself how to
play instruments, and yeah, that was always felt like a
(02:46):
language I could be fluent in a lot more easily,
you know it? There, How do I put this? I
didn't have blocks or obstacles in my way when I
was playing drums or playing guitar or whatever it was,
which kind of made me fall in love with that
(03:09):
so to speak.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Do you think that, basically, when you look back at
that time in your life, that that was the moment
that you realized how powerful it was? I mean, were
you even did you comprehend that even at that early age?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
It Since I was a little kid, it's always been
what I've wanted to do. To be honest, I had
other interests also, I wanted to you know, I liked
paleontology when I was a little kid. Yeah, complete opposite,
but yeah, it was always the thing that made me
(03:43):
feel good and felt natural and was something I felt
good at without having to try too hard. And it's
having something that made me feel expressed was important growing
up when I couldn't verbally express myself all the time
the way that I wanted to. That's right.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
I read that you there were times that you couldn't
talk at all, that you just couldn't express anything. That
must have been extremely frustrating, especially as a kid growing up.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
And yeah, yeah, and the hard thing too, was in school.
A lot of teachers even didn't understand what I was
going through. And the speech pathologists at the school I
went to weren't good people. Frankly, they the methods that
they were teaching me didn't They weren't for me, didn't
(04:35):
make me feel good. And yeah, it was just incredibly
frustrating not being able to say how I was feeling.
And it really led to me struggling a lot with
my self esteem and anxiety. You know, a lot of
people think that having a stutter stems from anxiety, but
(04:57):
really it's the other way around. Like I'll I'll get
caught up on a word and that's why I'm anxious.
I'm not. It's not like I feel anxious first and
then I get stuck on a word. You know. It's
it's kind of interesting.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Yeah, you would definitely not think that it would be
the backwards.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Yeah, incredible.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Yeah, it's very much so like a neurological thing. It
shares a lot of the same neurological pathways.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Is herrets interesting?
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Is there any connection with that and maybe dyslexia as well.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
I don't know. I actually don't know. That's that's a
good question to ask.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
That's what I have continuously fought with my whole life,
and I wonder.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
If that's that's connected. That's I'm going to look into that.
I'll let you know what I find out.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Yeah, somebody's smarter than I might might have an answer.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
You have.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
You talked about being at home and learning about how
to play instruments, or rather learning how to play instruments
on your own, and that's that sent and of itself
something very special. What was what was the thing that
drove you to want to play so many instruments? I mean,
you play a lot of instruments.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
That one just availability they were. I had drums and
guitars and the bass guitar and all that at home,
So it was around and wanting to have a fuller
spectrum of expression. I suppose one thing that's kind of interesting.
I'm left handed, and I play all my instruments backwards.
(06:42):
Like a lot of people, if they're left handed, they'll
buy a left handed guitar or those string of guitar
backwards so they can play it that way. But I
just flip it upside down and play it upside down.
It's kind of not super common. Basically, any guitar teacher
(07:05):
would tell you not to do.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
That, Yeah, that's for sure. But then again, they would
tell you that you have to read music.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Yeah, which I also don't know how to do right.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Yeah, And it's not necessary to make music. Yeah, although
we're probably making people cringe right now.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Well, I mean, I don't know. There's a lot of
professionally trained musicians and instrumentalists that can write music and
play music really perfectly, but can't write music or you
know what I mean. They have a hard time improvising.
I don't know. I would much prefer being able to
improvise to be to being able to read charts.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
I agree. I agree.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
It's like being a good chef. You just take you experiment. Yeah,
and it's more fun that way. What significance did Garage Band,
one of my favorite all time games of all time,
have in play a role in your journey.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
In gosh In probably seventh or eighth grade, I was
pretty young. I used it to make like a class
project I made. I had never recorded or produced anything before,
but I made like a song for a video for
(08:22):
a class project, and I realized how I could make
music on a computer and how cool that could be.
I didn't really get into production production until a couple
years later, in my senior year, I got my first
computer and took it a little more seriously. But yeah,
(08:44):
I guess a class project was what made me start
to experiment in that realm.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
That's really cool.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
On a side note, I have to tell you I
had a class project when I was young as well,
and I brought in music as an example. But this
is going way back because I'm old, and I brought
in a copy of the song Frankenstein, the rock song
I'm not even going to tell you because it's so old.
And I played the whole thing just because it had
(09:12):
the very first time they used synthesizers and music.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
That's how cool.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
And I had to make the whole class wait for
the synthesizers to play, which didn't happen to the end
of the song. Teacher, I remember, she just looked baffled,
like that was very interesting.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Thanks for show and tell today. I've never told that story.
I just had to tell you because it was so similar.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
But back to you do you recall what exactly or
when you found this incredible strength within yourself to be
secure and embracing your imperfections.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Great question. I don't know. I think just going through
the tumults of being an adult, a young adult, a
twenty you know, eighty in the twenty five year old.
There's a lot of personal stuff that people go through
that I'm sure a lot of people can relate to
(10:10):
relationships and friends passing and you know, things like that.
And I don't know. I think I'm I won't say
I'm the most confident person in the world, but when
it comes to music, I try to not get in
my own way too much. I kind of I think
it's important to let If I write a song, I
(10:34):
try to let it be what it wants to be,
and I try not to overcontextualize it too much or
think about how it could be better. You know, I
try more so to feel how it could be better
than think how it could be better, because I can
get in my own way if I think about it
too much.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
Yes, because being a good producer is really cut into
the meat of it, as opposed to because you could
linger for you're birthing a child. Basically you're like your
inner thoughts and personal feelings out through music exactly.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
It's not an easy thing, not at all. Yeah, I think, yeah,
we have to be a vessel for the music more
than more than anything, because it's really easy to get
stuck and kind of hate what you're doing if it
becomes more of an intellectual thing than a feeling thing.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
That's for sure.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Tell us about some of the artists who to this
day have made a connection to you and who have
helped you through some of the tough times.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Absolutely, Gosh, I could go on and on about this.
God I would say. I would say the producer Shlomo
was the first, first one I got really really obsessed with,
and in that vein also gold Panda, Flying Lotus. But
(11:58):
in the last couple of years I've gone down more
of a folk route. I got pretty big into Bony
Ver and Elliott Smith and Alex g and just kind
of like the indie semi electronic folk route has kind
(12:19):
of hit the spot for me a lot more the
last couple of years.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
I've been hearing a lot of it lately too, and
there's a lot of great stations now that are playing.
It's really my go to music now is electronic. Do
you find that happening a lot with people that you
talked to of all ages?
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think the cool thing now is
that there used to be like a kind of a
connotation with electronic stuff that it was maybe just dubstep
or just house music, or it was very like genre focused.
But I think we're at a point now where it's
(13:01):
like listening music. It's it's a less genre and more feeling,
which I am excited about.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Yeah, I want to ask you about that. I talk
to a lot of artists, musicians, writers, but this new
form and I say new because it's not so new,
but it really is new for mainstream. Would you agree?
What is what is the quality of electronic music in
(13:29):
terms of how it strikes emotion even without like a
word song or spoken Yeah, what do you think it is?
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Well? I think part of it now is that we're
at the point where we are trying to blend influences
and just me specifically, I in my music, I tend
to incorporate a lot of acoustic guitar, which is maybe
a little untraditional for most electronic artists, but it is
(14:04):
it's a very emotive instrument. You know you can. You
can really get a lot out of it and kind
of tell the listener what to feel, so to say,
I think that makes for an interesting route now that
we're trying to blend influences and take it in a
direction things haven't gone before.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Yeah, you can't always put your finger on it, but
there's there's just something special about it, and I mostly
do find myself listening to that, especially in the car.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Yeah, it's really cool.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Can you describe how it feels when a fan shares
with you the positive impact that your music has had
on them and what it means to them?
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Of course? Yeah, at first it was a little overwhelming. Honestly,
I didn't quite know how to receive it at first,
But now I definitely and very flattered anytime somebody has
something to say. People have told me songs of mine
have just saved their life. Somebody met their fiance through
(15:11):
a song of mine.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Can you tell that story real quick?
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Yeah, So somebody was in a yoga class and a
song of mine was playing in the yoga class, and
after the class they went up to the teacher and
was like, Hey, what song was that was playing? And
it happened to be my song Cherish and they have
been in a loving relationship ever since.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Just because you went to ask the teacher the name
of that.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
That's great, I know, right, Yeah, it just takes one
one thing and music is a big part of that.
And speaking of music, the World Pushed Against You is
your newest project. Can you tell us about the process
of creating it and some of your favorite songs that
we should be listening for.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Yeah, so this is a very I don't know if
like it's a dancier project than most of the stuff
I've released in the past for a couple of reasons. One,
I like performing quite a bit, and a lot of
my music in the past wasn't super performance oriented, so
(16:23):
I would find myself in this place where I would
have to make a bunch of music just to perform
and then not really have a way to release it
because it was like two worlds that I didn't know
how to bring together. But this is like my first
real attempt at trying to release an album that I
can play out, that other DJs can play out if
(16:43):
they want to. And I wanted it to be still
authentic and still like emotional music and still feel like me.
But yeah, it was. It was a great exercise in
trying to incorporate all my same elements but have it
be more dance floor. I guess appropriate. I would say
(17:07):
one song I'm particularly excited about on it is Destroyer
featuring gold Banda. He's he was one of the first
artists I got really into when I got into electronic stuff.
I toured with him last year a little bit, and
he's just a sweet guy and he sent me a
(17:31):
couple of modular loops and I kind of took over
the Collapse. I kind of just went crazy on it
because I was excited about it, and it ended up
being like a very cerebral, like seven minute long. It's
the longest song I've ever made. It's like a the
(17:52):
bpm on it starts slow, and throughout basically the whole song,
it speeds up slowly, so it's like kind of this
natural crescendo type thing. And yeah, I don't know, I
just felt like a creatively. It's something I'm proud of
because it's, uh, it pushes all the boundaries that I
like to push. It's maybe a little It's definitely not
(18:15):
a pop song, you know what I mean. It's not
something that would be on the radio. It's it's pretty weird,
but it's a personal favorite of mine.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
More a little more upbeat than typically what visceral versus
like a visceral brooding dark sort of. This would be
a little more opposite of that.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
It's still brooding. Sure it's a little bit in there
you go, but yeah, it's uh, it's just a journey.
I guess that sounds a little cliche to use that word,
but that's the best word I can think of.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
I don't think it's cliche at all. But you know,
I do need to ask you something because I'm sure
there are some listening who are just learning about you
now and they want to know, like myself, you have
a beautiful nose. Where did the name shrimp nos come from?
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Please explain?
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Of course, there's a few people, just you know, I
can think of just two that pop in my head
that have a name like that. One would be meat
loaf and the other jelly roll. So nice, shrimp roll,
shrimp roll.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Shrimp nose is a very unique name.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
So in high school, I had this really good friend Brandon.
He was a very eccentric guy. He would always be
saying eccentric, weird, stuff. And one day, as I was
pretty new into producing, maybe like a year or so in,
I was recording some clips of him to maybe use
(19:45):
in a song, just him being a goofy guy, and
out of nowhere he screams John shrimp nose. It used
to be John shrimp Nose. I cut the John off
a couple of years ago.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
I love that and that and it just stuck from there.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Yeah, I heard it and I loved it immediately. It
was it doesn't mean anything, which I like. It doesn't
take itself too seriously, you.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Know, but it's catchy.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Yeah, it's catchy, simple, and it makes.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
People want to come see you, just to see I hope.
So I have to say I was a little curious too.
You always wonder where people get their names from. But
I think that's really cool, and I think you're really cool.
Thank you for our listeners. Now, can you tell us
how music can lift you up and give whoever's listening
(20:42):
a greater confidence in their own life? Because you know
what you're what you struggle with on a daily basis,
it's sort of unimaginable that you could turn it around
and not only produce and create such amazing music that
helps others, but also get on stage and perform it
in front of them too. I mean that's huge in
and of itself. So what kind of advice would you
(21:04):
give to anyone listening right now?
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Sure? Of course, So with my speech, I've struggled quite
a bit. It affects basically every part of my life.
It was the reason I dropped out of college. I
was having a really hard time participating in classes and
it affected my self esteem quite a bit. It affects
me ordering a cheeseburger at McDonald's, It affects stating, It
(21:31):
affects making friends at parties or meeting people professionally at shows.
Not to be too woe is me right now, But
my point is music has been one thing that I
can be in control of that brings me confidence through that,
(21:51):
And I think that's the really beautiful thing about it,
in the sense that the key to SICSS is just
consistency over time basically, so if you just commit yourself
to something, it will reward you the longer that you
(22:14):
commit yourself to it. And make music that makes me
feel good and I hope makes other people feel good.
I do make it primarily for myself. I know a
lot of artists try to make music for other people.
But I have no shame in saying I'm selfish and
I make it for myself because I like it.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
I think that's the best stuff ever. I think that's
such great advice.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
You should do what's good for you, and then if
it resonates with others, that only gives you more fuel
for the fire to keep going, as opposed to trying
to figure out what everyone wants to hear or see.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Yeah. Yeah, if you want confidence through music, you gotta
primarily do it for yourself. You know, you got to
make what you want to here. You got to know
what you like and what you don't like. You know,
don't go along with something that's popular and that you
don't like. I can be, what's the word, pretty picky musically.
(23:12):
There's a lot that I don't like, But me knowing
that I don't like it informs me as to what
I do like, and you know, helps, it helps the process.
So just be be sure of what you like and
what you don't like, and try to make things that
you do like. I suppose no, and what.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
You said nails it hard work. I mean, just keep
working at it, keep doing it. The more prolific you are,
eventually it does pan out.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Absolutely, it's great advice, and thank you so much for
sharing your power. It's a very powerful story that you
have to share with people, and I think it's it's
an amazing story and I'm so happy for you, and
I'm so glad that you want to wanted to come
on Music Save Me to share your story. Riley Smithson
Shrimp Knows come back and visit us again on Music
(24:01):
Save Me.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Will do. Yeah, absolutely, good.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Luck with everything you have going on. You are the
one to watch, so we'll be watching you.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Thank you so much, Thank you,
Host
Lynn Hoffman
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.