First I just want to thank you for participating in this edition of Infidel Interviews. With this interview let's just start with a bit about yourself. Where are you from, how old are you, and how long have you been making music for?
You are very welcome. Thank you for giving me this opportunity! I am originally from Connecticut, but currently reside somewhere in Florida. I am twenty-seven years old and have been experimenting with music and sound design for about five years.
What sort of processes do you go through when making music? Do you have a formula(s) that you follow, or do you feel it out as you go along? Or is it more of a mixture of the two?
My process is kind of all over the place. I always start with creating the patches that will be used in a project that I am working on, and then go from there. I never really have a solid expectation of what I want a track or song to sound like until I start putting everything together. So, I would have to say that I just feel it out as I go along.
When you first started making music, was there a particular artistic or personal influence that you would say was your biggest inspiration to decide to push through as a musician?
The artists that have influenced and inspired me the most would have to be Excision, Datsik, Knife Party, Skrillex and Virtual Riot. I love their music, and listen to it regularly. Honestly though, I started making music because I was going through some tough times and found it to be a great outlet.
Would you say that your choice to pursue music has changed your life since you started? Would you say that creativity has evolved you spiritually, emotionally, or logically? What are some of the biggest challenges you have had to overcome in your musical career?
Yes, I would say that music has changed my life. I find that I am always thinking of ways to improve patches that I have made in the past and the structure of the tracks that I make. It kind of follows you through to everything that you do on a regular basis, from work to school and everywhere in between. So, creativity has helped me evolve in all three ways. The best kind of music is the kind you feel or connect with, no matter what genre it comes from. The biggest challenges that I have faced in my musical career have to be related to teaching myself and learning how to make music, because I never had anyone to teach me or help me when I had questions. Aside from YouTube, of course.
What decided to lead you to the production of electronic music, particularly the heavier and dancier kinds of it? Is electronic music where you started making music? Or did you have previous musical background or experience before hand? If so does/did your previous musical experience affect your electronic compositions?
Electronic music was always my thing. Even when I was made fun of in school for it, I still stood by it. It has become so much more mainstream since then, but everything gets that way eventually. I am drawn to heavy music, because I started out playing the electric guitar in my teens and always loved listening to heavy metal and rock music in general. It kind of evolved from there into my love for bass heavy music with growls and wobbles in it. I don’t know, I just feel a connection to that style of music and the emotion it evokes. My previous musical experience definitely has a large impact on how I compose my music today.
What genres of music would you consider yourself to be the most active in, or influenced by? What are your thoughts on genres in general?
I am most active in Dubstep, and am mostly influenced by Dubstep and its sub genres. My thoughts on genres is that they are just labels or brands, if you will. I like to listen to all types of music. If I can make a connection to a song, beat or track, then it is good music to me regardless of the genre. We use genres to identify the type of music that we like, otherwise it would be difficult to describe what we like to our friends!
Are there any particular instruments, programs, or effects that you would say are vital to you making music? If so, is there a reason in particular that draws you to said creative outlet?
I use Ableton Live, and have been using Serum quite a bit in recent months. I also use Sylenth, Gladiator and Battery. Alchemy is also a great tool, because of the versatility and freedom of expression it provides with samples. It all depends on what you are comfortable using and how creative you can be with using what you have. Serum; however, gives you the ability to manipulate waveforms taken from existing sounds which is incredible. It gives me the ability to focus on a few waveforms that I am looking for, and really push their limits.
Do you spend a lot of time crafting your own sounds? Or do you value song crafting and effects tweaking more? Or do you find it's a balance between the two? What's your relationships with presets?
I spend the majority of my time spent making music crafting my own patches and feel that it is a crucial step to creating your own voice, so to speak. Effect tweaking is also very important, but only after you have the sounds that you want. Everyone is different, so it all depends on your style. Presets get a lot of hate, but you can learn a lot about the plug-in or instrument you are using by examining presets and picking them apart. Personally, I have used them as placeholders. When I find a preset that fills a gap, or mixes well with everything else that is going on I generally recreate it with my own style.
Do you have any other musical projects that you are involved with, or do you have any other musicians or artists that you collaborate with in some capacity?
I mostly work alone at the moment, but would definitely be open for some collaborations in the future!
If you could collaborate with any musician or artist, dead or alive, who would it be? And what in particular draws you to want to collaborate with them?
Virtual Riot. I think that he is a musical genius. I love his style and his sound design.
When it comes to non-musical media, what do you find yourself most inspired by, and what about it draws you to it as a source of inspiration?
I love to play video games, so I would say that a lot of times I re-think the background music in certain situations and see if it would fit well in that scenario. Most of the time it does not, but I have been inspired with some pretty cool ideas from the process!
What do you see in the near, and far, future for your creative output?
I will never give up on making music. It is just something I love to do. I will keep pushing myself to improve on every aspect of making electronic music. Who knows what will come from it, but its all about the journey!
Thank you so much for participating in this episode of Infidel Interview. Any parting words for your fans, or my audience?
No problem. The pleasure was all mine. I hope everyone who enjoys what I do will stick around for the journey. Thank you for having me, and keep on rocking!