I was in Studio 54 one time; it was great. But I'm not a discotheque guy. Sometimes, if I had a new demo, I went to some discotheques to check it out - see how the reactions of the people were. But just to dance, I rarely did that.
When the movie's done, you talk about either the score or source music over a particular scene, what might work. You just throw a piece of music over the scene, and we both listen to it.
I'm always looking for people to play the songs to.
Any club is important. All Latin music movements are born in clubs. There is no better research than going to a club. If your music works, it will bounce up.
We were playing shows still when we wrote 'Phoebe' and 'Rock All Night.' We got to test those songs in a live setting, so it was nice recording them and knowing which ones really resonated with the crowd.
I listen to music a lot on the treadmill - I would test 'Raditude' songs out on the treadmill.
A lot of songs I sang to crowds to get their reaction. That's how I knew they'd hit.
Everything I make as a producer, I visualize it as a DJ first. And all those beats, I test them as a DJ.
I always try to keep my friends within my music. I always play them all of the songs, and they are my biggest critics, and they love it, so that's a good sign.
I sometimes play different kinds of music to see where the performers end up. I play one genre. Then something else when I do it again. It really helps.
