Illexxandra and DJ Shakey celebrate Producer Dojo’s 50th Release With The Bass Arithmetic EP
Congratulations on the release of The Bass Arithmetic EP! How much time did it take for you to complete the EP and what did you learn along the way?
We started the EP in the middle of the pandemic during the summer while sheltering at Shakey’s house in Nyack, NY near the woods. It was a less stressful environment than NYC. During the lockdown, animals wandered into normally busy areas. We had a regular family of deer visit and even saw a black bear cub in the yard! We made ice cream and sorbet during the day and music in the evenings. Following that initial two-week sabbatical, we only saw each other sporadically until the vaccine came out. After that, we wrapped it up in a month or two.
What were the most groundbreaking concepts that you learned while making your EP?
We would test-drive our song drafts by playing them along with Youtube videos of crowds at our favorite festivals, if it looked like they were a match then we felt we were going in the right direction. We also discovered the value of strategic napping.
What are some of your favorite approaches for quickly getting a great idea down in the DAW?
The emphasis is on having fun. We like to start by listening to music that’s inspiring us lately and the ideas generally flow pretty easily from there. When we’re together, we jam and record every idea we get excited about, and analyze it later. We use every approach available to us, so you’ll see us use MIDI instruments, microphone recordings, samples, mudpies, point-and-click entry of MIDI notes, and sounds from the Splice website.
How do you approach Collabs? Do you have any best practices to share?
Our creativity together grows beyond what we might create individually. Any idea the other person responds enthusiastically to, we’ll run with. We riff off each other to develop musical concepts but also performances, videos, and merch designs. To us, the main advantage of collaboration is bouncing ideas and getting hype off each other’s enthusiasm.
Tell us about your new Product available in the Producer DJ marketplace.
We created the Bass Arithmetic Stem Pack including all of the Stems from the EP.
Who are you listening to for inspiration these days?
Illexxandra: Changes day by day! Some latest digs include Latasha, Camoufly, TMSV, Naken, Liondub, plus the new huge Juke Bounce Werk compilation…and then people who put out fire nearly every month like Sam Binga, Redders, Rider Shafique, DJ Zinc, Vhoor, Gafacci, Magugu, Ticklish, and many more.
Shakey: I like various artists for different reasons, for instance Mungo’s HiFi for overall Dub and Bass sound as well as for producing artists, Fracture and Pinch for texture and sound design, Wuki and Bass Droppers for energy, Anna Lunoe / Flava D / AC Slater for wicked bass-house and UKG, Pyramid made my favorite breaks jam of 2021, Jinx in Dub / Phibes for DnB, Griz / Soohan / Sam Binga / Chimpo for bass and coloring outside the lines while still making it sound dope, the Funk Hunters and the Allergies for funky breaks, Dj Zinc for being amazing for nearly 30 years, then random vinyls from my collection like chipmunks singing bebop. Bonus – favorite inspirational dj sets: 24 Hour Garage Girls collective, Bleep Bloop, Dirt Monkey, Yheti, Mr. Bill B2B Ill Gates
What are your top 5 favorite VST’s at the moment?
Spitfire libraries, UVI Toy Suite, Arturia 4eva, everything by Leapwing, Fabfilter, Melda, Newfangled, and let’s say…Thermal by Output?
What can we expect from you in 2022?
More tracks, collaborations, and mixes! Illexxandra has a track coming this winter on Mallabel and a collaboration EP in the works with Mr Jennings. Shakey and Illexxandra collaborated with Liondub on a remix of a track by Bluntskull & Blackout JA that’s coming out on Blackout’s upcoming album. Be sure to keep an eye out for our names at festivals!