Discover
Discover Cükii
What first drew you into music production and future bass in particular?
I always loved music and very much enjoyed classical music and the emotion you can feel from how an instrument is played when I was little. I started to listen to electronic music when I was in high school when my friend showed me artists like Just a Gent, The Glitch Mob, GTA, and San Holo. Something in the energy of the music really spoke to me; however, I did not attend any music festivals until I was in college. Attending my first festival, Hard Summer, was what really inspired me to begin making music. I remember watching Jawz set and thinking I want to be able to make music like that. I felt that the energy and good vibes around the electronic music scene are unique and that really inspired me as I am a super optimistic, happy person. After that, I went on craigslist and found Patrick Perfetto, and he taught me the basics of production in Ableton and I have been in love with it ever since.
Cükii is a unique producer name, how did you choose that name? Any special meaning behind it?
I always loved the smiling face from Jack U as I feel the electronic music scene is there to put a smile on the listeners face. It’s kind of a mix between Cookie and Kooky. I always loved the snack names like Marshmello, Slushii, and Popsikl so I wanted something like that and the weird spelling is also kind of kooky which I would say is pretty much my personality. I’d say I am fun but definitely can be a kooky guy. I’m very open about who I am and I feel like being who you are is super important so I infused my weirdness into my name. No one should ever be ashamed of who they are and I want to express that.
Courtesy of Matt Mullery
Going over your Soundcloud we can tell you love making lots of different genres! Which genre is your favorite to produce?
This is probably the hardest question to answer for me as I love making everything from bass house to trap to future bass. The one that I find myself the most excited to make is trap music because there are pretty much no limitations. The drums in trap don’t have a set pattern like in house music and they can be very simplistic or be the main driver of a song’s energy which I think is cool. Trap also gives you such a large creative scope when it comes to sound design. I feel like there are zero limitations and as trap has progressed you can now incorporate sounds that are plucky or crazy growls that you would expect to hear in a dubstep track.
Your latest track “Echo” is your best track in our opinion! From its artwork to the Incredibly powerful sound we absolutely love it. Could you tell us more about the story behind this track? Also, what is your creative processes like?
My buddy Chris Lien did the artwork so shout out to him for that. He took the time to listen to the track and make something that speaks for the song. When I started writing Echo I was trying to write something that would sound uplifting and light but had some energy to it. The second drop I really like because it switches the whole vibe of the track from mellow to more of a bounce feeling that I did not really hear a lot in future bass music.
My creative process involves me taking things I hear from a multitude of songs and styles and mashing it all together and making it my own. On my personal Soundcloud account, I listen to close to 200 new songs a week and try to get inspiration from other artists for new things to incorporate into my style that is ever-developing. I usually get the general idea down for a song in a few hours and then tweak from there, but I always start with the drop and build around that. The drop is the centerpiece of a song and it’s easier to build a song that is coherent when you have the main energy driver for a song done. I tend to be a perfectionist though, so it takes me awhile to finish a song once I have the idea down. I am constantly making different versions of the same song and touching up my mixes. I have learned over time though that sometimes less is more which I feel is a very important thing for new producers to grasp.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
In 5 years, I hope to have some songs signed and hopefully do a few remixes for producers I really admire. I did one remix of Whisper by Boombox Cartel who I absolutely admire for their production but hope to have an official remix under my belt relatively soon. I have been practicing my DJ skills and hope that within 5 years I will have reached enough people that I can play shows live because I love the energy and atmosphere of festivals and even smaller shows. My main goal is to just always grow my listener base and hopefully, I can inspire someone to produce the way other DJs/producers inspired me.
What are your goals for the new year? Any upcoming projects we can get excited about?
My goal for the new year is to get one of my songs signed or complete an official remix. I have been working on an EP that blends all my styles together. My main goal for this summer is to finish that up and have it released in 2019 as I only have 3 completely finished songs for it and a lot of songs that are works in progress. Between now and the new year I will be dropping a lot of new music. I have a few original songs that won’t make the EP that I will be releasing as well as a good amount of remixes.
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Pictures courtesy of Matt Mullery
