Floating on Air with Smokestax

Sound Boy Ent.
Nov 17, 2020
5 min read

The bass music Jack of all trades and SBE favorite, Smokestax, just unleashed a rare dubplate up on our YouTube channel last week and we couldn't be happier to clue you in on what inspired the vibes that is 'Floating on Air'! Smokestax strikes yet again showing off his mind-blowing versatility as a producer; we had a chance to pick his brain a bit about the creative process that went into 'Floating on Air' and some of his inspirations in the 140 realm.

'Floating on Air' enters in an cloudy dreamscape fashion, the chords greet you in and it only takes a couple of those dubbed out rim shots to know we're in for a treat. The drop soothes you in for what sums up to be quite the pleasant melodic dubstep experience; we can't help but hear the influences from Stax's lofi hip hop project rsrch chmcls throughout this one. After this interlude takes you on a tour through one of the Tri-State's lushest jungles, the second drop hits and offers quite the switch up - cue the 2-step vibes! All while floating in those chords we've been enjoying since the tune's start, we're floating on air with this one from start to finish!

SBE had the opportunity to catch up with Smokestax and hone in a bit on what inspired 'Floating on Air'. Links to support at the bottom of the article; be sure to shoot the man a follow as this will not be last time you'll be hearing his name!

SBE: Man like Smokestax! Big up for joining us on the SBE blog. Diving right into it, what was the main idea or inspiration when you were writing 'Floating on Air'?

Stax: Much love and thanks for having me. I’ve been really inspired by the more melodic side of dubstep lately drawing big inspirations from artists like Geode, Congi, and Flo just to name a few. When writing 'Floating on Air' I wanted to create a smooth atmosphere and easy listen for a dance floor and listener. Lately, I’ve been a big fan of mixing garage music in my free time. I grew up playing drums from an early age so the 2 step pattern just hits me in the feels every time. The second drop of the tune was my first attempt at writing this pattern, and I had so much fun with it. I’ve been making a lot of tunes lately experimenting with the style so expect more in the future.

SBE: Is that an actual jungle sample in the track's interlude?

Stax: It is a jungle sample I actually got from my homie Yung Abner. He’s buddies with a jungle collective and treated my inbox with a dope collection of original jungle vocal samples. Shout out the boi his tunes are super dank too if you’re into creepy bass music check him out you'll be happy.

SBE: Does writing more chilled out 140 vibes like 'Floating on Air' have a lot of cross over with your rsrch chmcls project?

Stax: The inspiration came from a few outlets. Obviously the rsrch chmcls project played a big key in pushing out chiller vibes. As a producer and listener I’m a big fan of many different genres and honestly get bored easily. For the majority of the Smokestax project, I was focusing on more heavy bass and trap styles. I always made chiller music for myself but did nothing with it. As I’ve been growing as a producer and really just in life I found that I love mixing the styles together and blending genres to create a new sound of my own. I have an EP coming early next year that will be showcasing this direction of the Smokestax project.

SBE: Who are some of your biggest influences in the dubstep world?

Stax: My biggest influences talking 140 dubstep wise right now would be homies to be honest. Isded, Parrotice, Krook, Notlo, and Retchs have been pushing out really inspiring music to me dubstep wise. As a producer in general my biggest influence and inspiration for production is the legend Dr. Derg (rip <3). He fully embraced the no rules, do what you love and fuck a genre mindset and it really resonates so much with me.

SBE: As a producer who creates electronic music across several genres, are there any specific approaches or styles you use when cracking open a 140 beat?

Stax: I’m a big fan of minimal dubstep and minimal music as a whole. Less is more a lot of the time. When writing dubstep I try to keep things minimal but still have energy throughout keeping the track interesting. As a drummer I love writing percussion for dubstep. When keeping things minimal and deep it allows a lot of open space for intricate percussion that would usually be cluttered in other styles of music. The percussion really what initially drew me into deep dubstep production.

SBE: Clue us in about your creative process in general, when starting a new project in Abelton, what determines the genre or route you want to go with the track?

Stax: I write music solely based on how I’m feeling at that moment. Most of the time I open Ableton with no set plan or idea of what I want to create and start with a drum pattern. From there I usually add different elements progressively and let the songwriting process to its thing. Another, big way I write my music is from sound design sessions. This past year I’ve been really focusing on sound design and trying to create at least one new patch or sound a day. Oftentimes these sessions tend to lead into a very productive writing session for me as well for me lately.

SBE: To wrap up the interview, tell us a bit about what you're workin on given this crazy year, any releases or events coming up we should know about?

Stax: Although crazy this year has been very productive for me. I’ve written more music in the past few months than I have in years. I took a step back to really focus on production, mixing and sound design and have been very happy with the new creations. For the Smokestax project, I have two EPs currently written. One is coming out next year on one of my favorite labels which will be sharing more on this soon. This EP really focuses on the direction of the Smokestax project in the future and I can't wait to share it. Also, I have a deep dubstep/garage EP written which I had a lot of fun experimenting with new styles on. For the rsrch chmcls project I’m really happy to announce I have finished my debut album consisting of 30 tracks bringing the listener on a journey throughout. Finally, I’m working on another mix with one of my favorite MC's MAD Pritch. Working with her has really been such a pleasure. We both resonate so well together and have a similar vision with what we want to do with our music. She's a legend <3

Thanks for having me, it's always a pleasure working with the Sound Boy team.