Taka Perry Interview - Keeping You Guessing
Taka Perry is a wunderkind music producer, mixer, and songwriter residing in Australia. Collaborating with Thomston, KLP, Dean Lewis, SACHI, J Hart (Usher, Justin Bieber), Ms. OOJA, and Sandunes, Taka Perry has solidified his name with in the music industry. Also an active member in the Australian music scene, Taka has been part of industry programs such as APRA SongHubs, 50 Songs in 5 Days, as well as being a panelist at events such as Electronic Music Conference.
We had a chat to Taka about his recent single 'Move It On', his musical career, and much more!
Futuremag Music: How’s music influenced your life so far?
Taka Perry: Music has always been a huge part of me and from a young age I’d be creating full songs in my head. I picked up music production in Year 9 because I wanted to record all the ideas I had, and I never really looked back. I’ve been producing for just over 5 years now. I remember hearing ‘Like Toy Soldiers’ by Eminem on the radio as a kid and really loved the production, the song, everything, and that’s the first spark that I remember.
I decided to pursue a career in music when I was offered a publishing deal while in Year 12. It’s taken a lot of hard work and persistence to get here but I’m so excited for the future and to be able to do music full-time is a blessing in itself.
Futuremag Music: How’d you get involved with BIGSOUND 2017?
Taka Perry: I got a call from APRA telling me I’ve been chosen to take part in SongHubs BIGSOUND. I did SongHubs EMC last year and I’ve done a few 50 Songs in 5 Days camps, and it’s always an amazing way to meet new friends and make awesome connections.
SongHubs brings together 5-6 Australian producers/writers and a few internationals, and each morning you get put into a group of 3-4 and you have a song by the end of the day. There’s parties wedged in between the sessions, so it’s a super social way to write music with new people!
Futuremag Music: Your recent single ‘Move It On’ was an absolute banger, can you please talk us through the production process, and your favourite aspects of the track?
Taka Perry: I wrote ‘Move it On’ with Ned Philpot less than a week after we met. We had been chatting on Facebook and I brought Ned over to my studio one evening and we stayed there till around 1am making the song.
The first thing I recorded were the drums, which has a pretty irregular groove for a pop song. Then I got a cool bass sound happening, and then we wrote the verses over that while it was looping. It was one of those songs that wrote itself really quickly.
Ned and I are really good mates now and it all started with catching up and writing this song together!
Futuremag Music: If you could make a cocktail called ‘Taka Perry', what would you put into it to best describe yourself and your music?
Taka Perry: This is a hard question because I don’t really drink other than the odd beer here and there — I’d probably start with orange juice (because I love OJ) and then add in some pear, banana, kiwifruit, and then some unexpected extras like ginger, kale, and mint. It’d be not just a refreshing drink, but one that has a few tricks up its sleeve and keeps you guessing, just like my music.
Futuremag Music: What does the future hold for the Taka Perry project?
Taka Perry: Lots of exciting things — I can’t talk about them here but follow me on Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, because I’ll be announcing some cool things over the next few weeks.