John Legend – If You’re Out There Remix
I recently joined Indaba Music which is an awesome site for musicians and anyone interested in music. You can collaborate online with musicians around the world, network, and participate in awesome remix competitions. When I heard that they were having a John Legend remix competition, I was so excited I couldn’t wait to start working on it.
It’s my first remix competition and I think it’s a great way to practice producing and get involved with a community of fellow producers. The song, “If You’re Out There”, is inspirational with a message based on Ghandi’s “be the change you want to see”. It was quite challenging for me to come up with a suitable remix and I tried all kinds of ideas.
I thought the message was similar to “Man in the Mirror”, one of my all time favorite Quincy/Michael tracks. However, I couldn’t find a way to make that kind of production work. Then I tried to do something up tempo but it sounded too rushed. Finally I decided to do an oldschool rework in a 70’s Soul style.
The winner is chosen by 3 judges, including Mr. Legend himself! The honorable mentions are decided by public voting.
Check out my remix at indiba.com.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
You can also download my remix here (right click/save to disk): If You’re Out There (A.Westphal oldskool remix)