#156: Dan Giffin on The Mental Side Of Music Production & Performing As A Live Act

Our courses → https://edmprod.com/courses This week, Dan Giffin sat down to chat for the EDM Prodcast. Dan Giffin is an Ableton Certified Trainer who runs the website Live Producers Online and hosts the Ableton Music Producer Podcast. Currently based in Indianapolis, he has taught Grammy-winning artists and major acts like Mac Miller, Machine Gun Kelly & The Band Perry. He also produces under the alias Philia, where he writes bass music infused with jazz, soul, and other styles. Philia is also a band when they perform live, in which Dan does improvised DJing as well as playing the drums, along with a saxophone player and keys player. We dive into topics such as the mental side of music production, and why he believes the key to music production is mostly overcoming mental hurdles. Later on, he also emphasizes the importance of finding a mentor and learning in a structured way. Towards the end we talk production, some of his favorite plugins and devices right now, and some great techniques for staying creative. Links: Live Producers Podcast → https://www.liveproducersonline.com/podcast Ableton Live MasterClass → https://www.liveproducersonline.com/masterclass Ableton Live 11 Discount → https://www.liveproducersonline.com/buyableton Expressive E Touché → https://www.expressivee.com/1-touche Smooth Operator → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjqAFIaXvSs Connect with Dan Giffin: Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/PhiliaMusic Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/philiamusic Soundcloud → https://soundcloud.com/philia-music-official Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/artist/6WS2tulZgvxGCX2OnxPbMg?si=3fkWImXcSUOwJIp5_IjJnw&dl_branch=1 Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 2:00 Interview Start & GIFs 3:52 Dan's Background & Becoming an Ableton Certified Trainer 6:26 Practice & Collab With People Better Than You 8:26 Listening To Different Types of Music (& Moving to NY) 11:02 Should You Move to A Major City for Music? 12:24 Does Playing An Instrument Help Production? 15:08 The Problem With Tutorials & Free Resources 15:45 Running Live Producers Online 17:40 What Holds Back Most Producers Mentally? 22:19 COVID's Impact on Writing Music for Live 24:45 The US' Explosion of Live Shows 27:40 How Performance Nerves Can Be Selfish 28:57 Working With Mac Miller & Major Artists 31:24 Finding Opportunities Working At Studios 34:04 Moving Cities For Music (Again) 36:35 Online Music Communities 38:26 Dan's Music Project - Philia 41:52 The Importance of Live Show Visuals 44:16 Developing His Live Show 46:04 Accidentally Throwing A Drum Stick At A Fan 47:37 DJing vs Live Shows 49:44 Pendulum's Insane Live Show 50:58 Redundancy in Live Shows 53:30 Dan's Writing Process 55:35 What To Consider When Working With Vocals 56:50 Sidechaining Things That Aren't The Kick Drum 58:16 Favourite Plugins & Techniques 59:59 Favourite Ableton Live 11 Features 01:04:36 The Power of Stock Tools 01:07:51 What's Coming Up Next? 01:09:11 If you had a time machine, what would you change? EDMProd: Website → https://edmprod.com Instagram → https://instagram.com/edmprodgram Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/EDMPsite Soundcloud → https://soundcloud.com/edmprod Spotify → https://sptfy.com/edmprod Aden Russell (Artsea): Instagram → https://instagram.com/iamartsea Facebook → https://facebook.com/iamartsea Spotify → https://sptfy.com/iamartsea Soundcloud → https://soundcloud.com/iamartsea