Perhaps one of the great challenges for music producers is dealing with the anonymity that hides each project they lead, leaving them in the shadow of the artist. Nevertheless, Nicholas Cottonthe Argentine producer, mixing engineer and composer, three times nominated for the Latin Grammy and winner of Golden Gardel in 2015, he has managed to keep his feet on the ground. “The only thing the ego does is generate insecurity and sadness. You have to handle it a lot,” she muses.
His name is written alongside artists like Wos, Cazzu, Knowing Russia, Nicki Nicole, Zoe Gotusso, Juan Ingaramo and Axel, among others. In addition, he was in charge of the production and composition of the original music for the series. “The kingdom” (Netflix) and the musical direction of the strip “Rooster Days” (HBOMax).
If there is something that characterizes his work, it is the heterogeneity of his projects, which range from urban rhythms or rock, to folklore records such as the one by “La Sole” Pastoruttiwith whom he is currently working.
Today, with 17 nominations for the Gardel Awards 2022 (next Tuesday, August 23)Cotton, 33, sits down with NEWS in a small café in Caballito, his native neighborhood, to go over his story and share the passion that led him to be among the most important producers in Argentina.
News: How was your relationship with music born?
Nicholas Cotton: My first contact was when I was very young. When I was one year old, my parents gave me a cool race track and a farting drum. In the video of the celebration you can see my old man playing with the track and me with the little drum. It is a bit the summary of my life (laughs). Later, they gave me a drum set and they gave me a teacher who showed me the album “Revolver” by the Beatles and it blew my mind. Later, I won a computer in a Fantino program and I started to get involved with music from that side.
News: When did you decide you wanted to be a producer?
Cotton: Never (laughs). It’s just that I never knew what it was to produce. At school, a friend told me: “I want to record some of my songs”. He played the instruments and I told him: “Let’s see, play it more like this, or like that”. We were testing. And he caught me. yesI felt that I had a lot to contribute. Later, I started working for other producers making arrangements and, there, I realized that what I was doing was more or less producing.
News: What’s different about Bizarrap?
Cotton: El Biza is an artist producer. He is the brand. He is a genius and produces barbaric. What happens is that, today, the producer is not one. There are a lot of producers who are beatmakers—compose beats using sampled sounds—and they’re pretty damn good. In my case, in addition to making beats, I like to produce artists like Knowing Russia, where there isn’t a beat on the entire album. It’s one thing to sit down with a computer, make a beat, record a voice and, at most, an instrument. Another thing is to organize a month of study, see the times, that the musicians have their space and that everything sounds good. ANDIt’s another type of production, neither more difficult nor easier, everything has its complexity.
News: What was it like working with Netflix on “The Kingdom” and how was Cazzu’s “On My Grave” curtain born?
Cotton: The Kingdom thing was crazy. I never thought I was going to make music for a series, but I took it and it turned out well. We had recorded the Cazzu song a few weeks before and I thought it was good for the series. I called the production company and told them, “I have a blast song for the opening” and they all fell in love. So I had no choice but to call Cazzu and convince her (laughs). Luckily she picked him up.
News: How do you build a hit?
Cotton: More than thinking about it from the hit, it’s thinking about it from the “here’s a part missing because I’m already bored”, or because the song is going to grow or it’s going to surprise. As a producer, you have to be trying to keep the listener entertained. Whether it’s a guitar and voice song, a ballad or a reggaeton, You have to try to capture the listener in some way and be on the lookout for that, but not thinking if you are going to hit it again on TikTok or from the challenge. I work with emotion and with trying to generate that emotion and somehow infect people with it.
News: How do you manage your ego when everyone sings your songs and no one knows it’s yours?
Cotton: It’s crazy. I don’t know how it works, it’s really weird. There is something about anonymity that has its positive aspects, because nobody fucks with you, but you also think “this song was composed or produced by me”, and nobody knows. But the only thing the ego does is generate insecurity and sadness. Life took care of putting my feet on the ground. Do not get confused because, ultimately, it is a job. When you eat the movie, you start to shit it. As Sandro used to say: “One thing is Sandro, the other Roberto Sánchez”. When you are Sandro, you are the one, but then you go down and you are Roberto Sánchez, an ordinary person.
News: What do the 17 nominations for the 2022 Gardel Awards mean?
Cotton: I’ve been doing it for so long that it’s not new. When I was 25 years old I won the Gardel de Oro with Axel and it was like nothing. Then I went back home and I was still the same. You begin to realize that the prizes, or the nominations, obviously serve a lot and encourage you, but they are not the objective. The energy is put into the work and not the prize. I want to do projects that I like and be happy Which, ultimately, is the only thing that matters.
News: How do you see the Argentine music scene?
Cotton: Very high. We are at a good level, exporting good music to the world and above all generating a great seedbed of artists and producers. The breed of producers that is going to come is going to be incredible.
News: Who would you like to work with?
Cotton: Internationally, I don’t know if I’ll make it, but with Paul McCartney, or having a session with Coldplay.. Hopefully one day it will happen and if it doesn’t happen, the dream will remain. And in Argentina, I wanted to work with María Becerra and it happened. Soon a song will come out that I produced and composed with her, called “Automático”. It is an old school reggaeton that is very good. It doesn’t have a release date yet. Also, we are making more music for their next album.
News: If you had to give the Gardel for any of the nominations, for which would you give it?
Cotton: I really like the Russian one (Knowing Russia), because it’s an album that we put a lot of love into and that goes against the current. It’s natural, no autotune, super organic. Oldschool was recorded and I think that is reflected and I like it. But the truth is that I don’t really care if I win or lose (laughs).
