Ominous undertones fuel a dark dreamlike sequence that flashes flourishes of a futuristic cityscape. There’s an undeniable energy that flows from the ground through the air and into your being. A fluttering lead, lip pops, and a smattering of samples inject a playful almost stunning sense of wonder. This is contrasted against the darker and grittier tones for a perfect balancing act. Raw grime vocal samples, menacing 808s, gritty trap brass, and boisterous grunts collide for a menacing swagger. Marked by varying drops and auditory aesthetics ‘Acid Code’ is a gritty can’t miss heater from the talented producer.

‘Acid Code’ is an ode to technology – a soundtrack to the grimly beautiful idea of the future city. I initially developed the synth patch and riff which was metallic and buzzy, reminiscent of a live current traveling through a wire. Running with that, a Carmack-style 808 and contrasting, ghostly B section helped shape the atmosphere around that lead. I’m really happy with the dark melodic vibe. ‘Acid Code’ marks Dont Die At Work’s third release of the year and we’ve got lots more on the way.  – HMU

Stream HMU’s ‘Acid Code’ below. Out now via Don’t Die At Work.

The post PREMIERE: HMU Unleashes Futuristic Trap Heater ‘Acid Code’ appeared first on FUXWITHIT.

Graveyard Shift is an effort to tap back into our roots as a collective and rediscover the underground sounds that started us off. The compilation is a combination of dark trap sounds, bass, and twerk, mixed with some raw experimentation and even melodic takes which is a new direction for us. It’s a mix of tracks that can transport you from the club to the forest and back. In our modern day hustle culture – where most people grind a 9 to 5 – this next generation of artists are rising above it, and their tracks stay grinding even harder when the day shift ends. I’m excited to finally start the next chapter. – HMU

Artists such as Rational Soul, Palpa, HMU, and more have brought this energetic album into a new spectrum thanks to their beautiful craft as musicians. Showcasing their evolution while paying homage to the label’s history. This compilation is full of rare gems from spine-tingling bass designs, horrifying arrangements, and unexplainable tones that take over your mind and soul. Making you appreciate the art that much more while becoming lost in a powerful stasis you won’t want to wake up from. Each artist went above and beyond and should truly feel proud. And we’re very excited to hear what else the label has in store for the future. So make sure to show your support. by streaming Graveyard Shift via Dont Die At Work!

The post Dont Die At Work Contact The Dead On The Other Side With Their ‘Graveyard Shift’ Compilation appeared first on FUXWITHIT.

What was your vision when putting this mix together? What should fans expect when they press play?

I wanted to shed light on some of my favorite producers right now and share some tracks I’m really feeling at the moment. At the same time, give a sneak peek of the direction the HMU project is headed. There’s a bit of west coast bass, trap, halftime, and twerk/bounce stuff, and just some straight-up beats. Lately, I’ve been exploring more minimal, bassline focused tracks with emphasis on morphing and evolving analog-style sounds.

You took a bit of hiatus over the past two years. What prompted the break from releasing music?

Honestly, it was a mix of not feeling inspired by what had become my ‘sound’ and having a hard time balancing work.

By day, I work in the video game industry as a creative director, and work really ramped up over the past two years. It’s a great place to be because it lets me put together music, visual art, animation, coding, and all sorts of things I like to do, but it sucks a lot out of me creatively and I was feeling the burnout.

At the same time, I was trying to force the style and nervous to put out some different-sounding stuff I had written. After 2 solid months of writing I had 5 tunes I was finally proud of and decided it was time to come back. It all came together for me after returning from LIB this year and watching so many producers I love shred The Stacks. I came back from that and immediately wrote ‘Stacks’ which just dropped.

It’s definitely a difficult part of producing to depart from your bread & butter creatively, but I hope listeners can see the vision and come along for the ride while I work to redefine the project.

What brought you back?

Seeing what artists like Sømething and Karezza were doing with the new wave of bounce-style bass music was a big inspiration. Also learning more about synthesis and watching some of the Eprom & Alix Perez Twitch streams. Hearing them talk about sampling modular gear and learning about their process got me back into the technical side of producing which has always been my favorite.

From there I started experimenting with different style baselines and percussion sounds I don’t normally go for. In the process, I changed my approach a bit from trying to copy my own sound and just started taking ideas to completion. It’s definitely a difficult part of producing to depart from your bread & butter creatively, but I hope listeners can see the vision and come along for the ride while I work to redefine the project.

Can we expect regular releases moving forward?

Yes, I’m a couple tracks ahead at the moment and working on artwork for future releases. I’ve got two collaborations with Kid Alien dropping before the end of the year. 2 originals in the works and a few other collabs I’m looking forward to releasing. I’m really feeling the music again and looking to pick up some more gear, hone my production skills, and get better at collaborating to learn and blend styles.

You’ve found that perfect balance between keeping it weird and yet maintaining a groove and keeping it approachable. What’s the secret to pushing the envelope without making music that’s too alienating?

This is always something I’ve thought about when making tracks. I love some really weird stuff that would definitely be considered ‘alienating’ and that’s what helped me find the whole experimental bass scene. It was exciting and focused on sound design which made it interesting to make. At the same time, when I started producing I was making hip hop, and I love pop music so those definitely show through in what I’m going for. It’s always been about making the weird stuff accessible so I can convince my friends to listen to it! Some familiar hip hop samples and beats usually do the trick and allow you to introduce some wonky stuff and break the rules without being too jarring.

I just drag in an infinite amount of samples into the project and sometimes end up with hundreds of audio tracks, that’s why it cracks me up when I hear my music is considered minimal.

Your tracks also pack such an awesome bounce. What’s the key to bringing the bounce?

I love percussion and it’s probably the part of music I’m best at. I just drag in an infinite amount of samples into the project and sometimes end up with hundreds of audio tracks, that’s why it cracks me up when I hear my music is considered minimal. It’s the only way I feel like I know how to keep things interesting by making fills or adding layers of percs. This, mixed with those classic New Orleans bounce drum patterns make for a great combination. I usually keep my processing pretty dry, not using a lot of delay or reverb because I like the tight, short percussion and making use of empty space, though lately I’ve been introducing a bit more swing and verb.

You create some pretty epic 3D art. How did you get into that space and how has it evolved over the years?

Thank you! Seeing the art that Chadwickmak was making for Hucci and Skrillex back in the day really sparked my exploration into the 3D art world. I had to know how it was made and I watched a bunch of tutorials and learned Cinema 4D over the next couple of years via YouTube. I dove in head first into what I discovered is a massive world of 3D modeling, materials, lighting, physics simulation, camera movements the list goes on. It’s a bit mind-boggling at first but over the next 6 years I started to get the hang of it and most recently learned Octane, one of the industry standard render engines, which really leveled up my game. The next step is to go from visual loops to some more cinematic-style animations and VFX! You can check out my work here: https://hmu.graphics/

Some great designers and big inspiration to me right now are: Safehaven HQ, Alec Maassen, Achuray, Ash Thorp, Blunt_Action, Karlifetz and Sillygabe to name a few.

What’s new with Don’t Die At Work? I heard there may be a new compilation on the horizon?

Yes! We are currently listening to a bunch of demos and scouting for our next compilation which is due at the end of this year/early next year. I’m working to spotlight some awesome artists and bring back the collaborative energy and community we had when we started off. It’s helped me get in the habit of listening to a lot more music and collaborating with others in the music industry and I need to do more of both. The team is currently coming up with the theme and vision but I hope to get more people involved and make some announcements soon.

What do you enjoy most outside of music and visual art?

Definitely a tough question because those are the biggest parts of my life, but I appreciate it! There’s a ton of stuff I’m always tinkering with when I find the time like game development, toys and collectibles (I love building and painting gundams), film production & VFX , animation, and web development. I try to always stay learning and creating but I’m also a massive fan of Pizza and love a good tennis match.

I’m finally accepting that art is more of a journey than it is a sequence of perfect works, and it feels great to have the artists I love and support be a part of that journey.

Any final words?

Thank you for the support over the years. Sometimes I feel like my art doesn’t really have a place in the scene that I’m a part of but I’m so unbelievably thankful to have an audience of eyes and ears for it. I’m finally accepting that art is more of a journey than it is a sequence of perfect works, and it feels great to have the artists I love and support be a part of that journey.

HMU TRACKLIST

ANKA – ghettogospel
detre – Cru
FRQ NCY – Echo
Saka – Shaolin
Hamdi – Skanka
Snuffy – Tamarack
Sumthin Sumthin – Magenta
HMU – Stacks
X&G – Aces
LYNY – Reason w/ FLY
Nik P – Deflect
HMU – Sizzle
anti. – user
HMU – Hive Mind
Shöckface – METANÖIA
Karezza – ID
HMU x Kid Alien – ID
$ayonara. – KENDO
whereisalex – matrix

The post Guest Mix + Interview – HMU appeared first on FUXWITHIT.

This song reminds me of when I would take a rubber band and pretend it was a guitar, but deeper with a continuous bass pluck. It also has an everlasting introduction of sharp avant-garde samples that disappear as quickly as they appear, filling in the empty spaces. I have a feeling this is only the beginning of what should be expected from HMU and Don’t Die At Work this season. Grab that free download here and keep DDAW on your radar.

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The post HMU Dispatches Grimy Bass with ‘GRIT’ appeared first on FUXWITHIT.

Below The Surface

Below The Surface burst onto the scene last year with Sounds From Below, a stellar compilation that featured releases from founders THRPY and soulecist. alongside sfam, TVBOO and more. Since then they’ve put out 3 more compilations and a slew of singles. Each release is a true piece of the underground. They’re committed to digging to find the best under-the-radar stars in bass music and putting them on full display.

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Dont Die At Work

Founded by HMU, Dont Die At Work is a label and clothing company based in LA. They started as “a reminder to work hard towards having the life you want, a movement founded on putting in that time and reaping the benefits in both your 9-5 and your 5-9”. The outlook speaks to creatives grinding ever day and dreaming about the future, while working to make it happen now. Their impressive Grind compilation kicked the year off with a bang and included the brain-bending single ‘Prehistoric’ from doppla & HMU. They’re constantly working to help break new sounds with single releases as well. ‘Cerepon’ and ‘Seizmo’ will give you a taste of the type of bass Dont Die at Work is slingin’. For even more DDAW be sure to check out their Day Of The Dead compilation.

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Liquid Ritual

Started as a radio show in 2016 and established as a label less than a year ago, Liquid Ritual has climbed its way to the top in an incredibly quick way. In this extremely short span of time, Kareful, LTHL and Stohou have not only brought their creation to the forefront of the recording industry with iconic releases and a fabulous debut compilation, but also have expanded their action into shows, hosting a series of branded events in their hometown London and all over Poland. It’s not a secret that Wave is slowly infiltrating in the mainstream (pushed by names the likes of Virtual Self and Stooki Sound) and thanks to its marked identity, proved maturity and endless dynamism, it seems Liquid Ritual is ready to take the lead of the Wave movement. I don’t know if, as Stohou said, “Skrillex is going to be making Wave in a year or two,” but this UK label will be there for sure.

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Lost Dogz

“We’re not a Label. We’re not a collective. We are a cult of best friends.” That’s how Lost Dogz recently described themselves. While they may not technically consider themselves a collective or label, leaving them off this list would be near criminal. Leaders in the minimal yet heavy bass space, they’ve helped to change the direction of trap and bass music across the industry. Their “cult” features a who’s who of innovators including Abelation, Milano, Untitld, Sktchy Ppl, Chrome Republic, Eazybaked, Chrome, Snuggles, Cambot, Player Dave & Vide. We’ve already featured 2 of the Dogz in our Focus Five segments and could easily run through the whole list. Lost Dogz’s sound is dark, dirty, distinctive, and dank but always fresh. If you’re sick of bright and cheery future bass, Lost Dogz are the perfect antithesis. Hit their SoundCloud and tell me it doesn’t get your tail wagging.

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Misc.

Miscellaneous: home to everything you’ve never heard before. Just good music. Ambitious? Yes. Excessive? Hell no. The good folks behind Misc. are definitely not some random guys, since they’re responsible for one of my favourite bass compilations of the year. ‘Guest Vol. 2’ is a collection that should be on the top of every experimental bass junkie’s library and it’s a mirror that reflects the soul of the whole project. Freedom of expression is the only rule that is seen reflected in more than one hundred releases, among which you can find plenty of illustrious names. Capshun, episcool, Sofasound, Rohaan, Rome in Silver, and Great Dane are just some of the brilliant minds appeared under Misc.’s emblem with intriguing and unexpected creative works. This is a label I never forget to mention as an example when I find myself talking and defending the real underground movement.

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Night Owl Collective

Night Owl Collective is a giant, a pillar of the SoundCloud community, an example and a model to admire and to take inspiration from. If you really have no idea what I’m talking about and you’ve never come across one of its monumental compilations, you better get out of your cave and listen up. With its 50k followers, the Owl is playing a pivotal role in the scene, ensuring a non-stop flow of new music from both well-known acts and newcomers. Its well deserved reputation suggests and encourages a positive and open-minded approach to every release that goes beyond the popularity of the artists’ names. Night Owl Collective isn’t just a label anymore, it’s a world apart, an all-out experience.

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Phuture Collective

A lot of platforms claim to be the future, very few truly embody it. Phuture Collective however proves time and time again just how ahead of the curve they truly are. Their thematic compilations are some of the best out. Not only do they feature a cross-section of the most talented artists around, they actually sound cohesive and carefully curated. Each track is different shade or colour on the same canvas and Phuture is crafting works of art. While their releases speak for themselves, it’s really their knack for finding and helping to foster underground talent. Few people stay ahead of us but when it comes to the future of music, but with Phuture, I often feel like I’m catching up. If you’re trying to stay ahead of the game, Phuture is one of your most reliable sources.

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Wormhole Music Group

One of Soundcloud’s strongholds has always been its ability to allow you to go through the next song you didn’t know you needed. Its dashboard is like a surprise package that you can unwrap again and again, day after day, always finding a new gift. Too often, however, it’s so overloaded with reposts that it’s quite a mission to bring out something good from that jungle, for this reason I guess everyone has their aces up their sleeve. Mine has always been WMG. Trying to forecast the nature of the new releases is always a shot in the dark, a mission impossible. “Forward-thinking, next-level bass music sounds that defy genre and push boundaries” is the label’s mantra, something that I know you’ve heard tons of times, but trust me, here you’re in good hands. From dark, mental, post-apocalyptic Trap to melodic Jazztronic inspired-vibes, passing by glitched, funky, weird and wonky cartoonstep bangers, Wormhole Music Group is the eldorado for any hardcore and open-minded bass music lover.

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World by Alessio Anesi & Colin.

The post 8 Labels Pushing The Music Scene Forward appeared first on FUXWITHIT.

“Over the past few years, we’ve had the opportunity to forge and maintain relationships with incredibly talented producers across the spectrum of the bass scene. Several of the those artists are featured on this compilation, notably Episcool – who is one of our very favorites at the moment – LAF and Crystal Moth, Kurei, and Indra. We try our best to keep an ear to the ground for up-and-comers and anyone pushing the envelope of the experimental sound and we’re particularly pleased with how everything came together for this one. The whole fam packed some serious heat into Day of the Dead and we’re so grateful to be able to push the art we love through our platform.”

In addition to the artists listed above the project features new heat from HMU, FLY, Solotrip, B-Dos and Fisherman. Whether you’re looking for something to get you in the spirit of the season or just thirsting for some heavy new bass, Day of the Dead is sure to satisfy your needs. Stream it below and grab it here.

The post PREMIERE: Dont Die At Work Brings The Best New Bass On ‘Day of the Dead’ Compilation appeared first on FUXWITHIT.

Stream below and grab the track via Don’t Die At Work.

The post PREMIERE: no doz ‘siezmo’ Is Nothing Short Of Monstrous appeared first on FUXWITHIT.

After all, where would you be able to find a tune that mix tribal horns and percussion with obsessive vocal samples and an extremely chewy drop?

Judge ‘Prehistoric’ by yourself below, and be sure to check also ‘Action‘ and ‘Dolomite‘ from the album.

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The post doppla and HMU Present Eccentric Production ‘Prehistoric’ appeared first on FUXWITHIT.