www.musicconnection.com

EXEC PROFILE
BACKGROUND: Born into music,
Christian Davis toured with his
parents as a child. As an artist
for BMI, he opened for acts
like Christina Aguilera, ‘N Sync
and Backstreet Boys. When he
came to L.A. looking for a new
record deal, he failed to find
one. Instead, he transformed
into one of the industry’s most
sought after writer / producers.
His recent work with El DeBarge
netted him a nomination for R&B
Album of the Year. His Slydoggie
Productions provides artists with
a one-stop, artist-focused shop
that includes a label in addition
to a wide network of industry
professionals.
Born to Sing:
At three days old, I was put on a 35-
foot 4104 tour bus until I was nine.
That was my home. My father used
to play organ with Mark Farner of
Grand Funk Railroad and then did
a Christian album. I left the road at
10, came back to music at 14 and
got my deal at 16. I opened for all
the pop era of the late-‘90s and sold
about half a million records.
Two Ladders:
Every label loved my sound, wanted
to cut and demo my songs, but
wasn’t looking to sign an artist. So
I took the job in front of me and became
a writer and producer. I had
to learn to be the artist that I am in
the studio for other artists. It’s one
thing to be an artist, it’s another to
transition over to a credible writerproducer
and sign with an artist
production company, Darkchild. I
climbed a totally different ladder in
the industry. The funny thing is now
I’m being talked about on an artistry
level again, with everybody being 30
and white and cool. I happen to be
30 and white and cool. I might do
something again. If not, I’m content.
Stay Thirsty:
There’s definitely a challenge in
Christian “Slydoggie” Davis
building a successful production
company and that is just to stay
humble and don’t put all your eggs in
one basket. Always be creative and
innovative and new. And never get
content, because there are a thousand
guys younger and better than
you nipping at your heels.
Creating, Not Recreating:
[Slydoggie] started out with just me,
but then being with Darkchild [Rodney
Jerkins] and seeing the model of
a warehouse, a factory if you will, of
a production company, I took some
of those elements. You’ve got to be
careful not to get too factory and just
be pushing out records or whatever
is the flavor of the week, but you’ve
still got to keep it moving. You can
get too into the music and lose sight
of the actual business. You can end
up broke and heading out of L.A. on
the same bus you came in on if you
don’t keep the business in sight.
Just What You Need:
The reason we’ve become a record
label and have gotten our own distribution
is because the record labels
are a little scared. They’re still doing
their thing, but the cool thing about
being a production company with
distribution is we can help cater to
what they are lacking. If they’ve got
a great live performance and the
record doesn’t stand up to it, we’re
there for you. If you need to break
a single, need to do some remixes,
we’re there for you. Your sound
might be the right sound but the
wrong place. We’re here to help.
We’re taking all the years we’ve
screwed up and helping people learn
how to get it right. So our deals are
normally a partnership with the artist
in some capacity. We can help them
break themselves or, if they’re into
doing a major label thing, we’ll get
the package put together properly.
Star Polish:
Unfortunately, A&R now are kids on
Owner
Slydoggie Productions
Years with Company: 6 - 7
Address: San Fernando Valley, CA
Phone: NA
FAX: NA
Web: slydoggie.com
E-mail: studio@slydoggie.com
Clients: New Kids on the Block, Chad Brown, Melani
Taylor, Snoop Dogg, Warren G, Travis Barker, El
DeBarge, Street Corner Renaissance, Day26, Cash
Money, Ludacris, Boyz II Men
the Internet who don’t have any musical
background. If Adele walked in
and sang for them, they would say
she was too fat and has an okay
voice. That’s not what an A&R’s
supposed to do. So now the production
companies have been able
to step up and become the A&R to
cultivate that talent, polish and find
that star-ism that they have. What is
the catch? What is the hook for that
artist? And capitalize on and build a
plan around that.
Be Real:
What makes a hit is realness. It’s got
to be believable. A listener wants
to fall in love with something. They
want it to be real. What makes a
Know your genre, know your lane, know your song. Because
you can’t do anything for anyone else until you know yourself.
great movie is a great actor. You’ve
got to have the right artist for the
right song with the right delivery. It’s
all got to be real and make sense.
Litigation:
I found it kind of funny to wake up
and see on TMZ that an artist is suing
me and Puff Daddy. I was trying
to capitalize on the publicity, but I
didn’t want to come off as that guy
because I was working with Puff
Daddy on other situations. I had
written the song that Day26 took
about a year before. The demo artist
[I’d worked with] was shopping it
around. I guess he wanted to use it
as a publicity stunt to say that was
his song before Day26. But he had
no intention of actually filing any paperwork.
They actually called us and
said we’re just trying to get some
publicity. It looked bad. It looked bad
on us; it looked bad for them. It actually
worked not in his favor.
Know Thyself:
Know your song structure, know
your market. A lot of people aren’t
looking for real songs right now,
which is disappointing because I’m
a real songwriter. When I say real
songwriter, I mean more than three
vowels in a 15-bar chorus. Know
—ANDY KAUFMANN
who you are as a writer and market
yourself and work in that genre.
If you write, “We’re in the club and
we’re drunk, yeah yeah yeah,” don’t
try to sit down with a folk artist and
write them a record. Know your
genre, know your lane, know your
song. Because you can’t do anything
for anyone else until you know
yourself.
Fate:
It has taken my entire life and every
left and right turn that has happened
to make who I am. And if any
one of those turns wouldn’t have
happened, I probably wouldn’t be
here. If I never would have moved
back to my father’s house at 14, I
would’ve been playing baseball at
Florida State. I would have taken
my full scholarship there and then
I would’ve ended up selling car insurance
in Jacksonville, Florida with
the rest of my friends. I’m backing off
Slydoggie and letting other people
bring some ideas and seeing which
way it can go. So I’m letting go of the
wheel and enjoying the ride.
Marketing-wise, we’re doing whatever
we have to do. As it changes,
we’re going to change with it. You’ve
kind of got to roll with the punches.
And we’ll continue to roll with the
punches.
Do It:
Your phone has a camera that you
can sing into and put on YouTube.
Every producer that I’ve dealt with
lately has their entire record on their
laptop. They’ve produced it there,
they’ve mixed it there. The playing
field is leveled. So my advice is get
it done. Get a $100 track if you can’t
afford professional people. No one’s
going to do it for you. There are two
things you’ve got to remember in life
—no one believes in you like you believe
in yourself and it takes money
to make money.
Selling Colors and Feelings:
People aren’t listening to artists anymore;
they’re listening to genres.
They’re listening to things based on
their feelings. They used to walk in
and want you to impose your feeling
on them and that’s what they loved.
Now, they walk in and want you to
perform to what they want to feel.
They want a sound, they want color.
And we’re trying to produce that
color, whether it be rock, folk, pop
or rap. The clientele still wants to either
get hyped up or be partying or
loving someone or losing love with
someone. We’re facilitating feelings
and colors now. The industry is just
finding ways to market and distribute
that.
Stepping Aside:
There are too many producers trying
to be artists. You have to let the artist
shine. A producer needs to step out
of the way and accompany an artist
and put that artist on a pedestal.
What you’ll find with my company
is that we focus 100 percent on the
artist.
22 February 2013 www.musicconnection.com