Musician, songwriter, and producer Dominique Sanders got his start in Kansas City as a child interested in the cello. He soon graduated to upright bass, later studied music for two years at the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s conservatory and toured with various jazz groups. When he connected with fellow Kansas Citian Leonard DStroy, the hip-hopper suggested that he create beats. He then sold his first to Ces Cru, a hip-hop duo signed to Strange Music, for its song “Letterman.” Other artists with which he’s written and/or produced include Tech N9ne (also from KC), Snoop Dogg, and even Willie Nelson. Recently he earned a Best Progressive R&B Album GRAMMY nomination for Terrace Martin and Kenyon Dixon’s Come As You Are, which he co-produced.
For Sanders, one of music’s most subtle superpowers is its ability—metaphorically—to transport listeners back through time. “A song is strong when 10 or 15 years later you can hear it and it always takes you back to a specific point,” he asserts. “That’s what songs are to me. They’re memory markers. It has nothing to do with good chords or anything like that. It’s what the song does to a person. The reason that the [Netflix] show Stranger Things is so powerful is because they chose the right music. Kids haven’t heard Kate Bush but for us, it makes us feel like we’re a kid in the ‘80s and now we can relate to our kids in the same way.”
When you log a lot of studio time, you’re bound to collect some memorable experiences. One of Sanders’ favorites comes from back in 2018 when he worked with rapper Jidenna. “We’d started 85 to Africa in L.A. and continued it in Johannesburg, South Africa,” he recollects. “But my friend Rick Carson has a studio in Omaha called Make Believe. They’ve just started to make plugins, in fact. It’s one of my top five studios in the country. I wanted to get Jidenna out of L.A. and into an environment where he could focus on music. We spent two weeks working there, would stay up for 36 hours straight and never left the studio property. It was a cool thing to see.”
The production that stands out as one of his proudest contributions is Blessing Offor’s song “Where My Feet Are,” which is a relatively simple yet effective and uplifting piece. “The music came out amazing but from a song standpoint—the writing and everything—it’s a really solid, great one,” Sanders observes.
Aside from a Fender Precision bass, Sanders’ most valued studio tool is the Waves Diamond bundle of plugins, particularly the CLAs created by/for mix maestro Chris Lord-Alge. He relocated to Los Angeles around 2016 and now works primarily from his North Hollywood space Steakhouse Studios, formerly owned by Toto founding member Steve Lukather. He also spends time at Dr. Luke’s sound shack at Prescription Songs, the publishing company to which he’s signed. His recent and upcoming projects include Wiz Khalifa’s new album Kush + Orange Juice 2, work with rapper The Game and further recording with Terrace Martin. Lastly, he’s collaborating with multi-GRAMMY-winning producer Brian Kennedy (featured recently in MC) on a variety of jazz projects.
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