Aktiveight talks about his origins, influences and new track ‘I’m The Blame’

Clutching towards glory on his own terms, rising American DJ and producer Aktiveight is a genre aesthete and is looking set to show his talents with a flurry of releases. Nathaniel James Rodriguez, better known by his Aktiveight moniker, has garnered most of his fame from plays on various streaming services, with specific audiences in parts of America. Now looking to make the big push to the wide world of Dance music, the 21-year old producer is aiming to impress listeners with his latest production titled ‘I’m The Blame‘. An artist who is based around the philosophy of making collaborations as an integral part of his growth, his recent release follows this pattern as the budding producer collaborates with singer/songwriter Connor Buckmaster.

What the track showcases is pure promise in terms of talent – Aktiveight’s potential is cleanly visible from the get go and embodies his idea of being a ‘hybrid producer’. A blueprint for what’s to come, ‘I’m The Blame’ has been reviewed as a ‘melodically enchanting’ track and has led to Aktiveight being touted as one of those to watch out for. While there’s enough to be said about him in our words, we took the time out to sit with him and talk about his origins, influences, his latest release and what the future holds in light of his ever changing production sounds.

How long have you been a producer/DJ for? Tell us about the origin of your music. What inspired you to pursue your career as an artist?

I have been doing music production and DJing for almost 8 years now. I have really gotten interested in electronic music because a friend of mine was always at my house and he would play early Dubstep like Skream!, Sukh Knight, and Flux Pavilion and we would just rock out to it. As I got older I wanted to know how to make Dubstep so I would just Google a free online dub-step maker and just play around with it. By the time I got to high school is when I really got serious into production so I started to recreate like Seek Bromance by Avicii and Feel So Close by Calvin Harris. I think that was the first song I have ever put up on Soundcloud.

Who do you consider to have been your biggest influences throughout your career that have made an impact on your productions?

I have really set myself to be influenced by the culture of Electronic Dance Music. Everyone who has contributed to it has inspired me to make more music and be a part of the culture. But if we’re talking about DJs and producers I would say every top DJ out there. Avicii, Daft Punk, deadmau5, Steve Aoki to name a few because they brought the culture of Dance music to the mainstream and letting more people listen to electronic music.

Congratulations on your new track ‘I’m The Blame’. How did the collaboration come about? What’s the story behind it?

Thank you very much! Connor and I were working very long and very hard to make this song sound great! I actually met Connor at a charity telethon for our college, Rowan University. I was working as the live sound engineer at the stage where the performances were happening and Connor was one of the people performing. During sound check, he sang like an angel and all of the girls that were there on set listening were screaming like he was a pop star! After the show I introduced myself and I offered him to work on music and he gladly accepted! Fast forward one year later, I made this demo and I wanted to find a better singer for it. I called him into the studio and the rest was history. It took us more than a year to finish this one song.

Do you have plans to work together again in the future?

Of course! Connor is planning on making more music in the future and I think that there will be more music in the future!

The track stands out as completely different from your other releases, what made you decide to adapt your style? And is this change in style permanent or are you just experimenting?

I originally wrote this song as an apology to all the people have done wrong in my life. And I feel that it’s necessary to have that emotion to be put into a song. Production wise I have really been eyeballing the trends in dance music and I have heard that future bass is growing into a new style. I have been hearing a lot of future bass songs on the radio recently and I felt that I should create this style because I am always working on different genres almost every time! My first album that was released last year was a combination of genres like Progressive house, Trap, and even Hip-Hop. It’s all different and I am sure my next song will be completely different! I am always open to go outside my comfort zone and try something new and I think every music artist should do the same!

What is next for Aktiveight? Could you tell us a bit more about some of your upcoming tracks? Do you have any more projects in the pipeline? Are you planning any interesting gigs?

I am finishing up an EP that will be released sometime soon, I will reveal the details when the next single comes out. But this will have six songs including “I’m The Blame,” and it’ll work similar to my last album. It will feature new artists that I have been working on but this time the music will become “The Genre of the Future.”

You can read more about Aktiveight’s latest single ‘I’m The Blame’ here.

Photo Credit: Brittany Cook