NEST HQ was created with the intention of being a platform aimed at promoting and encouraging the growth of artists of all genres and mediums. While we’ve worked mostly within music up to this point, we are expanding on a new content series that will showcase multimedia artists of various backgrounds including painters, graphic designers, architects, and others of the sort; this is installation. Every other week, we’ll post hand-selected pieces from our featured artists via our Instagram @nesthq, along with excerpts from the full interviews which will be posted on the Friday of that week.

This week on installation, we present graphic designer XTY.

Who is XTY? “I am no one.” – XTY.

Can you tell us a bit about how your story as an artist began? At what point did you realize that art was something you’d be doing longterm?

It began on buddy4u.com. It was a website mostly made up of tween girls who liked Starbucks and cozy sweaters but also kinda liked HTML and CSS. It was bizarre, but at the time I was 12 years old and embarrassed about being into computer stuff. So it was cool. The website was originally for sharing AIM buddy profile designs (an earlier, simpler version of the coveted Myspace “About Me”) but had evolved into some sort of little league web & graphic design hub. It was scarily competitive. I held the #1 spot for a while and got so popular that when I grew out of it and “disappeared” a rumor went around that my dad lost his face in a wildlife-related accident so I could no longer maintain my page. My dad is fine, but I don’t know what became of Buddy4u.

I realized I’d be doing art longterm when a coworker asked me to take care of his beta fish and it died like two days later. I am not cut out for an office job.

What is the reason for the medium you chose to become proficient in? What does this medium allow you to do that other mediums may not?

My aunt asked me to remove a pimple from my cousin’s graduation photo so I opened Photoshop because the icon looked like it was for pimple business. It was fun so I just never stopped using it.

At the same time, I was always drawing. Whenever I had to scan anything for school I would take a picture of it with my phone, email it to myself, and edit it in Photoshop so it looked like I scanned it. There was a scanner on campus but I was too lazy to walk through the snow to get to it. I liked how it looked so it ended up becoming an important part of my design process. I guess that kind of answers your question – Photoshop allows me to do what I can’t do on paper.

I also enjoy code and video editing. I can’t always pinpoint the medium I’m most proficient in. Maybe it’s “computer.” You see that a lot – the person who is like, “I am a graphic designer. And I make websites. And I am a photographer. And I also make beats and DJ if you need that.”

Apparently there is another line after “a jack of all trades but a master of none” that says something good about being that way. I don’t know what it is or if it’s true but it makes me feel better about being all over the place. But I would like to master something someday.

What were the inspirations behind these three pieces specifically?

#01 – I used Photoshop and After Effects for this one. I warped the text with displacement mapping, screencapped a frame of it, and added some doodles from one of my old work notebooks because it was missing something. It was inspired by the DIY/punk nature of AWE’s “Tuesdays” project.

#03 – Sometimes I’ve made track art before hearing the song. Other times I would be making the art and hearing the song being made at the same time – like this one. I had also gone to the gun range earlier that day and got inspired by a cool shooting target I saw. This is why it’s so neat when visual art and music mix. And why it’s so important to stay moving. Doing things. It’s harder to get inspired when you’re sitting still. Even if you get up and walk to the end of your block and turn around and go home. You might see a piece of garbage on the ground that makes you think of something for your next project thus CHANGING YOUR LIFE FOREVER.

#06 – This was done in Photoshop and Illustrator. For some reason I’m really inspired by this old Tom & Jerry game for gameboy color (I think?). I don’t know why but I think of it all the time. I remember thinking of it when I made this. There was a part where you had to avoid a wrecking ball and it would break the wall and expose the brick. And there were leaky pipes or some source of water drops. I liked that part. It was the garbage that changed my life.

What are some of the defining moments in your career so far? How have they affected the way you approach your art and your creations?

Every time I watch someone jump over a fire on a dirtbike or wrestle a big snake or punch really fast I get excited. I want to make art that feels like how I’m feeling in those moments.

How do you feel the industry is doing right now? Which trends are really pushing the industry forward, and which are holding it back?

I have been out of the loop lately due to health issues so I don’t think I can give a great answer to this. In the past, my feelings about the industry would change every day. Back and forth. I’m glad it exists, though. I’m glad I’m in LA where I’m close to it.

What are some other artists that you are currently into?

Charles Blanchard (blanchardconcepts.com)
Vince McKelvie (vincemckelvie.tumblr.com)
Michael Willis (mwillis.eu)

What are some of your goals for 2016?

Mental and physical wellness. Keep my dog from shedding. This will all affect my art.

Why did you choose these pieces to represent yourself on this spread?

I woke up the morning after I made them and looked at them again and I didn’t hate them. I still don’t hate them. I’ll destroy anything I end up hating. Most of the art for Awe’s “Tuesdays” was done last second so one was released before I had the chance to realize I hated it. I won’t say which one but it reminds me of piss.

I have a website @ www.garbage.site
I’m about to begin my biggest, craziest project yet but I can’t say anything about it yet but I promise it’s real. :-)

The post installation 019 — XTY appeared first on Nest HQ.

This year has seen the Moving Castle crew making a lot of big moves, from festival sets to official imprint status. Their latest in a string of solid single and EP offerings comes from MC co-founder Manila Killa. His new “Youth” single, featuring vocalist, Satica, solidifies his talents as a maker of original work and gives us a glimpse of his future potential within the larger realm of pop production. Check our chat with Manila Killa below, as he tells us about one of his biggest years to date.

NHQ: So you’re back in school right now?

MK: Yes. Well, summer school.

Is that because you’re trying to finish classes early?

I’m trying to finish by December. I’m currently taking two summer classes online so I can tour at the same time.

Are your parents warming up to the idea of what you’re doing?

Yeah, they’ve accepted that when I graduate I’ll be able to pursue music. That’s the plan at least!

What made you initially decide to get into dance music?

Well, I’ve always been a fan of music. Any time I’ve been a fan of or obsessed with something I’ve wanted to create it. For example, when I was younger I was obsessed with cars, so I would collect them, study them, and put together model cars and stuff. One day in highschool I found out that you could make music on your laptop, and I guess that was the turning point of where I started to really produce music. That was around the time I had heard Daft Punk Alive 2007, and my mind was blown.

Is it funny to think that now you’re part of a community of artists that are looked upon in a similar way? There is definitely this early Ed-Banger-family thing going on right now.

It’s crazy, I never would have expected it and it still doesn’t really feel real to me. It’s strange that there are people looking up to us or putting us in that same light because the people that I hang out with are friends of mine, so this still feels like a hobby. Just some friends getting together and having fun.

Was there a point where you felt like you established your sound? A moment where you realized “this is is me, I get it now”?

I don’t think that I’ve found my style entirely just yet. I think I have a general direction that my music falls into, which I found about two years ago when I wrote the Dawn Golden remix. That was also around the time that I remixed Flume, and discovered this kind of chill side of dance music. I sort of realized that it was a lane I wanted to get into.

It’s gotta be a pretty wild feeling how fast the escalation happened, even from the first Moving Castle show to the last show you played with Jai Wolf, or any show at the Globe. 

Yeah, honestly it’s been a long time coming. I’ve been making music for seven years and I’m finally starting to reach the points that I wanted to, and playing the shows that I wanted to. It’s amazing. I still remember my show at The Lash with 150 people crushed into a room and then Brownies and Lemonade helping us out again and booking the Globe. It was crazy seeing how we went from such a small thing and moved to that.

What made you guys decide to shift Moving Castle into a more serious direction, hosting official releases and stuff like that?

Being a collective was really cool; we were able to do what we wanted to do all the time, but we always lacked organization. We wanted to be more than just a group of people that played shows and released volumes of music. We wanted to start building up to something more official and legitimate. That’s why we moved more towards a record label style organization.

What does Moving Castle look like internally right now?

Basically, there are sort of like the founders, and a couple other people who we’ve brought on board over the years. Currently we have dedicated teams of people that work on specific things. For example Robokid is in charge of graphics and getting all of the art done. I’m in charge of A&R with AOBeats. We all have our own roles, but we share opinions on everything.

What’s AO been up to?

AO is in graduate school in London. He’s studying music there. I think he’s finding his own sound with AObeats right now as well as with another project that he’s got under wraps right now. I’m super excited about that project. A good example of how our group has grown in different directions is my relationship with AOBeats. Him and I used to make a lot of music together, but now we’re both pursuing a different kind of music and we’re still close.

How did this new single come about?

“Youth”? Oh man. One random evening back in September I took a break from studying and opened up ableton. I was playing around with some new plug ins that I got and I had this really dope chord progression come about, and within two days I had the entire structure of the song done. I showed it to Danny Kang, who manages Royale and Blaise Railey, and he was like, “hey this would sound dope with a new singer who’s part of Far East Movement’s team.” A couple days later she sent back something that was incredible. It was a mix between fun emotional pop and not cheesy. Once I got those back it took a couple months to finish it and now it’s done.

Are you enjoying writing more originals now, and establishing your sound more?

I wouldn’t say that I enjoy it more, but it’s definitely new territory. Remixes are relatively easy, well I don’t want to say “easy to make,” but the tools are already there for you to create something. You have vocals, or stems, all you have to do is build around it. With originals it’s this whole other world. You have to make an agreement with everyone involved, like if you have a singer you have to agree on the concept of the song and you have to work back and forth. The cool thing about originals is that you can really tweak everything about the song, you can have vocalists re-sing parts, or something like that. There’s definitely much more work involved, and I really enjoy it.

That’s awesome. Can you tell us a bit about your experience playing Coachella? 

Oh yeah, I played Coachella as Hotel Garuda, and what was funny was that before the line up came out I tweeted, “I’m never going to Coachella unless I’m playing it.” That was like in February, but I’ve always had that mindset. We got the offer in March and I was like, “OMG this is unreal.” Coachella week is in the middle of my school, so I had to find a way to get all of my school work done before hand. I landed in LA on Thursday at like 10 pm and I went to Aseem’s house and just did homework all night. I went to the festival the next day and was awe struck. I was really afraid that people wouldn’t show up to our set because Disclosure was playing at the same time, but luckily there were a lot of people there! I hope to play it again one day.

Yeah, next time main stage.

–

Manila Killa’s “Youth” single featuring Satica is out now on iTunes and Spotify via Moving Castle.

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The post Manila Killa Talks New “Youth” Single and the Evolution of Moving Castle appeared first on NEST HQ.

Photo Credit: Dash Grey

Emerging from the moombahton wave of the early 2010’s, New York City duo, FIGHT CLVB, carried on the subversive attitude of the genre and applied it to their impartial interest in high energy dance music. Off the bat, the guys linked up with Afrojack for their debut release on Wall Recordings and kept productivity high with a flood of releases on Dim Mak, Hysteria, Revealed, and Brooklyn Fire; many of which depicted FIGHT CLVB’s propensities for heavy-handed electro with the Latin American undertones developed in the earlier stages of their careers in production.

With ongoing support from some of the biggest names in the game including DJ Snake, Diplo, and Boys Noize, FIGHT CLVB are making bold moves in the studio that are clearly paying off. So this week, we turn over the controls of the NEST HQ MiniMix to FIGHT CLVB and chat with the guys about the project’s origins, the fickleness of NYC’s underground/emergent dance scene, a lack of salient voices from dance music’s leaders in the political discussion this year, and more. Listen in and read on below.

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You guys have had projects before this one, how did FIGHT CLVB come to fruition? What brought you guys together, and what made you decide to pursue it?

We were in a moombahton group called Sazon Booya prior to this project. When the group disbanded FIGHT CLVB rose from the ashes. The idea behind the name and the project was obviously inspired by the flick/novel. The notion of having an underground movement that defies conventional norms is something that resonates with us, not just musically but in our approach as well. Ultimately our fans are members of the group and everyone is an essential component in spreading our music and our message.

How has being in NY affected your music? Do you feel like the underground dance scene has developed distinctly there, or is it similar to what we’re seeing blooming on the internet?

NYC is a huge influence on our music. This city defines us as people and artists. Our major gripe with the scene in this city is that its way too fickle. It’s not evolving at a healthy rate its just changing abruptly. That’s one of the things I admire about the LA scene, there’s all types of events out there for different sub genres. Promoters out there could care less about relevancy. There was one time we were out there and heard MSTRKRFT was playing a show at the Regent Theatre. I can’t remember the last time those dudes played a show in NYC. If it’s not hot promoters won’t touch it. Which ultimately sucks for the music aficionado who genuinely cares about the artists and the culture.

Can you tell us a bit about your single “Donald Trump” and your intentions with that track?

Honestly, the track started off as a gag. We usually make skits for our Facebook page and we were messing around in the studio recording vocals for this one particular skit that dealt with Donald Trump and his intentions to ban international DJs from playing in the States. The skit was canned but the vocals were so undeniably catchy that we decided to create a track around them. It ended up reaching Trump’s camp and we were sent a cease and desist. We garnered publicity from it but our intentions were never to create a political track. We actually found Trump entertaining in the early stages of his campaign but that changed as time went on. So the message of the track changed for us as well. The track became an anti-Trump anthem.

Do you feel like there are enough musicians within dance music who are taking part in the political discussion this year?

Honestly, no. A lot of musicians are scared to voice their opinion when it comes to politics in general. They probably feel less inclined to participate in political discussions because it might alienate certain fans. It’s a fine line. You don’t want to lose fans over your political agenda. We knew the risks involved when we made our Donald Trump track but sometimes it’s necessary to take a stand. Art is meant to be gratifying to the artist creating it. You have a responsibility to yourself and your own sensibilities. I admire Tommie Sunshine for being so vocal about this political affiliations and the Rave For Bernie initiative is pretty awesome.

Lastly, can you tell us a bit about your mix? Are there any standout tracks or overall vibe we should be paying special attention to?

The idea behind the mix is to incorporate different genres that we usually play in our live sets. We want people to listen to it before they go to a festival or while they’re pre-gaming. We love mixes that we can jam to before we go out clubbing. The first track is one of our favorites on the mix! It’s a dope “All The Way Up” remix by FVEGO and Omeguh. There’s also a few of our own unreleased collabs with Alvaro, Sandro Silva, and a Donald Trump remix by Bailo that we’re premiering for the first time! Big ups for giving us the opportunity to make this mix for y’all. We always look forward to the NEST HQ mixes.

Tracklist:
1. Fat Joe – All the way up (Fvego X Omeguh Remix)
2. Walshy Fire & Salvatore Ganacci – Nah Tell Dem Ft. Sanjin
3. Bad Royale X Suit of Black – Suit of Black
4. FIGHT CLVB & Mysto & Pizzi – Tribali
5. Happy Colors – Esto Se Baila Con El Culo Y Los Pies Ft. DJ Bekman
6. ASH – Quero Duro
7. Sheclo Garcia & Teenwolf – Blow Up
8. Noizekid & Sergio Mendes – Magalenha
9. ALVARO & FIGHT CLVB – Wildlife
10. Wiwek – Angry Birds (Assassin, Bunji Garlin & Kardinal Offishal (Suit Of Black) Vocal Edit
11. Juyen Sebulba – Old Skool
12. Sander Van Doorn & Gregor Salto – Tribal Vs Bale De Favela (Moska Mash Up)
13. Major Lazer & Afrojack – Pon de Floor Ft. Vybz Kartel (JSTJR Baile Funk Edit)
14. Rawtek – House of Zulu
15. Gina Turner – Giovanna (Van Toth Remix)
16. Sokarekta & Gregor Salto – Check Ft. MC Spyder
17. Sandro Silva & FIGHT CLVB – Tekno Tusks Ft. MC Spyder
18. Alice DeeJay – better off alone
19. BAILO X D-John X Rodrigo Howell – Batman
20. Dillon Francis & DJ Snake – Get Low
21 Stoltenhoff – Cocoon
22. FIGHT CLVB – Donald Trump (BAILO Remix)
23. Dirty Audio & Rickyzsan – Gettin’ That
24. Skrillex & Wiwek – Killa Ft. Elliphant (Slushii Remix)
25. Flux Pavilion & Doctor P – PARTY, DRINK, SMOKE
266. Eauxzown & La Patilla – Fellin’ U

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More from FIGHT CLVB on:
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Longtime champions of the broken beat sound, Mark Yardley and Dominic Butler of UK duo Stanton Warriors have remained at the forefront of electronic music since the late 1990s. Late in 2015, the guys released their second studio full length, Rebel Bass, showing off an unwavering approach to their consistently relevant sound which pulled influence from genres like electro, deep house, and garage while feeling wholly genuine and sincere. Most recently, Stanton Warriors linked up with us here at NEST for the release of “Keep It Movin’” and Mad Decent’s Good Enuff on “Bounce”, rewarding both longtime and recent supporters with free music.

With a recent play at Coachella and a stuffed summer schedule of festival shows, we wanted to catch up with the globetrotting duo about their current tour, Glastonbury, their thoughts on giving music away for free, and more. Listen in to their hour-long guest mix and read on for the full interview below!

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Thanks for taking some time with us guys. How’s the Australian tour going so far?

Australia has been amazing so far. We have always loved playing here and have been doing the long as flight once or twice a year since 2001! The weather has been pretty bad but that hasn’t dampened the crowds’ enthusiasm! We are currently now in Wellington, New Zealand which is also a beautiful place and the sun here is definitely shining!

Festival season is getting into full swing. Are there any specific spots you’re looking forward to this summer?

Looking forward to Glastonbury Festival, we have like 5 gigs there including playing again on the epic arcadia spectacular spider thing! Might hit up Burning Man again this year also. It’s great to be burning through summer at so many festivals doing at least 2 a week. We seem to tour nonstop which is fun. It’s great that the sound we play is truly international. As James Brown once said, “A good beat is a good beat!”

Where do you guys dig to find most of your music these days?

A lot of digging! The tracks that make it into our sets come from such a wide range of sources from labels like dirtybird through to Black Butter. It’s a great time for broken beats and bass music. There is a lot of cookie cutter type music out there at the mo’ so finding and playing tunes like these loud keeps us engaged. We also have our label Punks Music where we try and sign and support a lot of these tracks.

It seems like y’all have been on the free music tip recently, linking up with us for “Keep It Movin'” on NEST and more recently Good Enuff for your Cause & Affect collab. Do you think it’s important to reward fans with free music these days? And do you plan on continuing to link with free release imprints in the future?

We have built up a strong, loyal following on social media and through our gigs so it’s great to put out the odd tune for free for them. Plus it’s a good way of pulling new people into our music because as artists we think it’s important to have your own sound & to be able to showcase that to as many people as possible. There are too many DJs playing the same tunes as everyone else which to us gets a lil boring.

Finally, tell us about the vibe of the mix you put together here for us. Any direction in particular you tried to take this one?

On this mix we went for a lot of unreleased broken beat type tunes from a wide variety of interesting and new producers on the block. This would be the kind of set we would drop at a warehouse party as opposed to a straight up festival. We are always keen on hearing new sounds from the Brazilian favela sound of Bombo Rosa to the Bristol street sound of Bromley & Sly One through to the German bass of Marten Horger and deep slowed down jungle vibes of Nixon. It’s a great time for exciting beats and bass which don’t conform to the 4/4 template!

Tracklist:
01. Bromley – Burn Down (feat. Grove & Dread MC)
02. Distro – The Drum (feat. Dread MC)
03. Sly One – Dominate
04. Bombo Rosa – Make It Bang
05. Smalltown DJs – My People (Marten Hørger Remix)
06. Marten Hørger & Donkong – Feel
07. Mafia Kiss – Close The Door
08. Redlight – Ride or Die
09. Moniker – Legs Spread Wide (Head Down Low)
10. Marc Spence & Pete Graham – Repeat & Delete
11. Stanton Warriors – Hoping (Jay Robinson Remix)
12. Lucent Reach Out To You (Skelecta Remix)
13. Outlord – Down The House
14. Aloka – Typo
15. Nixon – God Choir

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More from Stanton Warriors on:
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Deep in the heart of Los Angeles’ artistic community exists a creative entity by the name of Youth Machine, and if you consider yourself fashion-aware or pay attention to any artists, musicians, or influencers who are, you’ve most likely encountered its products. A famous swoosh with “NAPS” in text above it? That’s Youth Machine. The three stripes with “acid” underneath? Youth Machine. The entire FREELIFE campaign with Bixel Boys? All Youth Machine.

With a subversive yet wholly honest approach, the LA-based fashion label has permeated into popular culture with the release of each new collection thanks to the company’s fearless tactics and clever design objectives. Interestingly, however, after over two years of operation and proven success, there’s been little to no information about the origins or inner workings of Youth Machine aside from this 50-word blip found on the About Page of its website –

Youth Machine is a Los Angeles-based fashion label and creative entity built to house and execute projects in a multitude of areas, such as design, music, and technology. Through fashion, we release narrative-led collections of highly stylized contemporary silhouettes, each piece thoughtfully purposed as an individual contribution to our larger, multidimensional brand story.

What is this brand story? Who is writing the story? WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUTH MACHINE? For the first time ever, we’re about to lift the curtain and find out.

As I drove inland from Los Angeles on a warm morning in May to interview Erica and Clifford Lidell at their home, there were a number of questions bounding around in my head like a bouncy ball in a glass case. I’d met them briefly before at an OWSLA event in Downtown LA and was fully aware of the Youth Machine vibe and product line, but an unusual brand of curiosity struck me as I began wondering exactly what we’d talk about. Clothes and fashion trends? Design inspirations and new projects? Naps and acid? While our subsequent conversations did span a comprehensive amount of these topics, another one emerged as the most significant, and that was the love story between Erica and Clifford that ultimately birthed the Youth Machine endeavor.

Six summers ago, the two met each other while Erica was interning for a friend of Clifford’s. The way they tell it, Clifford walked into the office with a couple of friends and the two immediately felt a sense of connection, whether it was some form of déjà vu as Clifford remembers or Erica’s supposition of Clifford being in a band thanks to his heavy black boots and weathered denim jacket. The same day, Clifford finessed Erica’s number, planned a date (which Erica had to cancel another one to make), and within two months, Clifford’s then-roommate got the boot so the two could move in together. They’ve hung out every day since, got married, and, as of February of 2014, founded Youth Machine together and remain the company’s left and right brain.

That’s right. Youth Machine was, is, and will (for at least the foreseeable future) be the vision of just two people; not because of greed or vanity, but mostly because of this video. During our interview, Erica recalls watching this “life explained through jellybeans” demonstration which – optimistically or depressingly, depending on your own situation – illustrates the amount of total time spent doing many of our daily activities. As sleep, work, traffic, TV, etc begin to strip away chunks of our figurative jellybeans, the ones we have left become exponentially more important. As such, Erica and Clifford established Youth Machine not just as a project to exercise their occupational talents and creative drives, but equally as a way to share more of these jellybeans together. Clifford piles on another metaphor as I’m still fully processing the depth of the jellybeans, “If I know I’m gonna go off-roading, I go get the right kind of car for it. Youth Machine was the right concept to be able to deliver us to this place that we knew that we needed to get to.”

Youth Machine is truly the joint identity of these two people. From designing collections to curating their ever-expanding marketing platform of photography and collaborations, Clifford employs his strengths on the creative side while Erica oversees everything from distribution and legal matters to financing and production. But as with any identity or relationship for that matter, goals and definitions evolve and build upon themselves, and both Erica and Clifford insist, “Youth Machine is a story, not a clothing brand.”

While the story up to this point has written its pages within the world of streetwear and fashion, the Youth Machine founders are preparing for new chapters. On top of keeping up with its ambitious schedule of apparel releases throughout this year, Youth Machine plans to expand into the realm of music, with Clifford releasing his own original productions under the creative entity’s moniker. Additionally, the company has begun working with artists and musicians directly to manage and assist with merchandising, branding, distribution, and creative — concepts proven time and time again with Youth Machine’s own successes.

From the outside, it’s easy to imagine Youth Machine in a fancy loft in Downtown LA with 20 employees, cranking out scores of designs and rubbing elbows on the weekends with the likes of Skrillex and Mija. The reality is that Clifford and Erica have built this business on their own, together, and every aspect of it is a direct reflection of them.

As we finished our lunch at the Lidell home and I made my good-byes to Erica, Clifford, and their two dogs, Elliott & Cole, Clifford issued one last statement to simultaneously define the past, present, and future of their vision. “Youth Machine is who we are,” he said firmly yet sincerely, “and we have the luxury of being able to say that because we have never compromised.”

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Photos by Mark Underwood
Words by jonahberry

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NEST HQ was created with the intention of being a platform aimed at promoting and encouraging the growth of artists of all genres and mediums. While we’ve worked mostly within music up to this point, we are expanding on a new content series that will showcase multimedia artists of various backgrounds including painters, graphic designers, architects, and others of the sort; this is installation. Every other week, we’ll post hand-selected pieces from our featured artists via our Instagram @nesthq, along with excerpts from the full interviews which will be posted on the Friday of that week.

This week on installation, we present graphic designer BoyGraphics. 

Can you tell us a bit about how your story as an artist began? At what point did you realize that art was something you’d be doing long term?

My story as an artist is weird, and not really a story because I am just now feeling like an artist? Haha.
I started a little comic series on Instagram called Bobby Beast years ago. I was really interested in the potential of Instagram when it released at the time, and I wanted to push a different kind of content on that outlet that no one was really doing. So I drew this little boy Bobby and his evil friend Harry Demon, and their misadventures. Then, years later, when Instagram added a video option, I started making little animated shorts. And I just kept posting. Been doing that for over five years, but I’ve started to become distracted, constantly trying new styles and subject matter. It’s been great practice and it’s only recently (beginning of 2016) that I’ve found my style, which I’m still learning how to communicate with. It’s like developing this new language! But most importantly it’s been a personal, creative outlet. I like to keep the mindset that I’m creating just for myself. Post it up and move on to the next idea. If someone else likes it, that is a bonus. It keeps my expectations low, like Van Gogh.

What is the reason for the medium you chose to become proficient in? What does this medium allow you to do that other mediums may not?

I started drawing in digitally in Illustrator, I am uncomfortable with my skills at drawing on paper a lot of the time. I don’t like being a perfectionist, and wouldn’t call myself one, but I like adjusting points and lines to an OCD level of control. Tweaking the curves EXACTLY to my liking. I hate that I like it, but I’ve learn to embrace it. It’s what feels right to me, and has become sort of meditative. I can’t do that with pen and paper, though I have been able to bring over my style to paper, and I even like the raw doodles better than the clean and polished ones sometimes. I’ve also been playing around with 3D, and still figuring out ways to incorporate that into my art.

What were the inspirations behind these three pieces specifically?

BOYGRAPHICS – This was the first, original mascot for BoyGraphics. It was the birth of my new style and direction. Minimal, pop, futuristic, and retro. Inspired by the essence of vintage commercial mascots from the ’60s, with the polish and simplicity of cute Japanese character designs like Sanrio.

I recently redesigned him with one of those pinwheel caps featuring the all the staple kid toy colors that BoyGraphics is embodied with.

Oh, and here’s GirlGraphics…!

 

SLIDE – It’s youthful. Which is a heavy theme in my art. Forever young.
l recently went back and replayed Super Mario 64, and it reminded me of a playground. You can just run around, jump, jump some more, and everything is brightly colored. Its Fun: The Video Game.
And I had this epiphany that playgrounds and slides are like video games in real life!

TOMATO DOG – This is a caricature of my little dog, Benson. If he were a food, he’d be a tomato.

What are some of the defining moments in your career so far? How have they affected the way you approach your art and your creations?

I recently got to do a micro series for SuperDeluxe. It was a series of 15-second gags for Instagram, and all the characters were poop. A real shit show. I called it BROWN MOUNTAINS.

It was really the first time someone contacted me on the Internet and was like, “Hey, I like your art. Want to do something for us?” And SuperDeluxe was the best to work with. They basically just let me do my thing and were easy-going the whole way. It has been the coolest opportunity I’ve had in art so far.

The whole experience helped me with following through on projects. From storyboards to making a style guide, it made it really easy to stay focused. And, with their critiques, they really helped me with the pacing of a joke and hitting the punchline just right. Though, it seems like poop is still taboo, even on the Internet.

It opened up my eyes to my sense of humor, which is somewhere between “stupid” and “nonsense.”

I’ve also had the chance to do the 2016 branding for @SmoothieTunes. It’s been cool. It pretty much combines two of my favorite passions—music and art.

And made some designs for some up and coming streetwear brands. Here’s a tease! Coming soon!

 

How do you feel the industry is doing right now? Which trends are really pushing the industry forward, and which are holding it back?

I like this boom of new blend of genres and sounds in music, and SoundCloud has become a giant pool of new artists. In video games, VR has finally started to take its true form, and people are just finding new ways to express themselves and create new experiences. Artists are writing little comics of their own and lots of cool, small-printing press are helping bring their stories to people. 3D printing has made small ideas into reality that you can hold. Nothing feels boxed in.

The only thing that is going to hold us back are people who aren’t welcoming change with open arms.
They are not keeping up, and slow to the jump. You have to change and adjust to the new trends and go with the flow, even if you don’t understand it yet! Creativity is just exploding, and things are about to get really weird. It’s a great time to be alive and on the Internet.

What are some other artists that you are currently into?

Oh boy, well here we go…!

Well first off, I’d like to mention Terry Johnson (Teruhiko Yumura), aka King Terry. He’s the godfather of the heta-uma (bad, but good) movement in Japan in the 70/80s underground with his raw doodles and illustrations. From music albums, book covers, fashion, and countless editorial pieces, and the adult manga magazine GARO, which featured countless other artists that experimented with the art form in manga. I just discovered this guys works a few years ago, and it has seriously changed me life. I rank him right up there with Andy Warhol & Basquiat. He gave me the confidence to be comfortable with my art, and have fun with it. I nearly bought every one of his books, and constantly flip through his work to keep me inspired everyday.

Same goes for Roger Hargreaves. His Mr. Men children’s book series was another life-changing inspiration to keep it simple, bold, and colorful.

Ben Jones, too. I was one of the few that loved The Problem Solverz, and I thought Stonequackers was a work of art. His animation methods helped me with my own.

There is 3D artists from Steve Smith of Activia Benz, Julian Glander and little internet kid @mushbuh.

Video games. Parappa The Rapper, Katamari Damacy, Rhythm Heaven and the WarioWare series. And basically anything Nintendo. Been really into collecting the Japanese Nintendo Famicom games. Lots of aesthetic there.

Indie comic artists John Pham, Patrick Kyle, HTMLFlowers, Simon Hanselmann, John Malta, Benjamin Marra, Johnny Ryan, Brian Chippendale, and Alex Schubert.

Oh, Lamar Abrams (@neo_rama). He’s a writer/storyboard artist for Steven Universe, and I LOVE his style that can be seen in some of his personal work. Pick up his Dragon Quest fan comic!
And recently I’ve been becoming obsessed with Hirohiko Araki, creator of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. His illustrations have this high-fashion vibe to them, from the poses to the clothing. I mean, the guy did a comic with GUCCI!

There is also Yuichi Yokoyama. His work is so stylish with his action and paneling that it actually feels like his artwork is moving! He doesn’t need words!

So, that has lately inspired me to incorporate that action and stylish attitude into my artwork.

As for music? Well that list is always growing and changing! I love discovering new sounds and musicians!

Iglooghost has been mind blowing. I feel like that guy is actually an alien, making music from the future from which he came.

Shawn Wasabi is outstanding. This will be the new sound of pop that will be taking over media soon. DZZ is another talented tomato.

Gorillaz, always and forever.

Oh man, who else. That guy Dirty Chocolate, the cool dude Slow Magic, Tomggg, Cola Splash, Oh Boy, halpe, cosmicosmo, omniboi, Tennyson, Madnap, Uth Fruit, Wave Racer, slugabed, peeps on Maltine Records, Moving Castle, Activia Benz, Soda Island, and EVERYONE on Trekkie Trax, especially Masayoshi Iimori and AMUNOA. You guys at NEST HQ!

And shoutout to @FLOOR_BABA and his whole crew over @DESKPOPmusic! Those are a cool bunch!

There are plenty more, but that’s just from the top of my head!

What are some of your goals for 2016?

I want to get my art printed in a major publication or some sort. It can be the cover of a magazine, or illustrations for a feature article. Or maybe even a book cover! I just want to get printed on something!

I also want to do live visuals for a big show that thousands of people would see!

Why did you choose these pieces to represent yourself on this spread?

They are pieces I keep going back to and remind myself of what I am doing. Stay on track.
To keep it simple, bold, and exciting.

Create & Entertain.

Be sure to keep up with BoyGraphics via his website and on Instagram.

The post installation 020 — BoyGraphics appeared first on NEST HQ.

Justin Jay, one of the key born & bred musicians at Dirtybird, has graced us with a MiniMix to celebrate his tour, album, and seemingly endless stream of music. His most recent Fantastic Voyage (The Tour!) and (The Album!), which is almost complete after being released through EPs via Black Butter Records, Freerange Records, Soul Clap Records, and Repopulate Mars, both came from a place of meaningful growth and development—his last semester of college. All of the album’s songs were made in his dorm room studio and include a grip of his school friends. For the MiniMix, Justin included some of his current favorites you’ll hear in his sets on the tour. Check the interview below for insight on his time on tour, in the studio, and preference of seaward vessels.

Explain a little bit about the concept of your Fantastic Voyage (The Album!).

The concept started from a very innocent place. I was starting my last semester of college and had a really good friend, Josh Taylor. Josh and I pledged the same fraternity in college when we were freshmen. We became great friends, both of us having a really strange sense of humor and an obsession for music. But while I was making heavy club music, he was interested in acoustic pop music. We always had mutual respect for each other’s musical interests, it just took us a long time to realize we could make music together. Our last semester of college, we decided to give it a go and once we started, there was no looking back. We made all of these songs in my dorm room studio and involved as many of our school homies as possible.

Let’s talk about your live setup for a moment.

I’m honestly still figuring it out. I wanted to have the capability to play songs without any backtrack or computer. There are songs that we can perform with just drums, guitar, keys, synth bass, and vocals – fully live! I want to experiment more with sequencers and synths to see what other cool things we could do.

What advice do you have for artists wishing to transition from DJing to live performances?

Challenge yourself. The craziest part of live music is that things can go horribly wrong and sound terrible. When things do come together, it’s so magical. Just takes time and practice to hone the skills, at least for me haha.

How did you manage to balance school and music before graduating?

My major wasn’t insanely difficult or time-consuming. My roommate/bandmate Ulf Bonde on the other hand just got a dual degree in Computer Science/Physics. Compared to that, I had nothing to complain about.

Three crazy stories from your Fantastic Voyage Tour.

1. The Smirnoff-sponsored Dirtybird party during WMC in Miami.
2. Going back to back with Skrillex and Justin Martin at my Fantastic Voyage House Party.
3. Kickin’ it with a pet snake at an afterparty in SB!

Sailboat, submarine, seaplane, or cruise ship?

I want something like the magic school bus that can transform between all of those, then become microscopic, then can become a spaceship.

Permanent helmet or permanent life jacket?

Life jacket cause I have too much hair for a permanent helmet.

Name one well-known fact that is actually completely false.

I don’t know… I will confirm the rumor that Claude VonStroke is, in fact, Santa Clause (aka Santa Claude).

What do you have planned for the rest of 2016?

A bunch of awesome festival shows this summer – a Brazil tour with Justin Martin, HARD Summer, and more. Releases on Lee Foss’ Repopulate Mars label and Dirtybird. Working on lots of new music. Crazy times haha.

–

Check Justin Jay’s NEST HQ MiniMix below:

Follow Justin Jay:
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NEST HQ MiniMix: Justin Jay Tracklisting
Sam Horn – With You
Justin Jay & Ulf Bonde – Indecision feat. Josh Taylor
Loz Goddard – It Will Come To Me (Fouk Remix)
The Friend – Edit
Steven Wobblejay – Shake Your Tingz
S3A – Orme
Paso – Brandschatzer
Kalabrese – The 2010 Kitchen
A.A.L. (Against All Logic) – You Are the One

The post Interview + MiniMix: Justin Jay appeared first on NEST HQ.

NEST HQ was created with the intention of being a platform aimed at promoting and encouraging the growth of artists of all genres and mediums. While we’ve worked mostly within music up to this point, we are expanding on a new content series that will showcase multimedia artists of various backgrounds including painters, graphic designers, architects, and others of the sort; this is installation. Every other week, we’ll post hand-selected pieces from our featured artists via our Instagram @nesthq, along with excerpts from the full interviews which will be posted on the Friday of that week.

This week on installation, we present graphic designer Dead Skull.

Dead Skull is a young, talented multimedia artist; a focus on precision and hyperrealism crosses paths with a dark and dystopian artistic style to produce art that is unbound and in your face. From 3D graphics to music videos to live projection mapped installations, Dead Skull has a style entirely his own.

Can you tell us a bit about how your story as an artist began? At what point did you realize that art was something you’d be doing long term?

My story as an artist started back in secondary school, when I was around 14/15 years of age. I always had a fascination with filming and wanting to be as creative as possible. At lunch you’d catch me locked away in a small room with a computer and a old tape camcorder, cutting together clips to see how it all worked and experimented with software that I had no idea how to use. Even when I was away from the camera I would use my mobile phone and film adventures with friends and make a small edit that we could all watch back.

The moment I realized I would be working in art for a long period of time would be when I was in college. I was filming in a small nightclub in Nottingham called Stealth; as an 18-year-old I spent all of my time working long hours with little to no money behind me, filming every act that came through the door from artists such as Skream, Trolley Snatcha, High Contrast, and Netsky just to name a few. I’d cut together the footage and post it up online as a recap of the night for both the promoter and my own portfolio. Before I knew it, I was receiving messages about my work from world-renowned DJs/acts and record labels. They would contact me to work on music videos, tours, and music festivals. It all exploded within a year, everything just snowballed until I was traveling across the world with artists/labels I grew up listening to.

What is the reason for the medium you chose to become proficient in? What does this medium allow you to do that other mediums may not?

Being a digital multimedia artist; I work in multiple different mediums, from work you can view on your screen such as video/photography, 2D/3D print that you’ll see on album covers or on social media, to my live performances that combine musical elements with 3D projection mapping that you can experience within a multisensory atmosphere.

Working in multiple mediums allows myself to combine all of my skills from different platforms to create something brand new that many people have never been able to experienced before.

For example taking 3D modeling as a medium and using that within a 3D Projection mapping platform, allowing myself to create high-detailed 3D animation and perform the output in a live environment on a physical structure alongside electronic music. Bringing everything together to create an entirely new experience for both myself as the performer and the audience that come to the show.

I think working within a multimedia workflow allows my ideas to develop without restriction. The flexibility and freedom for your mind to explore and create is something that only exists in your head is the best feeling. Fictional worlds, unexplained settings, and the unknown are what drive me as an artist and a creative.

What were the inspirations behind these three pieces specifically?

Invasion:Live
This project will always feature such a huge part in my life. This was the starting point for my career within 3D projection mapping.

For my third year project at the University Of Lincoln, my friend Greg Mee and I came together to create something that had never been done before at the university. I was experimenting with 3D projection mapping in my bedroom, using cardboard boxes that I had found in the bin at the back of a supermarket, and a projector I rented from university.

I pitched the idea in a lecture about creating a live show that was controlled entirely by one person. A concept of everything from the music, the lights, and the visuals, all performed by one individual right in front of you. The idea in my head was so clear that I didn’t want to do anything on a small scale that would be pushed to the side as a “Student project” or looked down on. I wanted this to be something that would contend or even surpass live shows of artists I looked up to. With 3D projection mapping unknown to a vast audience, I was in multiple talks with lecturers and staff about the idea I wanted to achieve. Without them understanding what projection mapping even was, we discussed that if I believed it was a possibility then I should go for it. From then on the idea of Invasion:Live was born.

Taking on a venue of 1000 people, the live show surpassed everything I would hope it would be. From a small doodle on the front of my notebook in class, to a 30ft wide structure towering on a stage in front of hundreds of people. Leaving everyone with memories that will last a lifetime.

Keys N Krates – Hypnotik
I’ve selected this piece as one of my features as it’s still one of my favorite videos I have worked on. The idea and inspiration behind the video was to create an underground world hidden inside an abandoned pyramid. With connecting tunnels that lead to individual rooms housing the equipment used by the band in their shows, this piece showcases the myth and wonder to what creates the music of Keys N Krates. Deep in the depths of this world, drums, turntables, and a gold plated keyboard are all featured with the company of simulated physical volumetric lighting, this piece pushed me using real world physics and photo realistic rendering.

R3LL – Visions EP Artwork
This is my latest collection that was completed just a few days ago actually. The inspiration behind this collection was the story of a lonely traveler, exploring the hidden depths of a fictional world with an ancient mythical headstone ruin that appears in each piece of artwork. From each location more of the story is uncovered until the final image. I loved working on each piece from this collection as it really pushed my creativity within 3D Design and rendering. Using Octane Render 3 combined with Cinema 4D, I was able to create scenes that push photorealistic imagery into my work. My favorite piece from the collection is “All 2 U” as it allowed me to express attention to detail and advanced modeling skills for the selected environment.

What are some of the defining moments in your career so far? How have they affected the way you approach your art and your creations?

There have been so many defining moments in such a short amount of time it’s really hard to decide.

Invasion:Live has to be one of the closest projects I hold close to my heart as this opened up the creative world for me as an artist. The idea of creating the unknown with no previous experience in the field of 3D Projection mapping was such a thrill. On the debut show, over 800 people were in attendance. Months and months of planning came to reality and is still seen as one of the biggest achievements of my career so far in the form of projection mapping.

Working with UKF, Hospital Records, and Moda Black was also a huge milestone moment. Throughout the summer festivals of 2011 to 2014, I was on the road with each label creating the recap videos that were showcased on YouTube and social media. Knowing that my work would be seen by millions of people online was a moment of clarity that this is something special and allowed me to express myself as a creative through live events.

Another moment that defined my career so far was my world tour starting the first months of 2015 that allowed me to travel to so many amazing places. Playing in front of over 500,000 people on a huge building in Moscow, Russia for the Circle of Light Festival, traveling to Canada/North America to meet artists/record labels such as Black Tiger Sex Machine, Dim Mak, OWSLA, and many others. Touring across Europe with one of the most inspiring people I have met, ZES. Giving me the opportunity to perform alongside him and create a unique live visual performance and also not to forget a run of live shows back in my home country with my show Invasion:Live.

These experiences and opportunities that I’ve been blessed with have sculpted my outlook on art and the emotion towards my performances. I feel that having the chance to see the world and share what I created from my bedroom is mind-blowing and drives me to create more and more.

How do you feel the industry is doing right now? Which trends are really pushing the industry forward, and which are holding it back?

I feel that the industry right now is expanding so fast alongside the development of technology for both music and art implication, that we have so much access to creative applications it’s impossible to comprehend anything holding it back. Everyday we are unearthing new genres, plug-ins, software, and hardware that break down the barriers towards our ability to create what we like. I think if anything were holding it back right now it would be the categorization that is applied to music and art by the audience: what is considered a specific genre or what is considered a specific piece of artwork. Art, both visually and musically, are beautiful and should be appreciated rather than misunderstood or shamed.

What are some other artists that you are currently into?

Musically at the moment I’ve not stop listening to Flume’s Skin album. I love the chord progression, and his synth design just hits another level. Alongside Flume I’ve also had the debut album from ZES, Darkened, on full repeat. Watching this artist develop his sound in the space I have known him is truly a pleasure to witness. Not to mention, my ongoing love for artists such as Rustie, Hudson Mohawke, Skrillex, and Marshmello, who are constantly killing the game.

Artistically at the moment I’ve been checking out artists I follow on both Vimeo and Instagram. Fellow friend Funi Lab is constantly blowing my mind with his drawings and artwork with the Inspected family. Artists such as Beeple, Lil Arty, and Vladislav Solovjov create amazing visuals that are a pleasure to watch and I think the overall game in motion picture CGI is pretty wild at the moment. For example, the Jungle Book and Alice Through the Looking Glass include some incredible visual renders.

What are some of your goals for 2016?

For 2016, I want to keep pushing myself in all mediums of art, predominately focusing on performing more shows, with DJ sets and live performances, alongside keeping active with my digital workload. At the moment, I’m working with a couple of artists on music videos, artwork, and live visuals that are promising to be my best work as I’m learning a lot more.

However, alongside that I am persuing my own artwork and musical creations in the form of a debut album titled Mindless that will be showcased towards the end of the year in time for a new tour that will begin in Moscow, Russia and make its way back to the UK with a couple of stop-off points yet to be confirmed.

So far this year, I have been honored to debut a new live show called Xodus that takes the use of projectors to a different level turning them into lasers that can be controlled by me with the use of a MIDI controller. This works with volumetric lighting and multiple projectors to create 3D holograms that float above the crowd.

I’m currently also designing my new live show that will debut next year in February, which combines everything I’ve learned up to this point and will hopefully raise the bar in live performance, with the use of 3D holograms and advanced animation with the addition of practical effects. Creating a new multisensory experience for the crowd to enjoy through electronic music.

Create, Experience, Love, and Learn.

Why did you choose these pieces to represent yourself on this spread?

I chose these three pieces because I believe they are what best represent me as an artist. From live performances and DJ sets that have developed me within a live medium to digital artwork that integrates different outputs from 3D images to full CGI music videos.
I want to be an artist that covers all sides of the spectrum but does it in a way that my style can be seen or connected with each medium I use.

Thanks for checking out my work and I can’t wait for the future. Peace!

Be sure to keep up with Dead Skull via Instagram, Vimeo, and on his website.

The post installation 021 — Dead Skull appeared first on NEST HQ.

Skope has been in the game for nearly a decade, making everything from 100 BPM and jazz to drum & bass and soul. He produces some of the most original music I’ve heard in a long time; where some might call it dnb or trap, others would say glitch-hop or neurofunk. Rather, it’s best to just call it “Skope”. His latest release with Inspected, Strange Science, astounded us to the point of needing a minimix to follow it up. If you’re in the mood for some legitimately honest yet frightfully brutal and destructive music, look no further.

Tell us about yourself and your career as an artist.

I have been making music for about eight years now and have jumped around a bit in what I make. The early stuff was dubstep and garage, I then moved into 100bpm and a very funky sound. Now, my music has got to the point where I make a bit of everything, I love variation and my musical tastes range from jazz, hip-hop, and soul to hard dnb, dubstep, garage, and more, so I try to utilise all these inspirations in what I write.

From where did you draw influence to make Strange Science? It plays like a well-crafted, meaningful album that came from the heart as much as it did the mind.

The work for Strange Science started with “Vanquish”, which was written at a similar time to “Wouldn’t I” when I was spending a lot of time on my piano. That was probably the most heartfelt tune as the rawness of playing the piano always delivers a soothing experience. Generally, with an EP, I write a lot of tracks in a lot of different styles so to get the rest of it there was a lot of picking and choosing ideas that fit. I have a huge pile of stuff that didn’t make the cut, but I feel that’s a good way to make sure you have something you are really happy with. I like to choose the tracks on an EP based on which ones I’m not bored of after a month or two.

The artwork for ‘Strange Science’ is incredible. How did you come to work with Funilab?

Funi has been working closely with Inspected for a while now, as well as lots of other artists I know and love, so Inspected suggested him as an artist and I was really up for it. He was definitely the right choice for the EP!

What’s the proper way to dance to your music?

Personally, I don’t dance much these days, just a head nod and bass face. But for everyone else, do whatever you want! I have so many different BPMs and rhythms across my music I couldn’t offer one solution, I’m afraid. Just enjoy!

New studio toy! pic.twitter.com/oIyiFq5KSg

— Skope (@SkopeUK) October 22, 2015

Soft synths or hard synths?

Both, I love the sound and hands-on feeling of working with real synths. But most things are done in the box and I couldn’t do a lot of the things I do without that.

Which labels and artist should we check out immediately? Who, in your eyes, is changing the game?

Really into the darker, filthier side of trap at the moment; artists like Holly and herzeloyde are making huge sounds at the moment. Also, really into copycatt who I’ve been following for a while now. Label wise, 20/20 is a new one to watch. Ivy lab and friends are doing big things at the moment.

What do you have coming up in 2016?

Looking towards the next EP already. Will have a few remixes and free tracks, too. Other than that, locked in the studio. Been out on the road for the last few months and eager to get back on to writing the music.
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Follow Skope:
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NEST HQ MiniMix: Skope Tracklisting:
Skope – The Spaniard
Culprate ft. Maksim – That sound/16bit – Jump
Haywyre – Impulse
Skope – ID
Skope – Mimic
Zeke Beats – Meltdown
Skope & Seppa – Outlaw
Kursa – Atargartist
T1R – Onepoto
Dabow & Herzeloyde – Drop It
Copycatt – Itsum
Skope – Get Back
It Hz – Murdah
Graves & Aska – There Are No Penguins In Alaska
Herzeloyde – Spam
Subtension – Break & Go
Skope – ID
Skope – Scorched
Skope – ID
Emperor – Let The Whole World Know
Skope – Sakura
Skope – ID
Icarus – Ride This Train (Ivy Lab 20_20 Remix)

The post Interview + MiniMix: Skope appeared first on NEST HQ.

If you’ve been following Skrillex or OWSLA since the beginning, there’s a near 100% chance you’ve encountered the work of Liam Underwood. The Australian born, now Los Angeles-based creative and filmmaker road-dogged with Sonny on his early global tours, piecing together moments in time and sewing story lines in impeccable mini documentary-style videos which Liam shot and edited himself (see Skrillex in South America, Skrillex in Mexico, Skrillex & Friends at Glastonbury).

More recently, however, Liam has carved out a new role for himself within the OWSLA organization, focusing most of his time on creating treatments and directing & editing music videos in-house for the label’s releases. Most notably, Liam’s work with OWSLA signee, Getter, within the past year has been irreproachable, as the music videos for “Head Splitter”, “Rip N Dip”, and, as of yesterday, “Forget It”, have racked up millions of plays, gone three for three for Vimeo’s Staff Picks, and most importantly, given the music a completely new context and understanding.

With “Forget It” out this week, we spoke with Liam Underwood about his third linkup with Getter, his intentions with the video’s somewhat ambiguous narrative, new projects on the way, and more. See below for our Q&A with the immensely talented director and creative, and head to the bottom for a full gallery of behind the scenes photos from the “Forget It” video shoot.

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To start off, can you explain how you initially linked up with OWSLA and what your position is at the company?

One of the many creative creatures at OWSLA and the underworld. Also one of the few who won’t burn to ash upon touching sunlight.

This is your third video you’ve directed for Getter. What kind of creative relationship do you guys have together? Are you both usually on the same page when it comes to treatments?

When Getter and I first linked up, we were instantly on the same page, going back and forth with generally ridiculous ideas that ended up being a perfect cocktail we shared to launch a visual assault within the videos we were about to create peppered with insanity..

The first two Getter videos you did (“Head Splitter” and “Rip N Dip“) carried a similar, funny/psychedelic vibe where “Forget It” holds a more serious tone. What were your intentions with the narrative in this video in relation to the other two videos? Would you define these three videos as a trilogy in the traditional sense of the word?

The main reason was the track’s mood, after talking with Tree about what the lyrics meant and riffing some ideas with Getter, the concept started evolving in my head, I wanted to tell the story as a metaphor for what the song was saying to me, and of course to Tree, the incredible vocalist on the track.

From getting our hands dirty on the first two videos, Getter had faith in letting me run free with the idea , I was sure it had to be a more dark, edgy narrative piece.

It appears that you took Tree’s vocals from “Forget It” (“I would put you back in place”) somewhat literally for the treatment. Is there a Frankenstein type of narrative going on here?

The lyrics and narrative somewhat go hand in hand.. to an extent, but nothing is literally matched up, and the story within the film dives a little deeper than the lyrics would suggest. Tree and Getter together is really something special, every time they collaborate, so I wanted to be a valuable third wheel to that relationship.

How much do you like to leave your exact story lines up to viewers’ interpretations?

That would be project dependent, but I think causally open audience perception is important, especially with stories like this one. I’ve been getting some interesting feedback on what people think this story is about, and it blows my mind.. some of the results are probably even better than my original intentions.

What other videos are you currently working on? Do you think you’ll continue to direct anything upcoming from Getter?

Right now, I have a few more music videos projects in the pipe, coming up most recent is a culture piece blend as a music video for DJ Sliink set in New Jersey set to drop very soon on OWSLA. Working with Getter again on films is a no brainer.. I think he’s an absolute wizard in more aspects than just production/DJ work, and we work together pretty damn good.. I look forward to the madness to come.

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Find more from Liam Underwood on:
Vimeo
Twitter
Website

The post Director Liam Underwood Takes Us Behind The Scenes of Getter’s “Forget It” appeared first on NEST HQ.

NEST HQ was created with the intention of being a platform aimed at promoting and encouraging the growth of artists of all genres and mediums. While we’ve worked mostly within music up to this point, we are expanding on a new content series that will showcase multimedia artists of various backgrounds including painters, graphic designers, architects, and others of the sort; this is installation. Every other week, we’ll post hand-selected pieces from our featured artists via our Instagram @nesthq, along with excerpts from the full interviews which will be posted on the Friday of that week.

This week on installation, we present graphic designer Chadwick Makela.

Painter, sketch artist, and graphic designer Chadwick Makela seemed to stumble into a career in graphic design but has always been in love with art itself. Years later, he finds himself designing graphics for the likes of Burton, Slander, RL Grime, and A$AP Rocky. Read below to learn about his story and influences in art.

Can you tell us a bit about how your story as an artist began? At what point did you realize that art was something you’d be doing long term?

Man, there isn’t really a key moment in my life that stands out to me where I had a realization that I wanted to be an artist. I’ve always wanted to be an artist. It’s all I could ever see myself doing. I remember in 3rd grade groups fighting for me to be on the team so I could draw all over the poster board for the class projects haha. I will say this, though: in college I was denied by the graphic design program two years in a row. It was very competitive so I didn’t take it too hard, but I used that as fuel to push myself. My 3rd year, the head of the design department caught wind that I had signed a two year deal with Burton doing softgoods and asked me if I would be applying for another year. I did, got in, and turned it down to continue getting my degree in oil painting and ceramic sculpture. I think being classically trained in fine art is a huge backbone to what I do now, and never regret that decision.

What is the reason for the medium you chose to become proficient in? What does this medium allow you to do that other mediums may not?

Digital art sort of fell in my lap. I was on house arrest for six months with just my computer and a bootleg version of the Adobe Creative Suite (shout out Kolby Harwood and Scott Mcleod), it just clicked. And moving forward I continued with that due to how fast pace the music industry works, being a digital artist definitely caters to that speed. I continue to paint and draw though; that will always be my first love.

From where do you draw inspiration?

Inspiration for me, as I’m sure it is with most artists, kind of comes out of no where. Obviously, there will be times when I’m out walking around and see something that sparks an idea, but more often than not it comes from just locking myself to my computer and working through the project. I’ll start with a basic idea or a brief and basically break it down and build off the key elements.

What are some of the defining moments in your career so far? How have they affected the way you approach your art and your creations?

The biggest ones started early on. I was working with then small artists Slander and Hucci very regularly and we built together as artists. I don’t think I would be where I am today without those two projects and I continue to work and grow with them. Recently, probably the biggest achievement to date, was helping Sus Boy in creating visuals for RL Grime for his Coachella and tour sets, and then going on to working with him again in creating visuals for A$AP Rocky last month. 2016 is just getting started :)

How do you feel the industry is doing right now? Which trends are really pushing the industry forward, and which are holding it back?

In terms of art, I see it thriving. So many young artists popping up every day. I think, because how connected everyone is, there’s a tendency to copy or rip off certain styles. My advice to new artists is to find your unique voice. Don’t just follow trends, don’t just do beeple style artwork because it’s dope haha you will last much longer if you create through your own voice.

What are some other artists that you are currently into?

Man, way too many. @Jabbathekid is killing it. @lettersbyduong is a young kid mastering the dying art form of typography and I love that. Sus Boy for obvious reasons, he’s the man. And I’ve looked up to him since before I even started doing graphic design in the music industry.

What are some of your goals for 2016?

Some of my goals for 2016 I already hit and it’s only six months in. I guess for the remainder of the year I would like to keep pushing with this momentum and definitely upgrade my hardware so I can render work out at a much faster pace. Actually my goal for the rest of the year is to build a massive rendering machine haha. I’m tired of being limited creatively by hardware.

Why did you choose these pieces to represent yourself on this spread?

I wanted to use more of my current work since I recently upgraded renderers and also keep it within a general theme so it’s not all over the place mainly. I think my style is very apparent in these pieces and people can get a good feel for me from them.

Make sure to keep up with Chadwick via Instagram or on his website.

The post installation 022 — Chadwick Makela appeared first on NEST HQ.

Photo Credit: Prexactly

Kapsize Records boss, Joker, changed the game in 2010 with what many consider to be one of the biggest dubstep tunes of all time. “Tron” brought it all together — huge bass, screeching synthesizers, explosive snares. It was and still is a quintessential record from that magical era of bass music, and today, fellow UK producer and Kapsize Records family member, Sh?m, pays respects to Joker’s “Tron” with a ferocious remix and a clever video game to accompany it.

Try your hand at the Mob Boss game below to download Sh?m’s remix of “Tron” for free, and read on for a Q&A with Sh?m about how the remix and game came together.

Game designed by Luis Wendt & Camila Ludwig
*Enable pop-ups to download

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Tell us about your intentions with remixing such a legendary tune. Did you feel any added pressure whole reworking this one is particular?

Not at all. “Tron” is one of my favourite tunes of all time so I thought it was only right for me to remix it.

What were you doing in 2010 when “Tron” came out?

Honestly? I can’t even remember. All I know is that when I first heard “Tron” I thought it was a game changer.

You’ve signed your latest EP, Mob Boss to Joker’s Kapsize, any plans to stick with the label for your upcoming releases?

Yeah of course! I’ve already got a lot of music in the works.

How did this idea for the game come together?

We wanted to do something a little different and I thought that giving the remix a normal release wouldn’t do it enough justice. And after a heap of discussion, we came up with the idea to have a game in which I was the main character collecting dubs!

The soundtrack for the game is wild, have you messed around with 8-bit a bunch in the past?

Errm not quite but that’s only because I’ve been concentrating on making proper tunes. It was fun making the 8 bit version of the remix, I wanted it to seem as if people where playing the game on a retro console. Maybe I’ll mess around with 8 bit style stuff again soon.

Whats up next for you this summer?

Well, since the beginning of summer, Conducta and I have been working on some ideas. I’ve also been working with a few Grime MCs too. But other than that and working on more solo stuff, I’ll be doing shows all over!

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Find more from Sh?m on:
Soundcloud
Facebook
Twitter

Find more from Joker on:
Soundcloud
Facebook
Twitter

The post UK Producer Sh?m Remixes Joker’s “Tron”, Play Video Game Here to Download! appeared first on NEST HQ.

While words like “influencer” and “tastemaker” are thrown around somewhat frivolously in today’s culture, London-based DJ, Marcus Nasty, represents the true definition of these titles. For the better part of two decades, Marcus has been a stalwart advocate for underground bass music emerging from the UK and beyond, and through his current radio show every Wednesday on Rinse FM, he pushes all aspects of the genre forward with proficient curation and genuine support.

From UK Funky to grime and bass-heavy house, Marcus Nasty is easily one of the world’s foremost experts, so we asked him to take over this week’s NEST HQ MiniMix with a “bass heavy wobble sampler session” as well as give us some insight on his craft.

Listen in and read on for our Interview & MiniMix with Marcus Nasty below.

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Thanks so much for taking some time with us Marcus. To start out, let’s chat about your profession as a champion of underground music. You’ve played a major role in bringing the sounds of Funky, Grime, and UK Bass to a global scale via your show on Rinse FM. Have you always found a lot of gratification in discovering and evangelizing new sounds?

I love what I do and do what I love!

The future of grime has been an interesting topic over the last couple years. What are your thoughts on the current wave, and what do you think it will take for the hype to last across the Atlantic here in America?

I think Grime is doing really well at the moment. In order for it to progress further I think more artists need to come through at the forefront not just the same 2 or 3 artists and not necessarily just UK artists. The genre has gone global so the artists involved should also be from around the globe, and it will grow and spread quicker than it did when it first started as it should in this glorious Internet age of music.

You were one of the first to pick up on NYC producer Callie Reiff, who just this week released her latest single with us on NEST. How did you initially stumble upon her?

I can’t take any credit for Callie Reiff, I normally get to producers before a label does which wasn’t the case with Callie, but she is a very talented individual more than I could’ve ever had imagined when I first heard her music.

I actually heard Callie via Audiophile XXL records (run by Robert Pennington from Texas) who has bombarded me with so much quality but sick music from producers I had not even heard of from both the US & UK and Callie happened to be one of those producers.

I told Audiophile and still do believe that Callie can/will be as big as Hannah Wants by the end of this year (don’t make me a liar Callie lol)

What were your thoughts on the recent Culture Clash the other week? Who were you rooting for and did you agree with the end result?

I wanted Eskimo to win but they clearly lost. I think UKG ALL STARS should’ve won but Mixpak and Taylor Gang also did a very good job.

Give us a handful of producers from the UK who recently came on your radar.

Can I give you two handfuls and two non-UK producers pleeeeease

Recently:
Taiki Nulight
HYPHO
FISH
BADJOKES (fr)
PVC
SPOOKZ
PAVV
HOLY GOOF
NOTION
Lorenzo BITW (italy)

Finally, tell us a bit about the mix you’ve put together for us. Any standouts in here we should pay special attention to?

This is a bass heavy wobble sampler session for all you bassheads from some of the best producers the UK and US has to offer for this now very vibrant and growing BASS scene.

Tracklist:
1. Gunning for you- barely Royal and bunnie remix
2. Parallel lines – A trak (Chris Lorenzo remix
3. Gone Missing – Taiki Nulight remix
4. Shrapnel – Albzzy and tengu
5. Carbon play – inkline
6. Scalar Waves – spekktrum and spookz
7. Check your bell – born dirty
8. Cannon – Taiki Nulight
9. Outer space – development
10. Choker – jay Robinson
11. One more – Taiki Nulight
12. Phlegmatic dogs – high volume
13. Hardwood flooring – sinden and Peter clicks (ac slater remix)
14. Nightmares – Chris Lorenzo
15. Yes yes – hybrid theory remix
16. Tear the club down – pud and dan
17. Kombat dub- jay Robinson
18. Under my skin – Nu era
19. Zu – True Phonics
20. Kill dem – Distro
21. Ghost rider – Doctor Cryptic remix

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More from Marcus Nasty on:
Soundcloud
Facebook
Twitter
Rinse FM

The post Interview & MiniMix: Marcus Nasty appeared first on NEST HQ.

Photo Credit: Dash Grey

It’s safe to say that Callie Reiff is on an accelerated path to success. The teenage producer and DJ from New York City has stormed her way through 2016, releasing a string of fierce, bass-heavy productions on Audiophile XXL, Fool’s Gold, and NEST while taking up residence at the renowned Webster Hall in Manhattan. At just 16 years of age, Callie has already accomplished in the past 12 months what many musicians hope to in years of dedication, but it’s evident that she’s set the bar high for herself, and her burgeoning career is still very much in the incipient stages.

With her latest record, “Tin Machine“, out this week on NEST, we wanted to catch up with the promising young producer about her workflow, balancing high school with her rapid ascent, and plans for her bright future.

Listen in to “Tin Machine” and read on for our interview with Callie below.

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So it’s been about four months since our last interview when you put the mix out with us, what’s been going with you? Other than “Tin Machine”, what have you been stoked on or working on? Give me a brief catch up since the last time we talked.

I’ve been working on a lot of remixes lately, collaborations, I’ve just been working on my craft and getting acquainted with Ableton. I’ve been making a ton of edits to play out at all these amazing shows — I really want to start getting creative with my sets and spending more time finding songs that may be small now but have the potential to be huge. So, I’ve been searching for music, inspiration, working on originals, and playing a bunch of shows! It’s been really cool.

When your management initially sent over the pack of demos for us to listen to, there were so many in there! It seems like you’re working on so many different ideas with so many different people.

Yeah, I feel like, especially when collaborating, it’s fun to build off of the artists you’re working with. For example, on my recent release “Wobble”, I came up with the vocal idea and a few drops/melodies, and Dapp came in and added his signature stuff. Collaborating with other artists expediates the songwriting process a lot, you brainstorm a lot especially when you work really well with the other artists. I try to have a friendship first before collaborating with an artist. It makes it easier to be honest.

Are most of your collaborations happening online, or are you getting studio time with some of these people?

“Tin Machine” was done almost exclusively over Splice. Ron saw me play at Webster Hall and was super interested in collaborating. We hung out a few times and then I sent him an idea and he was really down to work on it! We both use Ableton, and Splice makes the process extremely easy. This song only took us about 3 weeks or something really short like that.

Rad! So, I’m guessing school’s out now, right? Does that mean that you’ll be devoting more time this summer to producing and playing shows?

A lot of people forget that I’m only 16, in high school, and managing all of this. I love staying busy and working really hard. I remember when I started to produce, I tried my hand in a couple DAW’s until I found the one that I knew was right for me. It’s crazy that everyday I’m learning so much about Ableton, but it’s reassuring to know that even the best producers are still learning every day. It’s a nonstop creative flow. This summer I’ll definitely be focusing a lot on originals and remixes.

What would you say are your highest priorities right now? Is it honing in your production skills and getting releases out? Or maybe trying to get on a tour this summer?

I think that, especially given my age, I have a lot of time to grow. I’ve never been into rushing things, and things in my life have always happened organically. For example, I started modeling because someone approached my mom on the street. It’s random things like that that have happened naturally. I started drumming at 10 years old right after I quit ballet. I was bored of the classes. I did all of the top lead performances at New York City Ballet and I was like, “These classes are boring, I want to do more and not put all of my eggs in one basket.” At 10 years old I was dancing multiple hours a day, every day of the week, and I realized I wanted to do so much more. My dad has always been into music. When I was younger he would play me all different kinds of songs like reggae — songs with messages that kids wouldn’t be listening to otherwise.

Now, I think those songs helped shape my sound today. I’ve been trying to find that sound that makes a song ten times more unique but still kind of mainstream in a way that doesn’t alienate your fans.

It sounds like you have a really strong support system, from your parents to your managers to the artists wanting to collaborate with you. How do you feel about having all this support?

Having support from the artists I’ve collaborated with this early in my career is really cool. It’s inspiring to learn from them, and it’s also cool to know that I can keep up with them. On Splice, Ron was sending me small edits to “Tin Machine”, and I would send back entirely new versions of the songs in like an hour. I work really fast in Ableton. But yeah, being so young, having all of this support has helped me out so much. My parents have been my #1 fans since the beginning. It’s really great. I also have a lot of love for the support that the EDM world has for each other, and the support that women have for each other as well.

Were your parents bummed when you quit ballet to pursue other passions?

My mom never necessarily wanted me to start ballet, she just put me into it and told me to tell her if I ever disliked it. At the time, I had just finished a double feature with Susan Schulman (which was the biggest show I’d ever done), and I wanted to leave on a high note and experience new things in music. I think I learned a lot about music in ballet, you had the orchestra, different tempos, etc. It definitely inspired me a lot. I always think about it when I’m producing, and I think that those influences come out in little pieces throughout songs of mine.

Who has supported your music thus far that you been most surprised by?

I really love that the Chainsmokers supported some of my songs recently. I’ve actually known them for years, it’s a funny story actually. When I first started out producing, I decided to do a “Selfie” remix. It ended up being a really unique song, not something that you’d hear everyday, and obviously not my best production (laughs). I sent it to Drew on Facebook. He was like, “How did you even make this? How old are you?” (laughs) At the time I was 14 years old, and now he’s like “your progress in the last 2 years and how big you’ve gotten is kind of insane”. I opened for them recently and it was really cool.

How was the show with the OWSLA crew the other weekend? I heard you went b2b with Mija.

Oh my god that show was crazy! I was asked last minute to play on the show, and I opened for a pretty good crowd, and then Josh Pan when on after me, and then Mija. I knew I wanted to stay late so I went to dinner with my parents right after my set and came back for Mija’s set. Her TM, Ryan, was saying that Skrillex was running late, and I said, “I have my USB’s, tell Mija that I’ll go b2b with her!” He told Mija and she said, “I’ve been playing for 2 hours will you please go b2b with me!” It was insane. We played really hard, and we mixed really well together. It was just for fun, and that’s what made it so easy for us to play together. Skrillex came in and had this like OMG look on his face when he got in (laughs). We started talking and I told him about the release coming out on NEST and he said “Tin Machine? I love that song!”

Sounds like a great night. Stoked to get this release out there Callie, thanks for taking some time with us. 

Me too!

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Find more from Callie Reiff on:
Soundcloud
Facebook
Twitter

The post Catching Up with the Fiercely Promising 16-Year-Old Producer, Callie Reiff appeared first on NEST HQ.

In a city and scene known for its widespread diversity, Mark Redito aims to create a wholly inclusive space in Los Angeles for a younger generation of people who identify themselves within underrepresented and marginalized groups, including people of color, women, and members of the LGBTQ community. The event series is called Likido — Filipino for “liquid” — and it will kick off this month on July 16th in partnership with Brownies & Lemonade and NEST HQ.

Ahead of the inaugural event in two weeks, we spoke with Mark about his intentions with Likido, what inspired this benevolent vision, and why now is the time we need something like this in LA.

Read on below, and check back in with us next week for the full lineup announcement and more info!

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What’s the idea behind Likido?

I think for me and my experience with dance music, being a part of the electronic music scene, it’s been amazing. One thing that’s been on my mind lately though is that I know there’s a lot of people who are like me – people of color – who are making electronic music. But not a lot of us are represented. Not a lot of us have avenues to play our stuff. In my observation, the dance music scene is very white and usually male, so I wanted to carve some space to feature people who are like me and people who identify as queer and women, too. I know there’s a lot of talented people out there who came from these backgrounds, but there’s not enough. So that’s the whole idea behind Likido.

Why is now the time for this?

You know what, Jonah, I feel like events like this happen all the time, but they’re either not identified in this way or they’re not obvious. I’m aware that there are club nights in LA where they cater to the LGBTQ community, but many are underground or some people just don’t know about them.

I think right now, the concept of Likido is for the newer generation. This stuff has been done before, but it’s important for me and the scene that I’m in, and it’s also important that it’s being identified as such. It’s on the posters, the messaging, “Yes, we are here to focus on these communities and we are here to uplift the artists and producers coming from these communities.” Again, here in LA there’s such a diverse scene, but people don’t intentionally identify it.

Art by @kikkujo

And there will also be some kind of charitable aspect to it as well, right?

Ya I wanted to bring it back closer to home. I want a portion of the proceeds from this show to go to an organization that really, directly helps queer people, so me and my partner Cameron agreed that it should go to the Los Angeles LGBT Center. They have a ton of great programs for queer-identifying people, and I’d like to make an impact locally here in LA.

What does it mean to have Brownies & Lemonade on this show with you?

When we were concepting the show, we were thinking of who we would want to collaborate with that was local. It was a short list, obviously NEST was there, and Brownies & Lemonade. I’ve been friends with Kush for maybe two or three years now, and I played at their first event. I really wanted to have them on board because all of us who live in LA know how great of work B&L does for the scene and I really respect their insight. They’ve been doing this for quite a while now and successfully at that, so for this first event it was important for me to learn from them.

Do you see Likido growing into something larger than an event series? How do you see it evolving in the future?

Obviously I have goals and hopes that it could be a bigger thing than just events. I could foresee it evolving into some sort of collective or movement. But at this point, I’m taking it a step at a time, you know, to let this unfold organically.

What else should people know about Likido? What should they expect when they go?

I want it to be a space for everybody. I want it to be a microcosm, a snapshot of how diverse our communities are in dance music. In my experience, when I play shows, it’s a very diverse crowd, and I want to showcase how that can be mirrored in the lineup as well. I want to encourage people to join in on the fun, to not be afraid to bring their authentic selves. I just want Likido to be a place where we can all be authentic to each other and we’re all celebrated – both our similarities and our differences.

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Likido will take place at a secret location in Los Angeles on Saturday, July 16th. Stay tuned for more information in coming weeks via the Facebook Event and website.

More from Mark Redito on:
Soundcloud
Facebook
Twitter

The post Mark Redito Chats Likido, the Inclusive New Club Night in LA for Underrepresented Communities appeared first on NEST HQ.

NEST HQ was created with the intention of being a platform aimed at promoting and encouraging the growth of artists of all genres and mediums. While we’ve worked mostly within music up to this point, we are expanding on a new content series that will showcase multimedia artists of various backgrounds including painters, graphic designers, architects, and others of the sort; this is installation. Every other week, we’ll post hand-selected pieces from our featured artists via our Instagram @nesthq, along with excerpts from the full interviews which will be posted on the Friday of that week.

This week on installation, we present graphic designer, clothing designer, and Microsoft Paint Expert Leon Karssen.

Leon Karssen is a Dutch graphic designer, painter, clothing designer, and, most importantly, skateboarder, whose work has been heralded by skate shops and skate companies around the world – most recently his art was featured on deck designs for Habitat Skateboards. Leon is a man of few words, but I think he chooses the right ones.

Can you tell us a bit about how your story as an artist began? Did skateboarding or art come first?
skateboarding came first. i started having friends i could relate to and felt more empowered to be creative
it started out with exchanging drawings in a chat with my friend Dwight Hoogendijk(look him up if you like skating and jawlines). not soon after i brought my drawings to the public and over time my identity as a person who draws came to shape.

At what point did you realize that art was something you’d be doing long term?
since the beginning. but i was ready to draw no matter what even if it would mean i were to become homeless. luck just passed by and made it possible to turn drawings into food

What is the reason for the medium you chose to become proficient in? What does this medium allow you to do that other mediums may not?
lol i dont know i just like ms paint and photoshop because its draw click paint. not much to it.
illustrator is not straight to the point and painting with colors takes too long and has no ctrl-Z

What do cats symbolize in your art?
i dont know, probably me

Your art seems to carry a lot of social commentary – is this something you purposely push in your art or is it more of a result of the imagery you enjoy creating?
9/10 random, unless its something i want to bring awareness about which isnt often.

What were the inspirations behind these 3 pieces specifically? 
i dont have favorites, it changes all the time.

idk i just saw some skater on instagram doing an ollie in a sick way and his username is @lit__man so i made him fuego

i drew this in a period where people felt the need to hug me and go in to my safe space and trap me, fucking assholes. so i created a visual of how i think hugs should be that keep the both comfort and discomfort and adds a lil awkwardness. oh and the no clothes part is irrelevant, i mean you can make it relevant but i just like drawing naked stuff because it adds more simplicity to the dudes doodle.

because this is how dutch people are

What are some of the defining moments in your career so far? How have they affected the way you approach your art and your creations?
for personal reasons the GX1000 was a big thing to me sorta. from something you spent your time watching at school being bored to being part of it in a small way through a collaboration.
it didnt affect my approach tho.

How do you feel the industry is doing right now? Which trends are really pushing the industry forward, and which are holding it back?
i dont know what industry im part of. i like to think im part of the skateboarding industry in some way bc i like to do a skate okay.
in that industry to my opinion the ”jocks” and people that want to turn it in a sport are holding it back in way, but more dividing it into two sides of skateboarding. you would think that you can just continue to live on your side of the skate world but unfortunately the corporate sport companies are trying to take down the skaterowned core businesses and the ”jocks” support it.
But on the other side a lot of skaters are getting more and more creative and make their own brands and are taking it in their own hands which i support a lot. i really think the internet has been a big influence in this due to its sharing capabilities.

What are some other artists that you are currently into?
im not really into other art much but now and then i enjoy the work of Ermsy
and i like lil kid drawings because its ugly drawings

What are some of your goals for 2016?
i mean, i like to eat

Why did you choose these pieces to represent yourself on this spread? 
lol i just like these drawings at this moment

i was expecting shorter answers of myself haha

Keep up with Leon via Instagram and his website .

The post installation 023: Leon Karssen appeared first on NEST HQ.

On the first day of this year, the inventive duo from Salt Lake City known as X&G (aka Xian & Gaszia) released the 11-track EP, Anomalies, which acted as a thorough exhibition of the guys’ talents in experimental sound design and exploration. Calling upon collaborators like josh pan, Madeaux, Fransis Derelle, and others, X&G were able to create an assortment of directions, from spacious, hip hop-influenced beats to bold, dark club and electronica.

Now the guys return to Anomalies this summer with a substantial remix EP featuring 10 handpicked producers who have taken on the sounds of X&G and reimagined them in their own novel ways. Read on for some exclusive commentary from each of the remixers and listen in to all of the new renditions below.

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HOLLY

“It’s almost 5AM in Portugal and Xian and Gaszia asked me to write something about my remix, and I just can say the following words. Since I started listening to X&G, my mind and artist vision extended to another dimensions. Their sound design and the way they could place different ambients and atmospheres in just one track made me reflect about the boundaries that I had in my music world. A few months ago, I sent them some unfinished songs and since then we have been talking and they invited me to make a remix for their album. “Control” was the perfect song to lose my own “control” and to create something that I have never done. Thanks to X&G’s parents for bringing them to this world, because they helped me find new worlds in my music that nobody showed me before.”

Jorgen Odegard

“Endless thanks to X&G for including me in this project! I had a blast making this remix extra dark & experimental since the original was already as crazy as it gets. I knew that I wanted to do something with the “we were meant to be gods” lyric from josh pan, so I ended up using it to drive the entire project. I used an extra flexed 808, weird fills, and X&G’s signature brass stabs to glue the tune together. I hope you enjoy it!”

sakuraburst

“X&G are one of my favourite artists lately so I was super excited to work on a remix for “Anomalies”. My goal for this track was to make a heavy-hitting hardcore track integrating both my glitchy distorted basses and voices from Super Mario Sunshine, so I did. I had a lot of fun with that last drop, I hope you’ll enjoy!”

Noer the Boy

“When X&G asked me if I was down to do a remix for them, I couldn’t have been more stoked. Their creative sound design and exploratory attitude fit right in to my artist views, so I knew I could do a remix justice. I chose “Kingpin” because I could flip it in a way that would stand on its own while still playing subtle homage to the original. It was awesome getting to work with all their crazy sounds!”

soupandreas

“I was really pumped when X&G hit me up asking for a remix. I chose to put my spin on “Whiplash” because I loved josh’s vocal, and I wanted to expand on the melodic bits of the original. I was kind of intimidated at first since X&G have this really tight, immaculate sound so I spent a ton of time honing the individual pieces of the track to live up to that standard. There are actually 3 or 4 other versions of the remix, but this was the one that came out the best!”

PAINT

“Writing a remix is like finding some dope silk smoking jacket at a vintage store. You get all the original material, the vocal sample, the drums, and then you get to take it home & put your own spin on it. When X&G asked us to remix a song from their latest album, Anomalies, we chose the title track because a PAINT remix is an anomaly, a deviated satellite in a sea of original material. X&G are old friends from an era of warehouse art parties in the 801—and we wanted to make something they would be stoked to play out live. Oh, and josh pan sounds like the actual silk jacket—sequined, tuxedo style.”

WHIPPED CREAM

“The original track in itself is one of the most specials things I’ve heard in my life. As soon as I heard it I knew I wanted to put my spin on it. My vision for this track was to keep the same feel but have that drop go off in the club. I had a lot of playing with this one. X&G & josh pan are some of my favorite producers for their risk taking in such innovative ideas. I was honored to do a remix for them.”

um..

“We’d been listening to these dudes’ music and we thought they were cool. We heard “Whiplash” when it came out and we were like yea that’s cool. So we hit them up and told them that we thought they were doin some cool stuff. We asked if we could remix “Whiplash” and they were like that’s cool dudes. So we remixed the song and it turned out pretty cool.”

Equator Club

“I was so excited to be able to remix my favorite track from X&G’s Anomalies. I took the dark club feel of the original and transformed it into a vibey track with a global bass influence. I used this opportunity to experiment with a style of production I normally would not venture into.”

Mr. Vandal

“When X&G hit me up to do a remix for them I chose their tune “Kingpin” because I loved how many fucked up heavy sounds were going on that I had to put my own flip to it and add as much energy to it as possible to give the original track justice. Big ups Aaron and Christian for the letting me remix this tune.”

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Buy the full EP via Bandcamp, and, if you’re in town next month, check out X&G at Slake in NYC on August 20th.

More from X&G on:
Soundcloud
Facebook
Twitter

The post Exclusive Commentary from the Remixers of X&G’s ‘Anomalies’ EP appeared first on NEST HQ.

LIONE is a relatively new name to the scene with only a pair of unofficial remixes on Soundcloud, but that is all set to change in the next few months. The Berklee College of Music alum, producer and songwriter has been hard at work on the project over the past year, creating music with one main notion in mind — emotion. Pulling clear influence from folks like Porter Robinson, Madeon, and Cashmere Cat, LIONE aims to create reminiscent experiences through alluring melodies and dynamic breakdowns. And following the success of his takes on Purity Ring and Ember Island, the Los Angeles-based newcomer plans to debut his complete sound with his inaugural EP this fall.

With a recent maiden performance at Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas and promise of “a lot” of original music on the way, we asked LIONE to take over this week’s NEST HQ MiniMix and answer some questions about the fledgling project.

Listen in and read on below.

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Thanks for taking some time with us! To start out, could you talk a bit about the inception of the LIONE project and your musical history?

Erich: Hey! Thank u guys so much for having me! NEST HQ has always been one of my fav places to find new artists and sounds, so it’s definitely a huge honor to do a minimix for you guys ^-^.

My musical background is kind of all over the place. I started piano when I was 8 and played until I dropped it for guitar when I was 12. I played in all sorts of bands throughout school, and then after high school I went to Berklee College of Music in Boston to be a guitar player and songwriter before discovering my passion for production.

The inception of LIONE came about after a couple years of learning production. Before my final year at Berklee, I had taken a break to intern at a major label in NYC. As much as I learned and loved the people, it really taught me how much I despised working in an office and how it wasn’t for me at all. Having been on the cusp of giving up on production altogether before my internship (mainly out of frustration and just really bad anxiety and self doubt), I finally decided to take that necessary step to commit to my dreams, finished my last year of school, and then started LIONE.

What would you say is the overall sound or direction of LIONE?

The LIONE sound is supposed to be a juxtaposition of emotional and nostalgic vibes/feels, with huge overwhelming and visceral choruses/drops. I want each piece of music I make to instantly evoke vivid moments and feelings that totally envelope you and transport you elsewhere, but also make you feel alive in an exhilarating way. That moment where your neck hairs stand up, you get chills through your body, and you get a little choked up, that’s a transcendent and timeless feeling to me, and that’s what I live and die for.

So it’s less about genres for me, and more about being able to be as expressive and exciting as possible. I’ve been very heavily influenced by visual media throughout my life, so often times I’ll write music with specific images or scenes in my head. All my artwork and live show visuals relate back to the things that inspire me visually and emotionally, so I tend to be a bit of a freak when working on them. I’ll work extremely closely with my artists/designers and often create my own designs and mockups for them to build off of. I think this devotion to the visual side of things really helps me be more expressive in my music.

I started LIONE with the idea that I wanted to create music that really represented me and who I was, not just hop on the flavor of the month or what was popular. I think Skrillex’s interview on Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 show where he said what defines you as an artist isn’t what you can make, but rather what you choose to make, really hit home for me and I truly believe in that idea. Also, I grew up listening to The Crystal Method, melodic death metal, video game soundtracks, Cantonese/Mandarin pop cause of my parents, and a lot of anime/J-rock/J-pop, so I think those early influences do seep into my music quite a bit.

As of right now your catalog is somewhat scarce with just the pair of remixes. Do you have plans for original music to be released this year?

I actually have a lot of criteria and am pretty hard on myself when I make music, which is why I’ll often throw out more than 90% of the stuff I make because it’s not achieving the things I want. So I apologize to all the people who want to hear new things from me, but yes I’ve been sitting on a lot of original music, and am actually super excited that my next release will be my first original single ^-^! Also I’ve been working extremely hard on my EP, and will finally be releasing it in the fall.

You recently played out at EDC in Las Vegas. How was that experience?

Honestly, it was one of the best weekends of my life. The experience was incredible. Just so many firsts for me: first time in Vegas, first festival set, first time at EDC. I had actually been dreaming of going to EDC Las Vegas for years and years as an attendee and fan, but to have my first time there be as a performer playing out my own music, it just hit me so hard in the feels.

I never want to just play it safe, so before my set it was a little nerve-racking because I was going to be playing many different genres in rapid succession and wasn’t sure if the crowd would be responsive to it, but honestly they were INCREDIBLE. They stayed with me through every song and every genre jump, and were just super involved. It was a really special moment for me. I left that weekend feeling inspired and motivated, as well as just incredibly grateful and appreciative of all the support I’ve gotten from people in only a few short months.

Finally, tell us about this mix you put together for us. Anything we should keep an ear out for specifically here?

With this mix, I wanted to create a small snapshot of what my full DJ sets are like and showcase my taste and a bunch of my favorite tunes, so hopefully you guys can get a feel for who I am and what I’m about through this mix. I don’t want to limit myself to any specific genre, and just like to play tracks that make me excited/feel things. In the same way I want my music to be very dynamic with big highs and vibey lows, I want my live performances and DJ mixes to embody those qualities as well. As for the things to look out for, I threw in a bunch of my own personal bootlegs, and unreleased tracks in the mix, so be on the lookout for those ;).

Tracklist:
1. You Alone – Psychic Type X Galantis
2. Bounce – Marshmello
3. Backseat XE3 (Kendrick Lamar X Wheathin) – AVSTIN JAMES
4. Run X FUSE (LIONE Edit) – Alison Wonderland X Hudson Mohawke
5. Bodyache (LIONE Remix) – Purity Ring
6. Beautiful (Rustie Edit) – A.G. Cook
7. Stronger (Vindata Remix) – Clean Bandit
8. Wylin X Lighters Up (LIONE Edit) – Cesqueax X NGHTMRE X Flosstradamus
9. Ignore X Peace Dealer (LIONE Edit) – Alison Wonderland X Ruxell
10. SIRI Ft. Elliphant & Pusha T (KRNE Remix) – Yogi
11. Mirror Maru (Melv Bootleg) – Cashmere Cat
12. Save Me Ft. Katy B (Wuki Remix) – Keys N Krates
13. Money – Lido
14. Bun Up The Dance X Nap In The Club (LIONE Edit) – Dillon Francis X Nightowls X Sam F X DJCJ X Bloodstone
15. ID X Make Me Feel – ID X Lolica Tonica
16. Crystals X Faded (LIONE Edit) – AWE X ZHU
17. ID X Say My Name – ID X ODESZA X Stelouise
18. ID X Ghost – ID X Halsey
19. Lean On (Khamsin Remix) – Major Lazer X DJ Snake
20. Nonsense Ft. Mark Foster – Madeon
21. Doin’ It Right (Kid Remix) – Daft Punk
22. FML (KRNE Remix) – K.Flay
23. Sleepyhead (James Remix) [LIONE Edit] – Passion Pit
24. Need You – Dillon Francis X NGHTMRE
25. Where Are U Now (LIONE Remix) – Ember Island X Jack Ü

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More from LIONE on:
Soundcloud
Facebook
Twitter

The post Interview & MiniMix: LIONE appeared first on NEST HQ.

NEST HQ was created with the intention of being a platform aimed at promoting and encouraging the growth of artists of all genres and mediums. While we’ve worked mostly within music up to this point, we are expanding on a new content series that will showcase multimedia artists of various backgrounds including painters, graphic designers, architects, and others of the sort; this is installation. Every other week, we’ll post hand-selected pieces from our featured artists via our Instagram @nesthq, along with excerpts from the full interviews which will be posted on the Friday of that week.

This week on installation we present photographer Mikesbutt.

Mikesbutt is an incredibly out of the box artist. His photography is resourceful, cunning, and highly visceral. Read on below to get to know Mike’s story and influences.

Can you tell us a bit about how your story as a photographer began?
Growing up in Connecticut, my friends and I got video cameras to make videos of ourselves skating and running around doing weird shit. Later in life I moved to California to work in motion pictures. Photography always seemed like a fun alternative to motion pictures and my friends and I dabbled in it when we got a chance. Around 2013 I started to take more and more photos and it became a passion. Those photos were mostly of my roommate jumping off our house or burying his face in the ground.

At what point did you realize that art was something you’d be doing long term?
It was in high school when I got the sense that expressing myself through photography or film would be the job I would choose to pursue.

What is the reason for the medium you chose to become proficient in? What does this medium allow you to do that other mediums may not?
Photography was able to offer the same amount of pleasure that a short film or music video would; I began to enjoy the process more. It was usually just me and one other person and we were able to shoot multiple photos in one day. I highly enjoyed the ability to accomplish so much with so little. I got really bogged down with editing music videos, I think it might be a dyslexic thing — I have trouble with things like multiple choice tests or reading menus. There are many routes to editing a music video and I never felt that I reached the best option. The photography that I have been experimenting in is a little more cookie-cut in a way that keeps me more focused.

Much of your work manages to capture an organized representation of otherwise catastrophic situations – what does movement in photography mean to you?
I am highly attracted to photos that involve action. I like to look at a photo and guess where the subject started from and where he is going, or where he is falling too; falling is great – it’s either funny or dangerous. Gravity within photography reminds me of my skating years and having to rely on physical intuition.

The rest of your work deals with somewhat surrealist themes – are these projects metaphorical and thought out, or more random and spur of the moment?
Most of my photography is thought out for at least a day or two before the shoot. I would like to get better at spur of the moment photos. I think I tend to lean towards photos that would make me laugh or involve some simple photoshop that looks too easy to be fake.

What were the inspirations behind these 3 pieces specifically?

(bike photo) This fence was in front of a bank down the street from my house. It had been hit by a car or something and left broken. This was actually the first day I shot photos with Jordan Steinert (@astrobandit) and I had only met her about 2 hours prior to this photo… I asked her if she was comfortable in laying face down in the ground in a fence, she was all about it – we have been working together ever since… In this photos she is 100% balanced with her full weight on her face, I stitched in the bike and cut out a ladder that was being used to help her balance.

(sideways wall photo) I shot this photo coming home one morning at like 7am, it is definitely the earliest photo I have ever shot. I had my camera on a tripod and used an intervalometer to take a photo every second and I went out and balanced my hip on a ladder and placed my feet against the wall. I was alone on this one so I ended up resetting the camera about 5 times. This was also taken on a really busy street next to a street light so people were watching me the entire time and I was sweating balls.

(hair hang photo) This was one of my favorite photos for a while but it got posted to a blog and got endless hate comments about how racist and sexist this photo is… I was shocked and haven’t been able to enjoy it the same haha I definitely had no hateful intentions and just liked the idea of someone hanging by their hair… This photo was done in two pieces, we really tied her hair to the branch and had her step on a ladder for the top half of her body and we untied her hair and had her hang by her arms to get the second half plate…

What are some of the defining moments in your career so far? How have they affected the way you approach your art and your creations?
Feedback from friends and strangers has been a huge motivating factor to these photos. Hearing people’s different interpretations of the photos has been beautiful and highly inspiring, and usually gives me an idea of how to try and trick them next.

What are some other artists that you are currently into?
Ryan Schude is definitely one of my favorite photographers, his book is amazing. I also highly enjoy Ben Zank. My favorite IG account right now is @without_shank, everything they post is slightly surreal or disturbing in a great way.

What are some of your goals for 2016?
I would love to shoot a few organized series before the end of the year. It;s something I never did on purpose but I love to look at other artists’ work and awe in their ability to organize wild thoughts into galleries.

Why did you choose these pieces to represent yourself on this spread?
These are a few photos that I feel are the closest to the style of photography that I enjoy making most. Some involve lots of post work and some not at all. My goal is to blend the world of practical stunts and simple photoshop.

Keep in touch with Mike via Instagram and on his website.

The post installation 024 — Mikesbutt appeared first on NEST HQ.

American musician Dave Nardolilli aka Dubloadz is a dubstep producer based in Los Angeles who calls the bass-heavy imprint, Disciple Records, home alongside label mates Virtual Riot, Barely Alive, and more. Over the years, Dubloadz has routinely explored the heavier, harder elements of bass music — or as he calls it “savage wonk” — exhibiting his longstanding propensities for metal, hardcore, and hip hop in a cohesive fusion of sound.

Just this week, Dubloadz has returned to Disciple with a stormy four-track EP titled Cuck Life which highlights once again a vicious approach to dubstep, complete with formidable snarls and clean-lined production. With that, we asked Dubloadz to take over this week’s NEST HQ MiniMix and answer a handful of Qs about the new EP, the Disciple family, and thoughts on the state of the current global dubstep scene. Listen in and read on below.

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Thanks for taking some time with us Dave! You just put out a new 4-track EP this week on Disciple. Can you speak a bit about the direction you took for this release and maybe give us a few words on each of the tracks and how they came together?

Thank you for having me! When I started writing this EP about 6 months ago I didn’t really have a direction for it. All of the tracks and ideas for the EP kind of came together at once with what was going on in my life. I knew I wanted to continue pushing my limits with sound design and creativity but I didn’t know exactly what direction I wanted to go with it. After a lot of scrapped tunes and revisions I ended up with four songs I was really happy with. Once you have the songs you’re happy with it’s just a matter of breathing life into them. A lot of the themes and ideas on the EP just came from inside jokes between me and the Disciple guys. If you can translate an inside joke to your fanbase and have them catch on then you’re doing something right.

It seems like the Disciple family is really tight knit. What does it mean to you to be a part of the label?

Disciple is sweet. Definitely tight knit which is a rare thing these days. A lot of labels have artists all over the world that they’re trying to focus on and it’s hard to make sure everyone gets taken care of and given equal opportunities. Meanwhile our entire label is living in the same housing complex in LA. We see each other every day. We love each other even though we’re all completely different but at the end of the day we’re all just trying to write amazing music and have a good time doing it. It works because we all kind of balance each other out to some extent. Some more-so than others. It’s mostly just me corrupting everyone else but hey, someone’s gotta do it.

As a producer and purveyor of dubstep and heavier sounds, how do you feel the state of the scene is right now? Would you agree there has been somewhat of a resurgence in the genre lately?

Not entirely sure if I’d call it a resurgence to be honest but I don’t mean that in a bad way. Dubstep has peaked and fallen and then peaked again many times but at this point I feel like it’s kind of just leveled out and found its place in the mix of genres. People always wanna talk about how dubstep is dead or suddenly dubstep is back or whatever. It’s not that complicated. The people who love dubstep aren’t going anywhere. Now it’s just a matter of keeping it fresh.

How much Pokemon Go have you been playing this past week? Made any good catches?

I feel like I’ve been playing way more than I’d like to admit but I guess that’s false because it seems like everyone else has better pokemon than me. I need to step up my game. I do have to say Pokemon Go has kind of blown my mind just because there’s never been anything like it. There’s a lot of terrible things going on in the world but in the midst of all that we’ve got this cheesy little game that we’re all connected to. You see groups of fifty kids walking around LA catching Pokemon. Some people think it’s ridiculous, some people hate it, whatever. I think it’s a good thing. If it’s bringing people together and getting them off their couches by all means go for it. Hopefully the fad sticks around a little before it reverts to datboi memes or the ice bucket challenge.

Finally, tell us a bit about the mix you’ve put together for us here. What’s the vibe you were going for and are there any standout tracks here you’d like to note?

You guys actually hit me with a bit of a challenge having me do this mix on such short notice but I was happy to accept it. I had just put out my mix for Disciple to promote the EP and used a big chunk of my new stuff already so I wanted to take a different approach with this one but still keep it me. I got to have a little fun with it and throw some different genres and ideas in while still keeping the dubstep lovers happy. I take a lot of pride in crafting my mixes and sets just as much as I do in making the actual music. Hopefully it shows and everyone enjoys.

Tracklist:
The Avalanches – Because I’m Me
Skintdisco – The Nameless
Krimma – 22
Lost – Submarine
Rickyxsan x Julius C – Back @ It Again*
Virtual Riot – ID*
Protohype x Dabow – Hatin’ On Me*
Command Q – Gettin’ Lit
Yo Majesty – Club Action (Smookie Illson Boot)
Dubloadz – Frogger VIP*
Dubloadz x Rickyxsan – REKT*
Dubloadz – Brainwashed
Dubloadz – What’s Poppin? VIP
Command Q x Seek N Destroy – Artillery
Enya – Sail Away
Zomboy – Like A Bitch (Nitti Gritti Remix)
RL Grime – Core
Boombox Cartel x Quix – ID*
Protohype x Gungst – Check*
Ookay x Getter – World
GTA ft. Sam Bruno – Red Lips (Skrillex Remix)
Dubloadz x Barely Alive – Calamari
Hydraulix – Head Bang*
Getter – Back
Oski – Keep It Going
Dubloadz x Dabow – Whatarethose*
Command Q – Titan
Eptic – Cosmic
Current Value – Footwork
Krimma – Bad Ribs*
Neonlight – Triple B
JOYRYDE – The Box
ID – ID*
Virtual Riot – ID*
Big Sean – Kingpin (Wuki Remix)
Spock – Trendy*
Dubloadz ft. Crichy Crich – Cuck Life
Ookay – Thief (Dubloadz Remix)*
Getter ft. Tree – Forget It

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More from Dubloadz on:
Soundcloud
Facebook
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The post Interview & MiniMix: Dubloadz appeared first on NEST HQ.