Sean Prusko combines technology and music to create House

Sean Prusko knows his music history, especially in regards to the beginnings of electronic music. With ease, he spoke about the first programmable drum machine, the TR-808 that was produced from 1980-83, and the next generation, the TR-909 that followed in 1983. These electronic drum machines were the foundations for modern house music, the music he mostly produces. Prusko, a fourth-year student at Ferris State University, double majoring in information and security intelligence/music and entertainment, has been tinkering with electronic music since seventh grade.

“Throughout middle school and high school I did percussion in the band,” says Prusko. “I think probably later into middle school I started to learn how electronic music is produced. Through the later stages of high school and into college, I started devoting more time to it.”

At Ferris, he asked his advisors about combining his love of music and technology into a double major. The university agreed and Prusko has been busy studying technology and producing electronic music ever since. In the past two years he has worked with Epic Tone Records to release his songs “Someday” and “Secrets” along with his Controversia Records song “Breaking Down” where he collaborated with producers Kohen and Nalestar.

“I would love to make more music, but it becomes harder and harder to find time,” says Prusko. “It is super time-consuming.  I’d love to release more music. It’s one thing to post music publicly, but the process of demoing and talking to record labels is incredibly time consuming — but I love doing it.”

The making of a song

Over time he has accumulated keyboards, studio monitors, synthesizers, microphones and an interface that runs into a computer. In the fall of 2023, he placed second in a remix contest and won some high-quality mixing software and studio monitors. To create a song, he comes up with an idea and then he uses his equipment and a subscription-based service called Splice where he can access music samples and sounds, including the vocals to the songs. 

“A lot of the solo stuff it starts with one idea or one element that sticks out to me and I build on it,” says Prusko. “With ‘Someday’ it started with some bass I created and some ambience that was over the top of it. I knew it was kind of leading in the direction I wanted…I found the vocal used in the track and added that and then fleshed it out. With the ‘Love’ remix (a song by producer Danny Quest) it happened to be some piano chords I had written in kind of a disco style.”

Prusko actually doesn’t consider himself one of the most technical producers. Rather, his strength lies in his ear, something that may have developed with playing piano when he was younger. This has allowed him to hear a sound in his head and record it quickly. 

“I have good intuition of what works and what doesn’t,” says Prusko. “When I hear an idea, I’m good with following through with that idea. Most songs I’ve finished and are considered worthy of being released have usually been released.”

The future of the genre

Even though producing a song is extremely time consuming, Prusko plans on continuing even with his busy college schedule and work. He is excited for his own future but also the future of electronic music. He sees the sky as the limit as the technology improves and gets cheaper, allowing more people to get involved. 

“Twenty-years ago being able to produce music in a bedroom was unheard of,” says Prusko. “To make full-length commercial-ready productions was impossible. This technology now is getting cheaper and getting easier to find. The genre is being pushed so hard, and the threshold for what is accepted keeps going up. There are 12, 13, 14-year-old producers who are making some incredible music. There is going to be an influx of talent who have access to it.”

To experience Sean Prusko’s talents please visit his online presence on YouTube, SoundCloud, Instagram and Spotify. 

Bill Lee is a journalist and freelance writer who lives in Lowell, Michigan. He enjoys sharing his fiction, family humor columns and stories about real people. You can contact him at [email protected] or find more of his writing at https://medium.com/@bisbeelee.