Sydney’s Josh Cassidy has rapidly honed the scope of his production over the course of the past year, grooming an ambitious trajectory for a propitious career within Australia’s vibrant trap locale. A tactician for forging heroic bass soundscapes riddled with profuse subs, Cassidy’s ear for technicality lends him the ability to maintain crisp audible clarity amid turbulent drops.
Initially featured in Volume 12 of our Focus Five Series, Cassidy has quickly developed into a FUXWITHIT favorite with a diverse acumen of ruthless self-championed singles such as ‘Hideout’ and ‘Ghetto’ or his more impassioned side in collaborative, synth-heavy remixes of Made by Tsuki x Moss ‘Wasteland’ and Benny Blanco & Juice WRLD’s ‘Roses’.
It was an immense pleasure to catch up with Cassidy personally to discuss his earliest upbringings and inspirations as an artist, the untold challenges of embarking on a production career in Australia, and a brief look into his process for sound design.
Be sure to check out the full interview and hour-long guest mix below!
Do you have a formal background in music or is the majority of your production talent self-taught?
I played guitar and drums here and there when I was younger but it was just a phase at the time. I did really enjoy playing the drums though. I wasn’t great at music theory back then either so I have been slowly learning all of that to help myself out when writing music.
Who are some of your earliest influences or inspirations as an artist?
I remember when I was younger my brother and I found Skrillex and it was something we had never heard of before. ‘Scary Monster and Nice Sprites’ had just come out and I couldn’t stop listening. The sounds he made were so new and refreshing from anything else I had heard and really put me onto electronic music. YouTube channels such as UKF Dubstep and All Trap Music always had the coolest stuff on their channel to so I used just listen for hours to all the new uploads.
What have been some of the most challenging aspects of embarking on a career as a musician in Australia?
I started off as a DJ for about two years before I started producing so the transition to being seen as an artist rather than a DJ has been tough. I made the decision this year to really focus on my productions and start playing headline shows rather than take any and every support set. I really want to be taken seriously as an artist this year. The scene in Australia is small in comparison to the US which can be tough because there is a lot of good talent coming out of Australia.
To what extent do you feel creative inspiration should be drawn from the environment as opposed to aroused from within?
Inspiration for tracks has been quite tough over the last few months for me. I often feel really inspired after going to shows and come home wanting to make a banger. Other times it is just an idea that comes into my head. I don’t draw too much inspiration from my environment so I just think it’s different for each artist. I don’t produce on a laptop at the moment so am never really working on music outside my usual space, which can hinder inspiration.
The majority of your releases utilize exceptional sonic variety, what does your process for sound design look like when sitting down to a new track?
It all depends on what my inspiration is and the vibe I am trying to create. Some of my tracks have those really ambient and spatial vibes which are all about having lots of background layers to fill the space. Other tracks of mine are created with the intention of sounding arrogant and angry so heavy distorted basses are generally my starting point and loud drums.
What do we have to look forward to in this guest mix as well as the remainder of 2019 from you?
This guest mix features a lot of my unreleased tracks in the works as well as some stuff from my EP I’m hoping to release later in the year. There is a bunch of unreleased tracks from a bunch of homies as well that I love to play out. For the rest of the year, I’m just going to working on singles and my EP and hope to be able to tour Australia late this year / early next year.
Tracklist:
Oddprophet – The Devil
L.U.X – Death Grip
Josh Cassidy – ID
OG Nixin – Squeeze Clip
Boombox Cartel – Supernatural w/ Svdden Death – Marauders
Josh Cassidy & HVWKS – ID
Josh Cassidy – ID
Akeos – Tripolar Dub
DirtySnatcha – Smoke Dat
Denzel Curry – Sumo (Leotrix Flip) w/ Oddprophet – Check
Ray Volpe – Sell Out (Leotrix Remix)
Nexu5 – JOWELL VIP
Chibs – BLT
Dirty Audio – Run & Go (Leotrix Remix) [Unreleased]
Oolacile – Slice w/ Mastadon – ID
Liquid Stranger – Hotbox (Peekaboo Remix)
Leotrix – Mercy (Josh Cassidy Flip) [Unreleased]
Josh Cassidy x LANKI – ID
WRAITH – ID
WRAITH – ID
Svdden Death – Rise (Josh Cassidy Edit) [Unreleased]
PIERCE – ID
G-REX & Peekaboo – Babatunde
Josh Cassidy – Suffer
Getter & Ghostemane – Bury Me
Krischvn – ID
Jon Casey & LANKI – ID
Leotrix – Layover
Leotrix & Michael Sparks – ID
TYNAN & G-Rex – Doughboi
Hekler & Gladez – 404 (Krischvn Remix) [Unreleased]
Calcium – Comply
Badklaat – Campers
Josh Cassidy & Leotrix – ID
Hekler – Get Loose (feat. Sam King)
GAWM – BOWSER (FrostTop Remix)
ISOxo – ANTIHAVEN
Just A Tune – Vengabus (with Synova)
Josh Cassidy – Ghetto
RL Grime – UCLA (Heimanu Remix)
Eliminate – Found A Way
ISOxo – GROUND
PEEKABOO & G – REX – Babatunde (Eliminate Remix)
PhaseOne – Crash & Burn (feat. Northlane) (Moore Kismet Remix) [Unreleased]
LEOTRIX x LANKI – BOCHI (GRAVEYARD)
Trampa – Knockout
Lucchii – Chosen Ones (Josh Cassidy Remix) [Unreleased]
Roses (Josh Cassidy x CUSTOME Flip)
TYNAN & Leotrix – ID
Quix & Vincent – Hero (WILDLYF REMIX)
Heimanu – ID
Leotrix – Leowave
Moore Kismet – ID
Downlink – Threat (Aweminus Remix)
NVADRZ & Alias – Run Up
