On Thursday, January 24, 2019, we had the exclusive opportunity to sit down with the incredibly talented AC Slater at Montreal’s Igloofest. The outdoor festival exposes its attendees to Canada’s well-known cold temperatures; that said, the American producer quickly heated things up! The Night Bass creator unleashed an undeniably fire set, and continued to warm our hearts by revealing one of his most memorable fan interactions, his proudest accomplishments to date, his new projects, and much more!
We want to thank the charming musician for his contagious energy, generosity, and kindness. We look forward to continuing to follow his musical journey, and wish him nothing but the best with his exciting new undertakings. Trust us, big things are coming; check it out!
You once stated that you stole a box of Fruit by the Foot from Migos‘ trailer at Hard Summer. That said, what has been another highlight from some of your shenanigans backstage?
Haha, there’s so many! There has been a lot of things that have happened that I can’t talk about. I will say that when I was in Ottawa last, there were a group of kids that traveled all the way from Toronto to see my show. They had an AirBnB about a block from Barrymore‘s. That was, honestly, one of the most fun things because you could tell that they really wanted me to come. So, I went there; we hung out, talked, drank – it was really cool! To follow that up, I played in Detroit a few weeks ago, and they all came! I met up with them after to say “hey”, but we didn’t get the chance to party after because I had to go straight to the airport. I love doing spontaneous things like that. I mean, what else am I going to do, right?
At Holy Ship! you were surrounded by many of your DJ friends and some other exceptionally talented artists. Can you tell us if any of these interactions sparked the idea of a potential new collab?
Oh, all of the time! Holy Ship! is intense because you can’t really go anywhere – you’re either hiding in your cabin, or you’re out and about with all of the ravers or the DJs. It’s almost like summer camp for producers; we’re just always together.
I’ve had some really cool connections with people; for example, I have this new tradition with Tchami. Holy Ship! puts on this event called the Sunrise Set; it happens on the last night. A DJ will play while the sun is coming up, and it’s the only stage that’s open, so everyone gathers to see the performance. About two years ago, I saw Tchami when this was happening, and we played that event together. Fast forward to 2019, I saw him right before the Sunrise Set, and I said “we’ve gotta make this happen again” – so that’s what we did!
Since then, we’ve talked about working together more. When you’re an artist, and you often see other producers, it’s just natural to talk about collaborating. Wax Motif is my neighbor, we’ve talked about teaming up again. We have the one song together ‘Legit‘, and he remixed my song with Chris Lorenzo ‘Fly Kicks‘. We work really well together!
Speaking of collabs, can you walk us through some of the differences regarding the creative process when making new music on your own, vs. when you team up with another musician.
When I work, I’m really slow. When I’m in the studio, I get very self conscious about what I am doing. When I work with other artists, it’s cool to see how they work; for example, Wax Motif and Chris Lorenzo are really fast workers. When I work with them, they inspire me to stop overthinking. As always, you learn a lot from working with other people.
We are completely obsessed with your Night Bass record label. In celebration of the numerous successes over the past five years, we’d love for you to tell us about some of your proudest triumphs.
If we take a look back, my goal was to build a community of like-minded people that are into the same style of music. When I started Night Bass, it was the height of EDM; for example, when Afrojack was at his prime. There wasn’t an outlet for the kind of music that I liked – that’s why I started Night Bass.
When I’m at the Night Bass parties in LA, that’s when I realized that my dream came true. I walk around the venue, and people come up to me and tell me their stories. Some have said, “AC! This is my girlfriend. I actually met her at one of your parties.” It makes me reminisce about when I was a raver, it was such a tight-knit community. When we put on these Night Bass events, that’s the vibe of the community. It’s like a family. People seem to relate to the underground sound.
[Furthermore], we just hosted the five-year anniversary pop-up store in LA. One of the attendees came up to me to remind me that one of her friends, that she met at Night Bass, got married, and had a Night Bass themed wedding. I haven’t received the photos yet, but I would love to see them! It shows me the bigger picture of my goal realizing itself. It made me feel so happy.Five years is a huge milestone! During that time period, you created several hit tracks. Do you have a favorite production?
I would say the Wax Motif remix of ‘Fly Kicks’ by myself and Chris Lorenzo because everywhere I go, no matter where I am in the world, that song always resonates with people. I mean, you saw the crowd tonight, people go crazy for it! Waxy really killed that remix.
Do you have any new projects or tracks in the works that you want to share with our readers?
I have an EP coming out on Night Bass in March. After that release, I will go on tour. Also, I’m shooting for the summer to put out a new album. I did my first album back in September 2017; I’m due for another one! I’ve been working on a lot of new stuff, and I hope to be able to get these projects out by then. I can’t wait for everyone to hear what I’ve been working on!
