A few years ago a popular video was produced by Corridor Digital, a channel renowned for their special effects expertise, the video entitled ‘Dubstep Guns‘ featured music by a duo called Klaypex which has received over fourteen million views since its upload. As the video’s popularity skyrocketed, Klaypex’s fan base naturally followed suit and soon the duo found themselves with a strong fan base anxiously begging for more. Following the success of the hit video Klaypex released ‘Ready to Go’, an album which featured a unique mix of different genres that boasted ingenuity and creativity. And now, with a new single ‘I Walk Alone coming out tomorrow, I had the opportunity to interview one of the members of Klaypex, Johnny Atar who shared insights into where Klaypex started and where they are now.
So first of all, what brought you two together? How’d you both meet each other?
J: Well now we’re a three piece. Mark and I met shortly after we both moved to Canada. We both joined the Israeli Scouts after school program and have been friends since. We met Travis in LA and vibed really well. Now it’s one big happy family.
What were some of your favorite artists growing up? Who were some artist who got you two into EDM?
J: When we were younger, we were really into Heavy Metal. Bands like Avenged Sevenfold, Metallica, Bullet For my Valentine, and others. Later on, when we were about 17, we started getting into Alternative Rock. We listened to acts such as Muse, Oasis and Radiohead. We’ve always been fans of the EDM scene, however. Starting from the early days with Infected Mushroom, Pendulum, and Daft Punk; leading up to Deadmau5, Skrillex and all of todays artists as well.
How do you feel both you and Mark have grown musically since the exposure brought about by the Corridor Digital video “Dubstep Guns”?
J: Dubstep is what gave us our initial success. Since then, we have explored multiple other genres such as Progressive House, Electro, Complextro, Moombahcore, etc. I would say that the gradual change in sound has most to do with the natural evolution of ourselves as individuals.
What brought about the cover of Imagine Dragons song “Radioactive”? It was really great! Will it be released at some point?
J: I initially recorded some vocals over the instrumental, just messing around in the studio. Mark really liked the performance on the chorus, and suggested that we treat the fans to something a little bit different and unique..
What things did you learn from ‘Ready To Go’ that you guys are applying towards the new album?
J: Aside from what we learned in terms of production knowledge, we also learned that it’s not always necessary to go for complexity in our songwriting to create something enjoyable. There is beauty to be found in simplicity that can’t be found in the complex. That’s not to say that it’s better or worse, just different.
With “I Walk Alone” there’s more of an electro house feel. Will the album be more of this or a wide variety of styles? How do you feel about genre’s and producing within them?
J: There are a few more tracks like “I Walk Alone” on the release, but there is a lot more variety than similarity as a whole.
Any collaborations or guest vocalists in the works? Anyone you’d like to work with?
J: There are a few possible collaborations and potential guest vocalists in the works, all of which we’d be honored to work with =p
What’s coming soon?
J: The single “I Walk Alone” will be out everywhere on October 22. Other than that, there are a bunch of tour dates coming your way this year, and even more to kick off 2014! Speaking of early 2014, that’s when we’re hoping to release our next effort (likely January). We will also probably have a remix pack for “I Walk Alone” out in late 2013.
Lastly, what are some recent favorite song’s you’ve heard?
J: That would be a very long list!
Here are a few off the top of my head:
Rachael Starr – To Forever (Moonbeam Remix)
Archie & Fareoh – Feathers
Benny Benassi – Come Fly Away (feat. Channing)
Rameses B – Visionary
Markus Schulz – The New World
Be sure to pick the new single up on beatport and check out Klaypex on Twitter, Facebook and Soundcloud!
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/115811821″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
And also here’s one of many excellent free songs on their soundcloud!
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/72156326″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
