MC: We watched the Tiny Desk Concert that you did with Gucci Mane on NPR.org. It was a revelation, him rapping and you providing very complex, sophisticated piano backing.
Zaytoven: Every time I watch that I want to turn that into a tour. We did a full concert, me and Gucci, for Red Bull, me playing piano and him rapping. We did maybe 12 songs. This is a show that somebody would want to come and see. I want to play all of my hits on the piano, and narrate the different records, from Migos, to Usher to Nicki Minaj, and give them an acoustic, brokedown feel where you can hear the reason that I came up with the songs and the inspiration for the tracks. Look out for the Zaytoven Piano Tour!
MC: As you mentioned, you play a couple of church services a week. What instruments are you using?
Zaytoven: I play the Hammond B-3 for the most part of the service, and then at the end I might hop on the keyboard or piano to give it a different feel.
MC: How did you master the Hammond B-3?
Zaytoven: Being in church. My dad’s a preacher and my mom is a choir director, so I was in church three or four times a week. When you’re a kid, you’re in church all of the time, so you’ve got to find something to do. So I went from playing the drums to playing the piano, and once you start learning to play the organ that’s all you want to do. I remember staying up night after night practicing, and when somebody would teach me something just playing it over and over again, and when it was time to go to church I could play what I’d learned.
MC: You first developed your career in the San Francisco Bay Area. Then, when your parents moved to Atlanta, you joined them. How were the music scenes different? Did you have to adjust your sound?
Zaytoven: That definitely was the case. In the Bay Area, it was the “Hyphy Movement,” and something called “Mob Music.” The west coast is a little more musical and I would actually play bass lines and chords. When I got to the south it was all about hard hitting 808’s (Roland TR-808 drum machine). It doesn’t matter what you do to the beats as long as the 808’s were hitting real hard. So I had to switch it up. I was used to playing bass lines, but in the south the 808’s do the bass. So I had to restructure my way of doing it.
MC: What about the overall vibe? “Hyphy” (short for “hyperactive”) is a faster rhythm right?
Zaytoven: Yes. So in Atlanta they wanted the tempos to be slower. The west coast is uptempo, like 93-100 BPM’s (beats per minute.) In the south it’s 70-80 BPM’s. [The move from west to south] was for the best. It helped me create and cultivate the sound that I have now.
MC: Cutting hair was how you made money when you were coming up. How did this trade help your master plan as a producer?
Zaytoven: My greatest examples are my mom and dad. My dad was in the army, so he worked all of his life; my mom is a nurse. That’s how they made their money and were able to support the family. I looked at the same thing. I knew how to cut hair, and I knew how to play music. That’s how I would make my money. So I would be cutting hair and playing church services and weddings and funerals, and if this is how I earn money for the rest of my life, I will hustle and do this and be satisfied. I can buy a house and support my family. That’s how I looked at it: being stable. I looked at it as, “I’ve got to get up and go to work. If I’ve got to cut hair and be in the shop all day I’ve got to get up and do that.” I never thought about being a major producer and making the money that I make now.
