Pharrell Williams and Adam Blackstone
“I wanted to bring the ammonia back to radio and back to the visuals that you get from the music. You know, when a person is fainting, they wave a tissue doused in ammonia to bring them back, and that’s what this is – a dousing of ammonia. It’s gonna change everything,” Pharrell Williams said in a recent interview with Remix magazine of his first solo album, In My Mind (July 2006.) Williams continues on his own website pharrellwilliams.com by claiming, “It’s funny because I never really wanted to do a solo record. But I’m always making beats – that’s just what I do. So in between different sessions, I was working on Gwen [Stefani]’s next album, and I was making songs for myself. I thought eventually that I’d give them to someone else, but the stories were a little too personal. So at that point, I started joking around, saying, ‘All right, I’m making an album.’ And before I knew it, I really was making one.”
Pharrell and partner Chad Hugo, who form the production team The Neptunes, have been linked to a virtual who’s who of A-list artists — N’Sync, Britney Spears, Busta Rhymes, Gwen Stefani, Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, Kelis, LL Cool J, Ludacris, Janet Jackson, Snoop Dogg and Neptunes-assisted Grammy Award winners, Justin Timberlake, Nelly and Usher, to name a few. In 2003, The Neptunes took home their own Grammy for ‘Producer(s) of the Year, Non-classical.’ Pharrell is also a member of the alt-rock trio N.E.R.D. which stands for No One Ever Really Dies. Group members Pharrell, Chad and Shay Thorton have released two platinum albums of their own, In Search Of... and Fly or Die.
Being the world-class musician that he is, Pharrell had to surround himself with the best when choosing his backing band for his recent solo tour. Hooked-up by mutual industry friend, ?uestlove of The Roots, Pharrell quickly joined forces with the crème de la crème in keyboardist/bassist and co-producer Adam Blackstone. Adam, a jazz bass player that had been awarded a full director’s scholarship from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, was already equipped with a resume that touted touring with musicians like Jay-Z, Musiq Soulchild, LL Cool J and Joss Stone. He and Pharrell quickly hit it off.
Recently off Pharrell’s (or “P” as Adam affectionately refers to him) album-supporting tour we caught up with Adam Blackstone to tell us more about touring with Pharrell and how Korg fits into the musical equation…
ProView: Of the huge roster of artists that you’ve worked with, who’s been the most memorable?
Blackstone: “The most memorable musical experiences I’ve had so far have definitely been, for real, I’ve gotta say “P” and working with Jay-Z, Jill Scott and Mary Mary. Pharrell is of course an R&B/Hip-Hop artist. He started out as a producer, and is very influential in my production. Jay-Z is Jay-Z, what more can you say about Jay? Jill Scott is an R&B artist out of Philadelphia, which is where I’m from. She has allowed me the opportunity to write, co-produce and be her Musical Director for the past two years. And then there’s Mary Mary, I’ve been listening to their music, I would have to say, for the past six years. But I’ve just had the opportunity to become their Musical Director this past year, in July of ‘06. Those four artists have basically summed up what I can definitely say is a great accomplishment for myself, and I am very blessed to be able to have them on my resume.”
ProView: How did you first get hooked up with Pharrell?
Blackstone: It was through one of my big brothers in the industry, Ahmir ?uestlove Thompson, who is the drummer for the Roots. Ahmir is also a very well-known producer for artists like D’Angelo, Erykah Badu and Joss Stone. He was contacted by Pharrell, because he is like the ‘drummer to the stars’ and he brought me on the gig. Initially, it was a one-off date, we did Letterman for Pharrell’s single “Can I Have it Like That.” It was an upright (bass) sample, so I ended up coming in and playing upright. ?uestlove was the Musical Director and drummer. But primarily, Ahmir’s main gig was with The Roots When Pharrell decided to take his artistry on tour, Ahmir definitely wasn’t available, so he passed it on to the musicians that were on the Letterman gig with him, which was myself, Junius Bervine as the Musical Director, Clay Sears, Eric “Booty” Green on acoustic drums, and James Darrell Robinson on electronic drums. That’s how that happened, hooking up with Pharrell...
ProView: And you guys seem to be pretty tight right now...
Blackstone: Yeah, everything is good. “P” and I developed a great friendship outside of just the stage. I pride myself on definitely being a great people person and just meeting the artist and working with them. I definitely want to nurture a friendship, you know.
ProView: When you toured with Pharrell you took TRITON Extreme out on the road. What did you use it for?
Blackstone: I love the TRITON Extreme. I use it for all the bass parts that are on Pharrell’s album because most of them came from older Korg models. Pharrell is interesting; a lot of his sounds are TRITON-based but he also uses gear like the T3 and the M1. There are a lot of the older Korg products that the TRITON has nurtured and developed into the signature sound that we hear today. I took the TRITONEX88 on the road because it basically covers the wide variety of sounds on his album.
ProView: What is your first memory of KORG?
Blackstone: Do you remember when the Trinity came out? That was pretty monumental with the touch screen. When the TRITON came out, it basically shut everything else down. The TRITON was the must have piece. So as an up-and-coming producer in 2000-2001, I had to have that piece to my arsenal, and ever since then, that has been the only keyboard that I have ever needed and ever used as far as my sound is concerned.
ProView: What does your current rig consist of?
Blackstone: I still have my TRITON Classic, gotta keep that. I use a TRITONEX88 and I have the KONTROL49, which is what I use to trigger my laptop. When I’m performing live I sometimes use a microKORG and an MS2000B, depending on the gig, because they cover a lot of analog sounds.
ProView: Do you primarily use the TRITONEX88 for the sound or are there any features that stand out?
Blackstone: I am not a good knob guy, meaning like I just like to dial in, hit a sound and play. For me, both the TRITON Classic and TRITONEX88 cover the vast array of sounds that I look for. There are situations where there is a little more in-depth detail and you almost have to create what you are looking for, but the TRITONEX88 has the features to do that. For me, the functionality of the TRITONEX88 helps so much, because when you are on stage, you do not have a lot of time to redirect sound and you just want to hit it and go. The TRITONEX88 covers the wide variety of every sound that you could ever need.
When Adam is not touring, this just-turned 25-year-old is in the studio ‘producing, producing, producing.’ He recently completed work with R&B singers Vivian Green and Jill Scott, whose forthcoming album will be released in 2007, and of course Pharrell. Adam is also the Musical Director, bassist and touring keyboardist for Danity Kane, Diddy’s girl group from the MTV reality series Making the Band 3. Adam and Danity Kane will be on tour with the girls from February to April 2007 opening for Christina Aguilera. Blackstone’s own band, Franklin Bridge from the Philadelphia/New Jersey area, is also getting its feet off the ground, and you can always keep up with Adam on his website
As for Pharrell, singles from In My Mind have been lacing the airwaves for months now. The musical collaborations he chose have helped gain massive TV and radio airplay. Songs “Can I Have It Like That” featuring Gwen Stefani, “Number One” featuring Kayne West and most recently “That Girl” featuring Snoop Dogg are just the beginning. Be sure to keep an eye out for the upcoming live album, co-produced/performed by Adam Blackstone.
Photo by Jason Goldwatch
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