Few labels live up to their name more than Phuture Collective. It’s not often that labels are a step ahead of us when it comes to spotting new talents, but Phuture has put us on a myriad of our favourite artists from Chromonicci to Rohaan, Floret Loret, Quiet Bison and more. Scrolling through their back catalog is assured to have you saying, “wait, this artist dropped on Phuture years ago!?” Forward-thinking and truly for the culture, it’s only right that we invited Phuture Collective to do a guest mix takeover for us. The mix features 3 minimixes from synchronistic, capshun & RVKIT. We also caught with Phuture founder Michael (synchronistic) for an in depth interview to understand how he stays motivated, ahead of the curve, the importance of discord and more. Check out both below.
You somewhat recently transitioned into a full time career in music. How has that experience been so far? Any advice to others looking to make the jump?
It’s been surreal. To be honest the only way I am able to do it is by having leverage across a variety of projects. If I was just trying to live off of streams I wouldn’t be able to pay my rent hehe. But alongside streams I teach artist growth & development for a living via patreon which was the first big leap I took 2 years ago and I haven’t looked back since.
So when you add streams + Patreon together that allows me to live and eat. I also deal with SoundCloud / Spotify / tik tok promo & I work with Audius, SoundStage.fm & Artist Influence which allow me to re-invest money back into Phuture (Spending a lot on our Spotify playlist right now… even though I’m not a big fan of the platform I know I need to offer good numbers to the artists we release with).
As far as advice on how to do so – save up as much money as you can from your job and invest 25% of that savings into your brand / business. I invested into Phuture for 3 years working 60+ hours a week for Uber / Ubereats when they first launched so by the time I was ready to try Phuture full time (for the 4th time) I already had enough of a base / platform to make it possible.
Additionally – WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS. I had this little sheet of paper next to my computer monitor which I looked at daily for years. The gist of it was that it stated ‘I make enough money to live by helping artists get heard, giving listeners a place to be inspired.’ As you look at and achieve your goals make sure you are setting multiple options for you to make them happen – so if your job is to make a full time career with music you best have more ways to bring income in than just streams & shows – the more creative you are the better :).
I firmly believe that if I live a life of helping others achieve their goals I will in turn achieve mine.
You seem to be really big on inspiration and motivation. What motivates and inspires you?
Negativity, depression, suicidal thoughts & loneliness are the biggest inspiration. Having lived several years feeling all of those I ended up becoming fed up and drove myself to a near crazy state of positivity with a goal in mind of sacrificing many aspects of my life to help others. I firmly believe that if I live a life of helping others achieve their goals I will in turn achieve mine.
The biggest motivators these days come from messages of gratitude from people that I’ve helped. A simple thank you, let alone a long message, stating how actions I have made have positively impacted someone are my greatest energy to move forward.
You’ve introduced us to a number of artists we love. How does Phuture stay ahead of the curve?
At first it was because I would spend night and day on SoundCloud searching for new talent. Now it’s so weird but they just kinda come to us. I can’t even list how many artists that are well known now started to get heard by participating in one of our feedback streams or simply joining our discord.
Also I personally tend to get bored of something right as it gets big – so when that happens I start digging for what’s new :) – another part of why our name is based around the ‘future’ (of music).
That next big sound is currently being made by dozens who are locked in during this pandemic… imagine what thousands of producers on lockdown are doing right now – getting that next big thing started ;)
What sounds or genres are you feeling right now? Are there any sounds that you think will start to blow up later in the year?
Really a bit of everything. I’m tired of wubs and generic future bass stuff but the bouncey melodic trap (capshun, chromonicci, senojaynr, alex martian) I’m always vibing to. Good Society, Kumo Collective & Night Owl are crushing that.
In terms of bass music I’ve been into some nice melodic halftime (anything and everything from Upscale) then trying to find refreshing experimental stuff from labels like More Creativity, Disguised Collective, Below the Surface & Partica. I think this year the wub will continue to rise until the end of Summer – that’s when we’re going to hear the next big sound. That next big sound is currently being made by dozens who are locked in during this pandemic… imagine what thousands of producers on lockdown are doing right now – getting that next big thing started ;).
What new things should we expect from phuture in 2020?
Release wise: More vocals. More attention to detail with our theme. Less trends. More emotion.
Community wise: More room for members to join our team. More social media activity. More feedback streams & listening parties. More merch!
Other: Our hand continually in all the newest innovations. I can’t stress enough how huge Audius is about to be and it’s crazy cool that we’re one of the top 3 labels there based on followers atm. SoundStage.fm as well has a game changing feature coming out in April that you’ll be hearing about. I wish I could say more :).
What should fans expect from your upcoming issue sixteen?
Feeling emotion that inspires them to expand their mind. Music that when they close their eyes they can drift off into a different space outside of their norm of consciousness. Music that will continue to inspire artists / labels on what to push and create next.
Last year you had a showcase at Emissions festival. How did that come together? What was the experience like?
Ahhhhh that was such a dream come true. Emissions is one of my favorite personal festivals. No fests come close to matching the intimate vibe and freedom that comes from such a tight knit scene of electronic (bass) music lovers. It came together the same way alot of really good things do – by reaching out, making connections, and turning goals into realities.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned running a label over the last few years?
Make mistakes and learn from them. Also trying to be patient… also not wasting time (ditch the Netflix subscription, uninstall all your video games but 1, and tell your friends your time is gonna be limited for a little while). The more time you put in the better.
Discord seems to be a very important platform for you. Can you talk a little bit about the Phuture discord and what makes it special?
Goshhhh such a big question – well it originated almost 5 years ago on a forum. We had like 12 members… and it was weird to actually get everyone going in the same place haha. So we made a SLACK for people to get together – get connected – so everyone could always have a home. We outgrew that within a year so migrated over to discord (and were the first music discord actually [yeah even ahead of EDMP by 2 weeks hehe]) and since then things have grown sooo much. Now if you are an artist and not on discord then you are greatly behind on the times.
Discord is so key for communicating, organizing and most importantly networking. I can’t even begin to tell everyone how many careers started on discord. The main point of our discord is to bring people together – motivate / inspire – under a forward thinking banner.
SoundStage is what will save our shows during this pandemic. SoundStage is what the future of shows will continue to be after this pandemic is over. Mark my words please :)
The fears around the Coronavirus have already led to cancellations of major festivals such as Ultra and SXSW. Do you think online streaming platforms like Soundstage will be in higher demand as a result?
SoundStage is what will save our shows during this pandemic. SoundStage is what the future of shows will continue to be after this pandemic is over. Mark my words please :)
Tell us a little bit about the mixes. What’s the vibe for each?
Phuture / synchronistic: We start things off with the new JKuch coming out on Phuture then the rest of the time is us chilling with some of my favorite from presently lifted & other artists I’ve been vibing out with for awhile. Deff some throwbacks in here!
Capsun: Just wanted to showcase my stuff. Think of this as a look into my soul ;).
RVKIT: It’s kinda hot garbage but I heard raccoons like that kinda stuff. Also if you like what you hear, I got a sample pack that I’m selling. details on my SoundCloud bio.
Tracklist:
synchronistic
1 – JKuch – Zest (Out on Phuture 4/20 as part of issue sixteen | pulp)
2 – chromonicci. – Clarity
3 – Mind Island X jordnmoody – moodyminds [Presently Lifted / FUXWITHIT PREMIERE ;)]
4 – Rustie – Slasherr (Flume Edit)
5 – chmura – dark
6 – sfam – jiggy
7 – leet x s e s h – h3110 (issue fourteen | arrival)
8 – montel2099 –
9 – inimicvs & sui.luj – fatigue (lucid monday)
10 – synchronistic – resistance
11 – tsuruda – slippin’
12 – JKuch – Jangaro
13 – Tsuruda x Huxley Anne – Papaya
14 – mayke – twelve
15 – Zotti – Tongues
capshun
1. Capshun – ID
2. Capshun – Luuj
3. Capshun – ID
4. Capshun – Rage
5. Capshun – Here
6. Capshun – Quintessence
7. Capshun – Daybreak
8. Capshun – ID w Inadze
9. Capshun – Rising
RVKIT
1. Belak x RVKIT – ID
2. Fidus Achates – Life w/ RVKIT
3. Blake Skowron x RVKIT – Bla (RVKIT VIP)
4. Dabow – Play (RVKIT Remix)
5. RVKIT – ID
6. RVKIT – Bulldozer
7. bd hbt x RVKIT – ID
8. Belak x RVKIT – ID
9. RVKIT – Taco Truck
10. RVKIT – Carboniferous
11. RVKIT – ID
12. RVKIT – Tyrannosaurus Rex
13. O-Prime Delta – Tushy Parlor.
14. Binx. & RVKIT – Mauii
15. Gloom. – DGFU @gloom_music
16. RVKIT – Frantic Factory
17. Stubbs x RVKIT – Burners
