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Jasted are and EDM production and DJ duo from Irkutsk, Russia. Their unique sonic identity combines elements of future house, electro house, bass house, future bass, trap, dubstep and more. They have just released their first ever sample pack 'EDM Banger Tools' via Singomakers. We sat down to talk to learn more about them, their creative process and what advice they have for aspiring EDM producers.

 

You have been making music together for 5 years. How long have you been making music as individuals?

Each of us has been making music for almost 10 years. Before we started working together we wrote unofficial remixes.

 

So then how do you meet and then begin working together musically?

We met in a nightclub in 2009 - at the time we were both working as DJs. We both wanted to be able to write cool music ourselves, so we decided to team up. Since then, we have had many musical projects - now we are working as Jasted.

 

You’ve released 7 singles so far in 2020. How do you stay so prolific?

This is our main job, so we’re working on our music every day. Our first release, which was in 2017 on the Future House Music label, showed us that we can make good music that people want to listen to. Ever since then we've been trying to make more tracks to please our fans all over the world. This is our main motivation.

 

 

In August you released Reason with rapper Jack Light. How did your collaboration with him come about?

We've been looking for a vocalist for this track for a very long time. In the beginning, we had a completely different vocal that didn't really fit this track. We came across someone else's track with Jack's vocals quite by accident. We contacted him, he liked our demo, so then he recorded his vocals for us. We definitely think we went with the best option - we really like the final version.

 

How do you collaborate with artists based in different countries? Do you travel to work together in person or do you collaborate online?

We are currently working online. We have a lot of offers to work on tracks in the Studio with many famous producers, but because of COVID, we can't do it. It’s frustrating but we are waiting for the situation to improve and to make this possible once again.

 

How do you write tracks together? Do you have a workflow that you use on every track?

We approach each track individually and always start from scratch. We never use templates or ready-made projects.

 

 

Who are your biggest musical inspirations?

We would not say that we are inspired by any particular artist. Most likely we are inspired by the music itself and its different directions.

 

What hardware and software do you use to make your music?

We do all our work in Ableton Live. When it comes to plugins, we most often use Serum, Izotope Ozone, plugins from FabFilter, and many others - it all depends on the task at hand. As studio control we use KRK Rokit G3 5 & 6 monitors and a Focusrite Scarlett 3 sound card.

 

Your EDM Banger Tools sample pack is out now. What is your sound design process for sample packs?

This is our first sample pack. We tried to make it modern and diverse - hopefully we succeeded. We added some sound design from our tracks, but most of the sounds were created from scratch. The sounds were inspired by labels such as Hexagon and Spinnin'. 

 

Inside the pack, for each loop, we also included the matching Serum preset. We also did all our processing within Serum so each preset is really high quality and can be used straight away in people’s tracks. We have also attached MIDI files to all the loops, so anyone who likes a certain sound can change the melody as they want. Hopefully these extras give people a lot of flexibility.

 

 

The pack also includes samples, one-shots, and effects for creating a full track. 

We also would like to quickly thank Singomakers label for believing in us and helping us along the way. We appreciate it very much.

 

What are the techniques you use the most when making samples?

It’s a very creative process, and it is difficult to talk about specific approaches to work but we use a large range of recording, processing and transposing techniques and much more.

 

You’ve released tracks on some big EDM labels. Do you have any advice for producers who want to release music with labels like Spinnin’ and Hexagon?

The main problem with most producers is that they submit music that doesn't match the style of a label or is very similar to the producers that are already releasing there. In these situations even if a track has a good idea and is of a high quality, it is likely to be rejected by the label team. 

 

If we had to give one piece of advice it would be to try and make your tracks unique, use a non-standard approach and don't be afraid to experiment.

 

How have you found the coronavirus pandemic? Has the way you both work changed at all?

It's scary. Many lives have changed, and producers have also had to look for new opportunities to realize their creativity. We began to spend more time separately - installing studios in our homes. Honestly, we haven't seen each other for more than six months, and we only met to record a video about our sample pack. That being said we are always in touch and make our projects by sending them to each other.

 

What is the most important advice you can give a producer who is making EDM?

Try to always learn something new. Listen to music of different styles to master new techniques for creating tracks, and use our 'EDM Banger Tools' sample pack to which we have added all our years of experience :)