Super Future demonstrates the diversity of the Mid-West Trap scene with hard-hitting bass lines, emotional melodies, and luminous progressive synths alongside s e s h on ‘Air Bender.’
There are a lot of ambitious musicians and artists creating on their own, and most of them know the day job and the hustle. So it’s inspiring to see a trap artist work to not only produce music that is liked, but to also allow it to bring people together. Nick Rowland, aka Super Future, has been learning and creating music since he was a child, and in the last few years has wowed crowds playing along the side of DJs like Herobust, Zeds Dead, What Sot Not and more. Super Future has also brought electronic music fans in his hometown community of Grand Rapids, MI with his Samsara collective. Following the release of his debut self-titled EP, we are now anticipating his second EP Prisms: Part 1, which is due out later this year. He’s known to show up at underground parties, or festivals (Electric Forest, Imagine, Spring Awakening, Sonic Bloom, etc.). Pretty much anywhere there is good electronic music, there is a strong chance he may be there.
Premiering with FUXWITHIT, is Super Future & s e s h’s hauntingly beautiful ‘Air Bender’; this track is sinuously melodic and undergoes a darkening transformation. Super Future and s e s h show off what could only be the permeating influence of the Mid-West trap scene with slicing synths and thick, wafting wubs. The track is both thought provoking and soothing with its alternative style and progressive finesse of electricity- a fluid trap beat.
We were lucky enough to be able to ask Super Future and s e s h a few questions about their creativity, aesthetic, and get some answers that lead to more questions but also paint a picture of what unique artists they are.
How would you describe your aesthetic?
Super Future: The Super Future aesthetic is something I thought hard about as soon as I realized it was getting traction. I looked at so many greats (Prince, Bowie, Skrillex and more) and realized that they had their own look that nobody had used before and then all of a sudden their look was associated with a sound just because they picked that aesthetic! I thought that was pretty powerful. Right away I found that a brand that incorporates a spectrum of all colors at once was my answer. What I mean by that is utilizing what a prism does for light, and reflects all colors. So sharp, prismatic arrangements or iridescent surfaces, holographic, and chrome metal. Wrap that up in a Neo-Tokyo vibe and you have a good idea of what Super Future’s brand is about visually. Better yet, I try to capture that sonically as well, and even encompass that into the vision of what I stand for. Vibrance, chromatics, iridescence and visualization of the future. It takes going to my shows and seeing/hearing more of me to understand.
s e s h: I’ve always really stuck to melodies when it came to my project ” s e s h .” I’ve seriously made all styles of music under this name, but I always keep my melodies prevalent. Lately I’ve been really focusing on combining my melodies with a bunch of different sound designs, and it’s been really fun so far.
I love me some Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Marvin Gaye, etc. When I’m not producing music I’m basically always listening to oldies
If you could you only listen to one genre for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Super Future: Future Bass. 70’s Rock & Roll comes in at a very close second though…
s e s h: I love the oldies. It’s funny when people get in my car and it’s always tuned to “cool 101” playing like old 60’s music, they’re really shocked. I love me some Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Marvin Gaye, etc. When I’m not producing music I’m basically always listening to oldies. It’s actually had a lot of influence on my music, especially my older music.
It’s created an endless stream of unique and amazing ideas that people want to get behind.
Tell us about your Samsara Family Collective and what it’s like to be a part of it.
Super Future: “Samsara” is a term that refers to the concept of the cycles of change within existence. It is a concept that is linked to fundamental succession from past experience in order to grow and continue through the cycles. It’s an ancient Hindu and Buddhist term that refers to the difficult period of the journey of the soul in which it learns over and over until one reaches the insight to progress to Nirvana. We focus on the portion of continuous learning, because it signifies hard work and humility of the learning process on the way to greatness. The other parts that make up what we do are, hence the name, rooted in keeping a community that we call our family. That mentality right there makes it feel inclusive for our artists, supporters and friends. Not fans, not followers, just family. I feel like that has given us a sense of uniqueness in a world full of more and more collectives popping up. For the artists, this was just a fun thing meant for comradery and collaboration, and most of all a place to express ourselves in an experimental outlet. I think of it as a fun art project that you actually want to learn from and try to be as different as possible. It’s created an endless stream of unique and amazing ideas that people want to get behind. The best part is that it’s not a business, not a label, just a group of homies building each other up!
s e s h, tell us what it was like to collaborate with Super Future on the Samsara Family mixtape.
s e s h: Nick and I have always just clicked when it comes to collaborating. We’ve made a few songs together and they’ve always just come naturally, which is really special. Our first couple collabs were done mainly in person, but this one was finished entirely over splice. Splice is such a neat tool for musicians. Nick is a just wizard when it comes to sound design, so he just sent me this idea and I laid a bunch of melodies over top of it.
What attracted you to electronic music?
Super Future: The energy it created among a group of people and even personally. This is no new fact but Skrillex, Zeds Dead and Blackmill really got me hooked back in 2011.
s e s h : It’s a funny story actually, I was at a buddies house playing some video games when I heard “Deep Jupiter – Shigeto” playing in the other room. I just set the controller down and continued listening and it was like nothing i’d ever heard before. It really changed my perspective on what electronic music could be like and I remember saying “man I feel like I could make melodies like that” and my best friend just responded “do it.” (shouts out Kolenko). I bought my first midi keyboard and software a few weeks later.
What is your favorite instrument?
Super Future: Electric Guitar!! Definitely partial to it since I play it in my sets- haha.
s e s h: The Saxophone has always been my favorite instrument. I LOVE brass.
I would want to describe it as a melodic banger.
How would you describe your track ‘Air Bender’ to someone who has never heard it before?
Super Future : Blending the styles of two artists who prioritize melody and experimentation, ‘Air Bender’ is a beautiful adventure through a sonic fantasy world. S e s h and I have created an entirely new feeling, with sounds of pitch-diving, flowing air, on top of a fluid trap beat. The name pays homage to an amazing anime show from about 10 years ago that I hope fans catch. It feels like the energy of some characters in that show, light, mythical, and powerful. Even the synths sound like moving air which I’m proud to have been able to make!
s e s h: Hm… I would want to describe it as a melodic banger. I think it starts really pretty and then takes a nice turn into something you can really get down to.
What was the initial inspiration for ‘Air Bender’ and how long did it take you to complete it?
Super Future: Zach and I had made a track like this before that we like to keep for our sets only, so I had a great outline for a beat. I’m also not afraid to admit that I was able to come up with some of the prominent parts of this track while micro-dosing. I feel like breakthrough ideas require some thinking in a flow state, so I tried it and this was one of the results of that week. The idea came to me all in one instance, but I had to let my computer keep up- haha. The idea was pretty much conceptualized in a night, and then I shot it over to Zach so he could add more melodic flow and he’s very good at that. Two styles based in melody perfectly blending together to create something highly unique. The name pays homage to an amazing anime show from about 10 years ago that I hope fans catch. It feels like the energy of some characters in that show, light, mythical, and powerful. Even the synths sound like moving air which I’m proud to have been able to make!
s e s h : Nick and I have been kind of formulating this new sound together that combines weird bass wubs and beautiful melodies together. The initial influence was from CharlesTheFirst. He is hands down my favorite producer and probably always will be. I actually remember the very first time my good friend Jared showed me his music, it literally blew me away. He has had the most influence on me personally as an artist. The track ‘Air Bender’ was actually finished faster than any of our collabs. We started by using our previous collab (which is a slapper) as a template and just moved really fast. He sent me the initial drop idea and the melodies came very naturally for me on this one. Probably took us a few days to get it playable.
