Late last year, we spent time on the Gud Vibrations tour as Slander and NGHTMRE made stops across America’s North East. Unfortunately, during our tour journey, Tyler (better known as NGHTMRE) was battling the flu and was not able to spend any off-stage time with us. Needless to say, we were very excited to catch up with him almost a year later in New York. The timing was perfect, as NGHTMRE has only just announced his upcoming “NGHTMRE before XMas” tour and has a brand new EP on the horizon. Most recently, Tyler has released a long-awaited collaboration with Carmada called ‘Embrace’.
“This song, I started about 3 years ago. We started working on it together about 2 years ago when I was in Australia. I had reached out to them because I liked their music. We ended up working on it in LA in the OWSLA studio. They’re both so funny and really talented. It’s been slowly developing over a long period of time. It’s not like a lot of my other music. It’s a different tempo. I don’t play it in my live set that much, but when I do, it always does really well. It’s something that I felt like was unique and fresh.“
With a history of massive collaborations, we were naturally curious how NGHTMRE decides who to hit the studio with. Every artist’s creative process is different, and some choose to focus more on solo projects. NGHTMRE, on the other hand, not only shared his creative process, but also let slip that he has unreleased music in the works with Alison Wonderland, Quix, Dillon Francis, Flux Pavilion, and Slander.
“Some of it is a natural thing. There are so many songs that I’ve started with other artists. I probably have 20 or 25 tracks where we’ve started an idea. Some people hit me up with a really cool idea and think that it would be great to work on together. Sometimes I have an idea and I think about working on it with someone who would know exactly what to add in order to make it what I want to be. I like the new one with Flux even more than ‘Feel Your Love’. It’s a little less of a banger and a little more Fluxy-swaggy chord progressions and dope vocal chops before dropping at the end super hard”
Like most of the artists who he chooses to work with, NGHTMRE is known for his heavy trap festival bangers that are usually accompanied by above-average levels of pyrotechnics and headbanging. Being a relatively new sub-genre, trap music has polarized the electronic music scene. Speaking on one artist who he especially respects, Tyler discusses the difference in styles and importance of stage production to a live show.
“I’m waiting for the day that Deadmau5 says some shit to me because he posted a video on his Instagram of him cruising through Malibu listening to Gud Vibrations. You can hear my song in the background. I’ve never met him but would be interested to. I definitely have respect for the dude and for his music. I’ve always been interested in it. The fact that he cares so much about stage production is tight, too.”
We obviously wanted to know who NGHTMRE believes has the best stage-presence among his colleagues, so we began a somewhat-random rapid-fire question serious on this topic.
“The Yellow Claw guys crush it. I love those dudes so much. Ookay has amazing stage presence. He’s always everywhere. He’s great.”
Who’s the funniest producer that you know?
“Gotta say Dillon Francis. Is actually is hilarious. He’s got the wit. It’s so funny. He’s a fun dude to hang out with. Maybe Snails, too, just cus he has an hilarious French Canadian accent. He’s a funny dude who makes the craziest dubstep and is always trying to get everybody drunk.”
Who’s the most obnoxiously loud?
“Kayzo. He’s such a wild one. He does not give a fuck. He just turns up.”
If you were trapped in a haunted house, who would you hide behind?
“So, who would be the least scared guy to just say ‘fuck you’? Maybe Scott, from Slander. Actually, Scott might get pretty scared. That’s a good question.”
Who would hide behind you in a haunted house?
“Derek (from Slander), Derek for sure. He’s gonna hate me for saying that.”
Who’s the best at uncovering new artists and new music?
“Derek is really good at that. He’s the No. 1 dude who I go to if I’m looking for a cool new song for my set. Every time I ask him for something dope, he’s got like 5 songs. He’s always on the lookout for new shit.”
If you had to spend a week on an airplane sitting next to one other producer, who would it be?
“Honestly, one of the funniest airplane rides of my entire life was going from Electric Forrest to Paradiso and I randomly got sat next to Rusko. His wife was pregnant for about 4 months. He had just gotten to the point where he kinda realized that he was going to have a kid. He was getting so hammered, taking shots. He’s such a nice dude. The conversation was so funny and cool. Another dude who I have a lot of respect for. Shout out Rusko. I hope he feels better soon.”
Who’s the best at Mario Cart?
“Me, for sure. My character depends on which Mario Cart we’re playing. I’ll take anyone. Derek (from Slander) is really good, too. All out friends are amazing. We’re all way too good at Mario Cart.”
We’re pretty sure that Mija could outrun NGHTMRE in a good game of Mario Cart on Nintendo 64. Let’s get the two of them playing on the club video screen when Mija joins Tyler in support of his upcoming NGHTMRE Before XMas tour in Chicago on November 18th. See the full tour details below.
