Skating just beneath the surface of mainstream popularity, Tennessee-native B-Dos has identified a unique alcove within the broader trap genre, specializing in a riveting combination of tight percussion and a slew of versatile fills. “In my songs, every sound except for maybe the kick and snare are constantly changing,” he reveals, allowing a sense of authenticity to shine through with each new release.
The latest and greatest from B-Dos ‘Brain,’ adorns the same meticulous guise that fans have grown to love, commanding an army of gripping percussion and tight string plucks, which he blends seamlessly with thundering bass hits.
We had the chance to catch up with B-Dos to learn more about the inspiration for ‘Brain’ as well as a teaser for what the New Year has in store for the young talent. Be sure to check out the full interview and the new single below!
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How does ‘Brain’ interrelate to your own perception of how the mind works?
Well, with my tracks I’ve recently decided to start telling stories with my music, and with this track, I tried to add an unsettling chord progression and melody in the intro and bridge to show how unsettling and scary our brain is. When it’s just you and your thoughts you can think of some not so good things, like things that cause depression, anxiety, self-doubt, etc. I really wanted to capture that type of vibe going into this track.
Each tune from you demonstrates a remarkable amount of depth, the L/R transitioning you utilize creates an outstanding spatial appeal with echoing percussion that only add to the complexity of each song. Do you have any tips from a production standpoint in creating such outstanding range within your tracks?
Automation! Learning when and where to automate things in your songs is the best thing I’ve learned. In my songs every sound except for maybe the kick and snare are constantly changing. Another good thing to learn is to know when to stop adding to a sound or adding to a section. I always feel like less is better. Normally my drops synths are just one audio track and then I just play with the automation on the different effects I have on that track and chop it up into a different sound.
Following your contribution to the latest QGR comp ‘Spring’, you mentioned that this was the most innovative and forward-thinking release to this date. That being said, what strategies do you implement and utilize to prevent yourself from running low on creative fuel?
Yes! That compilation had the most forward thinking bass producers on there. I mean if you look at the underground trap scene and you really look at the people killing it right now, you will see you have dudes like LoJ, Yojas (had the best track on the comp), Milan, and Rohaan.
As far as strategies that I implement are… I just kinda find one sound that I like or I’ll make a cool sound and then go from there. I’ll see how much I can change it from its original state. Another fun thing is using a plugin you’ve never used before and putting that on your FX chain and listening to how it affects a sound. New things are always exciting and I try to always change things up with my work.
With the exception of your track with Evergreen, the majority of your releases are free of vocals. Is this your preference, in order to place more emphasis on the production of the track, or are you just waiting to find the perfect vocal accompaniment?
I love love love working with vocals and I love listening to those bouncy/fun songs like ‘Ur Cute’ by Zenaware. I’m actually working on a few songs with vocals on it. I feel like vocals can really help humanize a song and helps tell the story better than you could without. With the vocalists I’ve been working with I try to give them a lot of the spotlight in the tracks, but you can also hear the little things I do underneath those vocals, and then during the drop I can kinda just go all out.
Your SoundCloud profile indicates that you’re one of ten constituents for a collaborative project called ‘urdé’ including names such as Scharame and yojas. Do you care to shed a bit more light on the group effort and what you and the homies are up to?
urdé started as a group of friends who found each other in Phuture Collective’s discord, and we just memed a lot, and decided to start a boy band. We originally had the idea of all 10 of us working on one track together, but we all got busy with our own stuff and I don’t see us releasing anything soon sadly.
You shared a tweet from Milano earlier this month suggesting the two of you might have a little something in the works, care to talk more about the forthcoming track and how the two of you first hit things off?
Yeah! Milano actually found my music randomly and then we started talking We both sent wips to each other, he sent me something I really liked, and now we have a collab. He’s one of the nicest dudes I know. A really humble dude with dope music.
What are you most excited about for B-Dos with the coming of the New Year?
2018 was a really great year for me. I got to release with Phuture Collective, Below The Surface, Play It Louder, and Quality Goods Records. I got love from some of my biggest inspirations, and I met some of my best friends. 2019 is gonna be not only a good year for me, but I feel it’s gonna be a good year for the underground trap scene in general. I’m excited to see all of the talented artists that are making dope music finally get recognized for the hard work they all put in.
