Upon meeting Chris Adams, better known as the extraterrestrial allure AHEE, you wouldn’t think he was the sole-survivor of a fatal car accident as a child. But after coming to understand his rare sense of optimism and love of nature, human connection, and electronic music, it makes perfect sense.
Adams is an individual who values life and every moment it offers him. One of the best parts about him? Aside from his incredible ability to create rip-smattering bass music? He’s relatable.
He harvests onions, he raises chickens, he speculates about aliens, he has hard times, he has good times, he is just like the fans who follow him around the country and support him and bares nothing in common with the egotistical DJ archetype that has persisted in the history of electronic music.
He’s human. Well, “part-human, part cyborg,” according to him.
This November, we got the chance to catch up with AHEE backstage before his show at Soundcheck DC. In our conversation, he revealed the mentality that got him to where he is today, shares his deep connection to nature, talks about the interdimensional pursuits of mankind, and much more.
Maximilian Vanegas: Here we are in DC, on a Wednesday night, after about, I think, 20-plus shows in the last five months?
Chris Adams: I’ve lost track. It’s a lot more than that. I’ve gone 90% of weekends out of the year for at least two, three years.
MV: Do you ever have a hard time turning it on and gathering the energy that your fans so often see you expend on stage?
CA: No. I mean, I do struggle at times, but when I’m there for the fans, it doesn’t matter how many people are there. I always turn it on for them because they’re the reason I’m able to do this at all. But I’m human, so I go through all sorts of ups and downs and struggles. But when it comes to showtime, I’m just the kind of person that’s ready.
MV: What are some things you do to get in the zone? Besides an interview with River Beats Dance, ofcourse.
CA: I love to brush my teeth before the set, make sure I got fresh breath. I’m up there by myself, but still I got to feel good.
MV: Absolutely.
CA: And trying to make sure I can get sleep, which doesn’t always happen. Trying to eat, which doesn’t always happen, but got to do my best in all those things.
MV: Right on. Well, I want to congratulate you on what has been one of the breakout years of your career. You’ve accomplished so much this year. A tour, massive collabs, massive releases, massive shows. I’m curious, what do you do to keep yourself humble?
CA: I have no problems staying humble. I have my wife and my team and I’ve just never…I’ve struggled with self-worth and I went through all the self-help books. So I’m on the other end of how do I make sure that I’m gassing myself up enough.
CA: For most of my life, I’ve been trying to get to a point where I felt like I have a career. In the last two years, I have finally gotten there. I feel I’ve chilled out quite a bit. And in a way, it’s made me more relaxed, but in other ways it’s like, “Okay, now’s the time for the challenges of the traveling and the business aspects of it.” But I always go back to being extremely grateful for being the person that my six-year-old self wanted to be.
MV: What were some of your biggest challenges to get where you are today?
CA: I would say one of my biggest challenges was just the tribulations of being on the road so often. My sleep schedule will get really messed up sometimes, and when that gets messed up, it’s really hard, but sometimes I got to push through. It doesn’t matter.
CA: At Seven Stars this year. I had to play my set in front of thousands and thousands of people, but I had two hours of naps in the previous 36 hours beforehand. So that was a challenge. And then I stayed up after that just talking, having all these amazing conversations with all these other artists. And so that stuff really energizes me. So after the show, even though I was so tired, I thought I was going to go sleep, I actually got a lot of energy from the fans. But the no sleeping thing is definitely a challenge.
CA: I have a unique challenge: I make too much music. I just announced I have a 140 WIPs. And so, I got to figure out what to release. A lot of it’s really good, but I got to find the best. And it’s what I want to do artistically and what the world is set up to handle are different things. Streaming platforms, how promotion works and the rollouts and everything and people’s attention spans. So all those things are also challenges.
MV: Would you say your output has always been that high?
CA: Yeah. I would say it used to be higher when I didn’t travel as much.
MV: Is there something that goes into that or do you just have an instinct to produce?
CA: I would die if I didn’t make a song for too long. I’ve been writing music since I was 10 years old. I started producing in 2001 or 2000, something around there. And I released my 69th album, full hour long album in 2019. And that was before I even had a career. In my early career, I was making IDM like Aphex Twin and I never shared it with anybody. I would just make it and I’d be like, “Oh, I made a song, how come no one’s listening to it?” I didn’t even put it online and I was an airhead and I had to get over that and learn business and all those things. And so those were challenges earlier in my career.
MV: Aside from music production, it sounds like you also look to nature for cathartic and grounding experiences. How important is nature for you as a resource to decompress?
CA: Well, I’d say nature is literally how the world works. And in the modern age, we can somehow get disconnected from it. When I lived in LA for an extended amount of time, I felt that creep into me at times. But being connected to nature is super important for me. Our bodies were really designed to live in nature. And for me, it’s not that I love taking care of plants or anything, I really don’t. I’m more of a part-human, part cyborg in a way. But I still realize the importance of connecting to nature. And I loved going camping. I love being outdoors for festivals, even though that’s not necessarily always nature.
CA: Oh yeah. One my favorites – lasers and trees. Especially when there’s a little wind.
MV: Oh yeah.
CA: But yeah, I would say because my wife is a farmer, I want to help her in whatever ways I can. And so I don’t really do the planting, but I help with the beds of what is going to be planted and I’ll just help her move stuff around. Be the man on the farm. But I mean, she’s killer. But I recognize that not having time away from the screen is really important.
MV: It’s scary to think that nature might be finite. Do you think that there is an expiration date on Earth and do you believe we will need to become a multi-planetary species?
CA: See, this is a deep philosophical question.
CA: Something I’ve been learning about recently is the difference between the modern conception of reality versus the ancient conception of reality. And I think the main difference is that nowadays we tend to think that the world is a physical plane and that all things derive from it. While in the ancient times they would say that the world is a projection of the mind and that we originally come from the mind and everything is an extension of the mind.
^
CA: I haven’t done psychedelics in seven, eight years, but when I did do them earlier, it felt like that conception of reality was a little bit closer to the truth of what I experienced. And so will the earth end? Will we need to be a multi-planetary species? I’ve definitely thought of those things and part of me says yes, but another part of me thinks there’s something more profound in exploring the multidimensionality of the mind and that there’s a lot of untapped potential there.
CA: Is it that this is the only space that exists and we need to take care of it? There’s that, yes. And that’s where my sense of taking care of and honoring nature comes from, but also, the mind is a part of nature as well. And so taking care of that and nurturing that is also a big thing. And I think that there’s a lot there to be explored.
MV: So you’re saying that we have the capacity to potentially become a multidimensional species as much as we have the potential to become a multiplanetary species?
CA: Yeah.
MV: Very cool. What kind of technology do you think could lead to that?
CA: I mean, some people would say…
MV: Psychedelics…
CA: Some people would say DMT is a technology. I haven’t done it in a long time, so I don’t know, but I definitely had that feeling. It could also just be a bunch of hallucinatory gobbledygook, which some people can say. But for me, when I did it, it didn’t seem that way. It felt very profound. And so when I am in nature, I’m kind of reminded of that a little bit.
MV: Another revolution taking place alongside our interplanetary/dimensional pursuits is happening right here in the music industry. What are your thoughts on the current state of the scene and where things are heading?
CA: The music scene at large feels like things have shifted post-COVID and pre-COVID. I feel they’re two different audiences, almost. In some ways, it’s gotten better. In some ways, it’s changed. I would say the economy has definitely affected a lot of people and I’m curious to see how that will affect organized events going forward. And then we also are experiencing a monopolization of capital in the electronic music world.
MV: Even more so than before.
CA: Yeah, just because over time, large entities have a lot of money to buy other things, which leads to more monopolization. And in some ways, it allows more people to access it, but then also makes it more of a commodity rather than an experience. And so I would say that I actually see a lot of really good things coming out because at the same time, I can still tell that the sermon is there, or something new is still there.
CA: People are being introduced to new concepts that they wouldn’t have otherwise. I saw a really cool video of someone from the hip-hop world. He went to Ultra or EDC Orlando, and he was just like, “I could go anywhere, and I didn’t feel judged or looked at funny. All these people were doing all these unique things,” and I could tell his mind was opened up to so many more possibilities of what’s capable in the world.
^
MV: It’s not just a bunch of people grinding their teeth on Molly.
CA: Yeah, there’s definitely still some of that. But also sometimes in those moments, people have really profound moments. And for me, when I went to one of my first electronic music events, Lightning in a Bottle, I felt I had discovered Hogwarts, and I was like, “Oh, this is what all the cool adults do.”
MV: One person who’s been a big contributor to the music scene who has now retired, is Dave Tipper. As a big fan of his, I’m curious what you think about his departure and ultimately what affect it will have on the scene.
CA: I don’t know if he’ll actually retire.
MV: Ultimately, he’ll come back.
CA: Maybe. I feel he’s retired at least three times in his career and he’s come back and it’s very good marketing, but I know he has real health issues, and I understand that traveling a lot is really hard, especially when you have health issues. But I don’t know, I’ve seen the Dave Tipper world has become more, it’s always been underground, but it’s still underground in terms of electronic music. There are a few people coming up that are killing it in that world and I love hearing it.
MV: Would you mind naming a few names?
CA: Let’s see here. Well, Jade Cicada, I think he’s had a really good come up. And then also, I don’t know if this guys name is that…is it crawdad sniper?
MV: Yeah. He’s from the area, actually.
CA: Yeah, I thought that. He’s got some cool stuff. And then also I went to Tipper and Friends with my wife. We love Tipper…
MV: You mention online that you met a Tipper event?
CA: Our first time we ever met, we spoke in gibberish at a Tipper show at the City Festival in 2014. And no English was spoken.
CA: Yeah, yeah. But we saw LTJ Bukem there and we were just…he was playing old-school drum and bass and it was so good, it was so good. We were really getting down to that. And then Detox Unit also is on the come up in that realm. But overall, I feel it’s very niche and underground. I grew up in that underground world. I feel like I come from the psybass world, and then I’ve become more main…I’m still experimental, but I’ve got elements of popular culture in what I do now, and I feel like I’m trying to bridge those worlds.
MV: I couldn’t agree more. Do you think there is more room for friendly competition between artists?
CA: I’m curious what you mean by that. Because in some ways, I feel like there’s too much competition, particularly amongst the political aspects of the EDM world, and I would appreciate seeing more collaboration.
MV: What do you mean by political aspects?
CA: Oh, just like, “My artist is bigger than your artist,” “My agent is such and such.” It’s just the typical way that different organizations are trying to push their artists higher. And I’ve seen a lot of that, and I really do wish that there was just more of, “Hey, we’re all coming up together. Let’s do some awesome things together.” I’ve even had times where I want to include a certain artist in something, but I’ll get pushback either from their team or my team or someone’s opinion.
MV: So stats or perception.
CA: Yeah, yeah, perception. And I understand it, but what I’m really here for are the music, the people, and the fans. I want to see more collaboration.
MV: I think that’s very on brand for you. On the contrary, it seems like you have done the opposite of that: You have made an effort to help other artists with production tools, lessons, and more. What inspired you to make such an effort to help your fellow artists?
CA: That’s an easy answer. I’ve thought about this a lot. So I’ll give you an example.
CA: I imagine 100 years of bass music. And the way that I imagine getting there is that young people have to be making it. What I saw happen to drum and bass is what I’m trying to avoid to the bass and dubstep scene. Early drum and bass pretty much died off in America because, in my opinion, it was gate-kept too hard —how to produce it and everything. All the drum and bass producers were the early pioneers of bass music, and they would come up with sick techniques and wouldn’t even tell people they were collaborating on a song with how they did it. I’ve talked to some of the OGs, and they were like, “Yeah, it’s super secretive.”
^
CA: I feel like that killed the drum and bass come up in the world, because it was too gate-kept. Then, around 2015 to 2017, people started making tutorials, and then five years later in 2020, people actually had enough time to get good at producing it. I feel like you need at least four or five years to actually get good at something, minimum. Now, I feel like drum and bass has made a comeback, and I think it’s directly because of the proliferation of tutorials on YouTube and the internet.
CA: So I was like, “If we want a hundred years of bass music, I need to make sure that young people are able to make whatever they want and be able to take it in whatever direction that it goes. If they know how speaker cones work and how different things happen in production, then the ideas can flow, and people can go and explore new territories.
MV: The scene can progress.
CA: And it worked. My strategy worked because I’ve had Levity, Tape B, GorillaT, and several other artists tell me that they’ve watched my tutorials when they were first learning and that it helped them a lot.
MV: That’s incredible.
CA: And I feel like those are the people that are carrying the new wave of bass music. And there are a lot of other people too. There’s countless producers that have been inspired from my tutorials. Everywhere I travel to someone has said, “Your tutorials have changed my life.” And that’s exactly what I wanted. So I’m so happy that I did all those tutorials and everything.
MV: So you’re not afraid of giving away your secret sauce?
CA: No, because how I do it is different than how someone else did.
MV: I couldn’t agree more.
CA: And also, as I said, if I gate-kept too hard, the scene would eventually die out because no one would know how to make it.
MV: Absolutely. I honestly don’t think people can replicate your sauce, which was on full display at Elements Festival this past year which we were fortunate enough to attend. One of the standout songs/moments for me of that set, and your general repertoire, is that “Blind Melon” flip. What led you to remixing that track?
CA: It’s pretty easy. I liked the song when I was growing up.
MV: Is there any particular memory it reminds you of or brings you back to?
CA: It brings me back to a time where I just didn’t worry about stuff in the world. I was in high school when I was listening to it with my friends, we’d go skateboard and smoke weed, drive around and listen to music. And so it’s from that era. But I wasn’t thinking about a career. I wasn’t thinking about paying rent. I was in high school and I also always liked the Pumpkin remix of it.
CA: Pumpkin was a very pivotal character in the Lightning in a Bottle scene on the west coast and he ended up passing away in a car accident. He meant a lot on the West Coast scene. And that was always one of my favorite songs of his, it was his remix of that song. And I was like, “I need to bring this into the bass music world. No one’s done a flip of this song in the modern era that has that quality of modern music.”
MV: I think it’s a song about being authentic, about being you. This is me, this is who I am. And that’s very much what you presented yourself as whether it’s in this conversation, on social media, or on stage. I’d love to hear why you find it so important to not only be your true, authentic self, but also surround yourself with authentic people as well.
CA: I don’t know. I’ve never had to really question. I can’t not be authentic.
MV: The reason I ask is because I feel like artists often grow conflicted about presenting themselves a certain way in the music industry. Do you have advice for people who are having a difficult time bringing their authentic selves to a scene that tends to place a lot of value on image and perspective?
CA: I wouldn’t say that EDM values everything in image. There’s definitely a subset of it that does. But I think this is the place that kind of…I mean look at Subtronics, Mr. Wook himself, he’s at the top. I don’t know. That’s different than the image of a clean-cut persona, which was what the image of a mainstream EDM act was nowadays. I feel it’s kind of broken open.
MV: Moving in the right direction.
CA: There are definitely moments where I see good looks don’t hurt, but I don’t know. First step for anyone having a hard time being their true, authentic self, is to actually know yourself. Because you can’t be authentic if you don’t know yourself.
MV: Absolutely.
CA: For whatever reason, my life experiences have really led me to know who and what I am.
MV: Well, Chris, I can’t thank you enough for chatting with me and sharing a little bit about your life and your story. Is there anything you’d like to leave us with? Any upcoming plans that you’d like to share?
CA: So I just started a record label, Zot Records, with one of my closest friends, Wiley Cable, so we can help artists in new ways; releasing their music and teaching them what it means to be in the music industry. And we actually got our first artist, Shmani, the amazing opportunity to get her music and music video on a billboard that SoundCloud helped set up in Times Square.
MV: That’s incredible. Did they reach out to you to make that happen?
CA: Yeah, they reached out to her and yeah, the label helped her with that, but that was something that they reached out to her for. And then as the label, we helped her by just believing in her. She was unsure about her stuff, but we really believed in it. She sings, she does choir stuff, she can produce, she’s got music videos, really awesome stuff. And then I think we have a release with So Sus that’s going be coming up. Awesome as well. And yeah, over this next year we’re going to be releasing a lot more other artists on the label and I’m really excited to be find a new avenue to help others.
MV: Likewise! Very excited to see what you guys do in that avenue, and I’m very excited for your set in just a moment. We’ll give you some time back to chill and unwind. But thanks so much for taking some time to chat with us, Chris.
CA: Absolutely. Thank you so much.
Keep up with future tour dates and everything AHEE has going on in the links below.
Upon meeting Chris Adams, better known as the extraterrestrial allure AHEE, you wouldn’t think he was the sole-survivor of a fatal car accident as a child. But after coming to understand his rare sense of optimism and love of nature, human connection, and electronic music, it makes perfect sense.
Adams is an individual who values life and every moment it offers him. One of the best parts about him? Aside from his incredible ability to create rip-smattering bass music? He’s relatable.
He harvests onions, he raises chickens, he speculates about aliens, he has hard times, he has good times, he is just like the fans who follow him around the country and support him and bares nothing in common with the egotistical DJ archetype that has persisted in the history of electronic music.
He’s human. Well, “part-human, part cyborg,” according to him.
This November, we got the chance to catch up with AHEE backstage before his show at Soundcheck DC. In our conversation, he revealed the mentality that got him to where he is today, shares his deep connection to nature, talks about the interdimensional pursuits of mankind, and much more.
Maximilian Vanegas: Here we are in DC, on a Wednesday night, after about, I think, 20-plus shows in the last five months?
Chris Adams: I’ve lost track. It’s a lot more than that. I’ve gone 90% of weekends out of the year for at least two, three years.
MV: Do you ever have a hard time turning it on and gathering the energy that your fans so often see you expend on stage?
CA: No. I mean, I do struggle at times, but when I’m there for the fans, it doesn’t matter how many people are there. I always turn it on for them because they’re the reason I’m able to do this at all. But I’m human, so I go through all sorts of ups and downs and struggles. But when it comes to showtime, I’m just the kind of person that’s ready.
MV: What are some things you do to get in the zone? Besides an interview with River Beats Dance, ofcourse.
CA: I love to brush my teeth before the set, make sure I got fresh breath. I’m up there by myself, but still I got to feel good.
MV: Absolutely.
CA: And trying to make sure I can get sleep, which doesn’t always happen. Trying to eat, which doesn’t always happen, but got to do my best in all those things.
MV: Right on. Well, I want to congratulate you on what has been one of the breakout years of your career. You’ve accomplished so much this year. A tour, massive collabs, massive releases, massive shows. I’m curious, what do you do to keep yourself humble?
CA: I have no problems staying humble. I have my wife and my team and I’ve just never…I’ve struggled with self-worth and I went through all the self-help books. So I’m on the other end of how do I make sure that I’m gassing myself up enough.
CA: For most of my life, I’ve been trying to get to a point where I felt like I have a career. In the last two years, I have finally gotten there. I feel I’ve chilled out quite a bit. And in a way, it’s made me more relaxed, but in other ways it’s like, “Okay, now’s the time for the challenges of the traveling and the business aspects of it.” But I always go back to being extremely grateful for being the person that my six-year-old self wanted to be.
^
MV: What were some of your biggest challenges to get where you are today?
CA: I would say one of my biggest challenges was just the tribulations of being on the road so often. My sleep schedule will get really messed up sometimes, and when that gets messed up, it’s really hard, but sometimes I got to push through. It doesn’t matter.
CA: At Seven Stars this year. I had to play my set in front of thousands and thousands of people, but I had two hours of naps in the previous 36 hours beforehand. So that was a challenge. And then I stayed up after that just talking, having all these amazing conversations with all these other artists. And so that stuff really energizes me. So after the show, even though I was so tired, I thought I was going to go sleep, I actually got a lot of energy from the fans. But the no sleeping thing is definitely a challenge.
CA: I have a unique challenge: I make too much music. I just announced I have a 140 WIPs. And so, I got to figure out what to release. A lot of it’s really good, but I got to find the best. And it’s what I want to do artistically and what the world is set up to handle are different things. Streaming platforms, how promotion works and the rollouts and everything and people’s attention spans. So all those things are also challenges.
MV: Would you say your output has always been that high?
CA: Yeah. I would say it used to be higher when I didn’t travel as much.
MV: Is there something that goes into that or do you just have an instinct to produce?
CA: I would die if I didn’t make a song for too long. I’ve been writing music since I was 10 years old. I started producing in 2001 or 2000, something around there. And I released my 69th album, full hour long album in 2019. And that was before I even had a career. In my early career, I was making IDM like Aphex Twin and I never shared it with anybody. I would just make it and I’d be like, “Oh, I made a song, how come no one’s listening to it?” I didn’t even put it online and I was an airhead and I had to get over that and learn business and all those things. And so those were challenges earlier in my career.
MV: Aside from music production, it sounds like you also look to nature for cathartic and grounding experiences. How important is nature for you as a resource to decompress?
CA: Well, I’d say nature is literally how the world works. And in the modern age, we can somehow get disconnected from it. When I lived in LA for an extended amount of time, I felt that creep into me at times. But being connected to nature is super important for me. Our bodies were really designed to live in nature. And for me, it’s not that I love taking care of plants or anything, I really don’t. I’m more of a part-human, part cyborg in a way. But I still realize the importance of connecting to nature. And I loved going camping. I love being outdoors for festivals, even though that’s not necessarily always nature.
MV: Nature plus lasers.
CA: Oh yeah. One my favorites – lasers and trees. Especially when there’s a little wind.
MV: Oh yeah.
CA: But yeah, I would say because my wife is a farmer, I want to help her in whatever ways I can. And so I don’t really do the planting, but I help with the beds of what is going to be planted and I’ll just help her move stuff around. Be the man on the farm. But I mean, she’s killer. But I recognize that not having time away from the screen is really important.
MV: It’s scary to think that nature might be finite. Do you think that there is an expiration date on Earth and do you believe we will need to become a multi-planetary species?
CA: See, this is a deep philosophical question.
CA: Something I’ve been learning about recently is the difference between the modern conception of reality versus the ancient conception of reality. And I think the main difference is that nowadays we tend to think that the world is a physical plane and that all things derive from it. While in the ancient times they would say that the world is a projection of the mind and that we originally come from the mind and everything is an extension of the mind.
^
CA: I haven’t done psychedelics in seven, eight years, but when I did do them earlier, it felt like that conception of reality was a little bit closer to the truth of what I experienced. And so will the earth end? Will we need to be a multi-planetary species? I’ve definitely thought of those things and part of me says yes, but another part of me thinks there’s something more profound in exploring the multidimensionality of the mind and that there’s a lot of untapped potential there.
CA: Is it that this is the only space that exists and we need to take care of it? There’s that, yes. And that’s where my sense of taking care of and honoring nature comes from, but also, the mind is a part of nature as well. And so taking care of that and nurturing that is also a big thing. And I think that there’s a lot there to be explored.
MV: So you’re saying that we have the capacity to potentially become a multidimensional species as much as we have the potential to become a multiplanetary species?
CA: Yeah.
MV: Very cool. What kind of technology do you think could lead to that?
CA: I mean, some people would say…
MV: Psychedelics…
CA: Some people would say DMT is a technology. I haven’t done it in a long time, so I don’t know, but I definitely had that feeling. It could also just be a bunch of hallucinatory gobbledygook, which some people can say. But for me, when I did it, it didn’t seem that way. It felt very profound. And so when I am in nature, I’m kind of reminded of that a little bit.
MV: Another revolution taking place alongside our interplanetary/dimensional pursuits is happening right here in the music industry. What are your thoughts on the current state of the scene and where things are heading?
CA: The music scene at large feels like things have shifted post-COVID and pre-COVID. I feel they’re two different audiences, almost. In some ways, it’s gotten better. In some ways, it’s changed. I would say the economy has definitely affected a lot of people and I’m curious to see how that will affect organized events going forward. And then we also are experiencing a monopolization of capital in the electronic music world.
MV: Even more so than before.
CA: Yeah, just because over time, large entities have a lot of money to buy other things, which leads to more monopolization. And in some ways, it allows more people to access it, but then also makes it more of a commodity rather than an experience. And so I would say that I actually see a lot of really good things coming out because at the same time, I can still tell that the sermon is there, or something new is still there.
CA: People are being introduced to new concepts that they wouldn’t have otherwise. I saw a really cool video of someone from the hip-hop world. He went to Ultra or EDC Orlando, and he was just like, “I could go anywhere, and I didn’t feel judged or looked at funny. All these people were doing all these unique things,” and I could tell his mind was opened up to so many more possibilities of what’s capable in the world.
^
MV: It’s not just a bunch of people grinding their teeth on Molly.
CA: Yeah, there’s definitely still some of that. But also sometimes in those moments, people have really profound moments. And for me, when I went to one of my first electronic music events, Lightning in a Bottle, I felt I had discovered Hogwarts, and I was like, “Oh, this is what all the cool adults do.”
MV: One person who’s been a big contributor to the music scene who has now retired, is Dave Tipper. As a big fan of his, I’m curious what you think about his departure and ultimately what affect it will have on the scene.
CA: I don’t know if he’ll actually retire.
MV: Ultimately, he’ll come back.
CA: Maybe. I feel he’s retired at least three times in his career and he’s come back and it’s very good marketing, but I know he has real health issues, and I understand that traveling a lot is really hard, especially when you have health issues. But I don’t know, I’ve seen the Dave Tipper world has become more, it’s always been underground, but it’s still underground in terms of electronic music. There are a few people coming up that are killing it in that world and I love hearing it.
MV: Would you mind naming a few names?
CA: Let’s see here. Well, Jade Cicada, I think he’s had a really good come up. And then also, I don’t know if this guys name is that…is it crawdad sniper?
MV: Yeah. He’s from the area, actually.
CA: Yeah, I thought that. He’s got some cool stuff. And then also I went to Tipper and Friends with my wife. We love Tipper…
MV: You mention online that you met a Tipper event?
CA: Our first time we ever met, we spoke in gibberish at a Tipper show at the City Festival in 2014. And no English was spoken.
MV: You guys configured your own language.
CA: Yeah, yeah. But we saw LTJ Bukem there and we were just…he was playing old-school drum and bass and it was so good, it was so good. We were really getting down to that. And then Detox Unit also is on the come up in that realm. But overall, I feel it’s very niche and underground. I grew up in that underground world. I feel like I come from the psybass world, and then I’ve become more main…I’m still experimental, but I’ve got elements of popular culture in what I do now, and I feel like I’m trying to bridge those worlds.
MV: I couldn’t agree more. Do you think there is more room for friendly competition between artists?
CA: I’m curious what you mean by that. Because in some ways, I feel like there’s too much competition, particularly amongst the political aspects of the EDM world, and I would appreciate seeing more collaboration.
MV: What do you mean by political aspects?
CA: Oh, just like, “My artist is bigger than your artist,” “My agent is such and such.” It’s just the typical way that different organizations are trying to push their artists higher. And I’ve seen a lot of that, and I really do wish that there was just more of, “Hey, we’re all coming up together. Let’s do some awesome things together.” I’ve even had times where I want to include a certain artist in something, but I’ll get pushback either from their team or my team or someone’s opinion.
MV: So stats or perception.
CA: Yeah, yeah, perception. And I understand it, but what I’m really here for are the music, the people, and the fans. I want to see more collaboration.
MV: I think that’s very on brand for you. On the contrary, it seems like you have done the opposite of that: You have made an effort to help other artists with production tools, lessons, and more. What inspired you to make such an effort to help your fellow artists?
CA: That’s an easy answer. I’ve thought about this a lot. So I’ll give you an example.
CA: I imagine 100 years of bass music. And the way that I imagine getting there is that young people have to be making it. What I saw happen to drum and bass is what I’m trying to avoid to the bass and dubstep scene. Early drum and bass pretty much died off in America because, in my opinion, it was gate-kept too hard —how to produce it and everything. All the drum and bass producers were the early pioneers of bass music, and they would come up with sick techniques and wouldn’t even tell people they were collaborating on a song with how they did it. I’ve talked to some of the OGs, and they were like, “Yeah, it’s super secretive.”
^
CA: I feel like that killed the drum and bass come up in the world, because it was too gate-kept. Then, around 2015 to 2017, people started making tutorials, and then five years later in 2020, people actually had enough time to get good at producing it. I feel like you need at least four or five years to actually get good at something, minimum. Now, I feel like drum and bass has made a comeback, and I think it’s directly because of the proliferation of tutorials on YouTube and the internet.
CA: So I was like, “If we want a hundred years of bass music, I need to make sure that young people are able to make whatever they want and be able to take it in whatever direction that it goes. If they know how speaker cones work and how different things happen in production, then the ideas can flow, and people can go and explore new territories.
MV: The scene can progress.
CA: And it worked. My strategy worked because I’ve had Levity, Tape B, GorillaT, and several other artists tell me that they’ve watched my tutorials when they were first learning and that it helped them a lot.
MV: That’s incredible.
CA: And I feel like those are the people that are carrying the new wave of bass music. And there are a lot of other people too. There’s countless producers that have been inspired from my tutorials. Everywhere I travel to someone has said, “Your tutorials have changed my life.” And that’s exactly what I wanted. So I’m so happy that I did all those tutorials and everything.
MV: So you’re not afraid of giving away your secret sauce?
CA: No, because how I do it is different than how someone else did.
MV: I couldn’t agree more.
CA: And also, as I said, if I gate-kept too hard, the scene would eventually die out because no one would know how to make it.
MV: Absolutely. I honestly don’t think people can replicate your sauce, which was on full display at Elements Festival this past year which we were fortunate enough to attend. One of the standout songs/moments for me of that set, and your general repertoire, is that “Blind Melon” flip. What led you to remixing that track?
CA: It’s pretty easy. I liked the song when I was growing up.
MV: Is there any particular memory it reminds you of or brings you back to?
CA: It brings me back to a time where I just didn’t worry about stuff in the world. I was in high school when I was listening to it with my friends, we’d go skateboard and smoke weed, drive around and listen to music. And so it’s from that era. But I wasn’t thinking about a career. I wasn’t thinking about paying rent. I was in high school and I also always liked the Pumpkin remix of it.
CA: Pumpkin was a very pivotal character in the Lightning in a Bottle scene on the west coast and he ended up passing away in a car accident. He meant a lot on the West Coast scene. And that was always one of my favorite songs of his, it was his remix of that song. And I was like, “I need to bring this into the bass music world. No one’s done a flip of this song in the modern era that has that quality of modern music.”
MV: I think it’s a song about being authentic, about being you. This is me, this is who I am. And that’s very much what you presented yourself as whether it’s in this conversation, on social media, or on stage. I’d love to hear why you find it so important to not only be your true, authentic self, but also surround yourself with authentic people as well.
CA: I don’t know. I’ve never had to really question. I can’t not be authentic.
MV: The reason I ask is because I feel like artists often grow conflicted about presenting themselves a certain way in the music industry. Do you have advice for people who are having a difficult time bringing their authentic selves to a scene that tends to place a lot of value on image and perspective?
CA: I wouldn’t say that EDM values everything in image. There’s definitely a subset of it that does. But I think this is the place that kind of…I mean look at Subtronics, Mr. Wook himself, he’s at the top. I don’t know. That’s different than the image of a clean-cut persona, which was what the image of a mainstream EDM act was nowadays. I feel it’s kind of broken open.
MV: Moving in the right direction.
CA: There are definitely moments where I see good looks don’t hurt, but I don’t know. First step for anyone having a hard time being their true, authentic self, is to actually know yourself. Because you can’t be authentic if you don’t know yourself.
MV: Absolutely.
CA: For whatever reason, my life experiences have really led me to know who and what I am.
MV: Well, Chris, I can’t thank you enough for chatting with me and sharing a little bit about your life and your story. Is there anything you’d like to leave us with? Any upcoming plans that you’d like to share?
CA: So I just started a record label, Zot Records, with one of my closest friends, Wiley Cable, so we can help artists in new ways; releasing their music and teaching them what it means to be in the music industry. And we actually got our first artist, Shmani, the amazing opportunity to get her music and music video on a billboard that SoundCloud helped set up in Times Square.
MV: That’s incredible. Did they reach out to you to make that happen?
CA: Yeah, they reached out to her and yeah, the label helped her with that, but that was something that they reached out to her for. And then as the label, we helped her by just believing in her. She was unsure about her stuff, but we really believed in it. She sings, she does choir stuff, she can produce, she’s got music videos, really awesome stuff. And then I think we have a release with So Sus that’s going be coming up. Awesome as well. And yeah, over this next year we’re going to be releasing a lot more other artists on the label and I’m really excited to be find a new avenue to help others.
MV: Likewise! Very excited to see what you guys do in that avenue, and I’m very excited for your set in just a moment. We’ll give you some time back to chill and unwind. But thanks so much for taking some time to chat with us, Chris.
CA: Absolutely. Thank you so much.
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