by This week’s featured artist for our guest mix series is going to go places, mark my words. NYC-based vxrt has been quietly paving a path for himself online with releases on SUBU, dumb collective., and Partica, among others. With an ear for beats both beautiful and grimy, vxrt’s discography has a track to please just about anyone; from insanely groovy house music, to golden SoundCloud-era trap, to introspective, atmospheric beats, it’s all there in one form or another.
We’re lucky to have had the chance to have vxrt hop on the guest mix this week, and boy did he he come prepared! Doing things a little differently this time, this mix comes with a special visual accompaniment that you can watch on YouTube here. Let’s get into it!
Thanks for taking the time to hop on this interview! How is life treating you?
Life is great! Been loving the summer here in NYC, spending a lot of time with friends, family, and my cat.
Can you tell us a bit about the guest mix you’ve prepared for us today?
This guest mix is a more laidback mix of what my album, “still here” was influenced by. Recently I’ve been enjoying taking my love for harder-hitting drums and rhythms and mixing it with more melodic and ambient style productions.
There’s this one growl in that song that sounded so out of this world to me. I just had never heard anything like that and I NEEDED to know how it was done. From there I’ve just been deep into producing ever since.
Tell us a bit about yourself. What inspired you to start making music?
Music has always been a part of my life since I was younger but producing is what really hooked me. The spark for making music was this one MUST DIE! remix of ‘Flames’ by Sawgood. There’s this one growl in that song that sounded so out of this world to me. I just had never heard anything like that and I NEEDED to know how it was done. From there I’ve just been deep into producing ever since.
Some of my favorite tracks of yours are your flips. What about a track makes it stand out to you in such a way that you decide you want to make an edit?
Thank you! Most often that spark of inspiration will come from DJing or going out, where I’ll hear a track and just know I want to put my spin on it. I’ve also got a long-running folder of songs I want to remix, so sometimes I’ll start there to get inspiration.
Collaborating is such a great way to branch out and get back to the root of why we make music which is about having fun and expressing yourself.
You’ve recently begun releasing some really killer house tracks with too° under the alias Westt. What prompted this new direction?
I feel like as creatives we can put ourselves into unnecessary boxes of styles. Collaborating is such a great way to branch out and get back to the root of why we make music which is about having fun and expressing yourself. I LOVE making more dancey house music. Westt is actually a mash of myself and my best friend from high school that we started up in 2016. It has always been about just writing fun house music and not taking ourselves too seriously.
Do you have any big plans regarding music for the rest of the year?
Got a couple more chill releases lined up, but I’d love to also wrap up this Westt album and get back into releasing some more bass music!
I know you have releases with both SUBU and dumb collective (maybe I’m missing some labels, feel free to shout them out). How did you get involved with them?
SUBU happened rather randomly from a friend in college (shoutout MF) sending one of my tracks to them. Now I’ve been with them for a while and SUBU is like family to me. Also had the pleasure of releasing with dumb collective, Partica, Arcadium Project and Badmouth! All been super supportive and it just happened organically through connecting with folks on Twitter or Discord.
If you could have a release on your dream label, who would it be?
Would be an honor to release on Foreign Family Collective, Nervous Records, or Sable Valley.
Who are some sleeper artists that you’ve had on repeat lately?
ATRIP, Hundaes (check out his Sine Journals), ILIVEHERE, & denis biblioni have all been on repeat. Always listening to so much music from my SUBU homies too.
Never stop creating!
What’s your favorite hobby outside of music?
I’ve been enjoying biking around NYC a lot! Been trying my hand at bowling… and also must admit I’ve been sucked back into playing a lot of Pokemon Emerald.
Any other words you’d like to share with our readers?
Thank you for having me! Never stop creating!
vxrt FUXWITHIT Guest Mix Tracklist:
0:00 vxrt – ID
2:36 LYNY – Home
3:50 vxrt & Westt – memories
5:26 ATRIP – Me + You (Chill Mix)
7:48 aviate – care
9:32 aviate – So (aviate & vxrt VIP)
11:50 cois – too late
14:10 Afternoon Bike Ride – Dog Years (weird inside remix)
16:05 barking continues – can we stay friends?
19:18 Japanese House – Something Has to Change (Hundaes Edit)
20:18 aviate & vxrt – ID
22:19 vxrt – the sunshine
23:34 Justin Bieber – Sade to Love (esentrik x miles medina edit)
26:12 Kesha – Die Young (vxrt remix)
27:15 vxrt – the day i saw you
28:16 Duskus – Cut
29:48 vxrt & church – the last time (VIP)
30:51 vxrt & phogen – atlantic ave
