Vancouver based producer, DJ, and Crystals collective founder, So Sus, has been a FUXWITHIT favourite for quite some time. We’ve had the pleasure of premiering a handful of his tracks including his most recent remix, a stunning collab with Jon Casey, and his emotional but driving original ‘Pantheon.’ His sound is always evolving but is assured to deliver an impeccable blend of feels and hard-hitting energy. With a new EP coming soon, we thought it would be the perfect time to connect with So Sus for a guest mix and interview. The mix is a crazy jam-packed hour of intensity that features some massive IDs plus everything from trap and bass, to club and DnB. As for the interview, we talked about his upcoming project, what’s next for Crystals, the scene in Vancouver and tried to find out if he’s really that Sus after all. Read it below and bump the mix, it’s dripping with dingers.
How’s Vancouver treating you? What’s the bass scene like out there?
There’s a lot of musical talent here, it’s actually scary and very inspiring but it’s expensive as heck out here, so a lot of cooler more underground venues are closing down. This means the best place to showcase what you’ve got as an up and comer is an opening set at an established club which is cool but it can be hard to play a set that’s truly you when you have to be conscious of opening for a touring DJ. A few years ago the DIY energy in the city was high there was a ton of cool shit but I think when a harmless warehouse show gets shut down complete with a hoard of cop cars and a helicopter it’s time to realize the city is against these spaces, there is now a real focus to work in the more established clubs to bring something more interesting to them.
when a harmless warehouse show gets shut down complete with a hoard of cop cars and a helicopter it’s time to realize the city is against these spaces…
There’s a ton of BC artists making big moves from Ekali, to Cozway, Juelz and a many more. Are there any artists who haven’t really broke out yet that we should be watching for?
I think my fav right now is Hahlweg he’s making amazing melodic bass music but also Gl0bal, Konka & Juqui are doing great things in the heavier bass realm, and Sivz, Nostalgix & Broken Future are killing it in the House scene.
Do you ever miss being back in Zimbabwe?
Well to be honest not in the slightest. I moved from Zimbabwe many years ago and what I will tell you is that it’s such a different place now from how it was. It’s actually pretty darn sad, but when a country has an economic collapse on that scale it changes so drastically beyond recognition. But I do really miss the old Zimbabwe the Breadbasket of Africa Zimbabwe.
The tracks are club friendly but ultimately I was shooting for an EP that you can listen to from beginning to end and get lost in.
You just finished working on your EP. Can you tell us a little bit about it? What’s the direction sounding like?
Yeah the EP is done and will be out next month. Every track on the EP has vocals on it. Something I haven’t done a ton of in the past. I love hard hitting heavy bass music but something I wanted to tap into with this project was melody. The tracks are club friendly but ultimately I was shooting for an EP that you can listen to from beginning to end and get lost in.
What’s next for Crystals?
Well up until very recently I’ve been running Crystals alone which has been tough as I get more things on my plate with the So Sus project. So now I have Shwirl & ELEX helping me out, since they’ve been with it since day 0 they know exactly what it’s all about. So they’re bringing ideas and artists in that I would not have thought of. We want to focus on more community building both online and in the real world. It’s cool to release music but at the end of the day we want to help talented artists gain attention and grow even if they never release with us.
Have you ever been more committed to anything more than unfollowing Artist Union?
Helping talented artists. Whether it’s with feedback, mixing and mastering, recommending labels to send music to, helping them write emails, looking at contracts. And I do it all pro bono. Oh and my Girlfriend :)
Cozway sent me a million links to the same song asking me what bpm the song should be because apparently I have a good sense of how fast a song should be for peak dancability.
What’s the last thing that made you smile?
Cozway sent me a million links to the same song asking me what bpm the song should be because apparently I have a good sense of how fast a song should be for peak dancability.
What are you looking forward to most for the rest of 2019?
I’m planning to go to Australia for a month and meet up with some friends out there and work on some music. I’ve also got a few releases on some labels that I’ve been keen to get on for awhile so yay to achieving goals.
Tell us about the mix. Where are you taking listeners with this? Where should they be bumping it?
The mix is filed with unreleased music from me and my friends and really it changes and evolves and goes to some very surprising places. There’s a lot of trap & bass music but we got club, house, and drum n bass too. I’d say bump it anywhere as long as it’s loud AF.
Are you really that Sus?
That’s one secret I’ll never tell…You know you love me . XOXO, Gossip Girl.
Tracklist
William Crooks vs Oski & Tynan – Titan Wolf (So Sus Edit)
Maahibir & Veer – Reep in Peace
Kendrick Lamar & Nxsty – Alright Terra (So Sus Edit)
Doja Cat & Rico Nasty vs Thook – Yo Tia (So Sus Edit)
Barnacle Boy – Still (ID Flip)
Valentino Khan – Deep Down Low (Suahn Remix)
Fisher vs Cheyenne Giles & Knock2 vs Murci Vs Hellbound – Stop Losing it (So Sus Edit)
Murci – Deep Inside
Radical Kid & Slow Graffiti – Clap ya hands
Young Luxenberg & Ca$h Bandicoot -Jusswanna
Ca$h Bandicoot -Imma (Soffos Remix)
Leemz & TBJB – Don’t Play
Azealia Banks – 212 (Keenan Mathias Remix)
ELEX & Dj Ride – Stay Away
FLY – Drip
We Are Fury & Nxsty ft Wasiu – Mortal
Runnit ft Xtals, Klavay, bd hbt, Gurf Dhitto, ZCR, Xavier & Raftyr – Mug Club Vol 1
Bd Hbt & Yojas – Sus
Gurf & ZCR – Fight
Konka – Pummel
ELEX & Woogie – ID
So Sus – ID
Memba & Wide Awake ft XO Man – Vexed
Xtals – Flux
So Sus & Jon Casey – Growth
Princess Nokia – Tomboy (Cray Remix)
Dj Smoke – Drippycat (Radical Kid Remix)
So Sus ft Hendrick Joerges – Code
So Sus – ID
Boombox Cartel ft MadeinTYO – New Wip
ELEX – Solar
Nonsens & TREKKIE TRAX CREW ft Ashnikko – Ballistic
Boombox Cartel – Jefe VIP (Vargo’s Jersey Re-Vip)
Bouhi & ELEX – ID
P A T H & Floret Loret – ID
G Jones – Understanding the Possibility (So Sus, Yellow Liar & Slowpalace Flip)
Ducky & Krymsa vs Anti – Stutter Work (So Sus Edit)
So Sus & BUONOFIDE – ID
Dabow – Play (ID Remix)
Wuki & Bri Berlay – Chop
So Sus & Will Hollimon – Gaijin
Tvboo – Flava
Shöckface & So Sus – ID
So Sus – Pantheon
So Sus – ID
Party Favor & Baaur _ MDR (Awoltalk Remix)
Revazz – Radar
G Jones – Understanding the Possibility
So Sus & Bouhi – ID
Rohaan – ID
Dull Machine – Freak
Dj Ride – ID
Zack Fox & Kenny Beats – Square Up (Point Clare Remix)
Hs. – Overt It (So Sus Remix)
So Sus – ID
ELEX – Topic
So Sus & Nxsty – ID
Minnesota – Dark Crystal (Pigeon Hole Remix)
Mefjus – If I Could (Rebirth Remix)
Blink 182 – What’s My Age Again (So Sus & Elex Flip)
Tails & Inverness ft Nevve – Skeleton (So Sus Remix)
Rohaan & Tek Genesis – ID
Twenty One Pilots – Heathens (Magnetude Bootleg)
Rohaan – ID
Floret Loret & Golden Child – ID
Konka & Strange Thing – Killah
Missin & Poseidon – Confusion
Pigeon Hole – Head Nod
A$Ap Ferg – Plain Jane (ID Remix)
Fono – Feet On The Ground (Ivy Lab Remix)
