Audeze talks to electronic music producer and DJ Drippy

November 29, 2021

Audeze talks to electronic music producer and DJ Drippy

From the city of Detroit, Drippy is an electronic music producer and DJ with a rich background in the underground dubstep scene. Drippy is a touring artist who has collaborated with producers and musicians around the world including Walter Wilde, Bommer, OmenXIII, Saigga and many others. With continued support from artists like 12th Planet, Zeds Dead, and Subtronics, Drippy brings a unique style and perspective to the electronic music world.
 
"My pair of LCD-Xs helped me really hear where my music stands. The overall clarity of them is unlike anything I've heard and I can really tell where I need to make adjustments in my mix, with pinpoint accuracy."  -Drippy
Here's our chat with Drippy:
Can you pick out any favorites from your work that you're particularly proud of?

I'm most proud of my song titled "Pots n' Pans" which was a collaborative track with my friend Saigga who lives in Santa Catarina, Brazil. The track features vocals recorded by me pretty much mimicking an angry parent hearing loud music and saying “it sounds like a bunch of pots and pans”. We decided to make the sound design behind it moderately aggressive and somewhat like actual pots and pans. A very funny track but it was well received and praised by many artists around the world and featured multiple times on Sirius XM on 12th Planet's Swamplex Radio. Truly a fun song.

How would you define your main role on most of the projects you work on these days?

For my own stuff, it’s a one man crew. I do everything from creating the track, to promoting it, to designing the song’s artwork. When I work with others, it’s usually a collaboration and were working side by side the entire time. I will say, I tend to record myself doing vocals and always find a way to add them into the song. It’s not something I usually think about, I just notice it tends to happen when I work with others.

How did you get started in music? What kind of music did you listen to while growing up and how has that progressed?

I got started in music in 2010, I was 16 at the time and grew an immediate passion for dubstep once I heard it.  At the time, I thought it would be a great idea to start an online radio and record label to showcase artists I thought deserved more recognition. I did that for a few years and decided I should probably look into actually making the music. I used Sony acid pro when I was in middle school, then decided to learn FL Studio. When I was growing up, I was into chiptune and music from the game Dance Dance Revolution, but at that time dubstep didn't even exist! So I think what really got me into dubstep was my deep love for electronic music.

Can you name any factors you feel majorly influenced the course of your musical life? Heroes, role models, moments, interactions, etc?

Watching dubstep grow and take so many different shapes and forms and styles. It's gone from deep warm music, to energetic party music to a place to showcase insane sound design within electronic music. Overall, it’s made electronic music a much bigger thing in my opinion. Back in 2011, when dubstep was blowing up in America, I met Skrillex and 12th Planet at Electric Forest. I was showing Skrillex some of Koan Sound's music, while doing so, Skrillex told me he was actually in the process of signing Koan Sound on his soon-to-be record label, OWSLA. Later that night, Skrillex introduced me to 12th Planet, who to this day has opened tons of doors for me and featured me in a lot of his mixes and even at the last Electric Forest (2019) said I was a new producer to keep watch of this year. Too many inspiring interactions to count from just meeting all sorts of artists big and small that have inspired me heavily.

Can you briefly describe a moment of frustration from your past work, and what you may have done to overcome the obstacles? Would you approach it differently now?

For a long time I would get stuck on certain tunes, from all sorts of angles: not being happy with the intro, the flow of the song being too much, etc... I would say what’s really helped me with some of these tracks is to just give my ears a good break, coming back to it and seeing what I can do to reduce and simplify. So reorganizing the project files, taking out unnecessary elements and effects, and strictly focusing on what is going to carry the tune the most.

Is there any gear you find yourself turning to most when working on a project? What are some of your favorite tools/instruments recently?

I absolutely love my Subpac, and when it comes to making techno, the majority of Roland's Boutique series is all great. As far as VST's go, majority of the time, I will use Xfer Records Serum and Native Instruments Massive. Kilohearts also makes some great stuff too.

Do you have any words of wisdom for people who might aspire toward a similar path for their own careers?

With the internet, the ability to self-release music and connect with people from all over the world is priceless. Do not be afraid of what others will think of your creations. In my opinion, it's much better to be unique rather than to be accepted. Be open to new ideas and try things out that you haven't done before, and never stop.

How long have you been working with headphones, and how do you typically use them in your workflow?

They are an essential part of my entire workflow and, for as long as I can remember, I’ve always used headphones to produce my music! Sometimes I use speakers for reference, but the precise sound that headphones provide really helps me know exactly what I’m creating. I feel like I’m getting the full sound when I’m using headphones as opposed to speakers. I also enjoy the isolation from the outside world and the privacy of what I'm working on (especially when I'm being mindful of others I live with).

Do you have any additional comments or stories you want to share?

Much love to my friend Calico, he was the first guy to put me on to Audeze headphones, he recently passed and had a pair of them with him in his casket. Everyone knew how much quality sound meant to him, and how much he was an advocate for others to experience wonderful things.

How have your Audeze headphones affected your work? Can you tell us what you've been working on with them so far?

My pair of LCD-Xs helped me really hear where my music stands. The overall clarity of them is unlike anything I've heard and I can really tell where I need to make adjustments in my mix, with pinpoint accuracy. Everything I've written in them I feel overall sounds better just from using them and being aware of anything unwanted floating around in the mix and the stereo range makes me feel like I'm there. It's honestly kinda hard to see these things off my head, so I guess that's affected my work in a very positive way. Increased productivity never sounded so good.

So far I've written my latest release "8 Ball" with them, along with my collabs with Saigga, JG dubz, Crowell, AB the thief & Xaebor, along with a ton of singles I hope to release very soon. I also recently moved into a new studio and we've been using them with tons of hardware synths and I really want to try djing with them too.

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