March 21, 2025
David Smith sat down with Carbon Sound’s host Sanni and talked about his journey in music production and arranging for live shows, his new band (@0308band) that’s bringing a modern feel to the Minneapolis Sound, and more.
Sanni Brown
It's The Message, Carbon Sound Music for Life, Sanni here. We got a new interview, and I got questions! Minnesota musician, producer, programmer, arranger and more. Hold on. Let me run the receipts. Arranged, programmed Shaboozey's BET Award performances, played and programmed keydrums for Kehlani's WNBA All Star performance, programmed and arranged an outro for Latto's high-rated performance at the Billboard Music Awards. And baby, we would be here 30 more minutes if I kept talking about the receipts. Carbon Sound family, welcome David Smith, yay!
David Smith
Thanks it's an honor to be here.
Sanni Brown
It's an honor for you to be here, wow! It's almost three years we've been on the map, and so we got folks like this stepping in here? See y'all coming in and y'all do the things you're doing, and y'all always like this, but I love it. That's one of the things I love about Minnesota music scene, is you guys are heat, but you so laid back and humble and calm (laughs).
David Smith
(Laughs) Yeah, I guess so.
Sanni Brown
You just chill. And I can appreciate it, but it's just weird (laughs). I'll ask you this, do you see a lot of humility in people, in what you do?
David Smith
Like others in the area?
Sanni Brown
And people who are really good, who are like you. You have an amazing resume, like this is an art person's dream. This is to me, a musician's dream. So in your field of work, and what you've seen, do you see a lot of humility, people that are doing big things, but are just humble?
David Smith
Yeah I would say so. One person that definitely comes to mind is Jovonta Patton, the gospel singer. He definitely is really humble in what he does. He's a very grateful person, very humble. And even though he's done so many really cool things, when you interact with him, it's just like talking to a friend or family member. So I think people like him are what helps keep things going and helps keep all of us humble.
Sanni Brown
That's something that sticks out, like you've done all this immense stuff and you're just normal (laughs). So let's jump into the questions, what are some of your earliest experiences with music.
David Smith
I think I've been involved with music as long as I can remember. There's even a little picture of me somewhere, of me on one of those little baby pianos. But I actually originally started out with the love for drums. So my older brother was a drumming prodigy growing up. And so being the three- or four-year-old that I was, I was like, "Hey, I want to play drums." And so I learned at some point, but I was so young I don't even actually remember learning the drums.
Sanni Brown
But you just know the drums is your thing?
David Smith
Yeah.
Sanni Brown
That's crazy, so you just took to it?
David Smith
Right. Yep, exactly.
Sanni Brown
Wow. So then we go from drums to — what happens after that?
David Smith
The piano.
Sanni Brown
That's a jump. My sibling did drums. I did piano.
David Smith
Yeah, we had a piano at home, and my mom had taken a college class years ago, and she was able to teach me the little that she remembered from that. And I was able to just take that and kind of create my own world with it.
Sanni Brown
So what were you doing after that? You just going around the house, beating on stuff, playing keyboard? (Laughs)
David Smith
Yeah, pretty much. We had drums in the basement, we had a piano upstairs. It was really cool to grow up in that type of environment where playing music was encouraged. And so I eventually took some lessons and stuff.
Sanni Brown
So I just jumped right in like everybody knows exactly who you are. Why don't I let you tell us who you are? For those who are unfamiliar with you, who don't know how you linked in to all of these amazing acts and all of the work that you do, tell us who you are.
David Smith
Yeah so, if you didn't know already (both laugh), my name is David Smith. I'm a musician, and I grew up playing in church, so that's my home. I still play at the same church that I grew up at. My dad is the pastor of that church, Christ Temple in Roseville. And since then, I've learned more instruments than just piano and drums. I also picked up the bass while I was in high school, and I also played the trumpet as well, and also the organ too. That's my favorite instrument. Of course, I grew up in church playing the organ.
Sanni Brown
Are you silly with the organ? I noticed people who play the organ, they have a sense of humor, the timing.
David Smith
I mean, maybe. (Both laugh)
Sanni Brown
Maybe that's just the church I went to (laughs). So basically you grew up playing instruments in the church. So then what happens after you grow up? Now you have all this musical knowledge. What do you do?
David Smith
I eventually started getting into production and live show programming when I was in high school. I started out just putting shows together and stuff for a talent show, and also just making beats and stuff on my computer when I was in high school. So that was like my beginners phase, but I had no idea what that would eventually turn into. I was just like, I'm just doing this for fun, just for the love of it. I see a lot of other people on YouTube making live arrangement covers to songs and stuff. I was like, hey, you know what? I'm really inspired by that. I want to try it too. So that's how I kind of got into the live production scene and whatnot.
Sanni Brown
So before we get into your grown man stuff, I want to pause right here. I want to put on some music for life, and then I really want you to touch on all of this arrangement that you've done, because this is like the building blocks to all of the vibes (laughs). And I want everybody to understand that this is the meat. And so we're gonna get into that coming up next. I got some music for life. This is Music Class I am in with David Smith, Minnesota musician, producer, programmer, arranger, and so much more. And the more you're gonna have to stick around to find out. It's The Message, Carbon Sound Music for Life. Don't go anyplace.
Sanni Brown
It's The Message, Carbon Sound Music for Life. We are in Music Class. Sanni here with David Smith, Minnesota musician, producer, programmer, and arranger. For those of you who don't know, the vibes that you guys like, this is the building blocks. This is what needs to happen before we get into the vibe part. So David Smith, so far you've talked about you grew up in the church. You started out with drums, keyboards, you took right to it. You're doing live shows in high school, and now you are an adult. What do you do with all of this live show experience? Where do you go from there?
David Smith
Yeah, I think after that — well, because then the pandemic happens, right? I graduated high school in 2019, and then my my freshman year was cut short, or cut to online, and so I was just at home, and it was summer, so I'd find stuff to do and I had a friend of mine from Canada, and we worked on just making a lot of live arrangements and live programming together. So that's how I kind of got into just doing it a lot more. And so eventually, after about a year of doing that, the opportunity came up for me to be able to showcase some of my live arrangements to somebody that's arranged and programmed for for some artists with notability. So I was able to play one of my arrangements, they were like, "Hey, let's work" and after a couple months or so, that turned into me eventually doing my first live arrangement for SZA.
Sanni Brown
Wow. Now pause before you go any further, what does arrangement mean?
David Smith
So a live arrangement is basically taking a piece of music from an artist and —
Sanni Brown
Then changing it to making it sound good live??
David Smith
Exactly.
Sanni Brown
Woah, you gonna have to break that down. I mean, don't give us all your tea, because you need it for what you do but —
David Smith
Oh no, I could give a general overview.
Sanni Brown
Oh my gosh. How do you do that?
David Smith
So basically what will happen is somebody from the artist camp or their music director, what they'll do is they'll send me what are called stems — stems or multi-tracks. So stems are basically all the individual pieces of the song, like the drums, the vocals, you know, every single thing so that way I can use my creativity to do what's needed for the live performance. So if there's a section where maybe we need to take out the drums or something, then I have the flexibility to be able to do that with stems. But now sometimes, there's not always a time where you're able to get the stems from somebody. And so now there's a software and a company that I partnered with called Moises AI, and basically what they do is they're able to separate the stems for you. So that way, if there's a situation where somebody's not able to send the stems, AI is able to separate out the bass, the drums, everything else that you might be able to need.
Sanni Brown
Okay, that is legit the first good use of AI that I've heard since I've heard of AI. This is the type of stuff I need. I'm sorry that's mind blowing. Because I've always wondered, how do they get it to sound like — who's all the people you've done this for?
David Smith
Yeah so one of them, as you mentioned earlier, was Shaboozey. That one was done along with Dennard Watson from Philly and Baltimore. And I also did that one for SZA. And she used that one originally for like an online performance back in 2021, but she eventually used that arrangement of "Gardens" for her tour, and it's also on the the Apple Music live album as well. And then another one was GIVĒON. I was able to do the intro for his tour back in like 2022, and then another one was for this big Indian artist named Karan Aujla. He's based out of Toronto, at least most of his camp is, and that actually led to me eventually being able to go on tour with him, and I ended up in the UK at The O2 Arena.
Sanni Brown
Wow! My goodness. My mind is blown, because I think when people think about working in the music business, I think they always think about the front facing stuff, the performing, and this is just this whole world back here.
David Smith
Yeah, a lot of people don't know about this.
Sanni Brown
So who's been your favorite show to arrange?
David Smith
Honestly, it was probably the Karan Aujla stuff that I got to do, because it was really fun. His music is very — it's like you get a different party with each song, a different message with each song, and it was also a unique challenge, because it's all in a different language. The funny part is, when I'm listening to music, I'm barely paying attention to the lyrics anyway (laughs). I'm hearing everything, like every single drum —
Sanni Brown
Isn't it easier when you're familiar with the song, though?
David Smith
I mean yeah, but also, I feel like I can tell where the important moments are based on how he's singing.
Sanni Brown
Is that musician instinct?
David Smith
Yeah, you could say that.
Sanni Brown
Okay wow! I'm nerdy, this is so cool (both laugh). What are some of the highlights of being a musician and being in this position helping other musicians?
David Smith
Yeah I think one thing I enjoy doing is being able to put people on, especially that are from here. So whenever I see an up and coming musician that's doing really well, and I see that they're qualified enough to do something, I'll start instantly recommending them to other people. I'll be like, "Oh, hey. You need this? Oh yeah, grab this person right here. They're definitely ready for the job."
Sanni Brown
Why do you like that?
David Smith
Well, because somebody did it for me. That's how I ended up getting the SZA thing. That's how I've gotten a whole lot of opportunities. One person I specifically want to credit is is Arthur L.A. Buckner. L.A. has been a mentor to me ever since I was in high school, and he's definitely helped propel me to the point to where I am in the in the local music scene, for sure. Because he's been that guy advocating for me behind closed doors like, "Hey, this guy is really dope. You should hire him for this, this and that." I thought about this the other day, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have gotten the opportunity with SZA, because the artist's song that I showed to the guy that put me onto that gig, was recommended to me by L.A. So it was like, L.A. recommended me to the other artists, and then I took that arrangement from that collaboration, to the person that was connected with the SZA camp.
Sanni Brown
Artists on the scene, do you see that? That connection? I'm hoping that when artists are listening, because we've had other artists come in and say their network and how they're connected, and how much of it is putting each other on, making suggestions. People who want to see you win help you win.
David Smith
Exactly.
Sanni Brown
Wow, I'm still stuck on you back there with all that juice. Because since I was little, and you see the shows, and you're like, who decides? How do you decide when to throw a "dun dun"? How do you make the decision? Do they decide that and then there's like a skeleton outline?
David Smith
Yeah sometimes the artist will have an idea in mind, but usually, it's something that takes lots of experience and time to really be able to do. Because sometimes I'll look at some of my earlier work, I'm like, "Oh, man, I wouldn't have put this thing there or that thing there." Because a lot of it you just kind of learn from just listening to different live arrangements and people that have done TV shows, Super Bowls, and whatever, over time. So a lot of that, you know, like I was saying, just comes from from listening and and working on it, because it doesn't come to you quickly. There's still times where you can come up with something super dope, and the artist is like, "You know what? I don't want all of this here. I just want it to sound like the record." So it all kind of depends on the artist preference too. It hasn't happened to me a bunch, but to some peers of mine, there's been times where they will come up with this really dope arrangement or something, and the artist will be like, "You know what? I think I want to scale it back a little bit." And they have to scale it back. At the end of the day, it's like the artist is your boss, and you gotta make them happy.
Sanni Brown
What's been the most eye opening thing about what you do?
David Smith
I think the most eye opening thing about what I do is how it is able to open up opportunities in other areas, outside of just arranging. So, as I gave an example earlier, after I arranged the set for Karan Aujla, they eventually invited me back to play keys for their UK run when their main keyboardist was out because he had a baby on the way. I didn't have to audition or anything, like no rehearsals.
Sanni Brown
I was gonna say, your audition was when they originally called you. I've learned that. I'm giving free game right now. I treat every gig like the audition for my next potential gig. And it sounds like you passed the test on that one (both laugh). So young folks, if you in entertainment, every gig that you get and you secure, that is your audition for the next gig, because people are seeing you. And I love hearing stories about people taking advantage of a gig, and it leading from one thing to the next. Is there any wisdom or advice that you can give people who are maybe a little bit earlier in their career than you are, music wise?
David Smith
Yeah, especially for people here, build a client base outside of just people from Minnesota. Because I feel like I've been pretty successful with that, also partly because of the pandemic. So it's just like, I couldn't only work with people that were here, because then there's only so many people you can work with. So I spent that time just slowly connecting with different people over social media and different parts all over the world. So work with people outside of just here, because then that also helps you get respect from people that are from here because I feel like a lot of people from here won't respect you as much if you're only doing stuff here. But if they hear "Oh, hey, they're doing stuff in the UK. They're doing stuff all over here. Oh, people are playing to your tracks all over the world, what?" So I feel like that has helped me gain a little bit of notability here, because I've been able to reach great heights outside of just the Minnesota area.
Sanni Brown
I had to go to school in St Louis to come back here (laughs). So what's next? Man, you sound like you got a really exciting career. What's next? Are you working on anything? Obviously you working with these big folks, you gotta be quiet. Are you working on anything for yourself?
David Smith
Yeah, I actually just announced a new band of mine called 0308.
Sanni Brown
Tell me what's that about? What is the number, the significance of that?
David Smith
When I was growing up, a lot of my usernames just had 0308, because that's my birthday. So I was just like, you know what, that'd be a cool band name just to have that. But yeah, it's gonna be a lot of funk fusion. I really want to bring back the Minneapolis sound.
Sanni Brown
I read that! A modern Minneapolis sound you're looking for. So what? How would you describe the current Minneapolis sound? And then how would you describe, what you trying to do?
David Smith
The current Minneapolis sound (or more notable one), that's like Prince Jimmy Jam, The Time, Mint Condition. So like all of that, where it sounds really lively, very synth heavy, very funky, fast pace. I'm trying to figure out a way to bring that back in today.
Sanni Brown
I like that, yeah! Well, I'ma support you. I honestly, until I started working in radio, I didn't know what the Minneapolis sound was. It was just music that I liked. I didn't know it was an actual category. And so yes, I want to support that. Any effort that you have, I want to support that. So where can we find you? How can we keep up with you?
David Smith
Yeah, you can follow me on any platform, @dsmithprod, that's also my website, dsmithprod.com, and just tune in for more updates. Who knows, maybe I'll be on another tour or something at some point.
Sanni Brown
Maybe (both laugh). If y'all was looking at this resume right here, you'd be a little insulted with the maybe, okay, that maybe is doing a lot of heavy lifting. Thank you, David Smith, for coming in and taking time out to share your illustrious resume and your awesome, dope background. Thank you for coming in today.
David Smith
Thanks, no problem. It was an honor to be here. I've been following the platform for a while. I was like, "Man, I would love to be on there at some point." So when I got the invite, I was like, oh, yeah, definitely.
Sanni Brown
If we ever start doing live performances or something like that, would you be open to doing something like that?
David Smith
Oh, definitely.
Sanni Brown
Oh my goodness! Okay. Back in the day, they said on wax. We got this on — it's digital now (laughs), but thank you again.
David Smith
Yeah, thank you!
Sanni Brown
It is The Message Carbon Sound Music for Life.
