Over the past year LA’s House scene has been exploding with new talent. Easily one of the brightest stars coming out of the city is Dr. Fresch. The producer/DJ has been killing the game with a number remixes and originals, including a remix of ‘Kryptonite,’ which has clocked nearly a million plays and received support from Big Boi himself. We had the pleasure of connecting with Fresch to discuss everything from his live sets, to the differences between labels and collectives, playing Coachella and his first trip to Canada. Check out the full interview below and get familiar with the good Dr.
FUXWITHIT: You are equally skilled as a DJ and as a producer. How do you balance time between the two?
Dr. Fresch: Thanks! I predominantly spend my time in the studio producing and writing music, but as DJ’ing is the performance outlet for the music I create, and there is an art beyond just that platform, I take risks and try new things in every one of my shows, and am actively playing around testing out new things at unannounced sets and private parties here and there too – all with the goal of improving my official shows.
FUXWITHIT: In a previous interview you mentioned you’d been djing and making music for a few years before you truly found your sound. What advice would you give artists who are still working to do the same?
Dr. Fresch: Keep producing – any kind of music – until you identify your sound. For me, that sound was a combination of all of the sounds I had explored over the course of my production career. For others, it can be just landing on a new style / genre that clicks for you. Keep experimenting – it will come naturally.
FUXWITHIT: It seems like hip-hop always has an underlying influence in your music. How did you get into hip-hop and how important is it to retain elements of it in your tracks?
Dr. Fresch: I’ve been into hip-hop since I was 8 or 9. The acts that really got me into the genre initially were Eminem and Dr. Dre – circa The Marshall Mathers LP / Chronic 2001 era, then I got deeper into Southern hip-hop and Bay Area hip-hop from 2002 – 2005. Hip-hop has provided a vocal foundation for a lot of my music, but also has provided instrumentation from a percussion and groove standpoint as well.
FUXWITHIT: What’s your weirdest source of inspiration to date?
Dr. Fresch: Natural to me, weird to most, I drew a lot of inspiration from the Jazz Fusion era of the late 1960’s/early 1970’s. Herbie Hancock, Sun Ra, Weather Report, Miles Davis (Bitches Brew Era) all played a huge part in inspiring the sounds and melodies I implement in my productions.
FUXWITHIT: How essential have remixes been in building your career? What are your thoughts on the changes to SoundCloud regarding unofficial remixes being removed?
Dr. Fresch: Essential! The majority of my exposure has come as a result of remixes. There’s nothing I can really do about SoundCloud’s policy changes – I am actively writing more original music now, and pursuing official remixes though – let’s just hope my existing uploads don’t get taken down, lol.
Tell us a little bit about Prep School Recordings. What makes your label different?
Dr. Fresch: Our mission with Prep School is to release sophisticated and polished dance music for the tasteful listener. We release a selection of dance music (from pop influenced deep house, to rock inspired future bass) that we feel is representative of the best face of the forward thinking indie electronic population.
FUXWITHIT: As a label head and member of an artist collective what do you see as the main differences between the two? Are there any concerns that artist collectives could replace the need for labels in the future?
Dr. Fresch: This line is becoming more and more blurred. Obviously record labels are officially releasing music for sale and collectives fundamentally do not – but our goals are the same. It’s the group of artists releasing the music that build the brand.
FUXWITHIT: You do a lot of B2B sets, how does the experience compare to your solo performances?
Dr. Fresch: I love spinning back to back sets too much, haha. I enjoy playing solo equally, but with a back to back set it’s more relaxed; I approach it from a house party perspective, it’s a cool way to experiment with new material, share tracks with other DJs and learn from them as well.
FUXWITHIT: You played Coachella earlier this year, it doesn’t get much bigger than that. How did it feel to be part of such an iconic event? How was the show?
Dr. Fresch: Coachella was truly amazing man, I can’t fully describe it! Coachella has been a quintessential festival experience for me – as a concertgoer – since I moved to LA, and I never dreamed I would have gotten the opportunity to play the festival this soon. The crowd was top notch too! Definitely exceeded my expectations :) Hope to play next year!
FUXWITHIT: You were in Toronto in April, how did you enjoy your first trip to Canada?
Dr. Fresch: I love Canada man – Canadians are really as nice as I’ve been told, and I love that. I’ve been shown some amazing hospitality in Canada, and am excited to go back. Toronto was an awesome city too! Excited to dive into the club scene even further when I go back.
FUXWITHIT: How did Smoke’s Poutinerie stack up to In-n-Out?
Dr. Fresch: Tough to compare, haha – ingredients are too different. I will say Smoke’s Poutinerie puts most fries I’ve had in my life to shame – that was delicious!
FUXWITHIT: What collaborations do you have in the works?
Dr. Fresch: Currently working with Ghastly, Jai Wolf, Prince Fox and a few more – stay tuned ;)
FUXWITHIT: Any final words for our readers?
Dr. Fresch: I have a TON of original content coming down the pipeline – this summer is going to be huge!
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