A BIG thanks for taking the time to chat with us and for (once again) providing such an incredible selection of tracks for the Blurs E.P. out on Paper Recordings

Thank you to Paper and the team. It’s an absolute pleasure to have Blurs out on the label. You’re absolutely one of the most iconic dance labels, and I appreciate so much working with y’all.

For those that don’t know, can you give us a brief history of the life & career of Nutritious?

Well, I’ve been a musician since I was a little kid. And in fact, I had an older brother who was a guitar virtuoso who also really liked to trip and take LSD. And he would tell me stories that when I was as young as two or three years old, that he would play guitar and have me play drums with him, and he would be on these fantastical trips and journeys and I’d be playing along. And, that’s how I learned improvisational music — kind of got into my system.

As I got older, once I had the dexterity to get behind a drum kit, I started playing in bands. I played CBGBs at a very young age, around 16. Then I got into electronic music. My first foray into electronic was through a Yamaha QY sequencer, which evolved to Fruity Loops — I use Ableton now.

I started going to nightclubs in New York and started working to promote at some of the clubs — Palladium in particular. I started going to The Tunnel and became enamoured with the music that I heard and that I was dancing to until the early hours of the morning.

I would go back home and try to recreate the music that I heard in my head. And at the time, I had a four track cassette recorder [Tascam], some CD players, some guitar effects pedals, and the QY. And I would patch them all together and whatever instruments I could kind of loop into this situation and started making mixtapes. The mixtapes started sounding good, so it was time to get some turntables [Technic 1200 mk2].

There seems to be a lot of influences peppered throughout this release. Are there any specific tracks or artists that you conjure up when in the studio and in particular for the Blurs E.P?

I listen to so much music that it’s really hard to pick out any one influence. I love all kinds of genres, and I actually spend a lot of time listening to various types of music, new and classic. So when I get into the studio, and I go to write and produce, it’s rarely thinking about something musical that gets the project started. It’s typically a memory or an experience or some type of trip or journey I’ve had that I wind up re-imagining in my mind and then bringing the sounds I recall to life through the production.
I’ll start with drums, bass, keyboard, and anything that comes to mind that can get the musical project started. Then, as I get the sounds down on paper, it starts to come to life.

Speaking of the studio, what is your setup for making music? Are there any specific instruments or plugins that are always by your side?

In the studio, I like to have various instruments around. I like to work in the box and also have instruments to play — from drums and percussion to synthesizers. Lately, I’ve been really digging the [Ashun Sound Machines] Hydrasynth and Moog Grandmother.
I spend a considerable amount of time mixing and working on sound design and effects, and I really do like a fair amount of plugins for that and really dig all kinds of virtual instruments. I have to shout out Cherry Audio. I really dig a lot of their synths. Also, UVI — their stuff sounds really great. In terms of mixing and recording, Melda is one of my favorite go-tos for plugins. I use a Softube Console 1 system to help make the experience more tactile. And I’ll incorporate turntables, sampling, you name it.

How is the dance music scene currently doing in Brooklyn? (I visited Mister Sunday when I visited last time, and it was pretty incredible!)

New York is a really special place, and Brooklyn, in particular, has always been a home for house music. What I think is the best part about New York is the entire metro area. You can find all kinds of nooks and crannies and great places to party and great DJs and new parties, and it’s just an amazing hub of music in general and art.

Last one, (for a bit of fun!), do you have a fave studio snack that will always be present in your music making sessions?

Definitely, I do. I really enjoy going into the studio with some fresh coconut water. Maybe there’s not a lot in terms of the way of traditional snacks, but I dig nootropics in the studio for sure. Lately, one of my favourite combinations is a mix of saffron and bacopa, two plant botanicals that just have a really nice opening effect on the mind — helps me write — I dig it.

BLURS by NUTRITIOUS is out now on Beatport exclusively – LISTEN

General release 06-09-23

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