August 15, 2025
The music industry collectively lost its composure when Taylor Swift announced her twelfth studio album The Life of a Showgirl, with everyone from Sabrina Carpenter to Caitlin Clark publicly...
Read moreAugust 15, 2025
One of the most talked-about musical moments of the summer is JoJo Siwa's recent rendition of the 1981 classic "Bette Davis Eyes." On July 11, she shared her retro-style rendition, sparking intense...
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Chappell Roan is keeping fans guessing about her sophomore album, admitting she has "no idea" what direction her new music will take. In a revealing interview with Apple Music 1's Zane Lowe, the...
Read moreAugust 15, 2025
In a candid new interview with GQ, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is pulling back the curtain on his relationship with pop superstar Taylor Swift. The NFL star revealed intimate details...
Read moreAugust 15, 2025
At exactly 12:12 a.m. Tuesday, Taylor Swift revealed her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, via her official website. The announcement came as a countdown timer hit zero, setting off a wave...
Read moreAugust 15, 2025
Taylor Swift fans are buzzing after longtime collaborator Joseph Kahn revealed that the singer filmed — but never released — a music video for her Reputation track “King of My Heart” nearly a...
Read moreAugust 15, 2025
As his son Jack Blues approaches his first birthday on August 22, Justin Bieber is giving fans heartfelt glimpses into his life as a doting father. The 31-year-old superstar took to Instagram...
Read moreAugust 11, 2025
From August 1–3, Parc Jean-Drapeau wasn’t just a park, it was the main character. Osheaga 2025 rolled in with enough vibes to power your entire summer playlist, turning the city into a three-day...
Read moreAugust 11, 2025
In the ever-shifting world of K-pop, new groups arrive every year, but when BigHit Music announces a debut, the industry listens. Just days before BTS gears up for their long-awaited comeback, the...
Read moreAugust 11, 2025
When ILLIT dropped “Billyeoon Goyangi,” they probably didn’t expect to turn TikTok into one giant dance floor, but here we are, thousands of creators spinning, twirling, and body-rolling like their...
Read moreAugust 11, 2025
In a year where streaming milestones are harder to hit than that high note in ANTIFRAGILE, LE SSERAFIM has officially crossed 1 billion Spotify streams in 2025. The self-proclaimed fearless queens...
Read moreAugust 11, 2025
Imagine dropping your debut single and poof, you're suddenly everywhere. That’s exactly how ILLIT entered the scene with “Magnetic.” This banger didn’t just drop; it detonated, sending viral...
Read morePhoto: Chugg Entertainment
Does equipment matter when producing bangers– or is it about working with what you have?
Steve Lacy is a singer, songwriter, record producer, and living proof that you don’t need the most advanced or high-tech studio equipment to create music that listeners will love. With something as simple as the GarageBand app on his iPhone, the “Dark Red” artist was able to gain recognition in the music industry. During his TEDxTeen talk, Lacy expressed that he always wanted a MacBook Pro since that’s what his friends used to create art. He never got that MacBook, however. Instead, Lacy created beats with an iPod. “With this [iPod], I’ve got these apps and I’m just exploring this world of sound with this little device in my pocket - and I realized that I didn’t necessarily need what I thought I did,” he said.
Lacy was able to gain traction as the guitarist of The Internet, an Alternative R&B band from LA. One of their songs titled “Curse”, created via GarageBand, was the demo that would go on to lead the then high-schooler into a Grammy nomination. From there, he continued creating music not necessarily having any idea what it was for– “it just felt right”, he said during the talk. He wasn’t even aware that he was producing an album, he was just laying down ideas that he had heard in his head with his friends. This first body of work opened the doors of opportunity for him to work with more people like J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar– all just from his iPhone.
According to a Wired feature on YouTube, Lacy records all of his music on his phone. He’s used lots of apps before but GarageBand is his favourite, according to the Wired video. He would start off with a simple drum loop, and then he plugs his guitar into his iPhone using an iRig cable. After, he adds his vocals– Lacy prefers singing straight into the iPhone’s mic, holding a pop filter and getting right up close. As he works, he just stacks the tracks one-by-one in GarageBand.
“I like to, you know, make wherever I am”, he said in the Wired video.
Besides Lacy, other legendary musicians such as Rihanna, and electronic music duo, Justice, have released masterpieces using GarageBand. Rihanna’s 2007 hit “Umbrella” uses a drum loop that you can find if you search for the “Vintage Funk Kit 03” sample on the app. Justice’s 2007 album “Cross” was produced using the Apple app.
GarageBand and other alternative apps like Logic Pro (Apple), Groovepad (Android), Audacity (Windows, Linux, Mac), Adobe Audition (Windows & Mac), etc. are powerful, yet accessible tools available to new-age artists to create music on. Furthermore, with the emergence of the Information Age, a simple internet search can help young artists get their foot in the door of the music industry.