Nick Sylvester of Godmode on becoming a producer, learning from James Murphy, and developing artists like Shamir, Yaeji, and LoveLeo

This episode features Nick Sylvester, a producer, musician, and songwriter who co-founded the artist development company Godmode. In this conversation we discuss Nick’s transition from critic for Pitchfork and Village Voice to musician in the band Mr. Dream to the evolution of Godmode. We also get into his apprenticeship with LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, how working with Shamir was a turning point in his career, an anecdote about a somewhat disastrous experience being called in to potentially contribute to Beyoncé’s Lemonade album, developing LoveLeo from TikTok fame to viral pop star, how his work process has changed through the pandemic, and how we’re both amazed and confounded by Playboi Carti’s music. We actually recorded a lot for this, so a second episode with Nick that goes deeper into technical music stuff will come out next week as a Patreon exclusive.