Just five years ago, Neon Dreams, the Halifax instrumental electronic four-piece group, were skipping their high school classes to hang out and jam, and in the last two years, theyâve kepy busy playing their energetic and frentic brand of music in the local scene. On Monday January 12th, though, literal and figurative trap giant Waka Flocka Flame announced that Neon Dreams had been added to his label 36 Brickhouse. So how does Halifax, Nova Scotia (a place so disconnected from the notion of "the trap" that their closest reference to it would be Ryan Hemsworth), create producers who work so well with Waka Flocka Flame?In January of 2014, after Wakaâs first Halifax show, Neon Dreamsâ producer and synth-sampler Corey LeRue was backstage looking for his laptop charger. Wakaâs tour DJ asked if LeRue could play Waka some beats. âI said yes and I showed him and we had some tracks he got excited about, so we kept in contact,â says LeRue. A few months later, Neon Dreams met up with Waka at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami, and then again in Montreal. âBut things started kicking up real heavy about three months ago,â LeRue says at his downtown Halifax studio where heâs engineered for Classified, LL Cool J and Bishop Lamont. âWe started doing the â50K Remixâ and then that turned into original tracks.â That turned into LeRue and vocalist Frank Kadillac hitting Atlanta to work on Wakaâs upcoming album, Turn Up God, which LeRue is executive producing.âI love Atlanta. We got picked up in a Rolls Royce when we got there,â Le Rue says of the Southern hip-hop hub. âWe were treated really well. Patchwerk Studio was amazing, almost everyone has gone through there. Young Jeezy, John Mayer, Jermaine Dupri, Diddy. At one point, we had to go to Best Buy and on the way there, Wakaâs like, âI gotta take you to this place,â and weâre in the hood, like in Riverdale, and we go to this place called Soul Food and Wakaâs like, âWeâre gonna have to book off three hours after this âcause youâre gonna need to nap.â Which we did. And oh, God, Waffle House. When I make my first three million, Iâm opening a Waffle House in Nova Scotia. Itâll be a charitable act more than anything. Fuck Smittyâs. Fuck Dennyâs. We need a Waffle House.âItâs about that money, but thereâs a genuine connection. âBrickhouse is all about professionalism and positivity and thatâs what weâre all about. Weâre learning how to establish our business and learning how intricate their business structure is. Itâs crazy, itâs awesome. Weâre so excited,â says LeRue, âWaka is a very smart businessman and a very cool, intelligent person.â Kadillac jumps in: âHeâs super nice, too.âNeon Dreams has so much planned over the next year, they couldnât even tell me about it. But thereâs a fortuitous synergy between what Waka wants and what Neon Dreams already has. âWaka is such a hype performer, and we like to really turn it up at our shows, so we want to match his hype level,â says LeRue, âHe just goes 100 and then we get excited. We wanna do that. I think Frank should get some dreads.âAdria Young is a writer living in Halifax - @adriayoungThis article originally appeared on Noisey Canada.
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âItâs definitely turn-up music,â LeRue says, âItâs kinda funny music. It sounds new, fused with hip-hop, trap, and electro. Thereâs lots of build-up into Wakaâs parts and then right into heavy EDM. Thereâs some melodic stuffâthereâs actually a range flowing now.â In the meantime, Neon Dreams is still working their own flavor, combining EDM with instrumentation and the drums of Adrian Morris. Their recent single, âLove Expertsâ just broke the Top 10 on iTunes and floats in the 40-range on the Billboard Charts.âOur stuff is very progressive house,â says LeRue, âWe try to be very fun, festival and rave party,â which seems on track with Wakaâs somewhat recent embrace of EDM. âIn terms of where we are on 36 Brickhouse,â says guitarist Matt Sampson, âThey have 808 Mafia, and Southside and his whole crew, so Neon Dreams is like 808 but as an electronic production group.â
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