Exron Exclusive: KOMPANY

Kompany absolutely slayed Moonrise during his b2b set with Terravita in the Solar tent on Sunday. They did a small surprise b2b with Squnto and Terravita after the evacuation on Saturday as well. He mentioned to us that because it was a b2b they were playing everything live and he didn’t get a chance to play a few new songs he wanted to. Excision even played a Kompany track during his set at Moonrise.

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Exron Music: What is the inspiration behind the name Kompany?

Kompany: I chose the name Kompany because back in 2011-2012 I was in a DJ duo called Misery X Kompany.  We started out playing shows at Yost Theater in the side room and after pulling good ticket sales moved to the main stage. Playing at Yost is how I really got my foot into the door of the electronic music scene. My partner moved away from California to Colorado around the same time I was set to go to Icon Collective. I wanted to stick to my roots so when we split Misery X Kompany, I kept the name Kompany.

Exron Music: What inspired you to become an artist?

Kompany: When I got to Icon there were a lot of big names getting success from going to Icon Collective like Nghtmre, Kayzo, Jauz, and Slander. The success of all these other producers helped to push me forward down the path of success. I saw how all these producers who graduated Icon before me were going out into the world and nailing all aspects of production to succeed in this industry. I started getting into dubstep production by watching Virtual Riot tutorials which lead to the start of my own sound designing of bass music. I then began to sound design as a full-time job working for Cymatics. Following that I into Serum where I would deconstruct every preset pack I could get so that I could figure out each synth little by little. Doing something like that for 40 hours a week applying so many different techniques is what really helped me grow.   

“a lot of people are looking for the shortcut but when you’re putting those hours in that’s when you’re going to notice yourself getting better and better.”

Exron Music: If you got into bass music by going to Icon, what were you originally producing?

Kompany: When I first went to Icon in 2014 I was making festival trap and big room edits. I went into Icon with an open mind wanting to become as well versed in as many styles as possible. At the time I was beginning to produce J-club, house music, and his first try at dubstep. My first few tries at dubstep were kind of a swing and a miss but, it helped me in aspects of my trap music. Stepping out of my comfort zone is something that Icon taught me because when you step out of your comfort zone that’s when you realize you have so much more to learn you can’t be content with just one thing or you will become stale. Branching out is when I learned that music can be created through happy accidents just by messing around on serum. I still watch tutorials of all different genres to this day because learning new techniques is something necessary to production. Some people aren’t willing to take in these new techniques because it’s a different genre they aren’t comfortable with but, uncomfortable is where the growth is going to go down.

Exron Music: How did you come about getting affiliated with Never Say Die Records?

Kompany: I had done a few one-off releases with Never Say Die including a collaboration with Adair that was released on Adairs’ EP. I also did a remix with Wooli of “After” by Slander and Yookie as well as a VIP that Never Say Die backed. After that I honed in on bass music. When I reached a turning point where I decided that dubstep was what I liked and wanted to pursue. When I was in studio bass music is what I was really getting into. I stacked up a playlist that I showed to Never Say Die and they thought my sound really fit with their label, so they were happy to have me. I knuckled down with Never Say Die when I got off a tour with Bear Grillz in 2017. Never Say Die has first dibs on all my releases.

Exron Music: Who is one producer you would like to work with that you haven’t had the chance to?

Kompany: I would like to work with Space Laces. I want to work with Space Laces because I love to work with people with their own definitive sound. Space Laces is actually one of my favorite producers and I think I could learn a lot by working with him.

Exron Music: What has been your favorite festival or show to play?

Kompany: The first year of Lost Lands because I considered myself rather under developed. I didn’t have a lot of market value, I had yet to go on a tour, not a lot of the people knew of my music, and I was at the same time as 12th Planet so it made it very stressful for me to put on a good show. I loved the production and atmosphere that Lost Lands created and I’m very excited to return this year to play at one of the sound camps where I’m set to be the headlining set of that sound camp.

Exron Music: What is a festival or venue you would like to play at?

Kompany: I want to be able to play EDC and Ultra one day.  I would also like to be a part of a Bassrush Massive event because they get the target audience I think I fit well with. I hope the growth of my project will lead to more people wanting to come out and see me which will lead to me being put onto these bigger festivals line ups. I’m in it for the long haul and know none of this will happen overnight but I’m excited with the growth of my project and can’t wait to see what’s next to come.

Exron Music: What is an interesting fact many people many not know about you?

Kompany: Way before I started producing I was actually a drummer. My dad was a bass/guitar player which is where I got a lot of musical creativity. I was in a Metallica tribute band known as Metalliclone. My whole childhood was pretty much skateboarding, video games, and music. The drumming played a role in my ability to program music within Ableton. Anything with a skill cap I took pride in pushing the boundaries to get as good as possible no matter what it was. When I would play video games I would push himself so much that I wouldn’t have fun playing until I was doing good every game.

Exron Music: What is the weirdest experience you’ve had at a show or festival?

Kompany: The weirdest experience that has ever happened to me was when I was in Denver on tour with Bear Grillz. Bear Grillz made me go crowd surfing and when I got over the rail some girl grabbed me by my neck and hair pulled me down and licked me 7 inches from chin to forehead. After that I made a quick escape out of the crowd and back on stage.

Exron Music: What is the craziest thing you have ever seen a crowd or person in the crowd do?

Kompany: I see a lot of insane ass headbanging including the Porchella guy and people who gone to the hospital for slamming their face off the rail. There was this girl who gashed her head off the rail at Cloverfest but she waited until my set was over so she could meet me before she went to the hospital. She was so concussed that she had to ask me multiple times if it was really me.

Kompany also told us a few things unrelated to our questions that really showed how genuine of a person he really is. He told us he still goes out into the crowd to meet anyone that would like to meet him. He hopes as he gets bigger and bigger he will never lose the feeling he gets when he meets people that support his music. His work ethic is so strong that if he doesn’t produce for more than three days he will get so stressed out because he feels that he is falling behind. Be one the look out for future Kompany music we don’t want to spoil the surprise, but he has multiple collaborations in the works with some very big producers. We at Exron Music would like to thank Kompany for giving us the chance to interview him and we can’t wait to watch him grow even more.

Co Author: Elliot Root