Touching Bass: Ian Boom

Photo by Sam Bucus

There's been a thunder storm going on in one of my colleagues' headphones lately. Turns out it's Swedish trap and techno producer

Ian Boom

who's the brain behind some pretty heavy beats dropping from a usually organised music haven that is Sweden. He recently moved back from LA where he turned down Paris Hilton's offer to produce her music (true story). But don't worry, Ian isn't about making pop songs for billionaires, instead his beats are sweeping over northern Europe like a fresh wind on pop music waters. Turns out that several releases are coming up on his own Fake Recordings this spring, ranging from trap via techno to hard hip-hop.

Noisey: So I've heard that you've been working with Katy Perry. What's that all about?

Ian Boom:

Well, I've done sound effects and stuff like that. I haven't been an important part in any of that work. I've only made sounds, and some background music.

OK. For those who don't know, what kind of music do you make?

Trap, hip-hop, bass music, pop… everything! But it gotta be heavy bass.

What's really awesome bass like according to you?

Good bass is between 30 Hz and 130 Hz with some extra butter on top.

What is it about bass that makes it so appealing to you?

It vibrates. It's like the bass enhances the entire experience considering that it adds an extra sense in a way – you can feel it in your entire body.

I feel you. So are you producing music for yourself or others?

I produce for others and myself. I produce for some rappers. And pop songs for songwriters, but that's not that interesting. My own releases and the hip-hop releases are the bomb.

Who are the rappers?

Donnatella from Texas and last year we released Trilluminati. We're about to release Donnatella's EP

Death to Donna

in about a month. But he was sent to jail the other day so we're currently facing a few complications. I'm sure it'll be fine. But let's not talk about that now.

No, let's talk about the mixtape you've made for us.

Yeah. It's fun to give you an awesome mix with some pretty great stuff.

What vibe did you have in mind when making it?

It's my vibe. And my vibe is pretty mixed. Most of it is heavy with loads of bass. I guess you can call it a bit cloudy and dazed as well. But nice and plenty of vibe, you know, and hard. I wanted to squeeze in a few exclusive things that haven't been released just yet. I mean I have stuff from Donnatella's EP

Death to Donna

with Fat Tony, on which I've sampled Blondie's "Heart of Glass".

Sounds pretty cool. During what circumstances do you imagine your mixtape to be working at its best?

Whenever!

[laughs]

Or what should I say? When you want to listen to something nice. You're supposed to be able to get psyched up as well as be able to chill to the sound of it. Get that "uh ah" going if you know what I mean?

Yup. So what's your studio like?

I just moved home from LA where I've been working. So now I'm running a label with my mates. At the moment we have a studio at my mate's house. We're actually starting up a new studio in a few weeks. So we a have a studio in Malmö where we do everything. Trap, techno and whatnot.

What software do you use?

FL Studio. And Pro Tools maybe sometimes at rare occasions. But mostly FL.

Isn't that pretty rare? My colleague's been going on all day about how old school FL is.

No. It's pretty common for beginners. And it's becoming more common among bigger producers as well. It's pretty easy to start with, but it might be a bit tricky to master – to make it sound really nice. But it's easy to get started. I like it – it's fast.

So you're a PC user?

No, I have a Mac that I run Boot Camp on. I have Windows on a Mac, cause you wanna have the best computer, right? I don't like Pro Tools and Logic that much.

Alright. How come you started making music?

Because I wanted to rap and no one wanted to give me beats, which is understandable since I sucked at rapping. So I tried to make some beats. My brother was making techno, so I tried his stuff and it was fucking fun. So no more rapping after that.

So you weren't playing instruments while you were at school?

No, I wasn't very interested actually. I thought it was pretty lame. I've always liked music! To listen to it. It should be hard. I listened to Wu-Tang and rock and stuff when I was young. But I didn't think you were supposed to be playing on your own. I didn't think that matched. But then I kind of got into it… I can't say at what age though, which is a bit weird… I started making beats in second or third grade at high school.

Last question: What are you listening to in your headphones at the moment?

Spark Master Tape

and

God

from Chicago. Pretty hard stuff, but that's me.

TRACKLIST:
01. Ian Boom x WoodzSTHLM - "LOUD"
02. Krampf ft. Gucci Mane - "My Chain"
03. Djemba Djemba - "Chronic Heart Failure"
04. Ian Boom - "Loonas Boomas"
05. Howie Lee - "Northern Hangbird"
06. Ian Boom - "9 Month Spa"
07. Donnatella ft. Fat Tony - "Blondie" (Prod. By Ian Boom)
08. Riff Raff - "Lil Mama I'm sorry" (Dave Lux fix)
09. BANKS - "Brain" (Prod. By Shlohmo)

Follow Caisa on Twitter: @caisasoze

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