Interview with Debris - A Future House Pioneer

Debris on the Future of Future House

10/13/2018

You've previously discussed how you got into DJing, but let's talk about how you first got into music production.
Ever since I can remember, I've been playing the piano and have been hooked on rock and classical music. When I was thirteen, I saved enough money to buy a PC and started experimenting with FL Studio. I started out by making dubstep and drum and bass, which both have heavy rock influences, but when I was seventeen, I went to a Steve Aoki show and got hooked on electro house and festival music. I kept improving my production skills until I was good enough to start getting work as a ghost producer at age twenty. Two years later, when I was twenty-two, I decided that I was going to start the Debris project. This was around the time that future house was really taking off and that's what the project has generally revolved around ever since. Occasionally I'll go back and experiment with drum and bass or dubstep when I'm bored or want to work on my sound design.

What made you decide that you wanted to break away from the anonymity of ghost production to starting your own project?
I wanted to start Debris because I wanted that thrill you get from playing your own music live. Nothing beats that. With my ghost productions, I've seen a few of those tracks reach the Beatport top 100 charts. I wanted the opportunity to get them myself under my own project.

Are you able to make a living off of music or do you have a day job as well?
Music is my full-time job and the majority of the income comes from ghosting. The tours provide me with some "savings money" as I like to call it.

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A post shared by Debrisâš¡ï¸â–¡â–¡ (@debrismusic) on Dec 10, 2017 at 4:25am PST

How did you go about building your ghost clients?
I have built a clientele primarily through word to mouth. Once you get a few Beatport top 100's under your belt, it grows on its own. I never have to worry about not having work. These days, I make a lot of pop music now to compete with companies who promise you a 100% finished record for under $500USD. Whenever people ask about prices, I just say that you get what you pay for.

Let's pivot over to the Debris project now, you've been making more energetic, festival ready tracks lately with Animal, Ronnie Botten, and Valkyrie. What can you tell us about the direction you're taking the project and goals you have?
Well RudeLies, Jonth, and I are very actively pushing the "Future Room" sound. We all make future house/bounce with big room influences but we all do it our different way. RudeLies has this strong sense of groove that he pairs with his signature synth, Jonth focuses mainly on melodies, and I like to have very aggressive drop stabs and big room kicks. The upcoming tracks that I've been crowd testing are finally ready for release and those are even harder than the tracks you just mentioned. I finally think that I've 100% found my sound and that sound is this unique brand of festival music.

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Always working, always creating â–¡â–¡â–¡ What is your favourite DAW?â–¡ I think you can guess mineâ–¡â–¡

A post shared by Debrisâš¡ï¸â–¡â–¡ (@debrismusic) on Apr 22, 2018 at 5:19am PDT

What was your process for making this new hybrid sound and making it really yours?
It was a combination of things: first, I was just getting bored of future house sound in general, but also Clarx and I had made a few tracks together that was pushing the future house envelope more towards that big room sound. All of this culminated in the release of "Game Over" where I decided that this was what I was going to try to make from now on. The last pure future house release was my edit of Guy Didden's "Faith." I always wanted to push for a more energetic sound because at that point, I was starting to play a lot of festivals and club shows all over the world and the classic future house sound just wasn't resonating with the crowd like big room was.

Tell us about your release on Future House Cloud's ADE Sampler, "Valkyrie."
That track started as an official remix for Revealed which got cancelled unfortunately. When I got the news, I decided to turn the project into an original and reached out to Cambodia's top singer, Nikki Nikki, who is a very good friend of mine. We worked on the lyrics and she had sent over her rendition of them for Valkyrie; we were really invested in this project and thought it had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, the track suffered another setback because due to management, I had to ultimately replace her vocal with one from Splice. Bjarne of FHC has been a big fan of my stuff and so he was eager to release the "stripped down version" of the record and that's the one that's available now. I have some very cool tracks coming up with my girlfriend who's on the vocal duty for those songs. She's actually a DJ herself and it's been super exciting to have been able to work with her and create something together.

What is it like to be in a relationship and work and live with another creative, musical mind?
Well we have a studio at home where you could find me making music or her singing, or both! Whenever I'm producing, she'll look out for me and make sure I'm being fed and not going too far down the rabbit hole and I'll do the same for her. It's easy to lose a lot of time in the studio so it's great to have someone looking out for you and keeping you in check. It's insane to have such a supportive girlfriend; she is my biggest fan, loves my music, and plays my music out when she's DJing. She also gives me feedback as a "listener/DJ" and not as producer, which is sometimes more valuable than feedback from another producer. She's truly my daily inspiration and I couldn't be happier with her.

Do you guys ever go back to back on the decks at home?
We do but it can lead to a few arguments as she like to play mainstage big room whereas I'm pushing for more future room tracks. She does find the occasional gem on Soundcloud from say, a Russian producer with just fifty followers.

What else do you have coming up?
I'm about to release a pop track on XDM Records which is a new Mexican label by Broz Rodriguez and Toy Selecta. I think it has the potential to reach the top charts in Latin America. I'm aware there's a stigma against moving towards pop music or "selling out," but this track was genuinely enjoyable for me to work on. I got in the studio with a pop producer, Tymen, and we were happy to bring on Stevyn for his sort of "comeback" track as a vocalist. The lyrics are about accepting all kinds of love whether it be straight, gay, bisexual, or any preference out there.

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A post shared by Debrisâš¡ï¸â–¡â–¡ (@debrismusic) on Nov 15, 2017 at 2:19am PST

What sort of steps did you take to make sure it has that Debris sound?
The track includes some distinctive electro influences and you can also see some of my rock background that I think people will really like. While it's not the festival sound I've been pushing, I still think it reflects my sound and my style. The track will be coming out early in 2019 so I'm excited for you all to hear it for yourselves!

Give us one of your most vivid memories from being on stage.
There was this festival in Cambodia called "Afterlife Asylum" where my tour manager used a CO2 gun to blow the snapback off of my head while I was performing. That was pretty unexpected and funny but later on in the show, I thought it would be cool to jump off the stage but it turns out it was about three meters high and I sprained my ankle on the fall! I had to get up and painfully limp back up to the booth to finish the last fifteen minutes of my set. Longest fifteen minutes of my life.

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Pointing at you grandpa. I miss you. I really wish you were still here because I need you, I really do. But I am glad you're at a better place right now, with no pain. Everything I do is for you grandpa and I sure hope you're proud as hell. â¤ï¸â–¡

A post shared by Debrisâš¡ï¸â–¡â–¡ (@debrismusic) on Feb 18, 2018 at 8:24am PST

Last but not least, tell us about your proudest moment so far.
My proudest moment happened while I was on tour. I had this full crowd of around fifteen thousand people raise their cell phone flashlights up to the sky in memory of my grandfather. I play this mashup of Alan Walker's Faded along with a mashup from Our Psych and I tell people to put their lights up for my grandfather and anyone else that we've lost. I miss him dearly and I wish that he could see what I'm doing right now.

A huge thank you to Debris for taking the time to answer our interview questions! Be sure to follow him on social media for all of the latest show dates and music releases!