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Article Preview :: Shahid ‘Naughty Boy’ Khan: Producing Emeli Sandé

Published in SOS January 2013

People + Opinion : Artists / Engineers / Producers / Programmers


Shahid Khan has gone from pizza delivery man to in-demand producer — with a little help from Noel Edmonds.
Matt Frost
Photos: Richard Ecclestone
When it comes to drive, ambition and dogged self-belief, Shahid Khan — or Naughty Boy, as he’s known in the production world — should be an example for any headstrong kid trying to make it in the music industry. Khan grew up on a Watford council estate, where the Indian records and films he digested as a youngster made a big impression.
“I grew up listening to a lot of Bollywood music, so that was definitely an inspiration, although I don’t make Bollywood or Asian music,” explains Shahid. “Most of my childhood was spent hearing all those big epic film soundtracks, and it has definitely inspired me a lot. I do apply those influences to my music. In particular, there’s a guy called AR Rahman and, when he started, I began to appreciate Bollywood music in a different way. There is something special that he does with his film soundtracks. As an influence, I think it’s more in terms of my sound, actually, and that thing about being musical but it being cool as well. That’s sometimes the hardest thing to achieve, because you want the best of each and then it’s still got to have commerciality. That’s what I loved about [AR Rahman’s music] particularly. At that point, I wasn’t thinking about songs and lyrics. That came later. It was the music I was more concerned with: ‘How can I get what I hear in my head coming out from the speakers?’”
Shed Sounds
The main live area at Cabana Studio plays host to an upright piano, along with other assorted small instruments.
The main live area at Cabana Studio plays host to an upright piano, along with other assorted small instruments.
Although Khan taught himself the piano from an early age, and drums a little later on, he only really started writing music and began harbouring dreams of becoming a record producer during his latter teen years, creating what he describes as “Buddha Bar kind of chillout lounge music” using his Dell PC, MIDI keyboard and Cubase.
In 2004, Shahid started a Business and Marketing degree at London Guildhall University but he dropped out after a single term and began signing up to any job he could get to help fund his musical ambitions. While variously working in Watford General Hospital and delivering pizzas for Domino’s, Khan heard about a Prince’s Trust scheme whereby he might be able to secure funding to start a fledgling music production business. Naughty Boy Recordings was soon born.
“There’s a process you go through where you have your business idea, you send it to them in a business plan and then, over a few months, they decide whether they’re going to give you the funding, depending on whether they think you’ll be able to achieve your goals,” says Khan. “I basically explained how I was going to go about making money out of music. I wanted to set up a record label and be a producer, and I explained that I would find an act and I would produce their song and I’d release it. I had a mentor who kind of guided me through that process and, in the end, it came down to me playing them some music to show what I could potentially do. I made this piece and I played it to them and they approved the grant, which was £5000, and that’s how I set up a little studio in my mum and dad’s shed. It was really helpful and it helped me be confident. I felt like I’d got a bit of pressure now and there was a reason to do it.
“Basically, half of the shed was my Mum’s pots and pans that she wouldn’t be using, and then half of it was my studio, which was just more of a nice vibe then. I didn’t have equipment like a good soundcard or an Avalon compressor or the things I have now, but that didn’t stop it from sounding cool and I did buy a Macbook and Logic and Reason. I used to run Acid Pro on the Dell so I could sample, and I used to use Reason on the Macbook. I also had a mic set up at the PC and I’d record stuff into that, guitars and instruments, but I was still [mostly] using Reason sounds and drums. I’m still a firm believer that it’s definitely not about what you have in terms of equipment. It’s about using your ears and not really over-thinking it. I’ve never tried to be a perfectionist with music, because I think it’s those little imperfections that can kind of separate you out sometimes.”
Deal!
...

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Published in SOS January 2013

 

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In this article:
Shed Sounds
Deal!
See Emeli Play
Running Rings
Cop A Cabana
Room Service
Who’s The Daddy?
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