Hey guys! Thank you immensely for taking the time to do this interview with us, super excited for your upcoming release on Below
Whatcha Gon’ Do has a great variation throughout the whole track; where both of your styles are noticeable and prominent in the production. How would you describe the process of working with the other artist on this track?
PRZM: Originally, Gehena had sent me a playlist of some project ideas on Soundcloud and this one stood out to me immediately. It was a short build followed by a 16 bar loop of the lead in the first drop on. Gehena had sent me the stems and I started putting some work from there. The BPM of the original project was at 140 bpm, but I felt the lead had a bit more bounce to it for that pace, so I sped it up to 168. From there, I re-did a portion of the drums and added a thick bassline. I found this vocal sample that originally said “whatcha wanna do”, but added some side chain to it so it sounded like “whatcha gonna do”. After I built the breakdown and second drop out, I sent the stems back to Gehena where he put his final touches on it.
GEHENA: Really excited for this track as well! Working with PRZM was great, we kept sending the project back and forth. It took us a while to get it done and to fully finish it, but it went pretty well.
How did you guys meet? And what was the initial spark that kicked off this monstrous collab?
PRZM: We met online! I had heard some of Gehenas music and added it to my Spotify playlist and tagged him on Instagram. From there, we kept in touch and finally got a collab finished.
GEHENA: I’ve been a fan of PRZMs music for a while before we started talking. He put a few of my songs in his playlist and I decided to hit him up. His playlist always has the freshest songs in the game and is so worth checking it out!
How long did it take you guys to wrap the track?
PRZM: It took me about a month to finish my work and after sending it back to Gehena, it took him another few weeks to put the final touches and master it.
GEHENA: It took us a while to finish it, definitely longer than usually, probably due to lack of motivation and a ton of work I had to finish at that time. If I wouldn’t take such big breaks when working on it, it would probably be done in a few days. But that gave us time to really polish it up and make it as good as we can.
Seeing as you both live in such different parts of the world, I’m curious how the pandemic has affected each of you individually, as an artist and personally, and how/if it’s affecting you in these stages
PRZM: To be honest, it’s been pretty tough for me. I’ve hit a bit of a creative block lately, but I’m taking the time to recharge my batteries for when the world opens up again. Not being able to go out and listen to loud music surrounded by the most amazing people has really taken a toll on my creative juices, so I can’t wait for the world to open up again and get back to normal.
GEHENA: It had a big impact on my writer’s block and it’s been like that for a little over 6 months now. I’m finally getting back on track after this long time and it feels great to be able to work on music again. Other than that it’s been pretty much the same for me since I usually stay inside making sounds.
Have you learnt anything new throughout the time we’ve been going through these lockdowns? Found any new music that you can’t stop listening to?
PRZM: I’ve learnt there is a ton of value in taking time to focus on your overall well-being and mental health. I’ve hit a few personal hurdles during the pandemic, but I’ve made the most of it, and I’m now in the best shape and mental-health state I’ve ever been in. I’m excited to come back to normal life with this new perspective, and I think it’s going to reflect in my music as well.
GEHENA: I’ve learned that I have to start taking breaks from producing music to get motivated and inspired again. A big goal of mine was to learn a little bit of guitar, and that was the perfect time to get it done. I’ve found a ton of new music that’s been on repeat. Mainly from friends, but I also discovered a lot of new artists that are killing the game right now.
Name a few up and coming artists that you suggest everyone keep an eye on!
PRZM: A couple of young bucks from my hometown: AkaHendy, CCIV and HOAX. These three hard working gentlemen deserve more ears on them!
GEHENA: I’d have to go with Mursa, Jake Clarity and Yiro. Definitely keep an eye on Rollie Dezel, Dyvon and Kamahumble who are amazing rappers.
What are some goals you have for the rest of 2021? This could be related to your music, your personal life, or anything you’d like to interpret it as.
PRZM: Finish the copious amounts of music I started late last year and early this year! Seems as though I haven’t had as much trouble starting music (when inspiration hits) than I have had finishing music.
GEHENA: My goal is to finish all the music that’s been sitting on my pc forever and to make as much new stuff as I can until the year ends. I love good visuals that match the music. There are so many great audio-visual projects that I can’t get my eyes off. Baauer’s Planet’s Mad (the movie) is a perfect example. Maybe that’s what i’d like to do sometime this year. I also want to help smaller artists achieve their goals with collaborating and other tips I could help them with.
Do you have any other upcoming projects or releases that you’d like to plug for the fans? Nows the time!
PRZM: Take My Hand is my most popular song on Spotify with almost 2 million plays. My good friend AkaHendy and I have been hard at work on the follow up track that we are spending a lot of time tweaking and perfecting, as we want to make sure that we don’t disappoint with our follow up track!
GEHENA: I just finished a big collab with Snxxz3 and Floot, as well as a rap EP with Rollie Dezel and Dyvon, which I’m really excited for. Really excited to drop those projects in the next couple of weeks.
Thank you again for taking the time to do this interview, it’s much appreciated. Time to answer the final question. Whatcha Gon Do to celebrate this release?
PRZM: Every release day, I always treat myself to my favourite food and a frosty cold one with the boys. Seeing as how we’ll be in lockdown this time around, I will be celebrating with dinner/drinks for one
GEHENA: Thanks for having us, it’s been a pleasure. On the release day I’ll only listen to our track and probably watch 10 episodes of Dr. Phill.
Go listen to Whatcha Gon’ Do, out now on all streaming platforms; and make sure to check out their new sample pack available in our store!