Here is the full Voyage ATL Magazine Sunny Dizzle interview! Click Here
Today we’d like to introduce you to Deminicus McKinnon.
Deminicus, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today? I’m Sunny Dizzle, a music producer, sound designer, and audio engineer. I was born in Florence, AL but raised in Corinth, MS. So coming up, I pulled musical influences from both places. I’ve been in music since kindergarten when I started taking real piano lessons. Around third grade, I had to stop once my mom and dad split. My mom’s new boyfriend, Bay, introduced me into the whole recording and engineering process around 5th grade. He used a four-track tape recorder and in that, I picked up rapping. I credit my big brothers Big Moe, Charmel, and Michael Stackins for introducing me to the producer side of music. I actually started with a Boss Dr 5 and a Yamaha QY100 before I got into producing in FL studio 3. During my freshman year at college, I would take my laptop and make beats and do commercials for local businesses around Florence right from my car. That generate my buzz.
Fast forward, I now have a bachelor’s in music production and a master’s in entertainment business from Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL. Going to that school has helped my production and business a great deal. I recommend going to school to learn what you don’t know. There is nothing wrong with that. While going to school, I moved to Memphis, TN and found my production brothers, Roger Rowe and LaRod Jones. We make up the super production team called Steaksawse. I met these fellas through a producer battle league founded by Roger called Let’s Get Loud. I put out a Facebook post the day after my first battle to collaborate and they were the only 2 to show up and the rest was history. I’m also in a collective of rappers and producers called Loud Gang. Shoutout to my brother Pyu for putting it together.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you? No, it definitely has not been a smooth road. One of the reasons I choose music production is because it was one thing that nobody could tell me how to do. I always had people try to influence me from their standpoint of what they thought could not be done. I think it was their fear of failure and it not working for them, but I’m a strong believer in pursuing what you love to do and I did. I thought I could rely on family members to having to survive in my car at one point. So, far from a smooth road. “Everybody can tell you how to do it, they never did it” – Jay Z
Please tell us about Sunnyville Productions. My company is Sunnyville Productions and I do music production for recording artists, TV & film, plays and sound design. Lately, my focus has been all focused toward anything Steaksawse related. I believe in having a strong team to accomplish your goal. Kingpin Da’ Composer and LJ1S have definitely been keeping me busy. The growth since teaming up with them has been ridiculous and that’s what I’m most proud of. We are always looking for areas to grow in and innovate new sounds. I specialize in hip hop, R&B, and pop production. What sets me apart from others is my unique bounce in my production. In the Memphis battle scene, I was giving the name “Bounce Gawd.”
What were you like growing up? Coming up, I was big into basketball. When And1 was popular and got a chance to play in a few open runs and that’s where I got my name Sunny Dizzle. I’m a huge Hot Sauce fan too. I was always the silly fun dude that just liked to be around my family. Music-wise I was heavily influenced by anything Timbaland and Missy produced. I also was heavily influenced by OutKast and Organized Noize. I remember seeing Kriss Kross videos and trying to dress like them growing up. My grandma was not having that at all! These people help shaped my sound today.
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