Kevin Garrett on Writing for Beyonce and Recording as an Independent Artist

My guest today is singer-songwriter Kevin Garrett. He is an extremely talented R&B, Neo-soul, and soul songwriter. It was such a treat to speak with him. Famously, he's Grammy-nominated for writing Beyonce's track "Pray You Catch Me" from her 'Lemonade' album. In this episode we discuss his music publishing deal with Roc Nation and his distribution strategies, his music creation process, and remaining independent. Note: We recorded this call over Zoom, and the technical gods were not in our favor during this interview. If you're hearing glitches and sentences being cut off, that's what's going on. We edited it as best we could so you can understand him, and it's still an incredible conversation. --- Quick links: 3:14 - Staying busy during the quarantine 6:14 - Kevin playing UnCancelled Music Festival + keeping the local music community venues alive 8:21 - Growing up in Pittsburgh and going to New York University 10:54 - Kevin's first release, 'Mellow Drama,' and how it was made 12:09 - Is the home studio just for demos or do those recordings make the album? 13:22 - About the music creation process and using samples 16:14 - Kevin Garrett's unique sound 20:34 - Remaining independent and the behind the scenes to a growing career 27:54 - Kevin's publishing deal and how everything gets set into motion 33:44 - When Kevin found out he made the cut on Beyonce's 'Lemonade' album 37:06 - Kevin's writing process when he's collaborating with others in the studio 41:14 - Protecting yourself with agreements and contracts 44:34 - The conversation nobody wants to have: splits, ownership, money 48:49 - Kevin's deal when he's the producer 54:06 - What it means to Kevin to 'make it' in the new music business --- Connect with Ari’s Take: Website: https://aristake.com Academy: https://aristakeacademy.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aristake_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@aris.take Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArisTake YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aristake/ Connect with Ari Herstand: Website: https://ariherstand.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/ariherstand Twitter: https://twitter.com/ariherstand YouTube: https://youtube.com/ariherstand Facebook: https://facebook.com/ariherstand Connect with Kevin Garrett: Website: https://kevingarrettmusic.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevinogarrett/ Facebook: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.