Dance music trailblazer ACRAZE remembers being fascinated by a DJ website in 2015, that allowed you to create music just using your mouse and keyboard.
"2016 was when I actually picked up a DJ controller and took it seriously," he says. "My first headline show was in Orlando, and I remember it being on a Sunday and it was also pouring rain, so you can imagine it was a very slow night. No one ended up coming, and they made me cut the music at 12 because no one walked through the door. As I was packing up, a bodyguard came up to me and told me that if I wanted people to come to my shows, I would have to make my own music. After that night, I started producing, and this was in 2017, so it took me about two years of being locked in my bedroom making music until people found out about me."
ACRAZE describes his sound as, "Sexy, energetic, groovy, fun." That can all be heard on latest release "Rock My World."
"I had hit up Puku awhile back to work on some stuff," he says. "We got into a few sessions and worked here in Miami where we both are from. After the sessions were over, he wanted to play some new music he had been working on. At that time, I was really trying to blend hip hop and house together. Honestly, my formula was just to take original hip hop records and treat them like remixes. Puku had shown me a few new ones, and one of them was rock my world. I was really in love with the vocal and how simple it was, so I took all the hip-hop elements out and took the acapella and turned it into what you hear now."
As for gear: "For shows I use 4 Pioneer CDJ 3000’s, a Pioneer DJM V10 mixer, RMX 1000, mic, SD cards, Sennheiser HD25 headphones and some very loud DJ booth monitors. I make all of my music on FL studio, and I have 200 many VST’s to keep track of."
Looking ahead, ACRAZE has plenty planned for 2025.
"I have a bunch of songs coming out over the next few months, including some that fans have been waiting on for a while now," he says. "I’m trying to put out more music this year than I have ever before. I’m playing EDC China and Korea, Beyond Wonderland in SoCal, working on my brand Paradox, and playing some more parties and very big shows we haven’t announced yet."
Photo by Thomas Jimenez.
