A radical propensity for entwining heavenly synth arrangements and turbulent twists & turns within his delectable back catalog of remixes for the likes of What So Not and RL Grime has afforded an expeditious rise to fame for Sydney’s Heimanu Pitt.
More recent odysseys into unchaperoned waters, such as ‘Leave You’ and a frightening volume of unreleased solo efforts and collaborations assure that the ambitious Australian-native has only revealed the tip of the iceberg regarding his production capability, and a FUXWITHIT Guest Mix presents the ideal arena for Heimanu to further exhibition the dexterity of his craft.
It was an absolute pleasure to catch up with the determined young producer to discuss some of the inspirations behind his style, receive a more accurate recollection of working alongside RL Grime earlier this year, and to get a taste of what an ideal curated event might look like with Heimanu at the helm.
Check out the full interview below and prepare yourself for complete immersion within a sea of unreleased tracks and tantalizing live edits.
In what ways has living and growing up in Sydney, Australia shaped your style and inspiration as an artist?
I moved to Sydney from a small coastal town about five years ago, not too long after I’d just started producing. No one produced music there, so I was kind of on my own path of making these real melodic chill type beats.
Moving to Sydney was a big change – public transport, living on my own, crowded beaches. Crowded everything actually. Soon-after I really dove into trap music after starting a duo with a mate and as I got further into it the more I realised how much I loved it. All of the artists I first discovered – RL Grime, What So Not and Hydraulix – are still my idols to this day and I think that by seeing those names together you can see how I ended up making the music I do today.
Tell me a little bit more about the process and motivation behind your stunning patchwork remixes of RL Grime’s NOVA and the preceding remix compilation?
The first compilation started off as a remix for ‘Feel Free’. As I was making the track I thought it’d be cool to add in a few of the other songs from the NOVA album. Soon after the idea hit me that it’d be really unique to amalgamate all of the songs into some sort of ‘tribute’. The song was so fun to make and I couldn’t help but go that tiny bit further by including snippets from some of RL Grime’s more well-known tracks as well.
The remix tribute was a little bit harder. I felt the pressure coming off the back of the first tribute and the UCLA remix, and the idea didn’t feel as natural as it did the first time. Plus there were 20 something tracks to fit together. I struggled a bit but was really happy with where I ended up, and it’s actually one of my favorite tracks that I’ve released!
I knew it was the yes or no I was waiting for and was a bit scared to open it up. Standing in my hallway I open the email up and see the words I’ll never forget.
Walk me through the time frame of releasing your initial NOVA tribute and receiving the opportunity to remix ‘UCLA’ as an official component of the 2nd round of remixes?
This was one of the wildest few months of my life.
A day after the tribute was released Enschway had sent it to RL Grime (they’d established a relationship on RL’s last Australian tour). I was pretty stoked but also didn’t want to work myself up on it too much, and didn’t expect much more than a “this is pretty cool” response.
Two weeks later, I get an email from RL’s manager asking if I’d like to do a remix. I was at work and stopped everything I was doing. I couldn’t tell you how many times I re-read that email in the space of ten minutes.
After a lot of back and forth and I finally sent off the remix after a couple of months, rushing to get it done by the due date (which in hindsight was a very soft deadline). No word back for two weeks.
Check-in, nothing. I’d accepted that RL wasn’t going to take the remix.
Because his manager was in LA, most of the emails I received came in at around 3-4am. One night around that time I was working on some music and was stepping out for a cigarette. It had been a week or so since I last checked in and so when I refreshed my email inbox it was the shock of my life to see the “Re: RL Grime Remix” message received 20 minutes ago. I knew it was the yes or no I was waiting for and was a bit scared to open it up. Standing in my hallway I open the email up and see the words I’ll never forget.
“Yep, Henry will take it!”
The remix came out about two months later.
P.S. It was a really good cigarette.
Your style does a brilliant job of blending the lines between future bass and trap, composing heartfelt, emotional builds with outlandish, downright heavy drops. Is part of your vision to bridge the gap between these two genres, or do you simply work with the components that fit best?
I’m not actively trying to bridge the gap between the two genres, I think it’s just what I naturally do. I really love music that makes you feel emotional – whether it be sadness, nostalgia, hope and I also really love music that makes you want to flip some tables. So I can’t help but add the two together. Even if I make a “future bass” drop (such as my UCLA remix) I still try to maintain the heavy energy like it’s a trap/dubstep drop.
Some people say you should keep a song the same vibe throughout and while I partially I agree, I believe that if you do a few things right (such as effectively using a buildup to transition the listener into expecting something heavy) you can definitely get away with it.
If you had the opportunity to curate the lineup for an event that you were headlining, what would the venue be and who are you picking to back you as support?
I’m going to keep it local for this one.
Venue – Chinese Laundry.
Although a MASSIVE shout out to “The Wall” for being the first stepping stone for almost every trap artist that has come through Sydney. If you look at some of the flyers for their headlines two-three years ago, some of these artists are now playing internationally.
In terms of artists I’d have:
Point Clare
Josh Cassidy
THORNS
All really talented Sydney locals, definitely go check out their stuff.
Lots and lots of my ID’s. No ripping now, kids. Please…
2019 furnished the grounds for your first original release, what other goals and accomplishments have you set out to achieve as the year unfolds?
I don’t want to give too much away or share my goals too openly but at the crux of I’d like 2019 to go a little something like this…
Release my collabs with some bigger Australian artists, play an interstate show/small tour, get, support from international artists/DJs and get my unreleased stuff onto some well-known labels.
Sounds pretty modest, and this was hard to write without sounding like I’m flexing but just know I’m really happy with how 2019’s been so far and I’m damn excited for the rest of it!
What do fans have to look forward to from you in this guest mix?
Lots and lots of my ID’s. No ripping now, kids. Please…
Tracklist:
Heimanu – ID
AVANCE & Heimanu – Heights [Unreleased]
Heimanu – ID
Heimanu – ID
Enschway & Heimanu – Leave [Unreleased]
Heimanu – Leave You
Earthbound Program (Heimanu Edit)
Bystander Behemoth x ID (Heimanu Edit)
Heimanu – ID
Feel Free x ID (Heimanu Mashup)
AXEN & Heimanu – Time Worth [Unreleased]
Heimanu – Nova Remixes (An RL Grime Tribute)
Say Less Between the Devil and the Sea (Heimanu Edit)
Heimanu – ID
Heimanu – ID
Deaded Wraith (Heimanu Edit)
Heimanu – ID
RL Grime – UCLA (Heimanu Edit)
???
