A silent innovator, and one of dubstep’s most humble players, QILIN has long been a staple of the underground scene. Crafting earthy, cavernous beats, layered with floor shaking sub lines and haunting leads, his tunes are at home in a dark room with a large, well-tuned sound system. As a recent addition to the Misfit Media team, we thought would would sit down with him to have a chat about all things QILIN (pronounced Chee-lin) and find out where the project is headed next… Stick around for the end, he was kind enough to bless us with a FREE download!
The Interview
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF… WHERE ARE YOU FROM AND WHEN DID YOU START MAKING MUSIC?
What’s good family, I am from Illinois! Born in Peoria and raised in Canton, but I’ve been Colorado-based for the last 11 years. Sheeeesh, the original thought of making music started in 8th grade, finger drumming on the lunch table. That then inspired me to get into guitars and drumming, never learned anything other than what my ear taught me, eventually I stopped playing instruments around my sophomore year until I started Dj’ing when I was at the tail end of my junior year of high school in 2010, and producing around 2014.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE GENRE OR STYLE TO MAKE? WHO ARE YOUR MAIN INFLUENCES?
Dubstep. No question, I do like to play around with a good bit of other genres. Main influences in terms of dubstep… We gotta go with Karma, Goth-Trad, Quest, Gantz, and LAS. Shouts to those g’s. When I think of dubstep, THIS is who comes to mind. Now if we’re going with overall influences, we gotta talk about The Gladiators, Augustus Pablo,The Isley Brothers, The Gap Band, Rod Stewart, Prince, Curtis Mayfield, BabyDrill, Smino, System of a Down, Craig Mack, James Brown and so many more.
WE HAVE ALWAYS LOVED THE DIVERSITY IN YOUR SOUND, WHETHER IT BE THE JAZZY, VIBEY STUFF OR THE HEAVIER, OG DUBSTEP. WHAT IS THE DEFINING CHARACTERISTIC OF THE QILIN PROJECT?
Heavyweight music, something that you can nod your head and rock your shoulders too.
ANY RELEASES PLANNED OR UPCOMING SHOWS?
YES! I just put out an EP with the homies over at Macrocell Rec. They’re a
newer label out of Budapest that have already carved a nice lane for themselves
in the scene with a forward-thinking, organic sound. Shout out brother Vrama and
the Macrocell team. Also apart of a VA compilation with the homies over at
AfterDark Music with a grip of heat on it. At the moment only one booking
coming later this year in Denver, it will feature some funktion1 sound and some
really sick interactive art displays with a FAT lineup.
WHERE DO YOU SEE THE SCENE GOING IN 2024? ANYBODY TO WATCH OUT FOR?
I feel like we’re going through another massive resurgence, and its nice to see
some of these folks getting the recognition and love that they deserve. Stoked for
the future of dubstep. Yea, watch out for Mob Killa, Soukah, 3WA, Saule, WZ,
Cadik, Rips, EKSTR, Tinky. They all have absolute weapons in their bags.
SHOUT OUTS?
The most high of course, Moms, Big papa, Bangoai, Brother Myxed Up, all my
family & friends, Jay, Sub.fam, and the folks still rocking with dubstep all these
years later. Love you <3
“GRAND RISING” FREE DOWNLOAD
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