RIPrat: A Self-titled Project
‘INTERVIEW EXCERPTS’
Who are your biggest musical influences?
“I feel like my influences change constantly. The bands that got me passionate about music when I was a kid were Linkin Park and Red Hot Chili Peppers. But when I first pirated FL Studio in 7th grade, it was because I wanted to make dirty Skrillex basses. Later, I was inspired by DJ Okawari, a Japanese trip-hop producer who uses a lot of just piano and digital drum samples to combine piano melodies with a hip hop beat. That drove the creation of a lot of my old projects. Now, under RIPrat, I've been making use of vocal tracks and returning to the heavy basses of my earliest material, this time with 5 years of practice. Now I would say my influences are just whatever I'm listening to at any given moment.”
Beyond electronic music, what is your musical background?
“I have a classical background in cello, which I played for 10 years. After quitting cello, I spent about a year learning jazz theory on piano.”
How would you characterize the genre that you produce?
“I make electronic music. Sometimes it's drum and bass; sometimes it's deep house; sometimes it's trap. I don't limit myself to a single sub-genre.”
After someone hears your music, what do you want them to remember about it?
“I'd like people to remember my music for its atmosphere.”
When producing a new song, what’s your musical process like?
“My musical process is all over the place. Generally I play around in my DAW until I've created a simple element that I like the sound of -- maybe a synthesized bass, or maybe a drum loop. Doesn't really matter. Then I just try to see if I can take it anywhere. I'll play around on a piano with different scales and modes to see what compliments my synth or loop. Then I'll decide on a chord progression and go from there. I start working on vocals about halfway through the production of the beat. I make the first verse and chorus, put rough takes of those down on the first half of the beat, then I finish the beat, then I work on the second and third verses.”
