Prioritizing the Personal: Sam Slater on Reasons to Collaborate

When we think of reasons to collaborate with someone, we might think of the skills or sounds a player could bring to our music, or the perspective a producer might offer that could improve it. In other words, we think about the end result, and imagine it being optimized by someone else. But according to Sam Slater, the recorded results of musical collaborations might be a bit overrated. “I’d rather make a friend and have a rewarding experience that potentially doesn’t yield any music,” he says with a laugh. “That’s happened occasionally, where you’re like, ‘we should never show anyone what we’ve just made here.’”

Sam’s collaborations have produced some astounding music over the last decade, from his production work on partner Hildur Guðnadóttir’s Joker and Chernobyl scores, to the pair’s musique concrète soundtrack to the video game Battlefield 2042. So it’s surprising to hear him say that the best result of a musical encounter might be nothing – or nothing tangible at least. But in his keynote interview at this year’s Loop Create, Sam revealed that his approach to collaboration is based on the idea that relationships matter more than results. As he reflected on his experiences making music with others, in studios and on stage, rehearsal rooms and zoom calls, the producer invited us to question the kind of approach that seeks to ‘extract value’ from the human beings we work with. As an alternative, Sam painted a picture of a collaborative practice based on friendship, respect and humility, “leaving space” as he puts it, “for the other person to be as good as possible.”

Keep up with Sam Slater on his website and Instagram