MartyParty Interview – Talks new PantyRaid album, Purple Trap, and says “No to Slavery, Worship the Sun” (WRR Exclusive)

MartyParty stood in his own realm of music long before a thing called “trap music” came along. He would instead describe his sound as “purple dubstep”, “purple trap”, or melodic club sounding hip-hop. But who cares about genres anyway, M.P.’s purple operas are set to transcend all BPMs and flow seamlessly through multiple genre styles. It was humbling to meet him, and inspirational to know that he really only cares about giving kids an opportunity to release themselves from the world.

What are your feelings about Trap music?

I love it! 4-5 years ago I was calling it “club hip hop” for lack of a formal name. Later evolved to include more melodic elements and started calling it “purple music.” This sound as been around for a while… growing out of the hip hop scene more than a decade ago. Now that people are going on and on about the “trap” thing in relation to dance music, I’m ok with it. Don’t really care what people want to call it. Just happy to see more people enjoying a style that we’ve been working with so long, as well as it crossing over social boundaries. Though the hype does make me wanna laugh. Funny how the old becomes the new and vice versa… perception and timing play a part in music.

Explain your purple genre in a few sentences and what that means to you… that’s music you were making before trap even came out.

I always saw there was this massive hole in the music market for “melodic music” that crosses any genre and any fucking BPM. So much emphasis on drums and bass that it gets overlooked. Not that drums & bass aren’t the shit… but a song has to have the highs to carry your head. Let the lows carry your body. Purple is just more melodies to evolve a story from a beginning to an end, to create closure in a song. It can be done with trap, dubstep, house, etc., it can be any BPM. But the bottom line is you press play and the melodies and chord structure bridge the cohesion throughout the set into a headspace. I’ve always thought that if you remove the drums from the song it should be able to stand on its own, like a good pop acapella does. For most, if you take that away there is nothing left. So that’s what I’m obsessed with. That is “purple.”

Don’t think people ever really grabbed onto it because of the obsession with naming things – not with hearing things.

The Sauce was a favorite especially BeBa … can you give me some updates on the new PantyRaid album?

Yes, BeBa was one of the first “trap” songs I ever made with Ooah back in about 2005. It’s stood the test of time. I think “The Sauce” is as good today as it was when it was first release. Proud of it and excited to release the next album from the PANTyRAiD project.

We wrapped up production on the PantyRaid album in November and now it’s in post production. Getting it professionally mixed and mastered. It’s a time intensive process, nano eQ so every little part of it sounds incredible no matter what system you are on. After that’s completed we begin work on release plans and touring by Spring time with heaps of PANTyRAiD dates already being scheduled.

Can you break this quote down for me: “Say No to Slavery, Worship the Sun”

I’m originally from South Africa and have a computer science degree. I was recruited to work in San Francisco when I was just out of college and did my time in the corporate cubical culture for almost a decade. I really got to understand what it’s like to be pushed around,  pigeon holed. Talents and efforts manipulated and abused for the sake of others’ agendas. I finally had enough and quit. Actually abandoned my career and spend 2 years surfing in Costa Rica before meeting Josh (Ooah) and started musical projects.  I learned music production while basking in the sun, while purging my soul of the corporate personality. I just learned that the rising and setting of the sun was the only thing you can really count on. It gave me strength. It’s free – we live by it and die by it.

In this day and age, the internet gives us no excuse to be a slave to the corporate structure anymore. There are infinite ways you can express yourself. You have power to not live that life anymore. It’s never too late to try something new. You’re never stuck in something you can’t duck your head out of and you don’t need to take shit.

Live simply. Don’t have a lot of wants and need. That drives people to fit themselves into a mold. Simplify your life and find things that make you happy. Stop chasing other people’s dreams and be your own boss.   

Say No to Slavery ~ Worship the Sun

So do you think the MartyParty sound fits into the trap genre?

For now, it fits into that. But I’ve moved it along since 5 years ago. I get a lot of the new “trap” promos and they’re good, but elementary to me. I suppose I have my own way of looking at it because of the years of working with it before it was a genre of the month. I mean the first songs I ever wrote were pretty much what you’d call “trap” songs today. It’s wasn’t just me, Josh (Ooah) too. We’ve just devised a new way of looking at it. It’s less of just rise and drop, rise and drop, rise and drop, on top of the same old fucking beats. More progressive, booty bass, something for the ladies to move their hips too. Hedonistic and surreal all in one space.

I don’t play any shitty song. A set is a heap of originals, but also some of the best good trap stuff coming from other producers. Sure “trap” is the word used today. They may call it something else tomorrow. But the fundamental goal of making bodies move – bringing sexy back to the dance floor — that’s not anything I’ll change. If you’re standing on the dance floor debating genre names and BPM, then I’m fucking up somewhere.

What’s next for MartyParty? 

I’m touring all the time, I’ve been touring now for 6 years, pretty much every weekend. After this Colorado run I’ll be traveling down to the Nashville, Knoxville, Memphis area. Then back to Aspen and Denver for PANTyRAiD shows with Ooah. Then it just keeps going on and on.

Who are some of your biggest influences in hip-hop?

Too many to list. Off the top of my head… I’m a huge fan of producers like Lex Luger and Mike Will. These  guys are my idols, they spend a lot of time constructing MPC808 rhythms and a lot of the samples that everyone uses today. As far as rappers, rapper wise I’ve always been a fan of Two Chains, Chief Keef, and  Meek Mill. I’m loving Kendrick Lamar’s new flow and I’m an old-time fan of 2Pac, Biggie, and guys from that era. I tend to lean more toward southern rappers like Gucci Mane and 3-6 Mafia. I’m a huge Juicy J fan and think his lyrics are as phenomenal as Lil Wayne’s.

Who do you think is really pushing the boundaries of electronic dance music: is it the trap producers or a specific genre? Who do you think is continuing to move the scene along?

When dubstep first emerged in the US, I heard Loefah, Hatcha, Emalkay, Flux, and Doctor P and thought those guys were gods. I know there are heaps more that contributed here, but those were the ones that blew my mind. I thought they were changing the whole world with music, and they did. So much so that everyone grabbed on to it. Unfortunately it’s oversaturated now and the signal-to-noise is too much, it’s squeezing the life out of the original spirit of innovation that caused it to flourish to start with.

So now, it seems that those that can’t get their signal heard in this space are striving to see what’s next, but all they’re experimenting with is trap. There is a whole new crowd of “trap” producers emerging. Floss has been around for a LONG time and introduced some really smart formulas drawing from big hip-hop producers. The musicality is evolving with producers like Diplo introducing elements and Baauer phattening up the original concept. Good stuff. But suspect it will keep evolving. If it doesn’t, the current sounds will lack longevity. It has to go into new synth work, new patches, and baselines – new sounds.

I’m starting to see new  producers move from that to writing original melodies and patches. Just like dubstep started pushing the soft-synth style.

I think steady beat music is going to emerge again. We can already see Skream returning to play in the space and rumblings on the social of trap producers reminding new fans of their steady beat roots. Maybe a return to the underground scene where dark dance floors pack out in hidden rooms sprinkled across the country with a fresh evolution of new house music merged with new baselines and trap-style hi-hats.

I’m excited for this.

Thanks for the interview.  Big love to the WRR family. -MartyParty

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