In this podcast our very own hosts Joel Imber and Mel Antal are joined by the incredibly talented young music producer Cody Webberley aka ‘Koh-Dee’. We learn about the journey and career path for a young music producer based in Hobart, and the hopes and dreams that await!
What’s your first memory of Youth ARC?
I remember Joel inviting me and my cousin Jay Ward into the Bunker Music Studio and showing us some of the production gear that Youth ARC had. There were a couple of microphones, a drumkit and a native instruments machine which was cool! We started having a play around which was super fun because I had nothing like that at home!
When did you first get into music and how did it all start?
I’ve been producing music since I was in about eight or ninth grade. About 7 or 8 years ago. I was just naturally curious about musicians like Daft Punk who produced electronic sounds and I wanted to learn how they went about it. So I researched different types of programs and DAW’s, (Digital Audio Workstations) to help make it all happen. That’s where I found Ableton, which became a Christmas present that my parents got for me! Haha. I loved it so much but I didn’t know how to use it and I didn’t have anyone around me who knew about producing electronic music. So I read the manual that came with it which was a really thick book! Haha. It was the only thing I had and I hated reading at the time, haha. I tried to do my best with the information I had on hand but after a while it just wasn’t enough. So my parents decided to help me look for someone to help tutor me by putting an ad in the Mercury newspaper. A guy called Allan McConnell responded who was studying at the Con at the time, and I’m so glad he did!
What was your first project in beat-making like?
It was exhilarating! I recently revisited some of my old songs with one of my friends, just going through and listening to our very first projects and it was kind of hard not to cringe at them! Haha. But still, it felt amazing at the time just to be able to complete a full song. It was comparable to the songs I was listening to and the artists I looked up to at the time. It obviously didn’t sound anywhere near as good! Haha. But in terms of the form and the structure it was a closer product than what I had before.
Who were some of the artists you were looking up to at the time?
Flume was definitely a big one and Allan introduced me to Lido, who is still one of my favourite producers in the game. I also went through a big Dub-step and Trap phase, listening to people like Skrillex. I still haven’t got out of that! A lot of my time was spent behind a computer at my desk haha, just working towards music and learning all the techniques and skills needed to make proper electronic music.
What inspired your music production dream?
Back in music class studying at Sorrell high school, everyone was getting into traditional instruments learning how to play drums or learning how to play covers on keyboard, just learning other people’s music. I was just fiddling away a lot of the time just making my own stuff up and I was fortunate enough to have a very understanding music teacher at the time (actually all of my music teachers have just been lovely!). But I just really wanted to make my own music and he really supported me in performing music that I made up on the keyboard. It felt a little more unique and that was my way of standing out.
How did COVID lockdown affect you?
I’ve got a home studio right next to my bedroom at my parents place. I’m lucky enough to have a separate space to where I sleep so that I’m not too distracted but I’ve been producing in this little home studio since before the virus so it hasn’t really affected my creativity that much at all. It probably has in terms of working with people and collaborating, it’s made that harder. For example, working with a couple of vocalists and I wasn’t able to do any recording work with them until the restrictions eased.
If you’d like to hear more from Koh-Dee checkout Facebook at www.facebook.com/kohdeemusic
Instagram www.instagram.com/kohdeemusic
SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/kohdeemusic
Or on Spotify