Raised by Chicago and Detroit’s underground scenes and determined to keep it alive, Gettoblaster has created their own sound by taking what they’ve been influenced by for years and twisting it with a modern-day edge and pushing the genre of warehouse tracks to the future.

With a back catalogue of releases on some of the most prestigious labels in the business, such as Defected, Glitterbox, Safe Records and more; they have recently released their first sample pack in the Toolroom Trademark Series. 

We recently caught up with them about their time in the industry and any production advice they’d like to share…

HOW HAVE YOU FOUND CREATING YOUR TRADEMARK SERIES PACK?

It was a lot of fun making the trademark series sample pack. It’s always fun to create a package that is completely original. Once we started putting it together , I realised all the cool little tricks we actually do to make it sound like us. Our music has a big influence from the 90’s movement of House, and you can hear this throughout the sample pack, but of course, we added our own twist.

CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT THE INFLUENCES FOR THE SAMPLE PACK?

We are big advocates over preserving Chicago / Detroit Warehouse music. This had a massive influence on us so we often refer back to that. The pack contains that sound mixed with some modern day sounds.

TALK US THROUGH THE JOURNEY, WHERE DID IT ALL BEGIN FOR YOU?

The two of us have different backgrounds, Paul grew up in South east Chicago and Zach grew up in Detroit.

Paul had a career in music before starting GETTOBLASTER. Throughout the 90’s, he was a regular in the United States rave scene. He spent a lot of time working in local legendary Chicago Record Stores selling vinyl.

Zach was a promoter & local Detroit DJ in the early 2000’s, he later relocated to West Michigan for college where he started to really gain traction with his events.

Paul was touring around the world as he had gained some popularity in the underground scene. Due to this, Zach began booking him for shows in Michigan.

If we then fast forward to Miami Music Week in 2014, we were both out for dinner with some others such as Chicago Legend Steve Silk Hurley and DJ Skip. we decided over the dinner to join forces and pay tribute to the classic sound of raw Chicago house music. We ended up going to DJ Sneaks afterparty that night and haven’t looked back since.

Over the years, we have had support from the likes of Patrick Topping, Jamie Jones, Mark Knight, Solomon, Claude Vonstroke, Shiba San , Dom Dolla, DJ Sneak , Steve Silk Hurley and more.

We have loved every beat thats come out of the studio, its been great to put our flavour on the classic sound we loved.

HOW DO YOU APPROACH CREATING MUSIC? DO YOU LIKE TO JAM OUT OR WORK WITH A SOLID IDEA IN PLACE?

We do both of these. Sometimes we come back from a weekend of touring and write music for days. We often will finish a show, rush back to the hotel and get straight to work on the laptop because of the inspiration we have got from it.

Other times like during the pandemic , listening to legendary mixes from people like DJ Gemini, Green Velvet, Derrick Carter, DJ Sneak really helped us get inspired. These often were mixtapes from the kings of “Jack” back in the 90’s.

WHAT WAS THE BEST BIT OF ADVICE YOU EVER RECEIVED AS A PRODUCER/DJ?

It was to simplify your thought process. Once you have learnt your gear, we were told to never spend longer than 4 hours on your track ideas. If we did, then it mean’t we were probably overthinking it. This rings true, as you may spend days out weeks mixing things down but we always wanted the idea to come quickly.

One of our biggest records we ever made was done in only 3 hours. It has millions of plays on Spotify and was an overall Beatport #1.

IF YOU COULD GO BACK TO WHEN YOU BEGAN PRODUCING AND START OVER, WOULD YOU DO ANYTHING DIFFERENTLY?

We wish we had began making music at an younger age for one. The second thing would be to not put out every record you make. We’d think more carefully and be more selective because once you have released it to the world, it can’t be taken back. You only want to put your very best work out.

WRITERS BLOCK IS SOMETHING MANY PRODUCERS STRUGGLE WITH, HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH WRITERS BLOCK?

When writers block hits, we tend to dig deep into our inspirations. I like to go to my local record shop in Chicago, Grammaphone, and do some crate digging. When it comes to Vinyl records, you’re listening to something that someone has paid thousands of dollars to print, therefore it’s usually has quality. There’s lots of inspiration to be taken from record store culture.

ARE THEIR ANY PLUG IN’S YOU COULDN’T LIVE WITHOUT?

Something called Classic Compressor in FL Studio and my Moog Voyager.

Classic Compressor: 

Moog Voyager:

WHAT ARE YOUR TOP TIPS FOR ASPIRING PRODUCERS LOOKING TO UP THEIR PRODUCTION GAME

• Practice making lots of tracks from beginning to end before attempting to release them.
• Learn the plug ins and synths you use inside out.
• Try to be original. When using sample packs, cut up the loops put your own spin on them. This will make them unique to you.

DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE ON SENDING DEMOS TO LABELS?

Don’t be discouraged by rejection, it’s all part of the process.

We have been fortunate enough to sign records to all the target labels we had when starting out. However it wasn’t a process of sending one demo and getting signed. We had to continually send multiple demos and face many no’s before we got a yes.

CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHAT A DAY IN THE LIFE OF GETTOBLASTER LOOKS LIKE?

We will wake up in the morning, eat breakfast before hitting thr gym. When done, we will return and do emails for 1 hour, social media for 1 hour and then make music for around 3 hours.

This could be anything from preparing sound banks to making concepts etc. This means that when we are ready to write our tracks, we have an organised sample library ready to go.

WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS THE TURNING POINT FOR YOU GUYS AS ARTISTS?

I think when we stopped listening to everyone and started doing what we wanted to do. Music is a personal journey and your music won’t be to everyones taste but with billions of people on this planet, your audience is out there for you.

ARE THERE ANY GIGS THAT STAND OUT TO YOU WHEN YOU THINK BACK?

A sold out Brooklyn Mirage was one of our most recent favourites. A close second would be a boat party we played that went though the Hudson River in New York. Playing in front of the Statue of Liberty, that was special!

The Discopussy residency in Las Vegas is also special. Theres always such a range of people at these events which makes it such fun!

We also loved playing in Rotterdam at Toffler, it used to be a bicycle tunnel thats now been converted into a club. It has a moving stage that moves deeper into the tunnel as the venue fills out.

ARE THERE ANY ARTISTS YOU ARE LOVING AT THE MOMENT, THAT WE SHOULD BE KEEPING AN EYE OUT FOR?

Eldon from Liverpool is one of our current favourites! Also our good friend Franklyn Watts, we love collaborating with him. Our tracks together are always fun.

We also are big fans of Getcosy, we are doing an album with this guy! SO good!

HAVE YOU GOT ANY EXCITING PLANS FOR 2023 YOU’D LIKE TO TELL US ABOUT?

Be on the look out for our new album thats on the way. It’s coming soon…

Toolroom Trademark Series: Gettoblaster – OUT NOW!

Featuring Crunchy Drum Loops, Powerful Basslines and Catchy Melodics. This pack gives you the taste of their raw house mastery.

Add their energetic signature sound to your productions!

This is now available via Splice and the Toolroom Academy Website.