IamA electronic music producer Minnesota AMA!

Bassnectar/Minnesota Collab. Possibility of this happening??

we've talked about it but nothing yet. working on a remix for him right now though!

Remember that one time we rode a mattress down your stairs?

haha, one of the best nights of my lifeeeeee

You and Seven Lions have to be among my favorite artists in any genera. What is your relationship with Jeff and how did you meet him/end up collaborating on Fevers? Any more Seven Lions & Minnesota songs to come?

A mutual friend of ours showed me his stuff around the time he entered the A&B remix contest for 'You Gotta Go' and I was absolutely blown away. I hit him up right a way to see if he would be down to collab on something and he was into it. About a year later I had been working on a track with Mimi Page but I was not happy with it, so I scrapped the instrumental and sent the accapella over to Jeff. We went back and fourth a bit and we got to a point where i did not know where to take it. We sat on it for another 6 months and Jeff ended up finishing it. Not sure if we will collab again any time in the future but it was an absolute honor getting to work with him on that track and he is still one of my favorite electronic music producers right now.

Christian! Huge fan from memphis tn. Your fusion of melody, bass, and synth is a breath of fresh air into the dubstep/glitchhop genre.

My question is this, is there any way to find full audio of your wakarusa set? It was truly one of the best sets I have ever seen. Weeks later I can't get those magical moments out of my head. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank ya so much, that was a fun set! There is no recording of that set or any recent sets, but i'm gonna try to record a set similar to the wakarusa set pretty soon since it's been so long since i've put out a mix.

Hi Christian!

I'm that one Asian dude at the front always screaming at you to play Stardust (@Sea of Dreams, Mighty, Coachella).

Just want to say I've been such a fan ever since I first heard your set at Snowglobe 2012, your sound was just so clean, refreshing, and satisfying to my ears. Thanks for partying so hard with us, hope your leg is okay!

At Coachella I decided to close the night with your set at the do-lab and boy am I glad with that decision. You killed it. And you were nice enough to get a picture with me! made my night.

Also, thanks for argueably your best set at Mighty SF on my birthday, I brought a bunch of friends and they were all converted into Minnesota fans.

Fan for life here, thanks for the good times. Hope to see you in SF more (Mighty again, please!).

Oh, and one question, WHY DON'T YOU PLAY STARDUST(or redux) MORE?! I love your more ambient, chill stuff.

-Jeff

thanks for the kind words :) I usually play stardust, stardust redux and all the other chill stuff towards the end of my sets. I was a dj before i started producing so i like to put together sets that keep people moving while mixing in my productions. def get this question a lot!

Np, you the man.

So when are you planning to play in SF again? Also, what do you usually do after your sets?

I will be in SF for fall tour at the end of november. Sometimes I party but i usually just go back to the hotel and pass out

Awesome!

I'll knock off the yelling about stardust, sry bout that, haha.

it's all good, i play those at most shows but if i remember correctly i for some reason did not play them at any of those shows. sorry about that!

My first live Minnesota set was SummerSet last year in WI. It was hot, dusty... And you got suuuuper dirty. I think you cut up everyone one of my favorite tracks from the 90s rap scene.
Seen you coast to coast now, and your HOB Chicago show last winter still has me floored; on that I messaged you on Facebook and asked if you had a recording, you didn't... But you actually responded. Quickly, and politely.
I've got a lot of appreciation for you and how you stay connected/grounded. Mad respect for your mom for her charity run... I'm a pediatric nurse and it's nice to see real people still give a fuck

Supposed to ask a question: how do you stay do level headed knowing you just keep putting out the freshest shit?!?

I really appreciate comments like this! It is weird to me how some artists blow up and completely change as a person. It is really satisfying to hear that fans think I am down to earth and approachable and I cringe when I see artists blow up and completely change for the worse.

Thank you so much for the kind words!

Middle East@Boston on the Minnesota/Zion I/AmpLive tour.

Why the hell did that guy throw water at you during your set?

Im pretty sure that he was one of Zion I's hardcore fans that really didn't like electronic music lol. Funny thing is when everyone started booing, I thought they were booing at me but they were actually booing at the dude being carried out

we were chanting "Fuck that guy"

cause fuck that guy

Shout out to the dude who started pouring his beer on the guys head as security was taking him out

Also I remember it as "you suck dick" or something along those lines... maybe that was a different show though

haha, no you are actually right. it was 'you suck dick'

Hey Minnesota! Huuuuge fan love your stuff. My question is.... Is there a festival/venue that you like more than the others? Like one that you decide to just throw down at opposed to a chill show? Thanks!

My absolute favorite festival to play and attend is Electric Forrest and my favorite venue to play is Terminal West in Atlanta. Terminal West has a great staff and an insane in house lighting system. For festivals in general i def go a bit harder than i do at club/venue shows

How much do you love summercamp? Any cool stories from scamp? Love your shit, keep on keepin on!

The last 2 years at summercamp have been sooooo dope. hope to be back next year

Minnesota, huge fan of your music. my promo company i was working for in Santa barbara brought you out and you absolutely killed it. caught you at many other shows but you and G Jones were my favorite at coachella. i've got a huge question for you, i loved "Astral Projection", i know you had a bunch of samples from Edgar Mitchell and stuff about OBE's....whats your inspiration of this? are you into astral projection/ alternate realities/ higher consciousness?

Honestly I have not really tried astral projection. The first few years of making electronic music i was really into psychedelics and read a lot of books by people like Terence Mckenna and Rick Strassman. I think i was browsing the internet trying to find some trippy audio samples when I came across astral projection and some guided meditation youtube videos. I have certainly had some OBE's that were psychedelic induced but never one through anything like astral projection or lucid dreaming. I have tried lucid dreaming but i could never get past the terrifying sleep paralysis part.

Will you be at Burning Man this year? I remember going to your shows at the gym behind the Indian restaurant in Santa Cruz. Good times.

haha good ol' 418 raves. I'll def be at the burn this year camping with camp ?

Christian! I've been following you forever, and your music is some of the most gorgeous and most crunk stuff I have. I've introduced countless people to you, and you and Pretty Lights are my go-to music for anything.

Ive seen you 6 times at small venues all over the country (both festivals I went to that you were at got rained out, Waka '13 and CounterPoint '14), but I haven't ever heard you drop your older, less popular stuff like Juicy, Roof Back, Whoa!, California Dreaming, r My Dip in the Club (we got hit with Rolling in the Deep in Dallas last year and you about gave that crowd a heart attack lol). My question is do these not come up in your sets when you throw them together by accident, or are you not thinking those kinds of songs would translate well in your set? I've talked to you after a few of your shows but I always forget to ask because I'm too shellshocked by an already outstanding set lol. I love your music, can't get enough of the new album (Airships is my shiiiiiit), but is there any possibility of getting some older, crunk, ratchet Minnesota thrown in???

Sorry about that wall. I've been looking forward to finally getting to ask lol

It is mostly cause those tracks are just pretty old and I got tired of playing them. I know for the last few years ive been producing more chill/melodic stuff but i am planning on doing some more hip/hop glitch hop stuff soon cause i def miss that. I feel ya though, def get a lot of requests for some of the really old stuff.

Yo minnesota, love your feel good synths! how much is analog vs digital?and what do you like for vst/plug-ins? Much Thanks!

All digital and in the box at this point. Def a lot of massive for designing my own pads and bass patches, i also use Omnisphere, nexus, and my accesses virus TI a lot. My fav vst Effect is Fabfilter timeless 2... love all the dub delay presets in it

Were you surprised when Zed's Dead dropped Sail Away in that Diplo and Friends mix?

Does Kendrick fly with you, and if so is he a carry on?

I was a little surprised, but they have dropped a few of my collabs with G jones so it was not totally out of the ordinary.

Have not flown with Kendrick yet but i would definitely check that creepy fucker! jk love you kendrick

Do you feel that the free downloads you provide (thanks, btw!) has had any impact on potential sales--positive or negative? Love the tunes, and keep it up!

I think providing my music for free exposes it to more people, thus increasing my fan base and size of the shows that I play (meaning more money for me). It's the grassroots way of going about things and it's really worked for a lot of the big artists out there like Pretty Lights, Griz, Gramatik, etc.

Also, releasing my music for free doesn't mean that I don't make money from it. All my music is up on all the online stores and streaming sites. Believe it or not there are still a good amount of people that would rather buy my music (or just don't know it's available for free).

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1. A tip that was very helpful was to do mixdowns at a lower volume. I used to produce and mix down at very high volumes, and once i turned things down my mix downs started sounding a lot better. Also, learning how important it is to EQ everything was very big. Filtering out low frequencies on everything to make room for your Kick and Sub Bass and using subtractive EQing to make room for every other element in your song.

2. Electric Forrest is def my fav traditional music fest, but Burning Man is a my all time favorite festival.

3. I'm not 100% happy with the track but i'm not sure where else to go with it so i might just release it soon :)

Favorite song to play live? Favorite part of the country to perform?(Other than MN)

Favorite of my own tracks to play right now are voyager and airships. Other than that i LOVE playing my homie G jones's track. My favorite city to play is Chicago closely followed by Atlanta and Denver and also love doing homecoming shows in Santa Cruz, CA

What is the possibility of there being another Deathstar EP or Marty Party collaboration in the future?

We have talked about a lot! The main problem now is that I am on the road half the year and i only produce music at home so whenever i get home i really like to focus on producing solo original music. Hopefully once i have an extended period of time off we will be able to work on some stuff.

I saw you at Kaleidoscope in Oregon and you played two sets! Rumor was that you played a third that night on the camp site. Is that true? If so you've got a lot of energy my friend.

Also the first song I heard of yours was the California Dreaming remix. Long story short my buddy was telling me that a remix of that song would be sick, so I searched to see if it had done and I discovered you. Keep doing what you're doing and come back to Oregon soon

I ended up just doing the two sets! Right when i got off off stage after playing the first set they told me that someone had canceled so Amp live and I filled in and did a vs set. I think around 3 or 4am that night we drunkinly walked over to a stage in the camp ground to try to play a set but they weren't having any of that...

What are your favorite synths/vst's to use? And do you have any free ones you would recommend?

massice, omnisphere, nexus, gladiator, Fabfilter timeless, and Schaack audio transient shaper are ones that our coming to mind right now. I don't think i use any free ones

any tips on making those massive pads you use? you've been a huge inspiration in my own music. infact i entered in your contest and placed second by vote. cant wait to hear more stuff

The mid bass layer in super saws is very important so focus on creating a good distorted bass patch for that and then find a few good presets for the pad that you can layer. I really like some of the supersaw lead presets in gladiator

are you actually from minnesota, if so where? and btw FIRST!!

Yup! grew up in Chanhassen and moved to South Minneapolis near lake Harriet when i was 14. Moved out to Cali for college

How did you get into producing music?

I always wanted to make music for a living and never had success with any of the bands i put together. Producing electronic music was appealing to me because i did not have to rely on anyone else and i could do it whenever and wherever i wanted.

What was your night like at Lupin Lodge when you performed there?

I played there a few times back when they did more shows, but the most memorable night was for a camp ? party. Camp ? booked me to open up in one of the yurts and the dj after was late so i got to play for a while. I think that exposed me to a lot of people in their crew and ive been playing with them at the burn and emissions festival ever since!

As a huge fan of yours I was wondering why at festivals they always give you a shitty times lot? For example at North Coast 2012 you were against Pretty Lights, and this years Wakarusa you played against String Cheese and Infected Mushroom. With that being said you are a great producer and I love everything about your music.

That is just the nature of music festivals, a lot of artists play and there are bound to be conflicts. Just stoked to be playing those festivals :)

Thanks Minnesota for doing this ama! i love your music! :)

I just wanted to ask how you got your name from? :)

thanks! I grew up in minnesota and when i moved to california when i was 18 people just started calling me that. Started djing and couldn't think of a cool name so i just went with my nick name!

Did they kick you off stage during set at Wakarusa? That such an amazing set man didn't want you to stop. Also ever plan on doing a collab with nectar?

haha, nah i think my set ended when it was supposed to. No collab in the works but he just sent me the stems for one of the tracks on his new album

Hey Christian, you are the motherfreaking man! Your music is some of my absolute favorite tunes. From your older remixes to your own production, it's all fantastic. I've had some bad luck missing you at Counterpoint & in Kansas City, can't wait to see you live again. Of the artists you've toured with, who have you had the most fun with, or gained the most from musically?

The tour with Koan Sound was really fun. Some tours can be a bit awkward, but i connected with those dudes on day one. They are also insane producers as many of you know and do a really cool live set, so that was really cool to see every night

Love you style of music Christian! I'm really glad you've kept the same "feel" to your music while still developing your sound. I remember listening to you and Paper Diamond a lot back in 2011-12 and since then Paper Diamond has really changed imo. I was at your show last fall at the HoB in Chicago and honestly the selling point for me personally was that Haywyre was opening for you, but in the end both of you guys were stellar performances; and on that note what do you think of Haywyre? Will you ever tour with him? Just want to hear a producers opinion of him.

holy shit, that dude is insannnne. not only one of the best up and coming producers, one of the best producers period. he is getting a ton of support from a lot of the big guys like noisia, rob swire, mat zo, and porter robinson and i hope he blows up really soon.

Top o the mornin to ya!

A: How was playing with Shpongle at Red Rocks? Simon and Raja seem like super awesome dudes.

B: Did you play a Pink Floyd remix at that show? My friend has been after me to figure out what song it was and I am having no luck. Can you help?

Thanks for doing the AMA, you're the shit.

yo! A. It was def an honor to get to play at such a legendary venue with shpongle. I tried to keep my set suppppper chill since i was opening for emancipator and shpongle. B. That is a track by capital cities https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bcCkyQaNLo&feature=kp

I know you visited Electric Forest last year, what sets were your favorites?

100% above and beyond. life changing!!!

Did you ever get your pig back?

yea, but he's just not the same...

ive been trying to ask you this for over a year now and can never find an answer. last year at summer camp you dropped bomb ass version of clique by kanye and I wanna know if there is anywhere to find it?!?!!? either way ive always had a blast at your shows and look forward to continuing so in the future

Hey, I'm pretty sure that i used to play the orignal version of clique into my track purple daze

any advice to a teen interested in getting into the music scene?

When i started djing i had a lot of trouble getting bookings, so i decided to just start throwing my own shows. My manager, myself and a few other friends started a production company called Vital SC and through that i was able to network with other production companies and start getting bookings for other shows.

Now it seems the only way to get into it is to be a really really good and unique producer or to get involved with the promotion/production side of things

How long does it usually take you to complete a song?

Def varies a lot. 'Voyager' took a month cause I kept changing it but Thunderdome only took 3 days.

What's your speaker setup?

in the studio i just replaced my rokit 5's with Adam Audio A7X's

Hey man, thanks for doing this!

I really appreciate the individualized sounds that you make- i'm wondering if in your productions you tailor more towards hardware/gear or if you keep things internal through plug-ins? ---YOU'VE ANSWERED THIS ALREADY and For actual instrumentation, do you have any "go-to" pieces that you want to share- like microphones or instruments, etc -- NEVERMIND BECAUSE OF ABOVE ANSWER

New question: With regards to sound design- how much time do you spend building up the sounds before you begin to place them in your tracks. Also, do you have workflow techniques that you can share?

haha, glad you got the answers to the first questions.

I know a lot of producers separate sound design from song writing but i do it all at the same time. I design my bass and pad patches and use/tweak a lot of presets in omnisphere, nexus, and my virus TI for everything else.

Workflow tip is to not overthink things and write music as fast as you can. A lot of the tracks i made in one day are a lot better than tracks ive spent 4-6 weeks on.

Every time I have seen you I become more and more impressed. You stepped up for two sets at KMF2013 and completely tore apart DoLab with G Jones at Coachella!

How does it feel looking up from the mixer and seeing so many people vibe to your tunes? And have you and G Jones ever discussed the idea of a Minnesota vs G Jones tour? Oh the feels..

Greg and I are doing a lot of shows together in the near future and we are planning on working on an LP at the beginning of 2015 and really get our project going

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Um I haven't really heard of you before(not much of a music guy) but when I tried to download voyager on my phone, it said that I couldn't open the file.

Is there was a way to get a direct to phone link for it? otherwise, I'll just download it onto a computer and just get it from there. From what everyone else says, your music is great!

It's a zip file so you'll have to download it on your comp. Let me know what ya think :).

Hello, I made the "Let Your Love Grow" pin that you retweeted recently. Next time I see you is love to be able to gift one or two to you! You are easily one of my favorite producers out there and just saw my 10th show of yours at Waka. So next time you are in Chicago or Grand Rapids I'll try my best to make it to your show and give you. :) Also to ask a question, will there be a fall tour?

duuuuuuuuude, that pin is so dope. We are hitting Chicago and GR in the fall and I will put ya on the list for a pin! hit me up on twitter

Yo Christian!!! I was the cat that gave you the flash drive with my new ep on it at the airport in Chicago! Just wanted to know if you had a chance to listen to it? Wasn't sure if you would dig it or not so I have to ask if you liked it or not? You're music is really something else man, and it is a HUGE inspiration to my production!

Yo! that was so awesome and random. but yea, i was really impressed with the tunes, do you have a soundcloud link? i lost the flash drive

Craziest thing you have ever seen while on tour?

we stole a golf cart at Electric Forest for 2 days, but got in some trouble for that

I cherish the fact that the only time I've seen you live was in Athens last November at New Earth, which is definitely a smaller, intimate venue. However, I can't wait to see you in a bigger setting the next time I have the chance. I know you just played in Atlanta last month, but I was too broke to go ): I'll definitely be making sure I save up next time, aha. Congrats on selling out another show though!

Anyway, where do you find inspiration for your music? Also, what has been your favourite collab so far and who would you love to collab with in the future?

Thank ya! been playing at New Earth since i first started touring, love that venue.

My fav collab is Thunderdome with G jones. I would really love to collab with AWE

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Most important thing to taking the next step is getting your mix down's good. There is a lot of good info on the web about this.

soon on the adventure club remix!

Hey Christian!

We share the same name, and in a huge fan from the North (Toronto)! I haven't heard much word yet, but what's the likelihood of you coming to Canada to grace us with your presence?

Thanks!

-Other Christian

Heyyy Christian!

I play Canada a few times a year, but i've never hit that side of canada. Playing Edmonton in october but i don't think that is to close to Toronto

Hey Sota,

I have always wondered as an artist comes up, especially at the stage you're at, if you start to feel restricted or trapped by the musical style that got you to where you are. For example, your very recognizable saw-rich lead synth–I know it's you the instant it drops. Do you ever get sick of it, but realize that it is now your "signature", and that it might be risky to leave it behind? I realize you produce a variety of sounds, and I'm not trying to imply any one-trick-pony business, but I think the question still applies!

Also, love seeing you live. Especially at smaller venues, like the Middle East in Cambridge (with Zion I).

greaaaaat question! I actually am getting tired of producing in that style and i just finished a track in that that style but promised it would be my last for a while. But I def am not afraid to leave it behind. I think people who have been following me for a few years appreciate that i produce a few different style other than melodic dubstep. But honestly i will produce whatever i feel like and if people dig it thats cool. Thanks for the well-thought out question!

Hey love your music man! what program and stuff do you use to create your music? FL Studio? just curious :)

Thanks! Ableton and a bunch of vst's which i listed in a few other answers.

Hey man I love all your work. My goto tripping song is Purple Daze. Loving the new stuff as well. Just wondering if you had fun in St.Louis for the 420 show? 2720 is a pretty special place to all of us and I'm glad that you and Greg tore that bitch up!! Here's a pic I got with you: http://imgur.com/3ByifZL Thanks for the music and the picture brother!

Edit: is that the same snare throughout the entirety of Voyager?

haha, sooooo sweaty.

The Snare are all a bit different, but i might've used the same base snare in a few as they all have a few layers

What do you with your free time? Like when you're not on tour and not producing new music. (Or do you even have any free time)

nothin to crazy, when i'm not producing music at home i hang out with my gf/ friends. we've going to a lot of giants game recently thoughhh

who do you think are big upcoming bass artists this year?

G Jones, AWE, Ganz