Earlier this year, we had the pleasure of premiering Ponzoo‘s tribal heater ‘Natives (Bum Bum),’ and the talented producer has not left our radar since. The Hawaiian-born, Las Vegas-based artist has continued to show his versatility within the bass realm as this calendar year has evolved, from going all-in with the heavy trap on ‘The End,’ to showcasing a more dubstep-inclined sound in recent releases, never escaping the theme of riot-inducing textures.
With a successful first half of 2019 in the books and the promise of much more to come in the near future, we figured it was due time to connect with Ponzoo for a guest mix and interview. In the former, the hard-hitting bass aficionado weaves meticulously through genres, with peaks and troughs of energy keeping you on the edge of your seat for the entirety of the mix. In the interview, Ponzoo talks everything from his origins in Hawaii, to dealing with mental health, to what to expect from him in the coming months and more. Check it out below!
Tell us a bit about the origins of Ponzoo. Do you have any formal musical training? When did you start producing?
Well, Ponzoo initially started as an idea that stemmed from me wanting people to actually hear my music lol. As music producers, we often sit in a room and create day in and day out, stockpiling all these songs and beats on our hard drive that no one ever really hears. I have a thousand rap beats sitting on various drives right now. I wanted to actually release my music myself and, not just that, but I wanted to create what I wanted to create, not a “hey can you do something like this” type of vibe but a “hey I’m gonna make something very different from anything else I’ve heard before.”
I studied classical piano as a child but rarely ever use the training aside from theory.
How has your upbringing in Hawaii influenced your artistic vision and sound today?
Well, being from Hawaii, I learned to never really follow a leader but to be a leader, whether that’s with a particular sound or style and what not. I feel Hawaii is a very loving place, great people, lots of aloha. I feel it influenced me by teaching me that everything is music. I’ve always lived by water whether the ocean or the Ala Wai canal (a famous river in Honolulu) and when you live near water you hear not just waves but birds flying above and the wind through the trees. Everything is music.
We struggle because we want perfection, however, there is no perfection in art.
What does a typical day in the life of Ponzoo look like?
Haha, I try to work on music as much as possible, whether I’m travelling or not. I’m always writing. I don’t know if it’s typical but, take today for example: I woke up at 8:00am, had breakfast and coffee to really get myself awake and started writing. Made music for 6 or 7 hours then went to the gym, after the gym, showered up and back to writing music. I try to get in at least 10 hours a day, it’s usually more like 15 hours though lol.
You’ve been open about mental health issues recently on Twitter. Why do you think so many artists struggle with finding happiness with the art they create?
I mean I fall in that bag myself. We struggle because we want perfection, however, there is no perfection in art. Art by nature is never perfect, art is never finished.
There is always something new or better we can do to our art to make us happier. Think about it like this, a song you may write or a painting you may create, there is always another color you could add to your canvas or a better snare/808/etc. you could put in your song. We never finish art, we just abandon it when we feel it is finished at that moment. Think about how sad that sounds just by nature.
That aside, I feel artists in particular struggle with mental health issues also because we are forever trying to convince someone to love our creation like we love our creation, whether that be a potential fan, a label, a critic, whatever. I try to just create and say fuck everything else.
As fans, how do you think people can ease the burden being put on artists?
I feel if you’re a fan of mine (or any artist), try to understand where we’re coming from when you listen to one of our songs. I love to write loud obnoxious bass music but I also love writing emotional melodic tunes too, I still enjoy making maybe fifty top 40/rap beats per month as well. I guess what I’m trying to say is, as artists, most of us love to create many different things, so if you love us, love us!
What role has music had in your process with dealing with these struggles?
Music is my best friend, my first love. I get depressed, like everyone else and when I do, 100% of the time, I turn to music. With music I feel like I can get through anything.
On another note, you’ve also mentioned you are sitting on a slew of unreleased material. What can fans expect from this? Solo works or collabs, originals or remixes, trap or dubstep?
Duuuuuuuude! All of that! Dubstep, trap shit, hard trap shit, some house stuff, some melodic stuff too. I just dropped two remixes last month (Anikdote & The FifthGuys song ‘Seen’ feat. Veronica Bravo and Blaize’s banger ‘Chained Up’). I’m sitting on maybe half a dozen collabs, about the same amount of solo originals, finishing up an EP in addition to another remix dropping next month.. You might hear a preview in this mix btw ;)
What was your goal in curating this mix? What is the best setting for listening?
I just wanted to do a hard ass mix featuring bangers from myself as well as many of my friends, not to mention songs from many of the titans killing it right now. I try to always have a mix of both emotion and neck breaking, rail fucking bass tunes in every mix.
I’ve honestly wanted to do a mix with you guys since we premiered my song ‘Natives,’ so happy were able to make this happen, thank you.
Tracklist:
Modestep & Virtual Riot – Nothing
Skrillex – Fuji Opener feat. Alvin Risk
Blaize – Chained Up [Ponzoo Remix]
Felmax – Dark Shadow
Blaize – Murda Dem
Jakpot x Ponzoo x Clinton Sparks feat. Manolo Rose
Flux Pavilion- I Can’t Stop [AG Remix]
Hami – War God
Boombox Cartel – New Wip feat. MadeinTyo
Boombox Cartel – New Wip feat. MadeinTyo [Talons Remix]
Dack Janiels – Shinobi
Jayceeoh x dialedIN – 187 feat. MED
Riot Ten & Stouty – All The Smoke fear. Bok Nero
4B & Flosstradamus – Blackout
Wenzday – Heartbreak House feat. Kevin Flum
Borgore- 911 feat. Abella Danger
Skrillex – Mumbai Power feat. Beam
Felmax – Omen
Anikdote & The FifthGuys – Seen feat. Veronica Bravo [Ponzoo Remix]
Lit Lords – Shinigami
UZ – Futon [Baajewala Remix]
HDBeenDope – Byrd
Naes London – Flags
Ponzoo x Talons – How Low
Hoodlit – Ball On’m
Space Laces – Overdrive [Kompany Remix]
TroyBoi – Warlordz feat. Skrillex
Ponzoo x Romar – B.Y.K.M.N feat. Lil Debbie
Gladez – Favela
NGHTMRE x Shaquille O’Neal x Lil Jon – Bang
Romar x Lev3l – Gangster
Rick Ross – Burnin’ [Jakpot Remix]
Snails – RKO feat. Rico Act
Mikes Revenge x Jimmy Wit An H x Junior Charles – Gang Shit [Ponzoo Remix]
