Tips From A Music Producer: An Interview with PLV
“Quality comes from quantity,” says Canadian music producer PLV, in reference to her ever-expanding creative endeavours.
A self-starter from the gate, PLV began her escapade into the music industry earlier this year, after stumbling across a music production masterclass hosted by Norwegian record producer and DJ, Kygo. She has since released a variety of EDM tracks, including ‘Behind My Eyes’ (2021) with collaborator Nois, and has developed a Youtube channel in attempts to help other beginner creatives cultivate their own music production capabilities - the latter garnering her over 1000 subscribers.
Not only is her fast-paced musical progression impressive, PLV represents the newest generation of online learners who utilise every tool to their advantage within the industry, and as such, are right at the new wave of pressing musical changes.
Editor Caitlin Andrews was fortunate enough to interview PLV and capture her novice-friendly advice for blossoming creatives.
Caitlin Andrews: Hey, PLV! How are you doing?
PLV: “Hi! I’m doing great! Thank you for having me on the magazine!”
CA: Over the course of your career you’ve amassed a wealth of different creative pursuits, including music production, developing a Youtube channel, and creating visual effects and feature animation for films. What got you started in these endeavours, and which feels the most creatively fulfilling for you?
PLV: “I guess I’ve always been a very creative person. I find it very satisfying and rewarding to create something concrete from what is in your mind - there is just no limit to the imagination! I would say that music production and creating YouTube videos are the most fulfilling for me, because it was always a dream of mine and I never thought I would be able to do it. Visual effects are my job, so it is less gratifying, as music and YouTube are something I am doing completely on my own.”
CA: Your Youtube channel, PLV Music, is designed to help up-and-coming music creatives learn the ropes of music production. What would you consider one fundamental lesson that you wished you could have known prior to entering into the music industry?
PLV: “When starting music production, it can be really hard at first to get decent results. Putting your head into the music software results in lots of failures… Sometimes, I had periods where I couldn’t produce anything for 3 weeks and I was trying every single day. So, I guess knowing that it is going to be hard and knowing how to deal with failure could help. Be ready to fail, but know that this is the only way to learn and progress - it is part of the journey, and that’s okay.”
CA: If you had to pick five skills that were most important when it came to being a music producer, what would those skills
be?
PLV: “If you want to be a music producer, you need to have knowledge that goes way beyond just music. You need marketing skills to get your music heard, you need graphic design skills to bring your music to life, you need to be good at networking to create opportunities to grow your brand. You need to be good at time management because there is so much to do - making music and everything else related to it takes time. And finally, I guess you need to be good at managing your mental health because it is a hard industry!”
CA: Earlier in November, you released ‘You Make Me Feel’ which was a track written, produced and composed by you independently. How did that experience differ from other tracks you’ve developed in collaboration with other creatives, like Nois and Kenji?
PLV: “‘You Make Me Feel’ was very satisfying to produce and very fun! Because I was the only one on the project, I was able to take some more risks, and go a bit more outside of what I was used to do to experiment. It was also a quicker project to complete. But the best part was that being alone pushed me to get better at every step of the production, as I had no help, though I applied some concepts that I had learn from my previous collaborations. In my opinion, a good mix of solo projects and collaboration is a great way to learn and progress!
CA: If you had the opportunity to develop a track with any artist, who would you choose?
PLV: “Ah... this is a tough one, as there are so many artists on my mind! But I’m guessing Charlie Puth, Ed Sheeran or Justin Bieber would be on the top of my list.”
CA: What are your long-term goals in relation to progressing in the music industry? What achievement would feel like ‘success’ to you?
PLV: “Right now my main goal is to actually get really good at producing music to show that anyone can learn any skill if you put in the time and work! And if, at some point, I would be able to live on music and content creation, that would be a great personal achievement.”
CA: Can you walk us through the process involved in either producing a track or creating one of your Youtube videos on a day-to-day basis?
PLV: “For sure! So, as this is not my main job, I always use my time in the morning before 9am, in the evening after 6pm, and on the weekends. Usually one day is going to be focused either on creating my YouTube videos or on making music. If I make a YouTube video, I usually start by writing the script, which takes me about 2 hours, and then the next day I
shoot the video, which can take between 30 minutes to 4 hours. Once this is done, I start editing the video over the next few days. I always try to have my video ready and uploaded on YouTube the day before its release in case of any problems during the upload...
… If I’m making a song, I usually start when I feel inspired and just spend some time trying to come up with a vibe, a feeling, something that I like but without having a strong idea laid down. Then the next few days I develop the idea, sometimes I even send it to another producer who I think could bring good ideas for a collaboration. It honestly can take months to finish a song. Just going back and forth with ideas, getting it to sound right etc., until I am happy with the final product.”
CA: What would you say is your favourite genre of music, both in relation to what you prefer to produce and what you prefer to consume?
PLV: “This question is always hard for me because, as a beginner music producer, I am exploring and producing a lot of different music genres to learn from; so, it evolves every month. But, the main genre I love is EDM, more precisely Progressive House, because it’s energetic and it motivates me to achieve my dreams!”
CA: If you had to offer three pieces of advice to a budding producer, what advice would you offer?
PLV: “The main advice would be to start! I know a lot of people, like I was, are scared to start, but the hardest part is beginning and then the fun begins! I would also recommend to use all the free resources you can; there is so much on the internet these days that you can definitely learn for free. Also, focus on quantity rather than quality when you first start. Quality will come from quantity. To learn and get better you have to finish songs, so just make songs over and over again and you will watch the quality get better every time.”
CA: Where can we find you on Youtube, streaming platforms, and other social media?
PLV: “You can find me on YouTube and all streaming platforms as PLV Music and also on Instagram as @musicbyplv. Instagram and YouTube are the two platforms I’m the most active on.”
Periphery Magazine thanks PLV for her contribution, and wishes her luck with her future music production! You can find PLV on social media and streaming platforms here: