Artist Interview: 1-on-1 with Loud Flavor

Artist Interview: 1-on-1 with Loud Flavor

His name is Jeff, but he goes by Loud Flavor. I feel bad, too. I have been sitting on this interview for months. He was VERY excited to be a part of the blog, and we did the interview without delay… then we needed some photos. FINALLY we got them, and I am able to post the interview. He has been patient, and I appreciate that. While he has been waiting, he has been busy in the studio and has released a remix of the Dimiti Vegas, Moguai and Like Mike smash hit “Mammoth”. It’s the Loud Flavor remix, and you can listen to that track below. Loud Flavor is a great name, too. When you listen to his work, listen to Gareth Emery… and turn it up! Jeff and I have become buddies over email as he has waited for me to post this interview, and I am glad to finally get it up. It is my pleasure to introduce you to Loud Flavor.

Your name is Jeff. Where did Loud Flavor come from?

A lot of people ask me that, and I think it’s slang for marijuana use or something. (Laughs.) But it actually came to me randomly while listening to a couple of dubstep tunes in 2010, especially that Boy Kid Cloud tune, “Flaaavour”.


Your Facebook page says you are a time traveling chef. Being serious, do you think time travel is even possible?

Yes, I do it all the time just like Hiro Nakamura.

I LOVE that show! Anyway, how do you know Miguel Granado?

Miguel is a great dude; he contacted me about a year ago to join forces with his agency, EnvyUs Talent Agency. Really glad to be on board!

Do you have a job outside of music?

Yes, I’m a time traveling chef.

Tell me about your relationship with Bass Taste Records.

I’m one of the founders of Bass Taste Records. It’s Julio Chavez, Efrain Vargas-Martinez, and I; we started last January. Can’t believe it’s been a year already.

You call it “moombah”. What exactly is “moombah”?

Shorter way of saying moombahton. There are so many sub genres to it now that people have created; moombahcore, moombahstep, moombahhabmoom, I don’t know; I’ll just keep it short and simple and call it moombah.

Do you like living in New York?

Yeah, I was born here but grew up in Texas. I moved back about a few months ago, but I’m moving back to Texas. I miss that peace and quiet. Oh, and my cat Simon.

You are really active on Facebook and Twitter. Good or bad, how has social media changed the music industry?

It has changed for both the good and the bad. Social media made it easy to share, discover new music and talent, but there’s also a lot of spamming, trolling and a lot of music today sounds the same now, so it’s really hard to find that unique sound underneath all that.

Speaking of social media, what is your favorite social network? Are you going to join the new Myspace?

My favorite social network is Twitter. Facebook has a lot of annoying trolls, and people who lack common sense and a sense of humor. And I actually did join the new Myspace, and logged off 2 minutes after. Wasn’t feeling it, and was quite lazy during that time.

I rarely use iTunes anymore. I am hooked on Spotify. I see you have a few tracks on there. Did you have to contact them or did they find you?

I had to contact them, and then we had a bit of tea.

How long did it take you to produce “Wild Bizznizz”?

“Wild Bizznizz” was a messy tune to begin with; started it in early 2011. Was actually one of my first original moombahton tunes, and I wasn’t feeling it at first, thought it was going to end up as one of those unfinished projects that lurk around my hard drive. But, I finally ended up finishing it, along with massive remixes by good friends and released officially under Bass Taste.

There are a lot of great bands out there. Who are some of your favorite artists?

I’ve been stuck in this weird underground scene for a while now. So there’s a lot on my list, but right now I’ve been repeating tunes by Joker, Rustie, Baauer, Lunice, and a couple others.

Do you write all of your own lyrics?

No, my cat Simon actually writes them for me.

Tell me more about Loud Flavor Volume 1

Big room feels, strings, and 808s. If anyone hasn’t checked it out yet, go get it!

What is Rekles?

Rekless is the alias of the homie Daniel Casanova. He opened up for me for my first gig in New York at The Studio at Webster Hall. Really cool dude and big ups on all the free drinks that night!

The DJ Mag Top 100 has Armin van Buuren back at the top. Do you pay attention to popular electronic dance music?

Not really, but it’s good to see Armin back up on his throne. Been a fan of his work for years.

There are a lot of great venues in NYC. Do you have a favorite?

I honestly only been to one since I’ve lived here for a short time, which was Webster Hall. Really great place. And weird. Which is good. Love the feel and everyone who’s a part of that scene.

I haven’t seen you live… yet. What can fans expect from a live performance?

They can expect seeing me throwing my hands around like a wizard. As well as have a good time; my sets usually consist of different genres. I can’t stay sitting on just one style of music. May even witness some smooth jazz between my sets (just kidding… kinda).

Who designed the cover for Volume 1?

I did. I’ve actually done most of the covers of my tracks and EPs (minus the Bass Taste logo and the “Wild Bizznizz” cover). But my favorite was the recent one which is the Volume 1 cover.

Tell me about your relationship with Mad Decent?

Mad Decent has supported and blogged a couple of my free releases on their page; big ups on the support!

Since you live in NYC, have you ever seen the ball drop in Times Square?

This was actually my first year spending NYE in New York. I wanted to see the ball drop but instead I ended up at a bar with friends drinking til morning.

You have produced a lot of tracks. Do you have a favorite?

Yeah, my favorite out of all of em is “Villain”. Really worked hard on that one, went real dark with orchestric feels for the breakdown and build ups, only thing that isn’t original on that track are the vocal samples.

I am always curious. What headphones do you use?

Only headphones I have are the ones I use to play live with, which are the Matte Black V-MODA Crossfade LP2 .

When you remix a track, do you need permission from the original artist?

Well it depends. If you’re releasing it for free then it’s all good and don’t really need permission from them, but it’s good to let em know so that way they can check em out and have a listen.

What’s next for Loud Flavor?

2013 is going to be a big year, a lot has inspired me while living in New York. Gonna be working on a whole lot of originals and remixes, from trap to dubstep and moombahton. As well as building up Bass Taste higher; so many new tings this year!

Thank you for doing this. I know you are busy. In all of the interviews I do I always give the artist the last word. Go.

Big ups man!

Connect with Loud Flavor:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LoudFlavor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LoudFlavor
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/loudflavor