It's no secret that in today's electronic music world Los Angeles is one of the hotspots with numerous top-flight weeklies, growing labels, and of course the home base for tons of international touring artists. One artist you might need to know is Drezo. We already told you how cool his name was and how awesome his debut EP was just a short while ago, but we weren't satisfied there. We had to find out more about Drezo so we got on the horn with him and tried get to know them a bit better.
Describe to Drezo to me in 3 words.
Tenacious. Unusual. Energetic.
I like your confidence there. How did you get started with your Drezo project?
Well, when I first fell in love with electronic music, I was DJing for about a year under a different alias at small clubs/raves in Arizona while locking myself in my room everyday to work on tunes. Once my productions started catching the ears of my friends, I decided to start anew with a more professional outlook and image towards my career. Hence, Drezo was born.
Now your Mandingo EP had two tracks, and they both had a pretty defined sound to it. How would you describe it?
I put a good amount of work on both tracks and they are definitely a representation of my current sound. I like to play weird grungy minimal/electro stuff when I DJ so I think the EP covers many of those strange details in house music that I enjoy. I had about eight songs to choose from, but "Thump" & "Mandingo" were the most formal of my productions.
How long did that EP process take?
About two weeks. I really believe that workflow is important when you're feeling inspired to create music, and so my best tunes are usually the ones where I work straight on it for eight to ten hours, until it's at least 95% finished. I mix every sound while I go so once the song is done, I don't need to worry about mixing down and second guessing myself.
And you released the EP through Techibeats, a new label born out of a blog. What's it been like working with them?
They have been amazing towards me and my career from the get go. They were actually the first blog to ever post one of my tunes, so working with them has been like working with family. The constant love from them is definitely encouraging.
The EP also broke the Top 5 in Beatport releases and it seems like it came out of nowhere. How does it feel to have that accomplishment?
I was more than pleased to wake up and see the EP sitting at #3 for overall Progressive House releases that week. I'm very critical about my own material in regards to the; mix, arrangement, sound design, etc. But seeing the generous blog responses, and obviously the Beatport charts, I was extremely humbled. However, there's always room to progress.
What does your mom think about your accomplishment?
Haha, she's very happy for me! My parents are the main reasons I'm able to do what I love, and the support from them means everything.
That's great to hear when parents and family are supportive. So when's your next release?
Well, that is a good question. I'm sitting on a handful of fun bouncy songs that I'm planning on giving away for free real soon. I am also doing some official remix work as well, so hopefully that will be out soon, not really allowed to talk about it though. I make music every day and I want to give a lot of it out for free, so expect many presents soon.
You're from LA and that's definitely a hotbed for electronic music. What kind of influence does it have on your sound?
A ton of underground stuff has been intriguing me lately. I'm always creeping around Avalon on Friday nights seeing the major acts, but Sound is one of my favorite clubs to go to. I love the combination of big noises with minimal grooves, so I pull a lot of inspiration from deep house/funky house acts that come through LA, and how they perform.
What's your dream collaboration?
Geseffalstein, Brodinski, Nom De Strip, Pretty Lights. Either one of those, plus many more. Someone who can teach me how to be as creative as I can with the current plug-ins/technology out now. I believe every producer has their own special learned knowledge they can share.
If you had 5 records to take with you on a desert island, what would they be?
1. Neil Young - Harvest
2. Disclosure - Settle
3. Zero 7 - Simple Things
4. Gang Starr - Moment of Truth
5. Rebelution - Courage To Grow
