Today we had an exclusive chance to interview Phantum.
ARN: When did you realize that you had a passion for music?
Phantum: I was always passionate about music from a very young age, I remember when I was 10 years old I was super inspired by Guitar Hero 3 and can remember thinking that pursuing a career in music and being a rockstar would indefinitely be my future career path. I started playing electric guitar at 11 and it became the only thing I ever did throughout the day and nighttime. It wasn’t really until I started high school I grew a new found passion for hip hop and started discovering all different artists I had never listened to before. By the end of high school my curiosity peaked with the sounds of trap beats from the south and I wanted to learn how they were made, that was the year i downloaded FL Studio.
ARN: Who are your main inspirations as a producer?
Phantum: I’m inspired by so many different artists in all different genres everything from The Beatles to Biggie Smalls. In terms of the most influential producers when I started would have to be Metro Boomin, Murda Beatz, and Southside. Those are the guys I was first inspired by and listening to the most when I first started taking making beats more serious. I’m inspired by a lot of different producers but those are probably my biggest ones personally.
ARN: What would you like to achieve as a producer?
Phantum: I want to work with all my personal favourite artists and upcoming rappers with the right energy and work ethic, and also help build up unknown artists from the ground up to help them make their best work and become a superstar.
ARN: What should we be looking forward to seeing from you in the near future?
Phantum: I’ve been working with a few different very talented artists in the studio on new singles and projects releasing very soon. New creative concepts for music videos in the new year
ARN: What’s the best piece of advice you could give to young aspiring producers?
Phantum: Only concern yourself with the things that you can control. Trust your instincts never let fear get in your way or dictate your decisions and circumstances. Failing constantly is what will help you grow the fastest, and never lose sight of your goals and have patience your time will come with enough persistence.
ARN: What artist’s do you hope to work with in the future?
Phantum: Drake is definitely at the top of my list not only because of where i’m from and that he’s one of the biggest artists in the world, but I used to listen to his music way before I was heavy into hip hop along side Lil Wayne, and Eminem. Theres also tons of rock bands and musicians I would love to get in the studio with, I in vision myself getting different crazy artist collaborations on songs that cross genre that nobody would ever expect would happen.
ARN: What’s your best piece of advice for handling criticism?
Phantum: You’re never going to be able to please everyone, I don’t think you should aim to please anybody specific other than yourself and satisfy your own taste. Do whatever you personally like and are drawn to the most and you will find the right core audience for you.
ARN: What is still your biggest challenge?
Phantum: It’s difficult to always stay consistent everyday sending beats out while also being in the studio with artists recording for several hours and getting other things done throughout the week. Sometimes you can not be feeling it but you just have to force yourself sometimes and push through it keeping the bigger picture in mind.
ARN: How do you currently feel about the state of Hip-hop in general?
Phantum: I feel like there’s a lot of super talented artists around these days and it makes me excited to see a lot of new Hip Hop artists be influenced by the same rock bands I grew up on. I feel like mainstream music and music in general is headed in a very exciting direction with more interesting songwriting and innovative artists being recognized for their creativity.
ARN: Talk me through your creative process.
Phantum: It always starts with the melody for me if i’m making a beat, or the flow if i’m in the studio creating a song with somebody. First find the main melody, then add in counter melodies that fit in the pocket and sound good to the ear, for making a song this is adding adlibs/layers after establishing the main vocal. Once an addictive full sounding melody/flow has been established for making a beat I just add the drums piece by piece making sure the claps/snares and kicks are relatively simple, add a heavy 808 that matches the kicks on most hits, then make the hi hats a bit more complex. for making a song once we have a full sounding catchy melody for the first 8 bars that will usually be the hook.
From there it’s the same process finding the right flows and words to match for each part of their verse.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/1phantum/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhantumBeats
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/phantumbeats
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2lyklMBFBdzHKNWBYSrvHE?si=DwCdBD8xSmejWXTVY5UCtA