Goon Bags are a production duo that perfectly exemplifies the power of the internet and its impact on music. Made up of Toronto native Steve and St. Louis based Paul, the two met through Reddit’s r/trap community. Collaborating exclusively online the duo has managed to drop a slew of killer bass heavy bangers. They’ve built quite a following online with features on a ton of blogs and support from big name artists such as Victor Niglio, gLAdiator, and The Hi-Yahs. We had the chance to connect with the Goons to talk about their production process, meeting in person for the first time, the impact of technology on music and more. Check out our full interview below.
FUXWITHIT: It’s been well documented that you met online through Reddit. How did it go from a Reddit connection, to working together to “hey let’s start a group together?”
Steve: Happened pretty smoothly. I was looking for help learning how to produce so in January 2013 I posted a WIP (Work In Progress) up. Paul responded and we worked on that for a while. Between then and our first release (in August 2013) we screwed around with a few ideas and then he dropped the initial idea for Ass Up into our dropbox. Right then we knew that would be the first Goon Bags track. As for “starting a group”, we sort of just…were. Once we knew Ass Up was good we started discussing what name we should use and the rest is history.
FUXWITHIT: Now that you are pretty well established are you guys still active on Reddit (r/Trap)?
GOON BAGS: Ya we’re always on r/trap with the Goon Bags account still and lurking even when we’re not logged in. We recently did an AMA that turned out pretty well. Hopefully it gave a good insight into what guys at our level are doing, relative to the big name AMAs that have been going on like Flosstradamus’ and gLAdiator’s.
FUXWITHIT: Have you met in person yet? If so, what was that like?
Steve: We have met in person, it was actually for our first show in St. Louis. It was pretty chill, we’d been talking and working together online for almost a year at that point so there was nothing we didn’t expect. We partied in STL the first night and Paul’s gf took me to school at ModNation Racers. Next night we killed the show and I got to eat Jack In The Box for the first time. About as good as any online date could go.
“About as good as any online date could go.”
FUXWITHIT: With Steve coming from Toronto and Paul from St. Louis, how have your home cities impacted or influenced your music?
Paul: When I was in high school, the hip hop version of Trap music was all that people were listening to. It was a guarantee that I would hear a song off of Jeezy’s Thug Motivation 101 coming out of somebody’s headphones during the day. Locally, acts like The Banggaz were getting national attention so when I first started producing I started with Trap Beats. When the whole EDM Trap game blew up, it was a genre I felt very comfortable sliding into.
Steve: Toronto producers always debate about what Toronto’s sound is. I’ve always believed it’s a lack of one coherent sound that makes the city unique. Deadmau5, Grandtheft, Noah 40, Zeds Dead, all completely different and all of them an influence on what every guy on the come up is doing, no matter what they’re trying to make. That eclectic vibe is what keeps me enjoying and wanting to make music.
FUXWITHIT: The fact that you guys live in two different countries must make working together interesting. What’s your process like for creating music?
GOON BAGS: Ableton’s “Collect and Save” feature and Dropbox. Other than that it’s basically like working on a track any other way. “Check this idea out”, “I switched this around what do you think”, etc. It might be a little better than being in the same place at the same time because we can check stuff at our earliest convenience rather than needing to be free at the same time.
FUXWITHIT: How often do you guys communicate? What method of communication do you use?
GOON BAGS: It varies depending on what projects we have going on. If we’re working on a mix, gearing up for a release, or have a track we’re locked into finishing we’ll talk every day. We use Facebook Chat mostly.
FUXWITHIT: I’d imagine working on a mix together would be even more difficult. How do you go about that?
GOON BAGS: For the mixes we work out a basic outline in Ableton, then we make the edits on tracks that need editing and then one of us gets into our software and records it.
FUXWITHIT: How did you gain exposure and expand your following in the early stages? How has that process evolved (if it has)?
GOON BAGS: Our big initial break in exposure came when gLAdiator shouted out our Ass Up track on Instagram. After that we were lucky enough to have Victor Niglio play it as his “promo of the week” in his mix series. That combination really helped get us on our feet. On top of that we really didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. We put in the work, found blog emails, artist emails and contacts that we thought would be into our music and began building relationships. We have been very fortunate that a lot of blogs and artists have been into our tracks and have been willing to support us. The process hasn’t really evolved, we’re still working hard to get our tracks out there and heard by as many people as we can.
FUXWITHIT: You predominantly produce Trap/Twerk. Are there any new genres that you plan on exploring next? Your Future Bass remix of ‘Always Here For You’ is amazing.
GOON BAGS: It is more than likely that you will hear a couple more chill trap/future bass stuff from us. Club music seems to be evolving in a positive direction. A lot of things could happen; We are never really sure what we are going to make whenever we open up Ableton so anything is a possibility.
“We are never really sure what we are going to make whenever we open up Ableton so anything is a possibility”
FUXWITHIT: In our recent interview, The Hi-Yahs named you as one of the best up-and-coming acts right now. How did that feel?
GOON BAGS: Haha The Hi-Yahs has been another big supporter of our tunes. When the interview came out he hit us up and told us that he dropped our name. You can’t help but feel good when guys you listen to and respect take what time and opportunities they have to support you. As lame as it sounds, the hard part is wishing you could help them in the same ways they’ve helped you.
FUXWITHIT: Who do you guys see as the next crop of artists to look out for?
GOON BAGS: Ryshon Jones, Goshfather and Jinco, SteLouise, Vanrip, Slumberjack, Twinztrack, Tep No., LION KNGS. There are a lot of great artists on the come up right now.
FUXWITHIT: What are you most proud of accomplishing in your career thus far?
Paul: One of the best moments of my production career was when gLAdiator shared Ass Up (our first track) on Instagram. I will never forget that moment of self assurance. Ever since then we both have been working a lot harder to step up our productions.
Steve: For me one of the best moments was hearing our track on BBC’s Diplo and Friends thanks to the man, the legend Victor Niglio. I still don’t think I fully comprehend just how awesome that is.
FUXWITHIT: Are there any plans for a tour together?
GOON BAGS: No tour plans yet. We have our first festival lined up for August 8th/9th in Illinois and we’re in the process of locking down some nights. Hopefully we’ll be able to say yes to this question soon.
FUXWITHIT: You are a perfect example of how technology has changed music. What do you think is the most important positive impact that technology has had on music in the past few years?
Steve: For artists, technology has removed every barrier and trimmed the fat. In one day you can go from a melody in your head to a finished track that has been heard all over the world and an inbox of organizers wanting to book you. That doesn’t mean you’ll be the next Led Zeppelin or Lido, but at least it’s given everyone who wants to try the opportunity. For listeners and lovers of music, well it’s just given them a whole fuckload of amazing free content.
Paul: The amount that in-the-box processing has progressed in the last 10 or so years has made it possible to create entire songs that sound great with just a working laptop. Also, Youtube production tutorials has lowered the learning curve dramatically, which has led, I believe, to the boom of all these 16 year old kids out there killing the game better than a lot of veterans.
FUXWITHIT: Any last words for all the Goon Bags fans reading this?
GOON BAGS: To everyone that enjoys Goon Bags, thank you for being open minded, sticking with us and letting us jump all over the bass music genre spectrum. We love all the different styles as much as you and being able to work them all in is what keeps the music coming. It’s only going to get wilder from here and our next release will make that clear. We look forward to dropping more shit for you guys very, very soon. #boxwinecrew
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