Creating Her Own Opportunities: An Interview With SEIDS

Inspiration
Creating Her Own Opportunities: An Interview With SEIDS

In this interview with producer and music educator SEIDS, we discover why she's become a go-to source of knowledge for vocalists and musicians wanting to forge their own path.

An expert in vocals, production, and music career development, SEIDS has used her knowledge to create a huge amount of educational content. 

She also knows what it’s like to deal with the barriers and intimidation factor that all women are faced with when trying to break into the industry.

In the spirit of Women’s History Month, we thought it would be awesome to get some deeper insight into her experiences, the advice she has to offer other women musicians, and more.

I want to learn a bit about how you started out as a musician. What was a big turning point for you?

I started writing songs in middle school. It was how I coped with being human. The turning point for me was learning how to produce music and posting on TikTok.

Who inspires you the most, and why?

My followers! They’re the reason I show up every day.

As a woman producer in a male-dominated industry, what are some challenges that you face?

Honestly, it’s much better now than it was even 10 years ago. When I used to walk into a room full of men at a studio, no one would acknowledge my presence. That doesn’t happen anymore, but maybe it’s because people respect me more now, or maybe things have truly changed. 

But even today—and I’m not sure this is exclusively an issue for women—I am still constantly sexualized. And there’s absolutely nothing sexual about my content. 

I get comments about my looks all the time. “Honey, you need to get a plugin to fix your hair”, “You should dress up more it will help your views”, “What’s your OnlyFans?”, or my personal favorite, “You only got followers because you’re pretty.” 

Is MrBeast pretty? Is GaryVee pretty? No. I have followers because I make great content for my targeted audience.

What does it mean to be a woman music producer in a space with so little representation?

I think it’s a very exciting time! More and more men are desperate for creative synergy with women. Greazy Wil recently told me he makes sure to hire women in a production context whenever he can and I really appreciated the sentiment.

It’s much more common now for men to tell me how happy they are that I’m here, and that they hope to see more women like me. 

"Focus on attracting people who actually value you. They are out there. I promise."

Do you have any advice for young women when it comes to navigating the industry?

It doesn’t matter how much someone promises to “help” you with your career—if they act creepy to you at any moment, they will never respect you. Most likely, they’ll never follow through with their promises. 

Walk away and focus on attracting people who actually value you. They are out there. I promise. 

Do you have any songwriting or production tips for women who are starting out?

Yes! Spend 30 minutes writing an 8-bar loop every day. Don’t overthink it, just set a timer and see how much you can do.

You might hate some of the loops you come up with, but some will inspire you to write a full song! This eliminates over-thinking and too much doubt. 

Another tip is to use a reference track and build a road map. Drag a song you like into your DAW, map it out by labeling it with timeline markers, and write project notes about what you hear. Then, delete the track you dragged in and build a song around that blueprint. 

It’s also super important to collaborate with people in the community! This is a great way to learn and hold each other accountable to finish songs. 

Finally, spend one hour every day learning something new. You can watch producers on YouTube give tutorials or see how they build tracks.

Is there any creative lesson that you learned which made a big impact on your process?

Creativity is like a muscle, and you have to work on it! 

I love reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron and The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin. Both of these books have given me so many important creative lessons.

The Artist’s Way recommends doing “morning pages”, which are just three pages of totally spontaneous writing that you do every day. I do these and I love them. I highly recommend it.

And of course, working on your health will also make you a more creative person! 

"Spend 30 minutes writing an 8-bar loop every day. Don’t overthink it, just set a timer and see how much you can do."

What’s your dream for the music industry in the future?

I would love to see even more diversity and representation. My personal mission is to make music production more accessible to more people, so I hope to see people from all over the world make more music with the tech they have, like their phones! 

Music production doesn’t just have to be for wealthy people anymore, or for people who have big record deals. Anyone can make music. Instead of going home to casually watch Netflix, you can casually make a beat, just to have fun and unwind. 

Are there any women artists or producers that have had a big impact on your life or music?

Betty Bennett, the CEO of Apogee! She is a boss and has really been a pioneer in the music tech space.

What are the achievements you’re most proud of so far in your career?

Creating a job for myself in the music industry that combines all of my talents.

Thanks so much for talking with us! Anything else you want to share?

Thank you for including me in this! 

If people want to check it out, I just dropped a Logic Pro Crash Course! It offers over 350 Logic Pro tricks, and they’re thoughtfully organized into 17 sections. 

I know tutorials can often be way too long, so the crash course is not super lengthy or overly detailed. All the tips are carefully hand-picked to give you the most valuable insights without any unnecessary filler. You can learn a lot in a very short amount of time.

Find it here and use code LANDR for a discount. <3

If you liked this interview with SEIDS, follow her on Instagram, subscribe to her YouTube channel, and check out her music on Spotify.

LANDR

Various contributors from the LANDR team of music mentors.

@LANDR


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