Kane Churko is rock production royalty. He and his father have worked with massive rock bands like Papa Roach, Five Finger Death Punch and Disturbed. Most recently, he worked with his father, Kevin Churko on Disturbed’s massively successful cover of “The Sound of Silence“. I caught up with him to talk about growing up with a music producer for a dad and his new project with local Vegas rapper Ekoh.
Enjoy!
Kevin: What was it like growing up with a dad who is a successful rock producer?
Kane: Well he wasn’t nearly as successful when I was growing up but he always produced and made music in bands. I definitely was aware that not everybody’s parents did that and I thought it was cool.
Kevin: Do you feel like you still would have become a producer had it not been for your father and your relationship with him?
Kane: I really don’t know. Probably not, unless I was in another situation around music. Music, songwriting and recording always fascinated me. The ability to create something from nowhere and have it be a thing forever has always brought me a lot of satisfaction.
Kevin: How does your approach differ from the approach of your father? Do you prefer producing different styles of music from him?
Kane: I think both of us enjoy working with a diverse range of artists. I maybe enjoy hip hop more than he does while he enjoys country more than I do, for example. But, we can both appreciate almost anything that’s well done. I don’t think our approach to producing or songwriting differs much other than we sometime use different tools (he’s a drummer, I’m a guitar player/singer) and maybe our influences are weighted slightly differently.
Kevin: Right now, you are working with the Vegas local rapper, Ekoh. What is your motivation behind working with him? Can we expect more production in rap from you in the future?
Kane: He’s just super talented. We’ve done a bunch of stuff together over the last couple of years. Some of it will come out in 2019 finally! I like working with him whenever I can simply because it’s fun and creatively inspiring. I’d love to do more hip hop stuff for sure.
Kevin: If you could work with any artist in the industry, who would it be?
Kane: I’ll name a few because I can’t decide! *laughs* Trent Reznor, Pharrell, or Dr. Dre. I feel like we’d work well together and that I could bring something new to their work while learning a tremendous amount from them.
Kevin: In your opinion, what are the advantages of being in Vegas?
Kane: It’s a great city for entertainers and music people. Everything is open all the time. You can work late but still buy groceries at 2am. Something is always going on. It’s a city of misfits, but everybody is accepted and fits in here.
Kevin: What advice would you give to aspiring producers?
Kane: Make as much music as possible with as many people as possible whenever possible! *laughs* It’s completely a numbers game combined with being in the right place at the right time. Simply having more songs equals more opportunities to be in the right place. Being prepared with a well rounded set of skills will help ensure that when you’re in the right place that it’s also the right time.
Kevin: You’re stuck on a desert island and can only listen to one album, what would that album be?
Kane: Probably Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys. I can listen to that album over and over. It speaks to me in ways few albums do. It’s beautiful!
Be sure to check out Kane’s work on his website. Also, look forward to his collaboration with Ekoh coming out this year.
Enjoy!