Knoxtronica Presents: Sugarpill Interview for Impulse Festival

Knoxtronica- I couldn't be more excited to have the opportunity to collaborate with Knoxtronica Presents and to interview Sugarpill as pre-coverage for Impulse Music and Arts Festival, happening this weekend June 15-17 in Union Point, Georgia. Please introduce yourself..

Sugarpill: I make glitchy bass music.

Knoxtronica- Impulse Festival is definitely a trek for you to come from California, L.A. I presume.. When was the last time you were on the East Coast in general, and more specifically the Southeast? Are you staying the whole weekend at the festival and are there any other artists you are particularly excited to see?

Sugarpill- I was in D.C. a few months ago and Baltimore right before that. This will be my first time performing at a proper show in the Southeast since I moved away from there about 3 years ago.

Knoxtronica- On your Facebook profile you have a quote about Sasquatch. Are you aware of/interested in participating in the Amateur Sasquatch Hunt that is being held on the 7,000 acre festival grounds this weekend?

Sugarpill- Hahaha, I saw that was going on. Actually, I think that for sasquatch the rules are always different, so I probably wouldn’t go trying to look for a sasquatch... I’ve always kind of assumed that sasquatch gets found on his own terms.

Knoxtronica- How has being part of Headtron helped to foster your growth and development as an individual artist?

Sugarpill- Being able to work closely with and get to travel and perform with a lot of my favorite artists is pretty ridiculous. Having a crew of people around who kind of get where I’m coming from and where I want to go artistically is really stellar. Getting to to bounce ideas off each other and try new things musically is just pretty amazing because we can be honest with each other and at the end of the day still have that friendship and bond. I think helps us all to grow.

Knoxtronica- What is the group environment of Headtron like, are the “disciples” all tight and involved in each other’s lives/careers as I like to imagine they are?

Sugarpill- Yes. We roll pretty deep. We all travel a lot, so its nice to have some close homies who can relate to what that’s like and who are out there doing it with you a lot of the time.

Knoxtronica- What did you do before getting fully into the music industry? What enabled/encouraged you to follow a career in music?

Sugarpill- Too many things to really describe them all. I’ve always loved music and followed that love whenever I’ve had even the glimmer of an opportunity.

Knoxtronica- You certainly have some creative, eye-catching track names out there like “Disconnect your Elbows,” “Chewbacca Hat,” and there is rumor of a new track in creation called “Bass Salts.” (lol) Where do you come up with these names?

Sugarpill- A lot of different things happen to cause track naming for me, its almost different every time... Some of them come from just talking nonsense with people, sometimes things are just ridiculous and awesome, sometimes I just mishear things people say and I think what I heard was funny.

Knoxtronica- From living on the East Coast and listening to what you are doing on the other side, I would say that your sound/style of bass music is largely a new frontier, at least over here. When I first heard your music I felt that it was so distinct and attractive, I could tell that this was different than a lot that I had been hearing. How do you feel about developing music which not been fully explored and that so many people have yet to discover? Who would you say has helped lead the way thus far through this new era of future bass along with you?

Sugarpill- I just do what I’m feeling. I’m definitely influenced by a lot of the amazing things happening around me, but some things in music ring true to me and I feel like they can easily be forgotten in electronic dance music. In my music I like to always keep things feeling melodic at the same time they’re heavy and always throw in something playful or experimental in each tune I do to keep it interesting for me.

Knoxtronica- Tell us about your collaborations with other Headtron artists, and specifically ChrisB under the moniker Swordfight. How do these collaborations get initiated and how do each of you affect the other’s expression?

Sugarpill- Swordfight got initiated on the way to a set ChrisB and I were playing at Lighting in a Bottle last year at the Doctor Bronner’s Tub in 2011. We kind of found each other on the way over there and as I walked up to him he’s like “I thought of the perfect name for this... Swordfight, cause we’re going to throw down for a bunch of naked people getting showered in this gigantic tub.” And I think we pretty much didn’t stop laughing and being ridiculous for the next two hours playing our tunes and crunk music to dancing naked people.

Knoxtronica- Looking back--ten years ago, where were you, what did you see for your future, what is the biggest difference in your life now? What are you most surprised by? Looking forward--where do you see yourself in five years? What are some of your long-term career goals?

Sugarpill- Man, I have no idea. My life is super crazy.

Knoxtronica- With so many people pursuing a career in music, and with more and more technology available making producing music easier but also harder to get your work noticed amid the competition, what advice would you give to young people aspiring to make it to where you are today?

Sugarpill- I try to take every opportunity I have to learn new things about anything, and relentlessly love every minute of it that I can.