Fledging on the underground bass music scene over the last year, Frigid has put his foot on the gas with a mission to make 2022 the year that he becomes something bigger than a Producer with talent. With projects stemming out in multiple directions and a sonic production style that is hard to make comparisons with, he’s quickly assembling a following and catching attention from the higher uppers in the sub-frequency dominated scene he’s traversing.
ONE EDM sat down for an ‘Introducing’ chat to learn more about this fascinating project.
Hi Frigid, tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hi, my name is Leo. I was born with a different name that was chosen by my parents to help me evade racism, but changed it a few years ago after years of wanting a new name that fits me better and represents where my lineage better. I was born in Montreal to immigrant parents, and we moved to Vancouver when I was young, where I grew up. Now I’m living in Montreal again. I used to hussle a lot of random gigs, eventually started my own small business in Vancouver growing microgreens and made some money in crypto. Now I’ve decided to focus entirely on music and I’ve been just living off my crypto investments. It’s been an absolute blessing being able to set up my home studio properly and having the time to apply myself fully. It was hard when I was worried about survival. I’ve had an extremely difficult time in my early 20’s dealing with loss of loved ones, addiction, depression, anxiety, PTSD, police violence, emotional/financial abuse… but I’ve survived and I’m here to give back to the world of music that saved my life.
Tell us about how you first got into music?
I’ve always been into music as long as I can remember. It was always an extremely special, personal and I guess spiritual experience for me. First time I made a beat was in Garage Band when I was like 12 or something. I’d played saxophone, guitar, and sang for some years, but I mostly stopped playing and making music in high school as I got busy with academics and sports. It wasn’t until I’d graduated that my friends began to inspire me to create music again. We would all get together, smoke hella weed, usually take some psychs and have these super long awesome jam sessions where we would pretty much improvise a whole hip hop based electronic set, each of us playing a different role in the arrangements and flowing into different motifs. My friends would remark on my ability, even those with much more musical education that me (I had virtually none at this time) and this made me believe that if I just kept practicing and learning then I could create the kind of music that is so special to me.
How would you describe your music to someone who hasn’t heard it before?
Genre-Bending electronic dance music inspired by urban genres such as Hip Hop, Dubstep, and Trap, focusing on bass with swingy beats, cutting edge sound design, and unique original melodies. A constant juxtaposition or intermixing of “Light and Dark”.
Who are your biggest influences?
I’d have to say those who influenced me the most as I discovered my sound were:
Definitely had one of those: “Oh shit this shit right here though” moments with the discovery of each of these acts and definitely don’t think I’d be the artist I am now without what I learned from them.
Who are your top 3 artists of all time and why?
Mr.Carmack: for being the absolute GOAT of experimental Trap music and for inspiring an entire generation and a half of producers.
Flume: Also inspired a generation of Producers, and has made some of my favourite sounding music. Also for really pushing the envelope in EDM as a composer and sound designer.
Woolymammoth aka Jason Wool: Man I miss Woolymammoth so bad, his sets were just ridiculous. And his Cast music alias was incredible too. Most talented and most slept on artist ever in Bass music in my humble opinion. A true underground king.
I could really make this a top 5-10 list and they’d all deserve to be there.. but some honorable mentions I gotta throw in are Charlesthefirst, Tsuruda, Shades, Eprom and Alix Perez.
What has been your biggest career achievement to date?
Beating Luca Lush in Super Smash Bros (Gamecube)
LOL to be honest I don’t know! One of my biggest shows I opened in front of like 700 people for Troyboi’s first-ever North American performance.
What would be your dream label to release on?
For EDM, hands down, Deadbeats. They’re really putting on the best of the best these days in terms of fresh, original music that slaps.
Apart from EDM though, I really, really want to release a LoFi EP with Leaving Records. The label was started by the previous A&R for Stones Throw Records, and I really love the perspective, passion and objective they have for their artists.
Do you have any hobbies aside from music production?
I love the outdoors. I snowboard, explore the wilderness with my dog, shoot my bow, camp in random secluded public land etc… I also love to garden.
How would you describe the vibe of your music in 3 words?
Cinematic, haunting, urban
What track would you recommend first-time listeners to check out?
My new single and title track off my forthcoming EP “Memories Like Daggers” Is my best work to date I would say.
A huge thanks to Frigid for the interview. You can check out his project online below and stay tuned by following him on his socials for all of the latest from his studio and world.
Listen to ‘Memories Like Daggers’:
https://open.spotify.com/track/2g8C9dODSoGQBYKGDbzVkJ?si=9c9c20dc880140b2
https://soundcloud.com/frigid/memories-like-daggers-frigid
https://www.beatport.com/artist/frigid/159549
Frigid Online:
https://linktr.ee/Frigidmusic
