What is your name and role within Wax Future?
K: My name is Keith and I play guitar!
C: My Name is Connor and I am the producer in WF
How did you start?
Keith: A long drive to Miami to see Pretty Lights and Bassnectar hatched an idea, it took a few months after that of studio work and then we crashed our local open mic at the grape room and make sure it all worked.
C: As Keith mentioned we started working on music together after Basslights Miami. We were both working in separate projects, but had been attending a lot of electronic music shows together with friends, and we were inspired to do some creating together and the rest is history!
Where are you based?
Keith: Philadelphia is our home!
Please give an example of your music writing process?
Keith: Connor usually will chop up a sample, work an early arrangement and then we’ll sit down and hash out melodic ideas and themes and craft the song from there.
C: I typically start my creative process by digging through vinyls, or samples online, to try and find something that catches my ear and inspires me, then I chop it up, layer it, mangle it, and just start to explore an idea. If I feel my exploration is successful, I’ll bring my rough sketch to the table at that point, and then Keith and I will start to add live instrumentation, like guitar, bass and synths, and really just start to take the track from a sketch to a more fleshed out idea. Once we get a bunch of different elements and parts that we like, we will then start to arrange the track. Once we have the track arranged, we will just go through and refine everything, like adding fills and transitions, and really just start to work with the overall energy of the track to get it to where we want it to be. Then I’ll mix and master, or mix and send to master.
What are you working on right now?
Keith: We have a ton of new music in the works, looking to begin the process of applying all the finishing touches and arranging it all up with a nice plan. We’re super excited!
What is your gear setup?
Keith: I have a pedalboard that runs into an interface with my computer running Ableton live, I use various Ableton FX but my guitar tone comes from my distortion pedal into the Radial Direct Drive, really happy with how my guitar is sounding right now!!!
C: Live set up – Macbook Pro running ableton, APC 40, Apogee duet, Maschine Micro, Fender Jazz Bass, Moog Sub Phatty.
What do you like to do outside of music and does it affect your music?
Keith: I like to spend time with my girlfriend, get outside as much as I can and play video games, being outside definitely effects my approach to our music, and video games definitely do as well, being in nature is a strong reminder of the connectedness of everything, I strongly believe in the connections created from live performances. Video games themes and imagery and even video game music and be a heavy influence on song creation! Right now I’m gearing up for Destiny 2, can’t wait for the fall!
C: A few things that I enjoy outside of music are spending time with my family and friends, hiking, snowboarding, and yoga. All of these things influence the music that I create. The experiences that I have in life are embedded in my music and my music is embedded in my experiences. Its a beautiful cycle.
How would you describe your music genre?
Keith: Ah, thats tough, its guitar driven glitchy funk hop? honestly we try to hover in between a large number of genres and tempos because, in the end, we’re storytellers and songwriters and to make compelling narratives you need to have real estate in many sonic spaces!
Do you know any music theory?
Keith: I know enough to get by, I need to delve deeper into chord theory, I learned how to improvise through the modes of the major scale, when I see jazz players play I’m completely in awe and realize I have so far to go.
C; I do know some music theory. By no means am I an expert, but I know enough to connect the dots.
What are your plans for the future?
Keith: Continue to connect with amazing human beings through the vibrations that we create together!
C: Make more music, play more shows across the world, connect with more incredible artists and listeners.
How did you get into music?
Keith: My Dad put a guitar in my hand in the 5th grade, within a couple of months we were jamming together on old classics, so thankful he did that.
C: My brother is one of the best guitar players that I know, and growing up our favorite past time has always been performing together and recording. I quickly learned that I loved being in the studio, so I began to really get into engineering and later went to school for recording arts.
What are you listening to at the moment?
Keith: THE NEW CHON RECORD ON REPEAT, and DAMN. from Kendrick
C: Sun Squabi ‘Deluxe’, FKJ, Odisee ’The Odd Tape’, The Geek x VRV ‘BTOS Vol. 4’
Who are your top 5 influences and icons?
Keith: Pretty Lights, Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert, Brendan Fraser, and my Dad. in no particular order
C: Gramatik, Pretty Lights, The Roots, Tycho, Dilla
When are you playing next?
Keith: Catch us on MONTAGE MOUNTAIN for our Camp Bisco Debut!
Website: www.waxfuturemusic.com
Instagram:@waxfuture
Facebook: www.facebook.com/waxfuture
