Episode 017 : AKIMBO

Friday, April 16th, 2021

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CLINIK: What is the significance of the name AKIMBO?

AKIMBO: There isn’t a huge amount of significance to it to be honest, a few years ago my brother and I were brainstorming artist names. He came up with Akimbo and I thought it sounded cool, so I adopted it.

C: How has your hometown of Indianapolis influenced your outlook on music, if at all?

A: Indianapolis isn’t actually my hometown, I moved here about a year ago. I’m initially from the Baltimore/DC area, which is where I first was exposed to electronic music. Indianapolis has a thriving scene though and I’m happy to be here and be a part of it.

C: What initially inspired you to produce original music?

A: I played guitar and piano at a young age and when I found production software it just was a lot of fun to create my own songs. It’s been a passion of mine ever since.

C: Your remix of “Deep End” by Foushee is a very dynamic track. How did this song come together?

A: Sometimes I’ll hear a song and like it so much that it will inspire me to create a remix. After a few weeks of listening to Deep End on repeat I finally sat down one day and made that remix of it. I was inspired by the chorus in that song, I liked the raspy tone of the singer’s voice and wanted to put some wobbles and thicker drums behind it.

C: You showed off your home studio on instagram. How did you go about picking out equipment? What is the advantage of having your own workspace dedicated to just creating music?

A: I slowly accumulate equipment over time based on what I need and what I think would level up my production. Recently a friend let me borrow their Push 2 and that has been really fun to play around with, might have to get one of my own because after using it I feel like I can’t live without it now.

C: What is your preferred DAW and why? What are your favorite tools to use for sound design?

A: I started on FL Studio but made the switch to Ableton about 4 years ago and haven’t looked back. I love Ableton’s workflow and there are a lot of cool techniques in Ableton for sound design. I do a lot of sound design with simple bass patches in Serum or Operator and then a ton of post-processing. Like taking a basic saw or square wave and then just crushing it with distortion, filtering, and other effects until something cool comes out.

C: Who are some artists that you have been listening to lately?

A: So many. Just off the top of my head my favorites lately have been Shanghai Doom, VCTRE, Secret Recipe, Vide, and Chmura.

C: How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard it before?

A: Experimental bass music that aims to create a unique feeling with crazy sound design while still keeping a dancefloor moving.

C: What is one venue or festival in the world that you would love to perform at?

A: It would be a dream to play at a Tipper & Friends event. I love that style of music and would be really honored to have that opportunity someday.

C: What are your goals as an artist for the rest of the year?

A: Basically just make the best music I can and keep leveling up in every conceivable way 😊