OPINION: It Doesn't Matter, It's Just Lo-Fi

Lately, I've been producing lo-fi music. Lo-fi beats, lo-fi house… There's something so fun about trying to achieve a degraded, off-the-grid sound. Throwing plugins around, seeing what sticks. Running the different elements of my beats through tape machines, saturation units, EQs and whatever else to find out what works, and what doesn’t.

There's only one way to mix things "the right way". On the other hand, there are countless ways to break the rules and make something that sounds wonky, dislocated, exciting.

There’s only one way to fit the mold, but there are plenty of ways to break it.

It's tempting to try to fit in, to sound like everyone else. We'd all like to be on those big editorial Spotify playlists. We'd all like to be part of the zeitgeist... But when you sound like everyone else, you end up being another face in the crowd.

With the help of AI, companies like Izotope have released tools that can help you get a totally legit professional in a few clicks. I'm a big fan of plugins like Neutron and Ozone, they find their place in everything I produce. But I don't use them blindly.

Just like how some effects can destroy a perfectly balanced mix, Neutron can remove all the character of a sinfully lo-fi jam.

On the other hand, I love to destroy a "good mix" by stacking a bunch of effects on the master to make it sound like an unspooled cassette tape. It's counter-intuitive to shift perfectly quantized MIDI notes of the grid and create some more organic grooves.

I have to remind myself that the flaws are my favorite part of other people's music. I like muffled mixes, sloppy drums, or a detuned bass. I like when it sounds homemade, when there's some life beyond the 1s and 0s of the laptop.

I love a room tone, a vinyl hiss, an ambient field recording. Glimpses of real-life integrated into a beat. I love technical limitations and embarrassing lyrics.

Aren't we all scared to be judged, to appear like anything less than perfect? As an artist, or even as a person.

But it's when we let ourselves be vulnerable that people start to love us for who we are, and for what we do.

Whether it’s making music, or living life, it’s not about getting straight As, it’s about letting go of expectations and taking it as it comes. Learning to perceive it as what it is: the most important thing in the world and something that doesn’t matter at all.

When I can connect with that part of me that gets the cosmic joke and that knows nothing really matters in the end, it’s way easier to enjoy the process and let go of perfectionism. Make the music I want to hear rather then the music that already exists.

As a sub-genre, lo-fi music is a perfect embodiment of that concept.

When I struggle to let imperfections in my artistic process, I have to remind myself:

It doesn't matter, it's just lo-fi.

Photo credit: Austin Neill.