Stop Trying to be Cool // Ainsworth

Ainsworth (https://open.spotify.com/artist/0UxA0...) is a Toronto-based music producer, multi-instrumentalist, and social media synth jam maestro. If you’ve spent any time in the synthier corners of Instagram or YouTube, you’ve bobbed your head to the irresistible beats he makes on synths the size of matchboxes.

[NOTE for Apple Podcast subscribers: the correct Slow fade listing is ⁠at this link⁠ (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...) -- please click and make sure it's the one you're subscribed to. There is a duplicate listing that I will be removing soon. Thanks.]

But Ainsworth also has decades of experience as a gigging musician, composer, and songwriter. And over the past five years, he’s put out a series of albums I can’t get enough of—especially Jazz Blaster (https://open.spotify.com/album/1pCkfm...) , which you can sample in this episode. He blends retro electronic sounds with horn parts, hip-hop vocals, jazz chords, and one of the rarest and most refreshing things in music: a sense of humor.

I caught Ainsworth in a moment of transition: he’s in a new studio, making career moves, and most importantly, he’s just become a father. So how does parenthood change your art? Why are audiences so much bigger for social media jams than full albums? How do you escape the black hole of endless gear acquisition? And does your music get better when you stop trying to be cool? I talked to Ainsworth to find out.

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