Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian B-Flat Cook.
Brian, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
When I was young, I came across a keyboard underneath the couch in the house I grew up in. My Mom found batteries and that’s how I found out that I can play instruments by ear. Listening to songs on the radio and theme songs on TV, I worked to figure out how to play what I was hearing. I was into wrestling at the time and I always loved the theme music that defined some of the wrestlers. I’ll never forget. The Undertaker’s theme song was on and my Mom played it by ear, picking out each note. It made so much sense to me. I said, “my turn!” and I did it. Eventually, I started making my own tracks. I made a few beat sales and started recording (engineering). I wanted to hear the songs I recorded for myself as an artist and others with better quality, so I got more interested in mixing. More people wanted to work with me on their projects. So now, when people ask, “What do you do?” it’s a blessing to be able to say “I do music production and studio engineering. And I sing too; I’m an r&b artist.”
The “r&b artist” part… That one took a while. I ran from it for some time because I preferred to be in the background. That worked out for a while until I kept getting nudged into being a little more open about that sector of my gift(s). I knew how to write songs, record them and perform them, even. So it was a fairly easy transition. Working with artists and being asked to sing choruses/hooks on some of their songs led to opportunities to get on stage and perform songs with people. Having to get before crowds of people, I discovered, “Oh, this isn’t as bad as I thought.”
To date, I’ve released two EP’s, Yes Ma’am and Pardon Me. They were each a big deal for me and I was really hard on myself about the sound of the two. I’ve got more personal projects in the works which should be released soon. Working closely with RL (Next), I’ve learned a lot as a music producer and songwriter. We’ve worked on countless projects together and it’s granted me the opportunity to have worked with Lil Duval (Pull Up ft. Ty Dolla $ign), Tamika Scott of Xscape (All of Me ft. Q. Parker) and many others with projects in the works.
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?
In all honesty, it hasn’t been tumultuous for me. I’m thankful for that. I found that I was doing something that I loved to do and that was the key for me. I’d say that the toughest curve for me was learning more and more financial smarts as an entrepreneur. One week can be amazing & the next week can be… a little different. That’s when you recalibrate and keep going.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I provide music production, recording and mixing. I love to produce for artists, bringing to life the many ideas that they have. Coincidentally, being a mixing engineer, has brought about the same sentiment as the quality of a song can be a dividing line between someone liking or disliking their own record. I have a thing for making sure, to the best of my abilities, that people walk out of the door with a product that makes them feel satisfied – happy, even. Applying some new/quick ideas that personalize songs during recording sessions makes people excited and it also foreshadows how great the song could sound after doing a full mix. Being an artist myself, I can sometimes help artists with ideas during recording sessions. That collaborative effort can make things exciting when trying to get the best results from an idea they dreamed of the night before or conjured while eating lunch. You never know; such an idea can help change someone’s life.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I’d have to say that a key component to my forward motion has always been patience. Whether it be over a long span of time or a relatively short span, patience has always played a role for me. In some cases, it’s months or even years until a door opens – one that I’ve been actively pursuing. In others, it’s hours upon hours of troubleshooting & figuring out new concepts to either repair something or to get better in a particular area.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.brianbflatcook.com
- Email: abflattrack@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/brianbflatcook
- Twitter: twitter.com/brianbflatcook
Image Credit:
@shadeesq
@wannd
@fox_with_a_camera
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