Kevin Flournoy | Mastering Melodies: Journey from Keyboard to Icon - Mick Unplugged

Episode Transcription

• Episode 19 Transcription

  Intro: Are you ready to change your habits, sculpt your destiny, and light up your path to greatness? Welcome to the epicenter of transformation. This is Mick Unplugged. We'll help you identify your because so you can create a routine that's not just productive, but powerful. You'll embrace the art of evolution, adapt strategies to stay ahead of the game, and take a step toward the extraordinary.

  So let's unleash your potential. Now here's Mick.

  Mick Hunt: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of Mick Unplugged where we channel our because and look beyond our why. Today, I have the incredible honor of introducing a true legend in the music industry. He's a prolific songwriter and producer whose talent has shaped the sounds of many iconic artists like Tina Marie, Shaka Khan, Jamie Foxx, The Emotions, Babyface. I can keep going. Many, many more.

  Mick Hunt: Join me in welcoming the one and only, the man I call the goat, mister Kevin Plornoy. Kevin, welcome to make unplugged, brother. Man, you know, I told you offline and for those that are listening and watching, I listen to the k Flow show every Sunday when I'm making brunch for the wife, and it puts me in the right mood. There's nothing like live music. Like, I will say studio music is great, but there is nothing that captures the soul like live music.

  Mick Hunt: And, Kevin, I'm gonna be very honest and transparent. Your music brings out emotions that man. I mean, you're talking about a grown man that will just sit there and be captivated just by music. And I know I'm not the only person that's ever told you that. But what was it about music for you?

  Mick Hunt: Like, I I know the story of your dad telling you to pick out an instrument. Like, what was it for you? I'm not gonna call your dad Joe Jackson or anything.

  Ken Flournoy: No. It it wasn't that. You know? It's I think it's a natural occurrence, you know, where where the music spoke to me in a certain way. So music speaks to everybody in a certain way.

  Ken Flournoy: What it was telling me was that I had a talent to take it and sort of form it in a way or write it, produce it in a way to speak to other people. And so through songs and writing songs, through playing my instrument, which became, you know, piano mostly. So it wasn't just playing the instrument. It wasn't about just writing the song. It's about how can I do that to affect the emotions of the person that I'm playing it for, which is a whole another element?

  Mick Hunt: So is the emotion of others, is that your because? Like, what's Kevin's because? Like, what drives you to create and excel in the music space?

  Ken Flournoy: I might have morphed over the years. At the beginning, I was I I was just interested in the music, so I would listen to the radio. I said, I like what I'm hearing. I wanna recreate that. The thing where it became a thing where there's perp more purpose to it in terms of reaching other people evolved when I found out that when first one, as a player, I would play and found out that people would respond and say, that really touched me.

  Ken Flournoy: That song touched me. The way you played that song touched me. That became inspirational to me to where I said, I wanna do that more. So that became the because of it because I can reach people. And then when I hear them talk about the effect that the music has on them in their life, that's big.

  Ken Flournoy: Even to this day, the first song that I released on my solo project, I read comments, so, like, all kind of comments. And, basically, it's comments, from people telling me how the song affects them personally. And sometimes there's a an adult, some story about their wife, their kids. And and it's interesting to read that, and that's where I get empowered. I like that part of it.

  Mick Hunt: And what's crazy, and it's not crazy, but you can see it in your music. Right? Like, I can hear it. I can feel it. Like, it's rare that music can just totally be felt throughout your entire body and your mind places because, you know, like, you have some instrumentals where it's just like, I could almost imagine the words to the song being played, and then I can listen to it 5 days later.

  Mick Hunt: Totally different set of words come to mind because your music just brings that out. So I wanted you to know that personally.

  Ken Flournoy: Oh, I appreciate you telling me that. I appreciate it. Yes.

  Mick Hunt: So who were some of your biggest influencers early on, and how did that shape your career?

  Ken Flournoy: Yeah. Early on, and what I just spoke about in terms of being able to reach people, after my first couple years in college, I was studying under professor press professor Jimmy Cheatham at UCSD in San Diego. And that's where the private conversation we used to have at his office hours were where he started opening my mind into being able to do that. That it's not just about, if you're gonna play the piano with a vocalist, it's not just about playing, and it's not about you. It's about being able to understand what they're trying to project and then play to their, and support them.

  Ken Flournoy: That was the first inspiration in my mind. And also, he would say, after you graduate, everybody's gonna wanna hire you if you if you master this. And, you know, I was 18, 19. I said, okay. You know, I, you know, I don't really know what he's what he's talking about.

  Ken Flournoy: Over the 4 or 5 years that I studied under, professor Jimmy Cheatham and I'll say as aside, he had access to he had come from that New York jazz area, so Dizzy Gillespie, all those jazz greats, Miles Day, and he would bring them to the school. So I would be able to talk to them too at a young age, and they would kinda say the same thing. And they they would actually give stories of their plight in terms of the way they express their music, how it's, an expression of their life, you know, the struggles and everything, and then how they wrote songs. And so I'm listening to that, listening to the professor, and I started adopting those techniques. And it's about a person hearing your music and being able to breathe with it, like you inhale and exhale.

  Ken Flournoy: A regular life cycle is life. So, if you're playing a lot, you got to stop playing so they, so the ear can breathe. And then it's a whole concept of doing that. And so, I started being inspired by what he was saying, put those practices into work, and found out after I graduated and moved to LA that he was he was right because they were the vocalists were like, Yeah, we want you to play. But you wanna travel to Pearl?

  Ken Flournoy: I said, oh, this works. It really works. And then later on, I started infusing that in my the way I write songs in my production. It was about being able to breathe, inhale and exhale. The ear, actually.

  Mick Hunt: That's amazing. So, obviously, he was right.

  Ken Flournoy: Yes.

  Mick Hunt: Right? And you've been able to work with so many incredible artists. Right? Which collaborations kinda stand out the most to you and, and why?

  Ken Flournoy: There are certain collaborations that are exciting to me. So early on, I started playing with Ronnie Laws, and the excitement comes from the fact that this artist plays sax, but it's different from everybody. There's a reason why he had, you know, that he had major label deals, and he's a iconic figure as a saxophone player. When I play, it it's him, and I'll say, working with Gladys Knight early on. And I really feel it when we're at rehearsal and it's really a tight quarters and they're sitting next to you singing.

  Ken Flournoy: You really can kind of sense the power in their gift. And that's inspirational as far as her singing, the body loft playing the sax, and it's different. There's a lot of vocalists singing, but there's something special there as evident from their history, of course. You know, Gladys Knight and and, Chaka Khan, for instance, it's evident that they're here and they've been in the business all these years, but to stand next to them and play and hear hear that power is inspirational. And that was another one.

  Ken Flournoy: The Shaka's thing was inspirational too. Because, you know, I was in high school when a lot of those songs were number 1. I'm I'm I'm currently playing with the pointy sisters also. And it's kinda inspirational here that, wow. Okay.

  Ken Flournoy: I'm I'm there, you know, and I'm used to dancing to the top of songs. So, yeah, just a great journey.

  Mick Hunt: I love it. So you are amazing producer, amazing songwriter, and I wanna hit on both of those. But I wanna start with songwriting because a lot of people don't know this about me, but my first love in life was poetry. Right? And and in particular, like, writing ballads.

  Mick Hunt: And and I love poetry with a passion so much so. Like, I'm still in love with poetry. Right?

  Ken Flournoy: Yes.

  Mick Hunt: Talk about songwriting. Like Mhmm. The inspiration, the time. Like, what is writing a song like for for Kevin?

  Ken Flournoy: That's interesting you say about poetry because that's what it is, a love for poetry. I have a process, and I like part of the process that I like more than the other part. So the the easy part for me is sitting at the keyboards, and sometimes we just drop our hands down, and then something something will come up within seconds. I come up with tons of ideas right away. Once the song is constructed and the core structures are are constructed, the lyrical context, which needs to be poetic, especially if it's a beautiful song like a ballad.

  Ken Flournoy: You can't just talk about anything. You know, it's gotta it's gotta make sense. And you want it to be intelligent so it can kinda reach people and poetic. That part can sometimes be a struggle. So a lot of songwriters, what they do, after they get the chords, they will kinda mumble stuff on them, which I used to do, cassette tape mumble mumble kind of ideas, and those were morphed into syllables, which were morphed into words.

  Ken Flournoy: And that process can be at the beginning, maybe I get 70, 75% of those mumbles a turn in, and there are always, like, a couple lines that'll kill me. It'll take a I'm a have to come back to it the next day because it needs to fit in this box. But you can't just say anything, and then maybe it needs to rhyme. And so the rhyme scheme needs to be a certain thing. And then you don't wanna always have a predictable rhyme scheme.

  Ken Flournoy: So sometimes you wanna go off, and your format's different with the song. And some of the greatest songs don't quite it's not like 4 lines and 4 lines for the chord. It's something else going on added to it, which makes it more sophisticated. But my process and I started writing songs early as a teenager, and and that's what it was, sitting at the keyboard. Piano had a Fender Rhodes at the time and wrote many songs.

  Ken Flournoy: And I'm recording some kind of recording apparatus and put that microphone up and with mumble. And I had, back in the day where you had cassettes, you had this thing, you put all the cassettes in. And most of the time, people would have that with artists that they have and put and bringing it to the car. It was all me. Right?

  Ken Flournoy: It's all me. And, so if somebody actually got to it, it wouldn't make any sense to them. Just a bump bunch of mumbling and cords. Yeah. I I used to do that almost every day.

  Mick Hunt: That's wild. And and I wanna go I wanna go somewhere because the average consumer of music don't understand or realize that the person singing the song usually isn't the person that wrote the song. What's a couple of songs that that you wrote that most people don't realize that you wrote?

  Ken Flournoy: You know, when I first came out, I did a tour with the regor group, Big Mountain. And so I actually wrote songs with the lead singer and, another singer out of England, and one called Caribbean Blue. Right? And so it was like a major song back in the day. It was in the nineties.

  Ken Flournoy: And a lot of times, people become surprised that I was, like, a a writer on it, a writer on that. There's other stuff that I'm doing recently, like, within the last year. Basically, the question is, did you write the lyrics? They always ask that because that becomes like, oh, you can do that? You know?

  Ken Flournoy: Because I've used to see me playing. But that's always been the game from the beginning about writing the lyrics. So there's just several things. I have a lot of songs. So this is several several songs that I kinda over the years that I have done the lyrical thing and then and the music thing.

  Ken Flournoy: And you're gonna be hearing a lot more of that coming, actually. I'm working on stuff now. Because part of my production thing back in the day was to find artists or a singer to project what I wanted to project for my song. But basically back in the day, the way that would work is that the artists would have some sort of deal, or you would have to get in some sort of business situation with a record company or something to project that music out. Now, as you know, it's different now.

  Ken Flournoy: You can just grab the singer. And so I grab people that I have relationships with, be iconic singers or not, like the song I got with Phil Perry. And I will grab them, have ask them to sing on top top of the songs, and then promote that. So there's a lot of the songs that I've been writing over the last 20 years that is gonna be coming out in the next year or 2.

  Mick Hunt: I love it. So so let's go there to some of the new stuff. And, folks, we're about to talk about 2 songs that when I talk about Move Me, and I listen to every day. So you just hit one with Phil Perry. Tell Me If You Still Care.

  Mick Hunt: The first time I heard that one, the recent rendition that you did of that one, I stood still for 15 minutes. And I promise you and and I'm gonna have the links. And so everyone that's listening or watching, I'll have the links in the show notes. I promise you just take some time out of your day and listen to Phil Perry and Kevin doing Tell Me If You Still Get This. Walk me through that one.

  Mick Hunt: Walk me through the selection of of the artists and and the band and everything like that. It it's an amazing, amazing, amazing rendition of that song.

  Ken Flournoy: Oh, thanks. No. No. No. I appreciate that.

  Ken Flournoy: So that's that came out of that concept where Phil Perry is somebody I worked with in the nineties as a keyboard player. So I over years, I developed relationships with these different artists. So at a certain time, it became easy to ask them to help me with something, You know? And and because I, you know, I already got the number, and I can call and ask. And so these songs that are coming out in the future are just like that.

  Ken Flournoy: So I kinda stagger them. A couple of them are remakes, like, that was the SOS Band who did that in in the nineties. And then others are like that song, but it's just me. So I'm kinda staggering them out. That, I really kinda didn't wanna put that particular song.

  Ken Flournoy: I was trying to put something else out just because I wanted to I wanted to showcase my writing ability. But that one became ready, and the director of that that video suggests, yeah, you should do I remember when you were just telling me, you sh you should do the video on this one. And I and at first, I was like, no. I wanna do the video on my myself. And, he said, no.

  Ken Flournoy: Do do do this one. And I said, okay. We do it. And I didn't put much stock into it, but he was a genius director, Frederick Tobias Na, who had a movie esque presentation in his head about how that would go. So the band that's in there, most of the members of the band were selected because they have been working with me for the last 2 years on these songs.

  Ken Flournoy: There's a whole group of songs. I have a clip up where there's 5 background singers singing Tell Me If You Still Care. And they're in the studio, and it's a big deal. So in that particular session, they all they were also singing the background for the new artist I'm working with, Amanda Cole. They're they're working on her stuff.

  Ken Flournoy: In 1 or 2 days, I would get a lot done. But these are the same guys, studio musicians, guys I played on the road with, currently work with, like, Melvin Lee Davis, who's, a musical director for Chaka Khan. I'm plucking different people with different talents to project this music. That's what part of the reason why it sounds so good. I have to do my thing, but having guys on that level really takes it to another level.

  Ken Flournoy: Then having Phil Perry on top of that level, on top of the other level, it just things can happen, you know, even if it's not planned. And so, we get into a vibe when we're playing live in the studio, and there's something that's synergied between us because we communicate at that certain level. And then Phil's part, Phil's just Phil. So stuff is gonna happen. Something's gonna happen.

  Mick Hunt: Phil being Phil. Right?

  Ken Flournoy: It's not like at the session for the vocal session, I just kinda sit back and say, okay. You know, you roll the track. And those those guys like that, shoot. The first time, second it's it's done. They've already thought through the presentation, the, performance level before they even arrive, so they're not guessing.

  Ken Flournoy: And in their history, yeah, they're not guessing at what they're they're trying to do. And all those elements come together to make what you hear, but it's the post that's a big thing. I tell people I work on the post after everything's recorded. It takes me a long time to do that. It's not that it would take me a long time, except for the fact that I'm trying to reach people.

  Ken Flournoy: It's things that people don't understand in terms of when I play the piano, I might have to go back, okay, the piano power sounds fine to everybody else. I said, I need to go back in, Play it a certain way so then I can get a response. Oh, that felt good when you when you hear it. And so that's going on all levels in that song.

  Mick Hunt: Well, it it worked.

  Intro: Trust me.

  Mick Hunt: You you you got it right. I know you're a perfectionist. You got it right. And and you just brought up Amanda Cole To the Water. Yeah.

  Mick Hunt: Everyone, you're gonna see the the link to To the Water here. And I'm gonna tell you, Kevin, I'm looking you in your eye. My wife broke down when she heard that song, and and she just heard it. And then when she saw the the video, the composition of it, it it resonated even deeper with her. And and so obviously, like, I'm a I'm a music buff.

  Mick Hunt: Right? I love music, but to see my wife move to the water, I know it's won some awards, and it's gonna continue to win, like, good. Like, talk to me through that one. Like, bro, like, I could almost get emotional right now.

  Ken Flournoy: Wow. Yeah. That's that's that has turned out none. So that's a new one for me, the newest one.

  Mick Hunt: Yes.

  Ken Flournoy: And, yes, the same concept where I was trying to reach through the reach thing and the way I'm presenting it. And now I'm listening to the comments, and it's nice to hear that it's moving because, you know, it speaks to something that that everybody deals with at some point in their life. And so the, the challenge of that is you basically got to have like an Amanda Cole sing it. Singers like that are rare, especially these days, where they actually can sing. So in the studio, she's singing the song from the beginning to the end.

  Ken Flournoy: It's not like we gotta punch in this, but it's a performance. And she's gonna study that song, so she's doing the same thing I'm doing. I need to reach people. I'm listening to this message, reach people. And I did the same thing with the musicians, the arrangement.

  Ken Flournoy: This is the song she brought to me because we're working on the EP, so we were, like, 3 or 4 songs in already. This was a side thing. And when I heard first heard it, I was like, yeah. That's it. I know what to do.

  Ken Flournoy: I can hear everything that you're listening to while I'm listening to a scratch of it. That process took a, you know, took about a year, year and a half to really dialing in as far as bringing her out, getting the instrumentation, me working on my part. So I'm trying to create a masterpiece. Even in an environment that people don't spend that kind of time on music as much anymore, but I still want to. So so there it is.

  Mick Hunt: Absolutely. Well, it is definitely my favorite song. When I tell you I have it on repeat, like, it is literally pulled up on my computer right here.

  Ken Flournoy: Oh, wow. There are moments

  Mick Hunt: of the day where I just need it, and I just I just go to it. It it's that deep. So you brought up something that I wanna talk about your genius in production. Like, you talk about hearing things. And and I think one of the hardest parts of production is taking what you hear and what you wanna where you wanna go and then relaying that to other people, communicating that sound.

  Mick Hunt: Right? Because that's really, really hard is you've got this sound in your ear and and, yep, you can play the note. But then how do you trust the saxophonist to really get it? Because you can't really just hit the note for the saxophone form. How do you get that bass guitar player to really go where you're going?

  Mick Hunt: Like, how do you do that, Kevin? Because you are freaking amazing.

  Ken Flournoy: That's that's a a great question because that is a very complicated process that I do, and I do it pretty silently. You might not see it when you see the one we're at the studio, so I've done some prework. Part of the prework is that depending upon the song, there's different like, there might be 5 different bass players that you can call, and that's where it starts. And they're all like top bass players. So, the particular one might, I say, this one, this person's going to be able to emote a certain way on this type of song, like To the Water.

  Ken Flournoy: So you call that guy. So you're already halfway down the road. You're still gonna have to offer guidance so they can hear what you have in your head. For each musician, I have to do that. And that process is a serious problem.

  Ken Flournoy: Because once you do that, like I said, you're already halfway down there. When, what I do, once they're in the studio and they start recording, I let them do whatever they want the first couple I don't say anything. Because ultimately, since they are professional, the the most professional in the business, they're gonna offer me something that I didn't hear, at least part of it. It won't be the entire thing. And sometimes they'll ask me.

  Ken Flournoy: I said, no. Just just play. Just play it. What do you want me to do? Just play it.

  Ken Flournoy: Pick the bass. Just do it. And I always learn something from hearing, because they're masters. They've recorded a lot of records. So once that happens, I start to moan.

  Ken Flournoy: I I, it's analogous to molding clay. So I give them directions. I say, okay. Turn left at that signal right there. Right on measure 45.

  Ken Flournoy: Just change that right there. And those little things make all the difference in the world. That's the true production.

  Mick Hunt: One day, I just wanna come film you in production mode. Like

  Ken Flournoy: Oh, yeah.

  Mick Hunt: I think that would be you know, when you talk about bucket list for me Yes. Watching Kevin Flournoy do his thing is bucket list for me. Like, that's Oh, yeah.

  Ken Flournoy: You're invited. I mean, that's it's a process. It's it's good to see too. Yeah. It's exciting process.

  Mick Hunt: That's it. So a couple of takeaways from today with Kevin, the goat as I call him. Not just in music, right, but even in life, think about the emotion that you're trying to evoke from others in a positive way. You know, Maya Angelou said, people don't remember the things you say. They remember how you made them feel.

  Mick Hunt: I see that in everything that you do, and I and I know that for the folks that are watching or listening, think about that. People are always gonna remember how you made them feel. And the person that we're on the line with today is a genius at that. So, Kevin, for the listeners, whether they're a musician or not, what are some things what are a couple of things people can really do to evoke the emotion that they want out of people in a positive courage

  Ken Flournoy: and perseverance. The courageous part comes in that, courage and perseverance. The courageous part comes in that, don't be scared to, you know, get out there and and do the thing. And the perseverance is that's it doesn't always work the way that you have in your head. And I've learned that the perseverance is like, I might have to go back in and try it again, because it's not always the first time that that happens, and that's a big deal.

  Ken Flournoy: Don't get discouraged about that. I'm getting ready to have a discussion with the artist I'm working with now. I was like, okay. We need to go back in, and we don't have to because it's on the level that it sounds good, but that there's another level. So maybe the realization to people that there are levels to this and aspire to that level to where you're sitting back and saying, this is great, and I'm comfortable with it.

  Mick Hunt: Love it. There are levels to these people. So my question, not to Kevin, but for those listening and watching, what level are you at right now, and what level do you wanna get to? Because maybe there's work that you need to go to. Kevin, where can people find you, follow you?

  Mick Hunt: What do you want them to know? What's important for them to know about Kevin right now?

  Ken Flournoy: In general, you can go to kevinflournoy.com. That's the website. And it has everything, the new releases and and everything you need to know about me, the bios. And if you wanna find out records I've done in the past, that's the go to place also on Instagram, kevin.fl0, kevin.flow. So you can see stuff I'm doing, you know, like, put stories in.

  Ken Flournoy: Like, I just went to New York to do a project. You can see me in the studio, you know, working stuff out with various artists.

  Mick Hunt: My man, the goat, Kflow. And everyone, the Kflow show, follow it. It will change your life. I promise you. You can just you can go to any episode, put it on repeat.

  Mick Hunt: It's my Sunday brunch. It's how I get started. I cook the best meals when I'm listening to k Flow. Everyone listening, remember, your because is your superpower. Don't want me to

  Intro: Thanks for listening to Mick Unplugged. We hope this episode helps you take the next step toward the extraordinary and launch stay inspired,

  Ken Flournoy: and

  Intro: stay unplugged. Stay inspired, and stay unplugged.