What first drew you into music production and future bass/trap in particular?
I got into music production through DJing mainly. I had started djing a year or two before I start producing. I had just made a new group of friends and they would always ask me to go over and play, so I started to get good from consistently playing a few times a week. I learned to appreciate the skill it takes to not only DJ effectively, but also to make your own music to DJ. I decided if I want to make it anywhere as a DJ I would have to make my own music, so I downloaded Ableton and began watching tutorials from some of my favorite artists like NGHTMRE and San Holo. I really like just about every form of EDM and when I began producing I made just about every genre, but I soon began to notice I developed more of a future bass/trap style in general. I fell in love with future bass because of the greatness you can achieve with your intros and how powerful the drops can be. I do still like to make other genres such as trap / dub / and lofi hip hop when I’m feeling chill lol. During my DJ mixes, I will play just about every genre though!
Lotaro is a very unique producer name, how did you choose that name? Any special meaning behind it?
When I first started producing (as you may know already) my name was FTW. FTW was a name I thought of when I very first started DJing, but I kinda always knew that I would find something more meaningful and change it. I recently have been through a huge change in my life between moving out on my own, breaking up with my girlfriend, and starting a new job as an IT tech. I come from a small town and have really never had too much support when it comes to trying to get big in the music industry, and my new job is amazing because I get a lot of motivation and musical support from my coworkers. I even stay late one day a week an learn piano from our coordinator Anna. My coworker even got me into lofi-hiphop recently, which really sparked back up my chill interests in music. Anyways, we began naming random things in the office with the ending “taro”. And one day my coworker said that my lofi name should be l o t a r o. I liked how the name looked and began to get used to it as a name so I officially changed my name recently. I think this will be a good way for me to always remember my company if I make it farther!
Going over your Soundcloud we can tell you love making lots of different genres! Which genre is your favorite to produce?
I kind of answered this already, but it would definitely be future bass followed by trap. I love the atmosphere you can create with a future bass into and the power of the drops!
Your latest remix of Jay Sean is your best track in our opinion! Could you tell us more about the story behind this remix? Also, what is your creative processes like?
I’m glad you guys like my jay sean remix! I actually had a ton of fun making this and it was during a tough time in my life, so there really is a lot of emotion put in on my side of the producing. I stumbled upon the remix contest for this a while ago, and honestly wasn’t the biggest fan of the kinda pop style the original has. When I heard the vocal though, I knew it would be really cool to slow the bpm down a lot and put some airy chords behind the vocal. I really like listening to the remix myself (though I wish I could remaster some things) and I’m excited to play it at shows when the time comes! As far as my creative process goes, I generally just mess around with my keyboard and play some of the built-in Ableton sounds until I can find something cool. Then I’ll record in a good chord progression and a melody, and slowly structure my songs from there. I make all of the intros and chords using massive, and I have a ton of fun making sounds in general. And a fun fact about me is that I’m very self conscious about my music, so I actually make a ton of music that nobody hears!
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
This is a really hard question to answer haha. 5 year ago from now, I hadn’t even started djing yet, so I can’t image what I can pull off in 5 years. I work full time and have been going to school full time (this is my last semester) for the past few years. I also just enrolled in a mentorship program with Bass Kleph, where I really hope to improve my music a lot over the course of the next month or two. I don’t have a girlfriend anymore and don’t think I’ll be leaving my job anytime soon, so I think I’m going to be doing music all the time until I find some opportunity in the music industry (hopefully within the next 5 years).
What are your goals for the new year? Any upcoming projects we can get excited about?
This next year I really hope to improve my music a ton! I spend a vast majority of my free time doing music and I’m constantly improving every day. I have been kinda putting off doing shows for a long time so that I could improve upon my music, but my goal is for this to be my first year to play shows. As far as producing goes I really want to just enter a lot of remix contests and my goal is to place in one by the end of the year! I have no specific projects coming up, but I make music daily so definitely expect to see a lot more music coming out of me.
Connect With l o t a r o:
Soundcloud
Instagram
