Interview: Tim Byrd

I know you must be wondering who the person behind these eyes is now...

Well, that person is producer and songwriter Tim Byrd, who has worked with musical heavyweights like Timbaland, Aaliyah, Boyz II Men and Static. Staticmajorismusic got the chance to interview Tim and to ask him about his experiences with working with Aaliyah and Static, among other things. And, as a special treat, Tim has decided to share the song he did with Static for Outsiderz 4 Life with us! Having said that, I'll stop talking now and let you enjoy the interview and the new music...

Major shout out to Tim Byrd for kindly taking the time out to share his stories with us and for providing us with some exclusive heat from Static!

1. How did you get involved in music? Which artists have you worked with?
I've always loved music every since I was 5 years old. I was in a lot of singing groups growin' up. When hip hop came along, I was a breakdancer, rapper, singer and dj, you name it. So I've always been involved with music.
When I discovered songwriting and producing and found out I was good at it, it opened the doors for me to work with people like: Ski (Producer of "Reasonable Doubt"), Outsiderz 4 Life, Dave Hollister (formally of Blackstreet), Leon Silvers, Teddy Riley, Boyz II Men, Timbaland, Aaliyah, Nicole Wray, Static & Black of Playa.

2. Is there a difference between writing and producing songs in your opinion? Which do you prefer to do?
Well, in my opinion, producing and writing took on a whole new persona when Teddy Riley came on the scene. Prior to Teddy, we had producers like Quincy Jones who's role was to find songwriters, arrangers, musicians, studios and engineers to produce a product to deliver to the label. The person who wrote the music was a writer and the person who wrote the lyrics was a writer. The producer at the time was equivalent to a director of a film. When Teddy came along, he was the songwriter, the arranger, the musician so on and so forth. Being that he was all that in one, the producer also became a writer as well. But I still believe that there IS a difference between producing and writing. A producer produces the final product to what we hear on the radio or cd just like a director of a film. A songwriter, to me, is like a script writer. They write the screenplay, but the director brings it to life. I love doin' both.

Click here to continue reading and to listen to 'Pressin' tha issue', written by Static and produced by Tim Byrd.