North Carolina based producer XTALS (pronounced crystals) has been making waves in the underground scene for a couple years with his unique style of atonal experimental bass music. With releases on labels like Nectar Collective, Below The Surface, Crown Collective and More Creativity Records, he’s proven his talents with each track. Coming in fresh off the release of ‘FLORA,’ XTALS isn’t slowing down with his new track, ‘FLUX.’
“I started FLUX with the heavily pitched vocal sample that you hear in the melodic sections. I spent some time experimenting with that acapella and that ended up sparking the rest of the tune,” XTALS explains. XTALS brings an ethereal mood to many of his tracks but while crafting ‘FLUX’, XTALS recalls,“When I started building the elements around the vocal I was inspired to go for an early melodic dubstep vibe which was inspired by artists like PANTyRAiD and DJ Fresh.”
The wavy, fluctuating bass evokes a nostalgia for many, but XTALS quickly manages to make the nostalgia fade away and leave listeners suspended. When the track finally drops, you are hit with a wonky rhythm that is simplistic, but carries so much weight behind it. “For the drop I was really inspired by the idea of minimalism. I touched on it with ‘GAMEBOI COLOR‘ but I wanted to try and take it a bit further with ‘FLUX’ and I feel it made for a really impactful drop,” XTALS tells us.
Keep an eye out for XTALS as he continues to climb the ladder of the underground scene; this producer has big plans in store, saying, “Later this month I will be releasing an unofficial remix that I’m very stoked about! It’s a remix of a song that really got me into the weirder side of electronic music and still influences me to this day.”
