Bicoastal bass duo smalltalk have been creeping through the underground and making their mark. With releases on dumb collective, Presently Lifted, and Don’t Die At Work, they have gained the attention of some of the scene’s most ahead-of-the-curve tastemakers. Add FUXWITHIT to that list as we are fully backing the pair to have an explosive 2024 and become one of the hottest duos to watch. Their heavy-hitting sound is the perfect blend of clean and filthy with a sprinkling of hip-hop influence that we love in the bass space.
Furthering our cosign behind the pair, we are pleased to present smalltalk’s FUXWITHIT Guest Mix + Interview. Spanning a wide array of sounds and genres, the mix is the perfect introduction to the duo and is filled with unreleased treats. Our interview covers how they came together, what it’s like collaborating when living on opposite coasts, what they’ve been bumping on repeat, and more. Listen below.
Tell us about the mix. What was your aim when you put this together? Where are we going when we press play?
What’s good FUXWITHIT family! Our main goal was to incorporate a ton of our work, as well as our friends who inspire us. We’re hyped that we were able to include a lot of talented producers’ IDs in here as well as a bunch of our unreleased music (10 smalltalk IDs!). We pull a lot of influences from different styles/genres, so we really wanted the mix to be a journey through all of that. Shoutout to all the homies that trusted us with their IDs. Drop what you’re doing and go check all their tunes right now: Miyamoto, anytwo, Kaiyo, Trunk Space, viiiral, Crosstalk, Chediak, Spades, Trip Drop, Don Jamal, Rakjay, Deliriousninja, Payso, lubby, Cavemen, Pinwheel.
“It’s not about what the people want to hear, it’s about what the people need to hear” (indirect quote from charles the first that inspired us.)
Do you enjoy making small talk in your everyday life?
That’s kind of the joke behind the brand. Our original thought was “everyone hates small talk”. But really small talk is something that you have to do and it’s a part of daily life, and that is also what the process of making music/art is to both of us; something we feel we have to do, and it’s been part of our daily life for a long time.
What prompted you to start making music?
Chris: My parents were classic rock fans so I like to think that sparked my interest in music at a young age and I took some guitar lessons growing up. I never progressed as a guitar player but in high school, me & my buddies would go to post-hardcore concerts all around Sacramento, write lyrics, and attempt to record/sing (terribly). In 2012, I went to Snowglobe in Tahoe and saw my first DJ sets like Clockwork (pre-RL Grime days), Madeon, Floss, to name a few, and was instantly hooked. From there I started DJing and producing.
Austen: For me, it was going to my first music festival. Dillon Francis was the first set I experienced at Coachella. After that, I knew that I wanted to learn how to DJ and make my own music. That first week after getting back, I bought my first controller which was a Vestax Spin 2. It wasn’t for a few months after that until I got Logic Pro and started to learn how to make music.
It’s all for Nicky and our love for music at the end of the day. A lot of our brand aesthetics and colors are based around Nick and his interests. NICKY FOREVER.
How did you come together as a duo?
We first met in 2014 at Coachella through mutual friends. A crew of us all started hanging out in Los Angeles shortly after that and started making music together. We all had big dreams and that mindset stuck with all of us. In 2019, one of our best friends in the crew, Nicky, passed away. We knew we had to carry on the dream we all had and that’s why we still do this today. It’s all for Nicky and our love for music at the end of the day. A lot of our brand aesthetics and colors are based around Nick and his interests. NICKY FOREVER.
You guys are repping “coast 2 coast.” What’s that like from a collaborative perspective? How do you work together on music being so far apart?
Chris moved to Florida in 2021, and Austen is still in the greater Los Angeles area, which explains that dynamic. But in this day with technology, it has made it pretty easy to communicate and pass projects back and forth. We realized early on that our project is just a constant collaboration just like how we had it with our crew in LA in the beginning. The change in locations definitely progressed our growth as individual producers as well as collaborative. 2 dudes 1 brain cell is a goofy motto we go by, but it’s pretty accurate to the method of the madness.
Which coast is superior and why?
Definitely don’t want to start any coast-to-coast beef and will leave that to the Tupac/Biggie era. A lot of love for both tho for their own reasons and now we both have friends across the country!
We have always wanted smalltalk to be a living/breathing project that constantly evolves as we do as humans so that’s our plan moving forward.
You said on Twitter that you’ll be chefing up all year. What are you guys cooking?
Tons of new music and content for sure. We plan to really dive into the vision of the project and push boundaries sonically & visually. We also plan to show a bit more behind the scenes of the project, our dynamic, and who we are. We have always wanted smalltalk to be a living/breathing project that constantly evolves as we do as humans so that’s our plan moving forward.
When you’re not making music what do like to do with your time?
Chris: I’m usually hanging with my dog, friends, family, watching sports, or at the beach. Rest of the time I’m listening to music for inspiration.
Austen: When I’m not making music I love hanging out with family and friends, going to live shows, and watching Supercross.
We just always want our music and brand to relate back to our experiences, memories, and the vision that we’ve stuck true to.
You’ve spoken about aiming to “incorporate influences sonically, visually, and personally into our music.” How do you bring that to life?
Although that’s an older post, we still live true to that. We just always want our music and brand to relate back to our experiences, memories, and the vision that we’ve stuck true to.
What have you guys been listening to as of late?
Chris: I’ve been loving the new ericdoa album, hypochondriac by brakence, bakar’s album Halo, and anything Cautious Clay puts out. I am also a die-hard Dance Gavin Dance fan so I am always jamming to their albums in my free time! For electronic, all of the producers on this mix no doubt.
Austen: Lately I’ve been listening to 90’s hip hop, Sam Gellaitry, Brakence, Bakar, and the new Rome in Silver album. All of the talented artists in this mix as well, go check their catalogs!
Any final words for fans?
Hello fans, how’s the weather?
In all seriousness, with the 10-year FUXWITHIT anniversary that just passed, this is a full-circle moment for us. We’ve been following this blog since it started and it’s a real proud moment. We just want to say a huge thank you to anyone that reads this or listens to our music! Shoutout FUXWITHIT and crew! We got a lot of new music in the works so be on the lookout.
smalltalk FUXWITHIT Tracklist
smalltalk – ID
Frank Ocean – Chanel (camoufly remix)
Disclosure – White Noise (efan remix)
smalltalk – ID
Zed Bias – Shizam (Miyamoto remix) [unreleased]
smalltalk – ID
anytwo – ID
smalltalk – ID
Kaiyo – ID
Trunk Space – ID
viiiral – ID
Chediak & Crosstalk – ID
Eem Triplin – WALKED IN (Mirror Maze Flip)
Molokai – Quinoa
Aleph – Gradient
smalltalk – lifeline
smalltalk – ID
RWB – Skeng Flip
Visages – MK Ultra w/ Birdman – Pop Bottles feat. Lil Wayne (smalltalk edit)
Knucks – Leon the Professional (Trunk Space Flip)
jordnmoody – puddlesflip_
Cesco, Bidl – Overdue
Esseks – Dead Meat ft. Tiedye Ky
FOSSILS – THE END x Cesco – GITP (smalltalk edit)
Spades x Trip Drop – ID
Don Jamal ft. Rakjay – ID
.NET RUN – Push It (Blush remix)
CODE ZERO – H2H (vs anti.) x .NET RUN – Push It (smalltalk vocal edit)
Deliriousninja – want you back
smalltalk – ID
Chmura – Reprieve
smalltalk – ID
smalltalk – ID
Crosstalk x smalltalk – ID
Payso – ID
lubby – ID
smalltalk – ahhh.
Deliriousninja – ID
Cavemen – ID w/ Wildstyle (smalltalk vocal edit)
OZI – Ecco
Pinwheel x anytwo – ID w/ Kid LAROI – GO (smalltalk vocal edit)
smalltalk – roundbird
smalltalk x Kaiyo – Escape
No Signal – Let You Down
smalltalk – ID
