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Today we are featuring a talented upcoming bass producer by the name of Chadderboxx. Coming from the midwest by way of Michigan, Chadderboxx produces a unique hybrid of dubstep and halftime bass. I first heard Chadderboxx by way of his Electric Current track which is a hard-hitting hybrid bass track. Today we are premiering Chadderbox newest track, Interviews With Science. The song is a cosmic bass journey from beginning to end and I’m sure bassheads will love it. Chadderboxx sound is improving and evolving with each release, I am positive we will hear much more from him in the future. We chatted with Chadderboxx to learn more about his journey, influences and what’s ahead. Check it out below and give the man a follow!
Where are you from, and how did your musical journey begin?
I had a structured beginning with band and choir in grade school. I remember when I was in fourth of or fifth grade I was listening to a hip-hop song on a cassette tape with my friend while riding the bus to school and hip-hop has continued to play a huge influence in my life. I picked up a guitar at the age of 17, and when I started playing guitar it became much more clear to me how passionate I was about music. I played in a few heavy metal bands for some years before moving across the country from California. I do still have love for the metal genre, however I found my love for Electronic music in California and that’s the spark that lit the fire.
I was under the influence of some hallucinogens and Emalkay, “When I Look at You” started playing, and I was immediately hooked. When the bass of that song kicked in, I was moved as I’ve never been moved by a piece of music before. I felt connected to music in a whole new way. Instead of just listening, I became immersed with multiple senses. From that moment on electronic music found a place inside me. I noticed my guitar playing style altered and the music I listened to began to become more “obscure.” Other than the brief musical training I received in grade school, I’ve basically self-taught myself everything through trial and error.
When I finally decided to start producing music, I had already been djing for about 3 or so years. Making the move toward producing was one of those turning points where I realized an artist who solely DJs is not playing larger shows and even if they are, their influence in the scene seems to usually be short-lived. I didn’t want to fall into that category, that realization was a driving force for me to begin producing, which I have now been doing for roughly 2.5 years.
How did you come up with your name Chadderboxx?
As far as my name goes, it’s a story that I can now laugh about. Before Chadderboxx, I performed under a different artist name (and I won’t even mention it) but when I got into some trouble with the law I ended up not being able to set foot in a bar for a period of time. I realized if I wanted to keep performing, I’d have to do so under an alternative stage name. When brainstorming, it came to mind that I once used “Chadderboxx” as an email address many years before this all happened. To ensure that I wasn’t going to get caught in a bar, I presented Chadderboxx as a character (who wore a box head that I made myself). Before a performance, I’d walk in, head straight to bathroom to switch into my costume, and then leave immediately after my performance. After I was cleared, I decided I wanted to keep the name, so I had a buddy draw up a image of Chadderboxx (based on the box I had created myself), so that’s where the original logo came from.
Do you enjoy the midwest? Any favorite things to do? I feel like the winter season is great for production as you can hunker down in the studio and stay warm.
The midwest is great. We have Electric Forest about an hour and a half away from where I live, plus Summer Camp and Lost Lands are less than 5 hours away. We are also lucky to have such an amazing scene that helps and supports each other. Kalamazoo has had a few artist that have blown up from our area, ( Peekaboo, G-rex, Sully) all went to Western Michigan and got their starts in music here. The amount of talent that we have here is crazy. It’s nice having the winter to kinda hideaway, I use the cold to make new tracks and play shows to test out new tracks. Once summer hits its festival season, basically using winter to hone your skills for the summer and have an arsenal of new tracks ready to drop is great.
Your racks like Electric Current, Low N Slow and Lucky among others have elements of dubstep and bass music which is really cool. Are you a fan of both genres and do you draw inspiration from both when producing?
You are too kind! As far as my style goes, I really can’t tell you where it comes from exactly. I am a fan of both but I have a variety of music that I listen to, metal, hip-hop, blues, classical, dubstep and that weird experimental bass. I find that music is an outlet to allow you to kinda put in whatever you want, I really want to start using more live instruments with my music.
What DAW do you use to produce, any favorite VST’s/tools you use for sound creation?
I use Ableton for production and serum for sound creation. I love my mastering program and honestly Ableton in general. I feel there are an endless amount of tools in there that I don’t utilize enough.
Any tips for new producers grinding away in their DAWs?
Your DAW is a very powerful tool, don’t start confusing yourself with a bunch of programs and get overwhelmed. Your first step should be learning song structure and basic timing. Don’t be afraid to use pieces of samples that you like, you can also find ways to make them your own with some fine-tuning. Lastly, don’t compare yourself to others, everyday is a new day and a chance to make something awesome.
What producers are you really digging at the moment/are pushing the boundaries the most?
Ive been into some of that saucy sauce, artist like Old Gregg, Smoakland, Ion, Smith, Blurrd Vzn, Big city Introspace and Fendz.
Can you share any music-related goals for 2020?
If life doesn’t keep getting in the way I’m hoping to have an album done sometime this year. I was originally thinking May, but probably pushing more towards June because of life and my schedule. I’m hoping to push some of these tracks out to more labels and collectives for some more exposure. Other than that, just cranking out tunes and getting better with each one.
What’s next for Chadderboxx? Any upcoming collabs/future releases you can speak of?
I’ve got one coming out with Fendz very soon. That’s a big track, its a remix of Into The Void by Black Sabbath that has some heavy dub and some slow sauce into some halftime/dnb.
