Sidney Samson – Riverside (Spenca OG Trap Bootleg) + Exclusive Interview

Posted by Sev on October 15, 2012

Spenca has become one of the most versatile artist to storm through the EDM scence in the past few years. Releasing material through multiple genres, that have been recognized and exposed by some of the top artist in the industry. Having his songs played by Rusko through his early years of production, to collaborating with artist such as AFK Dubstep and DKS Dubstep, to even having Avicii playing his amazing house anthem Superstition on one of his podcasts. This artist is not afraid to try his talent in different genres, and with the release of his latest free tune we get to see his work in Trap. Needless to say this is just him having “fun”, he is a multi-talented producer to say the least. Taking Sidney Samson’s Riverside and lacing it with some heavy bass and tight snare’s to transform the track into a Trap’t out banger. The track is a definite must have, but we were also given the amazing opportunity to sit down with this talented producer and go one-on-one with him and his career as a producer. This is by far one of my favorite interviews I have had so far, because not only was he looking out for his best interest and exposure, but also trying to help those out that are in the same position he was once in as a producer. It is always great to have someone that has worked with some of the best and with so much experience and talent to shine some light on what it takes to make it in the EDM world. Check out some of Spenca’s social media below along with the interview.

Facebook // Twitter // Soundcloud // Youtube

Click ‘Read On’ to check out the interview with Spenca.

Short Bio:  (i.e. Name, age, current location, year started producing, hobbies other than production etc.)

“My real name is Spencer Bruno. I’m originally from Los Gatos, California, but I’ve lived in Dallas, Texas, for the majority of my life. I’m currently a freshman at Duke University studying biomedical engineering.

 I’ve always been interested in music—it’s kind of funny—ever since I can remember I’ve had music playing in my head that I can’t stop.  I’m not kidding. Today, for example, “Get Hype” by Datsik and Messinian has been stuck in my head since the moment I woke up…on repeat one.  I can’t control it, change it, or stop it in any way UNLESS I am listening to music or producing.  This is exactly why I cannot do homework or study without loud music playing.  So producing became a nice outlet for me.

I started messing with Garage Band in middle school and upgraded to Logic Pro in about 8^th grade or so to make hiphop beats. They’re still online on my old youtube channel…they are absolutely awful. I discovered dubstep in about 9^th grade and worked on it hard through 11^th grade when I was ready to release some tracks.  I love experimenting with genres [like this trap bootleg of Riverside], and I’m currently working on a lot of house projects right now, for that’s where I’m feeling music the most. I’ll explain later.”

Q: Every artist has a different introduction into producing, what was yours?

“I used to love rap music so I just wanted to emulate the beats I heard in those songs.  Once I discovered dubstep, I believe Datsik’s super early tracks were the first things I heard…I knew I had to make dubstep even though no one really liked it much at the time.”

Q: What other genre’s of music do you enjoy listening to besides Dubstep?

“I listen to loads of progressive house—I think almost more than dubstep. I also love listening to trance.  About 3 or 4 years ago, though, outside of EDM, my favorite band was A Day to Remember.  ABR is dope too for those of you who know them.  The polyrhythms in Matt Greiner’s drumming really inspired me in many of the tracks I’ve made today.”

Q: Who are your current favorite EDM artists and why?

“Reso is an absolutely amazing, underrated producer. Everything he touches is so well produced.  Eric Prydz is also amazing, I love the minimal feel and mega-progression.  Hardwell is another one of my favorites—he is the reason I decided to try to produce house and start moving away from dubstep.  Lastly, I still love OLD Datsik  (like from ‘09-‘10) and OLD Downlink (‘09-‘10), because of the unbelievable bass sounds in all of those tracks.”

Q: Is there any one artist or music group who’s style inspired you more than others when you first started producing? 

“On my first track I released with AFK called “Lemonface” I was heavily influenced by Flux Pavilion.  My first few tracks all had that Circus Records melodic sound.”

Q: For the aspiring producers who are probably wondering about your productions and what builds them, what DAW or software do you use, what are your favorite synths and plugins, Mac or PC?

 “Logic Pro is by far my favorite DAW; my workflow in it is so much better than all other DAWs I tried.  And it’s funny; I see kids trying to go buy a ton of different plugins and synths and stuff…like good for them, it doesn’t bother me…but every track I’ve ever produced uses 1 or 2 different synths: Massive and Sylenth. Yeah, yeah, yeah, “everyone” uses massive…but the true key is resampling … a lot … once you’re proficient with the synth itself.  The only plugins I’ve ever used are the Logic stock plugins, Camel Crusher, Camel Phat, and a few Fab Filter ones.”

Q: Which artist has given you the best feedback?

“Loads of artists have helped my career significantly.  AFK helped me start out, Rusko gave me the next boost up, and Avicii showed me that I can be successful making something other than just dubstep.”

Q: What would you say was the turning point in your career that you knew you were going to pursue producing seriously?

“The day that Rusko debuted 3 of my tracks at HARD Haunted Mansion 2011 was the day I knew this producing thing may ‘work out.’  Still pretty blown away.  In addition, when Avicii aired my track “Superstition” on his podcast, I knew I could continue pursuing producing house music and experimenting with other genres.”

Q: If you had to describe your sound to a new listener, how would you describe it to them?

“The old Spenca sound was happy, swingy, melodic dubstep.  Granted, along the way I’ve made some aggressive robotic tracks (Hangin’ for example).  The new “Spenca sound” after I finish releasing all of these old experimental tracks will be a mega-progressive, high energy house feel—think Eric Prydz meets a bigroom drop.  I have many projects I’m nearly finished with and cannot wait to release them when the time is right.”

Q: Of all your productions so far, which one is your favorite and why?

“Superstition. Definitely. It’s the only song I’ve ever been proud of.  Every other track I’ve never been completely satisfied…I’m satisfied enough to release them but something is missing.  I believe Superstition I finally nailed what I was going for.”

Q: Everyone has that one track that always gives them goosebumps, what track would you say is your goosebump-track?

“Superstition, once again haha.  Funny you say this, the first day I aired this at a party, when I cameo’d my senior prom, my friend told me it was the only track ever that’s given him goosebumps live.”

Q: If you could collaborate with one artist in EDM currently who would it be and why?

“Hardwell. Because he is the man.”

Q: If you could give advice to someone starting out producing, what would it be? 

“It takes time to make a well-produced track. That’s definitely my number one tip.  When I started out producing dubstep (I was about 13 or 14 or something), my tunes were absolutely garbage.  I spammed them all over social media and hit up big names with them.  Honestly, I dug myself into a hole.  On AIM, someone I really would love to send stuff to actually “blocked” me because I sent him so much garbage haha.  My production is still not at the level I want it to be but it’s good enough to put out material; I’m still learning so much about production.  To summarize, once you have some banging tracks, send them around to blogs, artists, DJs, labels, etc., but make sure they’re banging. I’ve made hundreds and hundreds of tracks in my life and only released 20 or less. Even without formal training you WILL figure it out if you’re persistent, I guarantee. Watch some tutorials, show your friends, get honest feedback, and go from there. Do not make the mistake I did originally and think your first Massive wobble with a drum loop is a banger.”

Q: What do you want people to walk away with when listening to your music? 

“How does this kid have the time to make these tracks and not fail out of Duke or die of sleep deprivation”

Tags: dubstep, EDM, favorite, house, love, music, time, track