Anderson .Paak Talks Producing and Collabs at Jameson Distilled Sounds

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Anderson .Paak stays busy. The Grammy-winning multihyphenate is currently in his producer era, including working with the likes of Mariah Carey on her latest album. But he also brought his talents to Cavan, a tucked-away rural county about two hours north of Dublin, for the return of Jameson Distilled Sounds. 

Distilled Sounds is the whiskey giant’s global music platform, bringing together diverse talent for cross-genre, global collaboration, with artists from Ireland to India. Anderson .Paak was on hand for the second year, leading hands-on workshops, panels, and even performing live to inspire this year’s talent.

The big challenge for each artist was to write, produce, and perform a brand new track with an artist they were paired with. For an extra challenge, artists were given 45 minutes to rework “Come Home,” the opening track to .Paak’s album Ventura.

After a panel discussing the unique challenges of bringing “Come Home” together, we caught up with Anderson .Paak to talk Jameson, the joy of collaboration, and why he’s enjoying focusing on producing. 

One of the things you talked about in that panel was Motown. One of the things that’s so interesting about Motown to me is how it was almost like a factory production process. Is there something about that that’s appealing to you, that way of making music? 

Absolutely. I think it’s genius. It’s just amazing how much they put into artist development and into trying to keep their product consistent. And it’s intriguing to me, because I have a label now, too. When artists put out stuff, what does it mean to you that it’s a success? Is it a certain amount of streams? Is it that you wanted to win a Grammy? Is it something you want to hit Billboard? Do you want a certain amount of people at the show? They were holding themselves accountable. I’m like, okay, we’re not just putting out music. We want it to reach certain goals. 

They were doing that as a label; Berry Gordy was enlisting songwriters and putting the artists around songwriters. And they built a community and a family, all in this one house. I love that. 

You’ve collaborated with a lot of different people. Is there anyone that’s still on your wishlist that you haven’t checked off yet? 

Yeah, sure. Fiona Apple. Beyoncé. Stevie. Jay-Z. Yeah. And I love working with new artists. You know, there are artists that I hardly knew that people in my circle are like, ‘You’ve got to link with.’ And I was just in the studio working with Ca7riel and Paco from Argentina. I want to work with more international acts. I think that’s a lot of fun. 

So many of your albums are named after different spots in LA. Why is that important to you? 

I wanted to take the audience on a journey and make a series, so they could follow along. I was inspired by mixtapes with Lil Wayne, Gangsta Grillz, and DJ Clue, and all this stuff. It was always a series that people could follow along, and it starts to build a following. So I thought that was the best thing for me to do, especially because I had so many different songs that people would consider different genres. So I was like, ‘Okay, well, if it’s easier for them to process if I put it in a location.’ And it made it easier for me to process, too, because I could create a world for that album. 

What is your favorite thing about the collaborative process and working with other people? 

I love people in general, and especially people that are funny and smart, and I always learn new things, collaborating with different people. A lot of people have different producers or engineers that they work with, studios that they like to work with. You’ll have these incredible gear heads, and I get to learn stuff and take it back to what I’m doing. And I learned so much about myself; it brings out the best in me. 

This is your second year doing this with Jameson. Are there any lessons that you took now that you’re doing this again? 

I mean, it’s a whole new set of artists. So a whole new set of personalities. I was like, this group is a little more chill. So it’s like, again, just the curiosity and the openness. ‘I’m here for you guys. What do you guys want to do?’ I’m learning so much about them, they’re learning about me. Let’s just be open to creating something. And there’s no pressure. Look at where we’re at. This is awesome. I just try to go into it like that. I got my team with me. And I don’t know, we’re here to help. You know, we’re here to have a good time. 

Are there any songs of yours that have changed or you’ve changed how you feel about them as time has gone on? 

I got a song called “Drugs” that is a bit, I don’t know. Certain songs, they’re still bangers, but it’s just like, ‘damn, what did I say?’ And I’m still proud of them, but it goes to show how you can evolve. Each tour, we go into the back catalog and try to figure out ‘what’s the story we want to tell this time around?’ Some songs you kind of outgrow, and certain songs just don’t read well live. I’m just trying to tell a new story every time we hit the road. 

If you had to have a producer’s Mount Rushmore of, let’s say, four producers that, whether or not you’ve worked with them, you would put on that mountain? 

If they’re a duo, they still count as one?

That’s fair. 

Okay. Quincy Jones, Dr. Dre, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and the Neptunes.