You have to really be clever with your effects.”ĭo you think those limitations helped develop your sound? The way that it was set up makes you think about how you're going to be recording. And I was just like, ‘I'm sticking with the $13 program’. They only give you 2 FX buses, 2 send buses, a master, and I think you could only do about a hundred tracks at max. I didn't realize how limited that program was. , I ended up using Acid Music Studio for years. You could take the volume, make it low, raise it, record some audio, stop it – just the basic essentials. It was like a kid's version, wouldn't have any effects. I stopped using FL from the fact that it wasn't really sparking my creativity as much as it used to. “I started transitioning to what felt easier for me. I remember wanting to just make something that sounded like all of what I heard together.”Īt this time, what programs were you using to produce music? And that was one of those things where I was like, ‘There's more out there musically’. So you have Madlib, J Dilla, J-Rocc on that soundtrack. That was when they put the whole Stones Throw discography on the 2K8 soundtrack. The only way I could dodge it and be safe was to play video games. Growing up, I wasn't allowed to listen to anything outside of gospel because it was ‘secular’. “I remember being the kid who listened to a little bit of everything, but it wasn't until 6th or 7th grade that I started listening to more music outside of gospel. When you first started producing, what kind of music were you trying to make? I would have the drums, I would have a guitar, but I would lay all this out in MIDI, in FL.” I started trying to emulate what a band would sound like in my mind. And I thought it was the coolest thing ever. He recorded his voice and played it back with MIDI. So my dad was always mentioning music technology, and I remember him showing me MIDI in FL Studio when it became mainstream. I remember being in middle school like, ‘Man, I would love to just have a band.’ I asked all of my friends, and no one was really ever down for it. We would play different churches all over Florida. Since I was three, my dad would have me travel with a small little CB drum kit.

My dad played keys and used to lead the choir, and I’d be on the drums. What inspired your interest in making music? Today, the 23-year-old is at the vanguard of a new class of producer: born and bred with the internet, eager not only to create records, but sample challenges, drum packs, communities which provide value not only to listeners, but to fellow creators who are committed to investing into each other's artistic growth. Never shy to explore the spectrum of contemporary music, his sound has run the gamut from dancefloor-ready Miley Cyrus remixes to hard-hitting rap beats inspired by ‘70s progressive rock. A product of electronic music’s “Soundcloud era”, Ellis spent his high school years trading tracks online with the likes of TEK.LUN, Lakim, and Kaytranada.

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