In SOUND CHECK, we check in with some of our favorite musicians.
I first came across Kastle when I stumbled across his as-deep-as-it-gets remix of Ellie Goulding's "My Blood." I sat down at the Wythe hotel in Brooklyn with the house DJ to talk Hypercolor, Drizzy remixes, owning a music label, and more.
Photos by ALEXANDER ATTAR
If your music were to be a soundtrack to a film or TV series, what would it be?
Oh man. If my music was placed anywhere, it would be a David Lynch film, or like Twin Peaks––something like that. Although I feel like I would have to rewrite things in a slightly different manner. [Laughs]
So you have a lot of projects: you produce, you DJ, you have your own music label Symbols. If you had to pick a favorite, which one would it be?
Oh, I love them all in the same way. It’s nice because, I don’t wanna say I get sick of a certain thing, but it's about balance.
What do you do to keep each set fresh?
All my DJ sets are very off the cuff. I get a lot of promo sent to me from various labels, but the artists from my label also send me music constantly––so those are easy ways to keep it fresh. Even when I’m on the road, I’m downloading new music every chance I get. I just naturally seek out new music. Even when I was a kid, I worked at a record store and I was always seeking out new music.
You’re a batter at a baseball game. What song do you walk out to?
"Don’t Stop Me Now" by Queen. Whenever I hear that song I feel like I can do anything. Anything at all.
You’ve done a lot of remixes and bootlegs, what elements of a track makes you want to remix it?
I usually know if I wanna do a bootleg immediately when I hear a song; I hear the remix in my head and just do it. From a producer’s standpoint, I’m looking for open areas where there’s not a lot of percussion, vocals that I can grab and manipulate in a certain way... The Drake remix that I did was challenging because there weren’t many open spots, but through some production techniques I was able to make it work. I guess I just look for a feeling or a vibe.
What’s the funniest sound source you’ve used as a sample?
I don't know if it was funny, but for a while I was adding a sample of shuffling change in a jar that I had recorded myself.
What’s the best tour food you’ve ever had?
That’s a really good question. I don't know if I should broadcast this, but I think the best tour food I’ve had was horse tenderloin in Toronto. It's really good but I felt bad about it because I have friends that have horses as pets.
I can't say I've ever tried horse before.
It was very tender. I’ll probably never eat it again because I felt so badly about it. They eat it in Japan all the time though. And apparently, in Toronto.
What’s the worst?
I don't know, I usually eat pretty well. Actually the first night of my live tour this year, I was flying from Los Angeles to Miami and there was a hurricane in Miami, so I was diverted in Tampa, and had McDonald’s. That was probably my worst tour meal.
If it was socially acceptable, I would _____.
I wish alchemy and m
I first came across Kastle when I stumbled across his as-deep-as-it-gets remix of Ellie Goulding's "My Blood." I sat down at the Wythe hotel in Brooklyn with the house DJ to talk Hypercolor, Drizzy remixes, owning a music label, and more.
Photos by ALEXANDER ATTAR
If your music were to be a soundtrack to a film or TV series, what would it be?
Oh man. If my music was placed anywhere, it would be a David Lynch film, or like Twin Peaks––something like that. Although I feel like I would have to rewrite things in a slightly different manner. [Laughs]
So you have a lot of projects: you produce, you DJ, you have your own music label Symbols. If you had to pick a favorite, which one would it be?
Oh, I love them all in the same way. It’s nice because, I don’t wanna say I get sick of a certain thing, but it's about balance.
What do you do to keep each set fresh?
All my DJ sets are very off the cuff. I get a lot of promo sent to me from various labels, but the artists from my label also send me music constantly––so those are easy ways to keep it fresh. Even when I’m on the road, I’m downloading new music every chance I get. I just naturally seek out new music. Even when I was a kid, I worked at a record store and I was always seeking out new music.
You’re a batter at a baseball game. What song do you walk out to?
"Don’t Stop Me Now" by Queen. Whenever I hear that song I feel like I can do anything. Anything at all.
You’ve done a lot of remixes and bootlegs, what elements of a track makes you want to remix it?
I usually know if I wanna do a bootleg immediately when I hear a song; I hear the remix in my head and just do it. From a producer’s standpoint, I’m looking for open areas where there’s not a lot of percussion, vocals that I can grab and manipulate in a certain way... The Drake remix that I did was challenging because there weren’t many open spots, but through some production techniques I was able to make it work. I guess I just look for a feeling or a vibe.
What’s the funniest sound source you’ve used as a sample?
I don't know if it was funny, but for a while I was adding a sample of shuffling change in a jar that I had recorded myself.
What’s the best tour food you’ve ever had?
That’s a really good question. I don't know if I should broadcast this, but I think the best tour food I’ve had was horse tenderloin in Toronto. It's really good but I felt bad about it because I have friends that have horses as pets.
I can't say I've ever tried horse before.
It was very tender. I’ll probably never eat it again because I felt so badly about it. They eat it in Japan all the time though. And apparently, in Toronto.
What’s the worst?
I don't know, I usually eat pretty well. Actually the first night of my live tour this year, I was flying from Los Angeles to Miami and there was a hurricane in Miami, so I was diverted in Tampa, and had McDonald’s. That was probably my worst tour meal.
If it was socially acceptable, I would _____.
I wish alchemy and m