In this episode, John links up with Thomas Wesley Pentz, aka Wes aka Diplo, to talk about his work under various guises with Major Lazer, Sia and as Thomas Wesley.

With on-going exploration of far reaching and cross-cultural mashups at the centre of his approach, Wes reflects on how working with so many specialists from across the globe has helped him forge a diverse sound and career.

Breaking apart three songs, Wes shares his thoughts on the considerations and care that have to be taken when sampling a ‘classic’ South African song, the gatekeeping in Country music and why new sounds are emerging around the genre, and the weird and wild things that Sia often gravitates towards in a song.

Listen to find out the specific rules of Amapiano, some of the elements that are essential to any pop song, and why it’s important to fail a lot.

Tracks discussed: Mamgobhozi (Major Lazer), Wasted (Thomas Wesley), Elastic Heart (Sia)

LINKS TO EVERYTHING TAPE NOTES

linktr.ee/tapenotes

Listen to ‘Piano Republik’ here.

Because Music

Listen to ‘Wasted’ here.

Mad Decent, Columbia, Sony

Listen to ‘Elastic Heart’ here.

RCA Records, Sony

Intro Music - Sunshine Buddy, Laurel Collective

GEAR MENTIONS

Native Instruments Massive

Algoriddim Neural Mix

Output Arcade

Shure Mics

Teenage Engineering OP1

Operator Synth

Roland TB-303

Akai MPC3000

Whurlitzer

Ableton Mellotron Preset

Ableton Sampler

Ableton

OUR GEAR

https://linktr.ee/tapenotes_ourgear

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