About an hour from Cork airport, buried in the rolling Irish countryside, sits the Castlemartyr resort. This summer, the sprawling estate was taken over by Anderson .Paak along as part of a collaboration with Jameson Whiskey. Together, they transformed the resort into The Sound Distillery. It's all part of Jameson Distilled Sounds, an ongoing multi-year project nurturing and blending new talent programme designed to spark collaboration between musicians from all over the world.
Throughout the week, producers, rappers, singers and musicians from the UK, Malaysia, Germany, Portugal, South Africa, India, Nigeria, Ireland and beyond were matched together to find new ways to connect their talents. Working with NTS (the official Sound Distillery programme partner) and Fender (the Jameson Distilled Sounds music partner), the various artists were paired up in combinations that emphasised contrast, and then set the task of writing and recording their own original tracks to be performed at the end of the week.
One of those was Berlin-based singer-songwriter Ian Hooper of indie/folk band Mighty Oaks and Portuguese producer Branko. The mix of wistful, folk-leaning songwriting and the percussive heat of late-night Lisbon made for a bittersweet mix that proved how effective these contrasts can be. “I would never have gone down that path to make a beat like that, but it was fantastic,” Hooper commented. Elsewhere, Australia and Malaysia dovetailed on CLAUDIA and Kaiit’s “Draw Me”, a jazz/soul/pop hybrid jam that played to both singers' unique strengths and vocal styles.
Complex caught up with Anderson .Paak towards the end of the week, just as the final pieces of the collaborations were coming together. He explained his history with the brand, how it connects with his own exploration of new kinds of storytelling (he’s just about to release a full-length film with his soon), and the advice he got from Dr. Dre that he hopes to hand down to the musicians in the Sound Distillery.
Complex: Talk about how you got involved with all of this?
Anderson .Paak: I've been working with Jameson for some years now. We did another partnership a few years ago where it was about taking care of the local bars. And now we're back again. It's about collaborating with artists from all over the world, which I thought was amazing. Jameson is always just doing some great initiatives where I'm like, damn, this sounds like something I would be down to be a part of. They reached out and they wanted to hand-pick artists from around the world and collaborate here in Ireland. I wish that existed for me when I was coming up. It's been just amazing. I just jumped on board. I was super down to do it. It's been amazing. It's been really inspiring to meet these artists and hear their music and their stories.
What's your role specifically? Are you mentoring, executive producing, A&Ring?
I've been having a few discussions with all the artists here. We had a discussion about my record label, and I've gotten to go in and listen to some of the music that they're creating for their showcases. Honestly, I've just been just soaking it in. They've been asking me questions, and I've been trying to answer them to the best of my ability. I think it is a little bit of a mentorship, but just me Just checking out how they collaborate and any questions that they might have, offering my services in any way. I'm also going to perform at some point.
Image via Jameson Whiskey
You said once that when Dr. Dre discovered you, he was drawn to the mixture of the light and the dark in your voice as well as the juxtaposition of confidence and vulnerability. What is it you look for in an artist?
Honestly? It’s the same. I love confidence. I love a story. I love someone who has an incredible work ethic and attention to detail. I love people that can perform with an instrument, someone that has a really clear vision for what they want as an artist and a unique sense of style. I love someone that is putting everything into their art, someone that really eats, sleeps, and breathes it. I love an artist who has so much potential and is willing to learn, too, and has that curiosity.
What else do you remember from those Dr. Dre days? Is there anything that you're holding in your mind that you want to pass on to these people today?
Being able to put so much time into your craft to where when it's time to execute, you can execute right on the spot where you don't need very much of anything but your voice or your hands or anything, stuff like that. And being self-sufficient and having That is a unique style that is hard to carbon copy, standing out. I think that's what it is, being unique. When I came across Dre's desk, Dre has a long history within LA, he’s the final boss, especially if you come up in California, that's the epitome. To be in the studio with him and he is being like, Do your thing, AP, and helping to where I can execute that over his production and over his guidance. That requires a lot of trust in himself and in me. I think that only comes with having a real understanding of what you can do as an artist and what you are capable of
And from years of experience as well, right? You couldn't find that with someone who's really just uploaded a few things on TikTok.
Years, bro. Years. The people that have put time into TikTok and it's probably paying off, too. That takes a lot of experience. Nothing against that, but there's going to come a time where you might have to execute something where you don't have proper lighting or proper video or something, and people want to see what you could do on the spot.
Image via Jameson Whiskey
On the subject of TikTok, your son, Soul, makes a lot of content. You’ve made a film together, which is just about to be released. How did that come about?
It's been fun. I spent over three years working on this film with my son. It started in quarantine with his YouTube skits and I was getting super inspired by that. Spending all that time with him, seeing what he was interested in, I realised how talented he was and how much of a natural he was. We started making skits and we really started bonding through that. I wanted to be able to carry that over and to tell a story and give people that same feeling that I started working on a script and I got a production team together. Khaila Amazan [executive producer] hooked me up and helped produce it. We started working on a movie where I was a washed-up musician that finds out my long lost son could be the next K-pop star. And yeah, started writing a script, went through many draughts, and eventually we started shooting, and now we are premiering at Toronto Film Festival in September.
Okay, so soon then.
Yeah, it's very soon. I'm busting my ass to finish up the last finishing touches on this movie, and it's been my baby, one of my prized possessions.
Is this the first film you've worked on?
Yeah, pretty much. I've done other stuff, voiceover stuff. I've done cameo stuff, but this was my first feature film for sure, and I directed it as well.
So it was a real baptism of fire for both?
Yeah, for sure. Soul got in there and really did it. He killed it. I'm really proud of it.
And you're starring in it together?
Yeah.
Image via Jameson Whiskey
Will music always be your first love or is this the start of you moving into other mediums?
I'm curious. I just feel like music is very precious to me. At this point in my career, I want to be able to take the time that is needed to go away and conceive something that has substance and something that is fulfilling to what I want as an artist now and go back and deliver. I've been loving the adventure and the process of learning how to tell stories in different ways in different mediums like film. Even then, I have so much to learn with that. It's been a great journey, and I'm just really hyped on that. I've been able to also intertwine my music within that, too. It's been fun as hell.
Also, there's going to be some AP music on the soundtrack?
Yeah, yeah. New music, all kinds of collaborations with K-pop people, all kinds. Oh, yeah.
On that subject, I know you've said you're done with the ‘beach’ series—Malibu, Venice, etc.—what's the next chapter?
I need to take some time to figure that out, but I have a bunch of music that I've been working on for years. I've been putting out a lot of music as well and doing a lot of different projects that I've been working on for years that are now just coming out, whether it's with myself or other people. I want to block some time out and figure out what the next thing is, what I want to say. Yes, I did say that the beach thing was over, but I just remember how that's why I chose it, because of how hard it is to make album titles and do stuff.
So we could still get a Santa Barbara album?
Haha, yeah, why not? We'll see what happens.
Image via Jameson Whiskey
So you have all this music, you’re still recording a lot of music, too, but you literally just put out a NxWorries album. You want it to breathe, but then you also, presumably, there's this mountain of stuff building up. How do you balance it?
It's got to get it out, man. I just think that's the best way to go about it. I have so much stuff, and why just hold on to it and the stuff that I've been holding on for years. It's great stuff and I'm proud of it. I feel like it's a part of the balance. For me to go off and do one thing, I need to do something else as well to balance it out. A lot of this stuff I've been working on for years is just coming out. It's cool, but it’s a lot of work and I think it'll be helpful to take some time off, gather my thoughts, and then come back when it's ready. I don’t know what the balance is, that's just how I work as an artist. It might seem like there's a lot of stuff going on, but I'm very intentional in what I do and when I do it.
You’ve collaborated with so many different artists from so many different genres. What is it you look for in a potential collaborator?
Basically, anyone who can take me in a new direction that I haven't tried it out. That's a big one. I love that, being pulled out of my usual sound, asking myself, how can I make this me? I just did a song with Gwen Stefani and Ryan Tedder for the Olympics. And then before that, I had a song with Blxst. And then SiR, Fred again.. There's all these different places that I can perform and I love that. It just keeps me on my toes. It keeps it exciting for me and inspires me. A lot of the music I put out is me featuring on other people's stuff, producing, stuff like that. Sometimes it helps me creatively because for some reason it's easier when it's for other people. Then when I get to my stuff, I can take what I've learned and put that into my solo work. That's a big part of it. It’s also good to just break out and do something separate where I can just connect with people I can have fun with and create with and it doesn’t have to tie into anything. That's huge, too. It shouldn't feel yucky, like it's transactional or something. Usually, I get to spend some time with the people I work with, but even if I don't, it still feels right. I've gotten to really hang out with a lot of the people that I've collaborated with, and that's the funnest part, getting to know these artists. We're all out here together, man.
Image via Jameson Whiskey
That drive to push yourself into new places, does that come naturally? Or are you constantly saying, No, don't slip into that rut.
No, I think it comes naturally. I think because I'm a middle child I'm just used to being able to playing different roles. I love to work with people and be useful. If that means I need to be a leader, then I'll be a leader. If that means I need to be a role player, I'm down. I love the mechanics of that and getting to learn that and making something new with that and being open to that. I get a lot of joy out of that.
One thing that struck me when I first discovered your music, was you hearing you rap one track, sing sweetly on another and then when I saw you live you had thick mutton chops and a sleeveless denim jacket, literally wearing your hardcore roots on your sleeve. What new avenues have you been exploring lately?
Yeah! Absolutely, I’ve been really getting into Afrobeats and Amapiano. I love that shit, man. It's such a crazy energy. I’ve been really digging into that house music while I was working with Kaytranada and Fred again.. I've been digging into a lot of electronic stuff and experimental dance music, actually. CHIKA put me on to jungle in a big way. I love this intense jungle shit! Oh, my God. It's so crazy. A lot of stuff doesn't have vocals and it's like, wow, man! It's such a crazy energy. I think it's endless, man.
Image via Jameson Whiskey