by Hailing from Queens, NY, ryan tapalaga has been making some serious noise in the bass scene. With back-to-back stellar releases on SUBU and Aspire Higher with ‘QWOP’ and ‘got dat,’ he’s quickly becoming a favourite in the underground. With a mixture of filthy bass, hitting drums, and some hip-hop swagger, his tunes are hard not to love. With a ton of potential and a massive 2026 on the horizon, we thought it was only right to connect with the producer for a guest mix + interview.
The mix is 30 plus minutes of heaters, including a ton of unreleased IDs plus bangers from Peekaboo, Zeds Dead, LYNY, Kaiyo, OkayJake, vxrt, and more! As for the interview, we dive into his evolution as an artist, how NYC has impacted his sound, advice for artists, new year’s resolutions, and more. Dive in below.
What can we expect from the mix? Where are we going when we press play?
Through this mix, I really wanted to represent the type of music that I feel like my project embodies, both the “nasty” and melodic sides of bass music and everything in between. When you press play, I want the listener to have a sense of exactly what makes me who I am as an artist, as well as what I bring to the table in terms of my own productions, as well as my overall taste in music. I’ve included a bunch of unreleased tracks from myself, as well as some from the homies, and also some tracks that have overall had a major influence on the type of music I make today.
I experimented across many genres, including bass house, tech house, dubstep, and color bass, eventually settling into bass music about two years ago.
How long have you been making music? Tell us a bit about your journey as an artist. Are you self-taught?
I’ve been making music for nearly 10 years and am entirely self-taught, with a fairly unorthodox start with no formal musical training. My first experience with EDM came when I used to do competitive hip hop dancing and during our warmups, the teachers would play the music of prime 2013-2014 Spinnin Records big room house, and I was instantly hooked. While diving deeper into dance music on my own, I discovered Launchpad covers—YouTube performances where artists chopped songs into samples, assigned them to buttons, and paired them with programmable light shows. After years of begging, my parents bought me a Launchpad, which came with a trial version of Ableton Live 8. Although I was disappointed to learn that full Launchpad functionality required the paid version of Ableton, I became curious about the software and quickly fell in love with programming drums and creating simple beats.
I stayed on the Ableton trial for nearly five years, limited to eight tracks, which strongly influenced the “less is more” approach I still use today. Throughout high school I made beats and even rapped over them, and once I entered college I was reintroduced to EDM—particularly house music. That rediscovery reignited my passion for electronic music, opening up an entirely new creative world. I experimented across many genres, including bass house, tech house, dubstep, and color bass, eventually settling into bass music about two years ago.
What impact has living in NYC had on your music?
Living in NYC has had a massive impact on my music as I was exposed to absolutely every kind of music possible growing up. Queens, NY is known as the melting-pot of the world where you can experience hundreds of different cultures within a square mile radius, so growing up here all my life, I was exposed cultures from all over the world and have a deep appreciation of not only the music, but for the cultures that shaped the city into what it is today. I also have the absolute privilege of fueling my production sessions with incredible food from the best delis/ bodegas in the world (shoutout to Adam’s and Stephen’s if you know you definitely know).
We first caught wind of you off ‘QWOP,’ it seems to be a breakout single for you. How did you connect with SUBU? Why did you want to drop it with them?
I was actually put onto SUBU a couple years back when I was sending demos to a bunch of smaller labels/ collectives and I got referred over to them a couple of times, saying they would probably like my music. I checked their stuff out and loved everything they put out so I kept them on my radar until I made something I was really happy with, which ended up being QWOP. If I remember correctly, they were the one and only place I ended up sending it to and I really felt like it found the best home when they said they wanted it. They have been awesome the whole way through and have given nothing but support so massive shoutouts to vxrt, phogen, and aviate, definitely go check out their stuff as well they all got some bangers and have been absolute homies.
You recently said, “It finally feels like things are coming together.” Is there anything particular that helped get you to the point where everything seems to be clicking?
Lately, it feels like everything is coming together: I’m making the best music I ever have, connecting with a lot of people, collaborating with bigger artists, and overall the project feels like it’s on an upward trajectory. A major moment was having my first song played live by ATLiens at Lost Lands this year—something I never expected and a clear sign that things are moving in the direction I’ve worked toward for so long. This marks the first real traction my solo music has gained since I started taking it seriously about two years ago, and I’m incredibly grateful, humbled, and excited to see where things go from here.
Do not be afraid to experiment and remember that making music should be fun first and foremost. Music is all about expression, and especially in dance music, the main goal is to make your listener, well, dance, and dancing is inherently fun.
Do you have any advice for artists trying to level up their production skills?
For artists that are trying to level up I think my best advice is just to stay curious and try everything at least a couple times. Try making some genres you haven’t really made before, maybe you’ll stumble across a drum pattern or synth line that you can end up using for another project. On the more technical end, find some presets in Serum or something that you really like and reverse engineer them, find out what each individual thing does. Overall, just do not be afraid to experiment and remember that making music should be fun first and foremost. Music is all about expression, and especially in dance music, the main goal is to make your listener, well, dance, and dancing is inherently fun.
Do you have any studio essentials that you need to have when you are creating?
In terms of studio essentials, I don’t think I have anything that is absolutely necessary to create but I do have some things that definitely supplement the studio. I’ve been teaching myself how to play drums over the past couple months so my E-Drum kit is always something I like to just mess around with every now and then. Beside that I always enjoy a nice deli sandwich of pretty much any kind to have while im producing.
What exactly is a Calculated Stifler?
Calculated Stifler has a very funny origin story. Me and my college roommate and frequent collaborator at the time David (who goes by Belik and makes super sick drum and bass music, you should definitely go check him out) were sitting in the living room of our apartment watching “American Pie” after a drink or two. After finishing the movie David turns to me and says Steve Stifler in the movie reminds him of me. If you are not familiar with the movie Steve is always finding himself in hilarious situations and overall, just doing dumb and reckless things. To this remark I was kind of shocked he compared me to him and I fully thought it was going to be someone else. He said that I’m like Stifler at a more calculated level, knowing when and where to let the more “extroverted” side of me out.
What makes you happy aside from music?
There are a lot of things that make me happy other than music. My longtime girlfriend, Sarah has been a huge part of my life and we always enjoy things like going out to eat and watching movies/ TV shows together. I’m also extremely lucky to still be super close to my high school friend group and we have all done pretty much anything and everything together over the years. Aside from those I have always had a passion for video games as well as computers and tech.
Favourite rap album of all time? What makes it special?
My favorite rap album may be a little controversial, but it’s Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight by Travis Scott. That album was the absolute soundtrack to my life in high school and I have the most memories tied to that album specifically than any other rap album. While I don’t think it’s his best project (its Astroworld) songs like “the ends”, “coordinate” and “pick up the phone” just hold so many good memories and sentimental value to me that it’s hard to ignore. Other than rap though, my favorite project of all time has to be the “Hi This is Flume” mixtape. That project far in a way is the single most impactful body of music I have listened to and its one of those projects that when one song comes on shuffle, I feel like I’m doing a disservice to myself by not listening to the whole thing through and id definitely regret not talking about it because it has been a constant in my life since the day it came out.
Any New Year’s resolutions?
Some New Year’s resolutions include playing my first show, getting a bunch more tracks out, and making a bunch more connections/ homies in the scene.
I’m also working on some collabs with some incredible artists but I don’t want to give too much away because when they drop, it’s sure to be some of my biggest pieces of work to date. Definitely be sure to stay tuned in.
What can we expect from you in 2026?
In 2026 you can expect a ton of new music to come out, including an upcoming EP I have coming out; with some tracks I’m really excited about. I’m also working on some collabs with some incredible artists but I don’t want to give too much away because when they drop, it’s sure to be some of my biggest pieces of work to date. Definitely be sure to stay tuned in.
ryan tapalaga Guest Mix Tracklist
Vxrt & church. – respectfully
ryan tapalaga – got dat
Player Dave & Black Carl! – Petal
Vxrt – Turn up the volume (ID)
LYNY – Hitz
Kendrick Lamar – Alright [ryan tapalaga flip] (ID)
Baby Keem – Moshpit (STVSH Remix)
A$AP Ferg – Shabba ft. A$AP Rocky (Phrva & yojas. Flip)
Kaiyo – Bark (ID)
ryan tapalaga x Kaiyo – Pressure (ID)
Ryan tapalaga – Blast (ID)
Skybreak – Attention
Peekaboo & Zeds Dead – Scared
ryan tapalaga – Killa (ID)
ryan tapalaga – QWOP
Badger, Julia Wolf – In My Room (Jkyl & Hyde Redo)
OkayJake – Breathe
ryan tapalaga – stomp’d out (ID)
ryan tapalaga – Maybe
ryan tapalaga – Turnstile (ID)
STVSH – When I Fall
ryan tapalaga – ID
ryan tapalaga – balled 2 hard
ryan tapalaga – driver seat (ID)
