The next generation of music makers will never ask the question “Can I really make a hit song in a bedroom studio?” Instead they will simply do it and assume it’s normal.
That’s exactly what LA based artist/DJ Gnash has been doing the last few years as he is churning out cart topping hits (like 2016s breakout single I Hate U, I Love U) with home studio equipment in a tiny garage studio at his childhood home, where he still lives with his parents.
The emphasis has never been on the gear and studio, but rather the songs and the audience – just as it should be.
Photo by Julian Burgueno
This $200 Mic From Guitar Center
Getting his start as a DJ, the up and coming pop artist Gnash (Garrett Charles Nash) turned to original songwriting and started making music in his dad’s garage.
Still living at home, Gnash and his dad converted one third of their garage into a small, but doable home studio, where Gnash has recorded every song he’s done. And the best part? According to a recent interview in the Tampa Bay Times he uses budget equipment.
“My dad got me the same mic I use on everything now – this $200 mic form Guitar Center” – Gnash
I love it.
He has a microphone that’s working great (as any mic over $100 will do) and he’s not spending hours on forums or Facebook trying to find out what is “the best mic” for recording vocals. Instead he’s just using what he has and making hit songs.
And ultimately that’s a huge reason why he’s becoming successful.
He’s putting in the time to make lots of music and get it out there, rather than debate what equipment is “professional” enough to make a record.
And speaking of “getting it out there”, let’s talk about his approach to releasing music.
Dropping Singles As Soon As You Write Them
The pattern for as long as I can remember has been for artists to spend about one to two years writing, recording, mixing, and preparing to release an album or collection of songs.
Thus, every two to three years, every major artist would (and in most cases still does) release a brand new album to the world, complete with new singles, music videos, and an announcement of new tour dates.
Music was created on a 2 year cycle.
But the last couple of years I’ve seen a change and have personally been advocating for a change in release method for most modern musicians. Moving away from the 2 year album cycle to the yearly or even monthly cycle.
Gnash is a great example of someone who is doing just that – “preferring to drop new singles almost as soon as he writes and records them”.
According to Billboard Magazine, even with his 2016 hit I Hate U, I Love U he simply finished it and put it out online for all to hear.
I mixed it, finished the verse, fixed it, and put it out on the same night — and I went inside to my house ’cause I work in my garage, I make all my stuff out there — and I went into my mom’s bedroom like, “Mom, I just put my biggest song ever out,” kinda joking, and she was like, “Go back to bed, honey.” That’s about the extent of what I thought the song was gonna be. – Gnash
How home studio is that?
Writing, recording, mixing, and releasing music on a song by song basis is not only a reasonable way to approach music making as an artist it’s smart for your brand.
Simply Staying Focused On Creating Cool Stuff
To get a feel for how Gnash works on music and how he stays focused on the important things, you have to check out this 10 minute mini-documentary. After a few minutes you instantly realize that he’s captivated by music and creativity.
He’s always looking for new sounds, new ideas, and new songs.
Using simple gear like an Apollo Twin and some KRK monitors, Gnash just spends time creating and collaborating, trying to make something that is “cool” that will connect with his fans.
And isn’t that what we are all trying to do?
If you’re reading this, then you likely have a home studio with a simple setup that allows you to record and mix your own music. And if you don’t, then the good news is it doesn’t take much. Even $350 will get you all you need!
Once you have the simple setup, it all comes down to creating cool music. Music that inspires YOU as an artist and that will connect with and inspire others.
That takes time.
Time to write, record, experiment, share, revise, create, share more, and engage with others who love music.
And every time you create and share a piece of music you get better. That’s how you improve. Not by perfecting something, but by producing something.
Gnash is a great example of this “recording revolution” we are living through. He’s taking advantage of it. How about you?
What is one thing you can do this week to kick your music making into high gear? Will you write a song in a day? Release a mix you’ve been pouring over for too long? Plan a live show in your town?
Leave a comment below and let’s encourage one another to actually focus on music making and not debating gear!
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My name is Graham Cochrane and I'm the founder of The Recording Revolution, one of the world's most loved audio recording and mixing blogs with over 200,000 readers each month. 
You are so right! I have lots of 1/4 finished songs because I try to make every word or note so perfect from the very beginning that I never even finish the project. If I just flushed out the entire song, corrected the glaring errors and mix to a listenable sound I could create so much more music.
Inspiring story. He seems like a super cool, talented, well raised, driven kid.
Thanks man! Great text! I also have a lot that i just get stuck with.. But i usually think of what bands sounds the best and has the best feel to their Sound, (im into rock and metal btw) and the best sounding artist/recordings are played live or on one take and their not processed and perfected a thousand times, thats whats so cool about it! Iron maiden is one of the best sounding bands i know and they are by no means allways on time, 100% synkronized and so on! But they have a ton of feel to their songs! This was i Good motivation for a new week👌🏼
This is an inspiring article. My issue with submitting songs as soon as I write them is that 1. I am a singer/songwriter NOT a musician, so I am leery about the quality of the music doing it by myself. 2. I know the next thing you’re gonna say is find somebody who will play/make the music for me…I have tried this but other peoples time lines and mine don’t seem to line up. I’ve experienced working with a notable producer but after almost 6 months, he is still telling me, we should have it done by the end of this week, every week!
MC, I too have thought of myself more as a singer/songwriter, but this means you are a creator, and there are opportunities to become more skilled as a musician so you do not have to always rely on others all the time.
That’s great advice! I’m not all that accomplished as a musician. Play a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Digital recording is very forgiving when it comes to mistakes or just getting the idea down.
Go back and listen to the first thing you recorded yourself and compare it to what you are creating now. I guarantee if you have been truly working at it there will be noticeable improvement.
This very thing has been on my mind lately, realizing I spend far more time “preparing” to be creative than actually being creative. I need to read this post every day just to keep from straying away from actual creation.
Music really touches people and in my mind it is our duty to create and share. We have been given a gift that not everyone has and if we don’t create and share what is the point of having this gift?
I have at least 4 songs that I should have already released to the public. I’ll get right on that 😉
Graham, I’m really glad you shared this story. What a great combination of family, friends, and determined talent that combined to chronicle Gnash’s successful contribution to his world and ours…
I have written hit songs and had a successful music career as a songwriter and musician. I had the attitude of “gnash.” Then after a while, which is natural, I needed a break from a blessed career as a musician. I was TIRED! I guess I needed a rest. I made a move to Nashville for peace, not music at first. Like your music though totally different, speaking of Nashville, country music has been called “3 Chord Changes and the Truth. HOWEVER, after that “rest” and returning to my music, a different attitude crept into my creative process and it was for progress AND CONNECTED with financial security. In true creative “process” from the soul and heart, this is partial if not complete death to the freedom of OPEN and HONEST creativity. I am 73 years old and I am going back to what I did and who I was …. with, at that time, not knowing it! (My wife says I can regress to 18 years old in a flash). From an honest young musician to a successful musician to an “I want to keep it SECURE” (what I attained financially and my reputation (some ego) and now, finally, back to what this young man has – “gnash” – is becoming my FULL journey. Yes, he helped his family BUT as a result of total honesty with his art. I have been trying to find out what was missing and finally realized what it was BUT this video sealed it! Thank you, young man! DON’T lOSE IT! A rest perhaps for you down the road or not ……. but don’t forget! My humble advice to you and thanks, young man for the reminder! Totally different music to some who will listen but honesty in his world of music. I just finished some EDM tracks but am going back into country/rock/dance … like another musically free soul, Keith Urban. He’s got some static about lost of his new songs are not true country BUT for heaven’s sakes, a banjo and his country voice against some of the new type of style of music tracks he did makes it real. REAL hit after hit off his new CD that doesn’t need Billboard “bless” but his truth has lots of people that relate. It also goes for the artist, Chris Matthews and a few other new “I am doing my thing and if you like it fine – if you don’t, that’s fine too!
Blessings Gnash,
Duane Hitchings
( Thank you, Graham Cochrane, for this video and your great site ! )
This is really for you and Gnash if you so want to send to him. I posted your video and my remarks on my Facebook page to share with my friends . I thought they might enjoy it.
Thanks for your thoughts Duane!
Very good post my man. Loved this. Just the inspiration I needed as I sit and stew over the hundreds of songs I’ve started but not finished and released. Time to make a bigger difference!
Thank u jesus for this man Graham 🙂 bless. I have some good songs but because I get awful white noise in my recodings I always hold back my songs and stop recording often. But man you always inspire me. Especially when you saying we dont need expensive gear to make a hit. I really need to get out of that pefect waiting. Dweeno musicz is my youtube channel I record my songs and download beats some if the times. Godbless
It’s a brilliant thing you’re doing. Are computers killing the art of song? Loops specifically. Everything is in 4/4. It’s anti-music to think of a computer as a means to the end. When it’s the only tool someone uses, it’s because they’re computer people…not music people. And they’re killing the art beneath swathes of shallow,cliche-heavy, predictable un-music.
Am I right?
Who should answer you if you’re right or wrong? Would that person then first answer you and then ask “Am I right or wrong?”. Catch my drift!?
art is (anti)subjective. ThE cOMpUtEr ItSELf Is ArT!!!!Engineers are ARTISTS and ARTISTS ARE engineers!!! Expression is the essence… it is YOUR RIGHT to express yourself! changing from 4/4 to 3/4 does not make your expression more appealing to EVERYONE. Thats just jazz my friend. There is no right and wrong in a hit song… it just means you created something made the world sing along…mix…sample…hook…skill…loop…aesthetic….genre… the facets are many and the methods/means are plenty… embrace music because you love it, not because you despise the way others deduce their formula of expression. Good luck to you all and God Bless you Graham!
Graham, thanks for bringing this to our attention. I had no idea the guy responsible for such a big hit was doing this at home. Does anyone have any idea how these guest vocalists are recorded? Or what the mixes sounded like before mastering(I’m assuming the mixes were done in the bedroom studio). Who’s the guy with the big mixer and Pro Tools? My guess is that a lot of the instrumentation was virtual, midi, something like that.
I think that these type of songs are much easier to do on computers than Rock and Metal. First off, when I’ve worked on Rock songs, even with shorter sessions, they run out of cpu faster than Rap songs with higher track counts and more plugins. I think it’s like video, where a comedy movie takes significantly less cpu resources and time to convert than say a busy Sci-Fi flick. My experience has been that the more busy and dense the music, the more cpu it requires.
For my taste, Rock and Metal also need a lot more saturation and related things to not sound sterile. Things native to these styles also make them more susceptible to aliasing and other problems that happen to a higher degree at 44k compared to 96k. Using all digital, cpu efficient plugs doesn’t really help the sterility inherent with things recorded in a pure digital manner on a DAW.
A lot of the top 40 stuff that ends up on NOW or Bravo Hits sounds very home studioish even though it’s songs by famous people. I would not be surprised if a lot of famous mixers were receiving tracks done on analog hardware and then mainly using digital plugins at 44k in some old version of Pro Tools.
Can’t say I’m a huge fan of today’s Rock and Metal mixes. The quality is light years behind something like The Black Album, Appetite, or Hysteria. It’s especially apparent in the vocals. Just listen to the Hysteria re-recordings. To date, I haven’t seen anyone really explain how to or make a video showing that a modern DAW with analog plugins can duplicate the record making processes of analog studios from the 70s-90s. Even if it were easily possible, today’s CPUs can’t run a big session where you’re putting tape, consoles, and other analog gear on every channel as if you had a real analog studio. Even at 44k it isn’t all that possible.
Just look at the plugin counts for the Soundgrid servers. The $2500 Extreme can only run 9 instances of H-Reverb at 96k and 14 at 44k. It can do 181 NLS mono and half of that in stereo. But you’ll hit the limit of their studiorack plugin first. 64 mono and 32 stereo instances(you’re forced to use studiorack, it’s sorta like a Slate VMR, but with a limit of 8 plugins per rack). Gnash is using an Apollo Twin, right? He’s getting at least a little extra DSP outta that.
I looked around and haven’t found a real cd quality version or better of this song. “I hate u I love u” has one on Bravo Hits 94 that I need to listen to. The mastering on those Bravo sets is usually more dynamic and less harsh than the actual albums or the NOW discs. It’ll be interesting to hear how it holds up with a higher fidelity.
Thanks again, Graham.
As a producer I am constantly pushing artists who want to hold on to a song to let go. There are a variety of reasons from fear of rejection to fear of success and more. As you said Graham you have to make music and put it out to get better. I find that staying focused on creating music and having fun while doing it is that path to success. I don’t worry what others are going to think (not that I don’t appreciate advice on what I can do to make the music better). I don’t worry that someone is or isn’t going to like it.
Not a comment, a question. When you say “drop a single”, where are you dropping it to? Nimbit? Facebook? DistroKid? CD Baby?
Yes, good question and also HOW? Any managers or record labels behind him to collect revenue?
Hello ! I have the same question !
Any of the above 🙂 These days I use Distrokid
I will sell my SSL console (just kidding, haven’t got an SSL but a Digi003Factory). The Twin should SOUND nice though!
I will focus on finishing up some songs with my mate in Atalanta, to be pitched to managers or artists. Hope to sell them. And then make tons of new songs and not be afraid of HOW they sound, but focus 100% on the feel!!!!!!!!
Just watched the 10min interview. What this article doesn’t mention is the fact that he has been an intern in a pro studio for years and learned good sound recording & mixing and therefor he know what he’s doing, even from his pro home studio setup. He properly also knows exactly how to master properly etc cause he got it taught to him. So I think the article should add these things so one doesn’t get the impression that he’s just a garage guy with no knowledge of nothing other that “feel” the music.
Great article and very true.
I often waste creative time trying to remember how everything works or fix problems – so need to invest time getting totally familiar with the gear I have.
Man, this was JUST what I needed to hear… every aspect. Thank your u Graham ( and Gnash ) for sharing with us recording wanna-be’s! YOU ROCK!
Great article Graham, it can be done! Can you provide any info on what it means to “get it out”? Where do you put it out that might garner the attention that he received? It would be greatly helpful to us undies to not only know what but how and where.
Thanks again!
If you want my honest opinion, the song sucks but the success is wonderful for him.
all I can think of is “The Day The Music Died” by Don McLean. That is a good song without much variation, in the AAABA song structure style; but the words are excellent and the arrangement fantastic. It has nothing to do with equipment but experience and time. The early rockers had to go through years of grind before they polished their chops. What happened.
Does he master his own stuff and just release it? I’ve wanted to release stuff on a more regular basis but thought I needed to get it separately mixed/mastered.
Great article, truly inspiring. I have to say that for US-based people probably the math is correct, but for us in Brazil, for instance, the odds are way worse. Apollo Twin costs equivalent of USD 5100,00 here and not USD 899 as people pay for it in Guitar Center. I guess the same is true for a number of places outside US so when it comes to inexpensive gear our standards goes way below yours.
Inspiring. I plan on finishing my 1/2 written songs and moving on to even more song ideas. Ideas I have but flushing them out has always been hard. I also plan on going to events to network locally. With a band or a friend it has been so much more motivating to finish a song or project. Keep them posts coming Graham!