Nick Sanborn: A Love Story

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I. Love. Sylvan Esso.

And, in true hipster fashion, I've loved them before they were popular.  Before "Radio".  Before they were playing major festivals EV-RY-WHERE.  I love them.  Now, not to ignore Amelia and her amazing voice, lyrics, and dance moves, Nick Sanborn's production is absolutely incredible.  He makes electronic 'instruments' (programming) sound natural and human.  I want to pick up a tiny version of him and place him in my brain so that when I write, he can actually write the tunes.  So, here's my Nick Sanborn research so far:

Sylvan Esso: What's In My Bag

This is a very telling video of a lot of Nick's influences (Watch here).  Here's what Nick chose, but please watch the interview because they each weigh in on their personal picks.

  • Hiss Golden Messendger
  • cLOUDDEAD
  • Clark* (this was my personal favorite of Nick's Picks)
  • Dntel
  • Invention of Animals (my LEAST favorite, but cool to know that he's into this)
  • Madvillain Instrumentals (Accordion - his "favorite beat, of all the beats") - This is actually sampled from a Daedelus track entitled "Experience"
  • Prefuse 73 
  • Matmos
  • Also mentions Bjork's album "Vespertine"

Sylvan Esso Talks Tour Music & Their Influences on KEXP

Here's the video of their full performance on KEXP

Influences they discuss:

  • Blanko Basnet
  • Porches
  • Soul Coughing (Amelia's favorite band)
  • Mark De Gli Antoni (keyboard and sampling for Soul Coughing)
  • Blake Mills
  • Wye Oak
  • Tune Yards

Sylvan Esso Interviews (some good, some meh)

Seventh Hex Interview
Amelia & Nick talking Sylvan Esso beginnings
Weekly Feed

Then I found.......... Du nuhnuh nuh:

Sound + Process Interview: https://soundcloud.com/sound-and-process/nssap.  This discusses just about anything you could want; Nick's background, influences, rig, etc., etc.

"Everytime I looked at an option, all I could think was what that thing couldn't do.  And I just realized, that's really shi**y way to live your life."

Live Rig:  

  • Ableton
  • Akai APC 40
  • Teenage Engineering OP-1
  • Moog Minotaur 

More Rig: ("stuff that isn't tied to the clock")

Used with Made of Oak

"If it working is what the person on stage is most concerned about, then that's the most boring thing ever."

Which Led Me to Lines (monome forum): https://llllllll.co/
Sound + Process pulls all of their interviews from the contributors and artists on this forum.

Here's a sample by sample/theme by theme breakdown in the NY Times about their single "Radio": https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/26/arts/music/sylvan-esso-radio.html?_r=0

Nick and his friends' Other Projects:

  • Chris Rosenau - Collections of Colonies of Bees
  • Made of Oak
  • Cedar AV
  • Megafaun
  • He Can Jog

So, with all this Nick Sanborn love, maybe we'll hang out.  Maybe we'll be best friends and wear Chewbacca masks together.  Who knows - so many possibilities.