Rex Colter Shares an Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Look at His Latest EP ‘Robo Daddy’
Rex Colter has been impressing listeners with a distinctive style that delivers energetic and exciting auditory experiences, presenting a
Rex Colter has been impressing listeners with a distinctive style that delivers energetic and exciting auditory experiences, presenting a sonic identity like no other. As he emerges as a powerful force within the Electronic Music scene, Rex Colter continues to experiment with his sound, curating innovative productions that captivate audiences with their dynamic beats and punchy sonic elements; his passion and drive to produce compelling and unique soundscapes cement him as a refreshing addition to the genre and mark him as one to watch closely as he keeps developing his sound.
Fresh from the release of his latest Dubstep EP, ‘Robo Daddy’, Rex Colter joins us to share an insider’s look into the creative and technical process behind the release.
Hi Rex Colter! Congratulations on the release of your EP, ‘Robo Daddy’.
Hello, thanks so much!
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind this EP and the process of starting the EP?
I’m always producing, sometimes faster than I ought to, but it’s natural for me to end up with several tracks ready for release at a time. For the ‘Robo Daddy’ EP the songs were written around the same time and because I was using a 2013 Mac, that had its limitations, that helped to dictate the sound. I often name songs pretty randomly but had written in my notes “Robo Daddy as a funny track title” and when it came time to group the songs together, that title felt as though it had the most compelling concept for artwork, so it had to be Robo Daddy.
Can you walk us through your creative process when you start a new track, which element do you start with and how do you normally build on that to produce a full track?
I love presets on synths, so I’ll often find a new pack and as I’m looking through the sounds, it’s easy to find inspiration that can often lead to a track. I’m also incredibly into vocal samples and chops, so I find it useful to grab a new sample and chop it up, then layer around that and generally distort or amplify it for the drop. Lastly, a good chord progression is a powerful tool, so playing some piano on the MIDI keyboard can help me develop an idea to build a track around. With any one of these, I try to build on by making small variations and adding or taking away elements to build tension. Once there’s tension you can drop and there’s a lot of freedom in how different a drop can be, but also using at least one of the key parts from the intro can help to glue the build and drop together in a very satisfying way.
Did your usual creative process change at all when you produced any of the tracks on the EP?
No, not really. I will say that there’s a very popular lazer type sound that is used by Pixel Terror, Eliminate and honestly most Dubstep that I love and couldn’t find a good preset to emulate. So, I did have to put on my engineering hat for this and recreate the sound, which I now use in almost every song and is heavily featured in the EP.
The intense rhythmic elements and the pounding beats through the EP create a unique sound. Can you take us through your process for crafting these elements?
When I listen to my old songs, I notice that the mix doesn’t favour the drums the way I prefer. It’s very important to me to have punchy drums, to the extent that I may over-accentuate them now, providing a pounding feeling. I compress and soft clip them hard and sidechain heavily to make sure the rhythm is clear and danceable.
What do you find most challenging when producing a track, is there a specific part of your process that takes more time?
It takes me a long time to come up with intros and builds. I still feel I have too much of a melodic approach for the genre and would like to focus more on sound design. It can take a long time to come up with a catchy melody, but when the sound is powerful you can just bathe in one note for quite a while.
How did you decide on which order to place the tracks in for the EP, was there a specific reason behind the ordering?
In this case, the label, FVYDID chose the order and I’m fine with their selection. I like all these songs and wouldn’t mind if they were in any position. If it were up to me, on a release that I had more varied feelings about, I would put the songs in order of my most to least favourite because I suspect the earliest songs get the most attention.
Do you have a favourite song on the EP and why?
Yes! It would have to be ‘Robo Daddy’ because it’s one of my heaviest songs and I think it will be a crowd pleaser. It was fun to write and makes me feel like writing a lot more Dubstep since it was one of the main genres that got me into producing in the first place.
Do you have any exciting upcoming projects or new releases planned soon?
I release music regularly on Plasmapool and am working on quite a few new songs (without the limitations of the 2013 Mac!) I have a lo-fi project called Matimbo with regular releases on DUBTRXX, so there’s always a new release to look out for!
In this interview, Rex Colter shared a behind-the-scenes look into his recent release, ‘Robo Daddy’, guiding us through his production process and giving a glimpse into his creative decisions. With a promise to deliver more smash productions soon, Rex Colter is showing no signs of slowing down; so, as we eagerly await to hear more from this talented Producer, make sure to follow him across social media to stay up-to-date on his upcoming releases.
Listen and buy ‘Robo Daddy EP’ now
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