Like many DJ hopefuls, Sticky K got his start producing music on a macbook in college. What started with a few garageband beats and mixing at house parties turned into something much greater after being signed to Switch's record label Dubsided in early 2009.
As a fellow UCSB alum, I've known him for years and I've had the extreme pleasure of losing my hearing to his music at the aforementioned house parties and most recently at the Harder Stage at Hard Haunted Mansion in 2010. In between those, Sticky K headlined a small event called Neon Noize in Santa Barbara that forever cemented my love of EDM.
With two EPs already under his belt, his Persian-style techno banger Prince of Persia released earlier this year and the frontal lobe-rupturing Separate Your Mind appearing on Dim Mak Records New Noise Vol. 1 last month, 2012 seems poised to be a big year for Sticky K. Continue past the jump for answers to some questions about his music and the EDM scene as a whole.
First let's talk about what you're working on. Any new or upcoming projects you want to talk to us about?
My next release will be on Mad Decent. It will be a single called Persian Algebra. It's a moombahton track, but as the title suggests, it has some Middle Eastern flavor! More detail on the release and previews are coming soon. [You can listen to the track on the September edition of Diplo's Blow Your Mind]
Another upcoming project to look out for is the new Major Lazer record. I co-produced one of the tracks with Diplo. Unlike my other work, this track is straight reggae.
You've mentioned before you've been working on a full-length release. Any updates on when we can expect it?
As far as full length goes, I'm actually going to be focused on releasing singles for the time being.
You recently tweeted about a collaboration you're working on with Dillon Francis, can we expect more gold along the lines of Persian Algebra?
We were too hungover to come up with something good, I still have those chords he came up with and I'm supposed to work on it but haven't come up with anything cool yet. Hopefully soon!
I've seen your music described as "donald duck basslines" and "laser synths," and of course there's the definite Persian Influence seen on your California EP and Prince of Persia. How would you best categorize your music?
I would best describe my music as a mix of hip-hop and house music. Obviously its dance music, but I like to incorporate percussion and vibes from hip-hop. Of course there's the Persian influence in my music but not every tune I do has to have a Persian melody. That would be boring, I'm too ADD to stick to one sound anyways.
There are upwards of 100k music blogs. What are some of the ones on your blog roll?
My favorite blog/website is Southern Hospitality, a UK blog that covers hip-hop. Another UK blog/magazine I follow is for sure factmag. This is my go-to for everything club/dance as far as the UK underground goes. I don't really try to look at the blogs because you risk listening to the same stuff as everyone else.
Biggest influences at the moment? Favorite up-and-comers?
Some of my favorite producers right now: Canblaster, Munchi, The-Dream. Surkin's new album sounds amazing.
Who do you predict is going to really explode in 2012, like Afrojack did last year and Avicii did this year?
The thing is...you can never never really predict who is going to "blow up." Two things I've noticed, whenever someone is touted as being the "next big thing" they never usually are. And people like Afrojack and Avicii back a couple of years ago were never publicized as "OMG THESE GUYS ARE GONNA BE HUGE." That kind of success is always unexpected to a certain degree. Sooo, I really can't say who is gonna be big next year.
Have you read the SPIN article about the "New Rave Generation"? What are your thoughts on the explosion of the EDM scene in the past few years?
I did read that SPIN article. It's cool to see dance music get coverage like that, but it also worries me because this kind of coverage is a definite indicator that things are at the peaking level and things are only going to go downhill from here. I can already feel the backlash coming.
But at the same time, people have said the same thing about hip-hop and even rock n' roll. So maybe EDM is just becoming the standard form of music.
Sticky K currently has no upcoming plans to tour or play in Socal, so if you like what you hear, join me in bugging him to get down here and play @Sticky_K.
Original Tracks by Sticky K