Today's mix is somewhat a logical continuation from our 34th edition (featuring emzhi). I stumbled upon the producers at the same time and it felt like a good fit to invite them both as guest on our mini mix / interview series.
I hope you enjoy the atmospheric bass world which Filippo (the guy behind Oceans.) will take you for the next 17 minutes. To find out more about the person behind the moniker - read our interview below and enter the world of the Chicago-based producer. I must say - there's some pretty interesting flow behind that play button!
TRACKLIST:
Hey Filippo! Pleasure to have you onboard with this interview! Before anything, tell us a bit about yourself. Did you have a musical upbringing, how did you end up producing and is music a full time thing at this point of your life?
It’s a pleasure to do the interview for Stereofox! Thanks for the opportunity.
My journey with music goes as far back as I can remember… I always loved music and listened to music all the time when I was young. My dad had early influence on me by showing me some bands when I was younger but I am the only musical person in my family. Electronic music and production didn’t really come about until I was in college, it was hard to find people to jam out with so I got a Traktor S2 for my 18th birthday, and shortly after decided I wanted to produce my own music. Right now, producing and music is not full-time for me yet, but I hope it can be soon.
Do you play any music instrument and do you think that's important for the young generation of producers (despite the advancement of software)?
My first instrument was drums, I started playing when I was 10. I also play guitar, bass, and keys but drums was always the big one for me – I was always in rock bands growing up and never listened to electronic music until high school. I think this goes to show that even if software is becoming easier to use and learn with incredible amounts of online material, learning an instrument and being in touch with music aside from just a computer is really important to be able to create music that is on another level – of course there are many producers that are great and don’t play instruments, but I think that being comfortable with music theory and instruments is definitely important to keep the music alive in the digital age.
How would you describe your mini mix in a sentence?
You might just have to listen to it ;)
Maybe some won’t expect the switch-up between happier vibes and heavier tunes, but I like any type of music and I like to incorporate that in my mixes.
Besides releasing music as Oceans, you're also a founder of INSOMNIAK Art Collective. Could you share more about the project and how's that been going on? What's the drive behind doing it?
INSOMNIAK was an idea I had one cold night in January in college, about two years ago. I had friends at school that produced but no one was working together, learning from each other, creating a musical environment where I went to school when it came to electronic music and production. I wanted to create a network – I’m a firm believer in the strength of group work and support to reach goals.
Two years later, after myself, Attic Beats, JAYDOT, 10FOLD, and Flood were the first members, we have almost 20 artists spread all over the world, have released tons of exclusives and two full albums (with the third one on the way). It’s really crazy to see how people working together and having a tight-knit producer family can help in all sorts of ways.
How does your average day look like?
Right now I’m doing an internship with an app developer called Nativ in Chicago while still taking classes online for school. I wake up, go to my office for my internship and spend half-days there. I come home and do some school stuff most days, and the rest of the time I work on music for the most part. I have been working on lots of different music and also rebranded INSOMNIAK for a few months, and I’m excited for what’s up next.
Many of the producers nowadays heavily relate on Internet connections and supporting each other online. How important do you think is a musician's presence in their local scene. In that line of thought, how's the Chicago scene - any local producers you're friends with or you look up to?
I think you could be the best producer in the world, technically and musically, and still not be able to get anywhere without being present not only online but also locally. Share, ask, learn, collaborate. Those I think are all major keys to personal success and of course, presence in the local scene is also extremely important to success – we are people and friends before we are internet URLs anyways.
The Chicago scene is popping off. Electronic music has always been present here especially when house and underground electronic music was just starting here in the United States a few decades ago. There are incredible producers from Chicago like Louis The Child, Milk N Cooks, Bite Me… and many others. Having just moved out here, I am slowly inserting myself in the music scene here with help from my manager Steven and I can say it’s only looking up from here.
As a huge fan, I'm quite curious about that EITS album tweet. I have to ask you - is this actually happening?
Explosions in the Sky are so special because they are a band that has effectively turned the raw emotion of music only, without vocals, into some of the most powerful songs in the world, at least in my opinion. I am working on a short EP that will be similar in their style and song structure – I want to see how that type of experimental, post-rock instrumental music can tie in with electronic music. It’s still in the planning process, but it’s happening.
If you could choose 2 or 3 artists to collaborate with, who would that be? Other producers or rather vocalists / instrumentalists?
I think these might be the hardest questions in music interviews and I feel like I have different answers for different periods in my music career and different influences at different times. RL Grime is one of my all time favorite electronic music artists and has always been, so if I got the chance to work with him ever that would be amazing. Lately, I’ve been listening to lots of Alexander Lewis and his style is also something that I’m really digging lately. Flamingosis and Felix Cartal are two other artists that I’ve been listening to a whole lot lately, and would love to work with their new experimental styles.
What's the hardest thing you had to sacrifice in the name of music?
There’s a lot of things that I’ve sacrificed or at least put on hold for my music, and my grades went down a lot at one point because I wanted to make music all the time. Everyone who produces music and is grinding hard knows a tad about sacrifice, and even if that sounds silly it is very true. These sacrifices come in all forms and variations, and are different for every single artist that’s at any point in their musical journey. It might be the hardest thing in producing music, in my opinion.
Thanks a lot, Filippo. It's been a real pleasure - any last words of wisdom / randomness?
Remember love if you can’t remember me. Peace Stereofox - thank you! xo
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