On The Sherp’s recent Moonrise Festival adventure, the Sherp witnessed some of the best and brightest names in the electronic music spectrum. We were fortunate enough to catch up withย LOUDPVCK, a dynamic, genre-mixing duo that refuses to be bound to just one category of music. Here’s how it went down
1. What was the inspiration for the Botany EP?
Kenny:ย We made the whole EP about 8 months ago, so we had all of the songs on the EP finished, besides AC Slaterโs remix, at the beginning of 2015; even though everything is just coming out right now, itโs where our head was at all last year.ย We have released many tracks and collaborations, but we hadnโt ever put out our own Loudpvck EP since we started. This is the first project ever created that is on iTunes, etc.ย Making this EP was very new to us, and thereโs nothing in our catalogue that sounds anything like the Travis Barker record, you know? We donโt really have any of those jungly house songs either, so we just want to step into a new lane with our music.
Ryan: We just wanted it to be really fun and crazy; a lot of our older stuff was a little bit darker and more mysterious, but we wanted this to be a huge party โ like you could throw this on at any rage and go crazy!ย Travis [Barker] is amazing and is probably the best live musician Iโve ever seen play period. ย He was open to doing anything that we wanted to play, and on top of that heโs so creative, so anything he played pretty much was dope.ย We put his recording into the computer, and it was already perfectly quantized because heโs so exact with his timing.ย We couldnโt have done it as well if we just dropped a sample into Ableton! So, heโs the man and heโs super talented.
Kenny: Also,ย Curtis Williamsย is a kid that is part of a group calledย Two9, fromย Atlanta, and weโve been fans of all of their individual careers for a long time…so when we needed a vocal for the EP, we wanted to get a young and upcoming rapper.ย Heโs only been out for a few yearsโฆwe couldโve gotten a bigger rapper, but we wanted to do something new with someone young and cool. We got to work with a legend like Travis, and then we got to put on a kid like Curtis to the EP! Itโs the best of both worlds.
Ryan: Also, there are no samples on our entire EP โ everything was individually made/recorded for our songs, which isnโt really how we did our stuff before.ย We would just put things up for free download, and we didnโt have to worry about one track being in some sample pack somewhere else.ย We were very conscientious with the EP, so everything needed to come from us, or from a recording session we did from that project.
2. Did it take a while to get all of your samples recorded?
Kenny: We had to sit down to make this EP with a totally new mindset.ย In the past, we would think โletโs just make the craziest song we can not matter what,โ because we can put it out however we can.ย But NOW we need to release something we can sell and something for the fans; we had to be conscious of every single thing that we wanted to do.ย When you want to sell your music and do it the right way, you have to go from the ground up. ย AC Slaterย die that remix for the EP, but he also released Ryanโs first song ever before Loudpvck three years ago!ย And now, three years later, heโs the only remix on our EP.ย Itโs a pretty cool turnaround.
How has the fan response been to the EP?ย
Kenny:ย The response has been amazing…we hit number 3 in the iTunes Dance charts, so you canโt ask for more than that.ย We were behind Bieber, so the only things ahead of us were the Tomorrowland soundtrack, Jack U, and Bieber.ย Thatโs as good a reception you can get! We are very happy with that. The AC Slater remix has people listening to our EP who wouldโve never known about us.ย We have done what weโve known for a few years, and sometimes when you branch out you hear some backlash; for us, we havenโt had much hate on this…there are not many bad comments, and nothing that shocked us.ย There are some of our fans asking, โWhereโs the trap?โ or some people will say, โLove the new EP, love to see you all trying something different, but why donโt you stick to your roots?โ And we think, โHow many different ways do you want us to do a trap song?โย Weโve made festival trap, weโve done 100 bpm, 140 bpm, funny and dark stuff; weโve said everything we can say in a certain lane, so when we set out to make this EP we wanted to make all new things. Itโs brought in so many new fans an DJs playing our sounds that we never wouldโve thought had interest in Loudpvck!
To our fans, we want to let them know that we can always go ahead and make a trap song, but we want to show you something elseโฆif you trusted us this far and fell in love with our music for a reason, let us take you on this walk, and show you some other styles.
Ryan: That comes back to DJing, and dark, instrumental rap beats donโt work where we are today. Even if some people love that sound, they would still get bored after 20 minutes of a set like that. There is only so far that can go when playing a festival.ย ย We want our music to reflect what our show is likeโฆwe want that to be cohesive.ย We need to build our set to have these peaks and valleys over an hour or hour and a half set. We play everything, and people who have seen us before know that.ย People will go to 10 minutes of our set and say โyou only played house!โ…and if you stayed to 12 minutes, you would hear something entirely different!
4. We read about your project for fellow producers called Soundpvcks โ can you give us background info on it and why you created it?
Kenny: Anybody who knows Ryan and I know that we are the sample dudes. We trade sounds with each other and all of our friends. The first day I met Ryan, we traded drums!ย I try to swap and share as many sounds as I can with other producers, because it gives you more to work with.ย So we thought about it, and we knew that we werenโt the only ones who wanted this; our fans are producers too!ย We wanted to be able to share our tools with artists and peers, and this is a new way to merchandise for producers.ย Whenever your song is uploaded on Soundcloud, it has a million hits and every DJ has played it, then eventually nobody is listening to it anymore…so what do you do with it? All these vocals and sounds are just going to sit there into oblivion, but fans would love to take a shot at some of those drums and vocals!ย So to us, it was a no-brainer to share what weโre doing with people who want to do the same.
Ryan: I think many of our fans are young aspiring producers.ย We knew a lot of our fans had an interest in actually producing on their own.ย When we were starting out, we would watch these YouTube tutorials on how to get a bass from a sine wave for like 12 hours! If I couldโve dropped a sample into Ableton and have it sound like Porter Robinsonโs โSay My Nameโ, I wouldโve been psyched! We want it to be easier for those people and we want to give back to them.ย 15 minutes ago Audien just told us that he bought all 4 volumes of our sample packs… we were like oh my God, we love your music and this is incredible! Other producers are actually using it! We are on 5 continents too, with our Soundpvcks.
Festive Four
1. What are the top hard-hitting tracks right now that you play in your sets at festivals?
Kenny: Burial (Moody Good Remix) by Yogi feat. Pusha T…Eptic (Carnage & Breaux Festival Trap Remix) by The End…and any Throwback 90โs rap songs.
We judge each festival completely differently, so the last week we have been doing research on what moonrise is like, who attends, what other acts are there, etc.ย Every single festival is a different vibe, so we really try to do our research.
2. Whose set are you looking forward to seeing at Moonrise?
Kenny: Bassnectar
Ryan: Knife Party
3. Who is the number one person you would take to a festival?
Kenny: Larry David
Ryan: Danny Devito โ heโs an experienced raver and Iโd love to go and rave with him!
4. If you could take only 3 things to a festival, what would they be?
Kenny and Ryan:ย A phone charger, wet wipes, and 1 cliff bar
Interview conducted by: Jacqueline Gottlob
Catch all the festival news from around the USA HERE.
(All Images via: Greg Bowser)ย