A multi-talented artist and performer, the last few years have seen Raydium headlining events at the top of his game, hitting major stages like Bigfoot Electro, Dreamscape, and Big Dub, and sharing his incredible drum and bass innovations with the world. He’s also been working hard recently, running and operating his company. Based in Raydium’s hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, Midwest Massive has assembled a team of outstanding artists, including Dave Owen, Rohaan, Hypho, and Nostalgia.
At this year’s Deep Tropics – a boutique festival hosted in Nashville’s Germantown – we got the chance to catch up with him about all the fantastic things he’s been up to and the story of how he got where he is today.
“Drum and bass has always held a special place in my heart,” he says when asked what led him to the genre. Inspired by the music of his favorite video games – mainly racing and skateboarding – the genre always held a special nostalgia for him, and, when he set out to make music of his own, it seemed like the ideal place to go.
Although his musical journey began back in elementary school, learning the violin and singing in choir, his real jump-start came in 2018 when he went to Bonnaroo music festival and fell in love with the electronic scene.
Of course, video games weren’t his only source of inspiration. When asked about the musicians who influenced him, he quickly named Camo & Krooked, Pola & Bryson, and Rusko three names whose work had always stood out.
“Drum and bass is just my energy. I feel the most comfortable when I’m playing it on stage. It makes me happy. I listen to it all the time, you know, obviously other genres too, but drum and bass genuinely makes me feel like the most me version of me, if that makes sense.”
A lot goes into developing a creative process, which may be more true for Raydium than for most artists. For him, inspiration comes in all different shapes and forms, and his approach to developing a track is based around building out the ideas as they come.
He also stressed the importance of downtime in between creativity. “Sometimes the inspiration’s not there and, honestly, during those down times, you gotta enjoy not producing because it’s a good reset. And then as soon as you get that inspiration again, boom, you just gotta run with it.”
In his recent work, Raydium has been getting increasingly into the liquid drum and bass genre, enjoying its calm atmosphere and relaxing beat, as well as some of the amazing vocalists featured in the genre, such as Emily Makis and Julia Kahn.
Wrapping things up, he talked a little about how he adapts his style to the various festivals he attends, praising Deep Tropics, particularly for their fun, chill atmosphere.
If you’d like to learn more about Raydium, then be sure to check out the full, exclusive Nexus Radio interview.
