Listen to The Premiere of Nightizm’s Remix of High Klassified & Tommy Kruise’s “Washington”

Nightizm's new remix is as much an ode to the Montreal sound he loves so much as it is an homage to the people that have influenced his unique sound. His first remix after his much applauded Renaissance EP, this new release has a similar brooding, almost gothic quality, with ear-catching vocal samples and deep, dark basslines. Nightizm and I sat down for a coffee in Trinity-Bellwoods so I could find out a little more about this break-out up-and-comer.

THUMP: To start things off, mind giving us a little introduction?

Nightizm:I'm Tristan, aka Nightizm, and I started making music when I was 19, right when I started college. I did it almost every day from there on out; it just took over my life. By January of last year I made my name Nightizm—I went through a few name changes, but that's when I really developed my sound and made that name. I'm from Oshawa, and lived in Whitby half my life, but I'm down here in Toronto almost twice a week now, there's just so much going on. I finally started to go to shows a lot. Finally.

Whose productions were you really digging when you started making music?

Back in the days me and my boys would get high in the Civic and jam out to Deadmau5 and Infected Mushroom, and those two artists, they rarely use vocals, and that's when I started to take in the depth of the beats, and I started thinking, "I could do this." Then obviously I couldn't, but it was in my mind to get to that point. Safe to say my style was way different back then.

You've got everyone excited about this really unique atmosphere that you've explored throughout your Renaissance EP. How did you begin to find Nightizm's sound?

I started off with a lot of house, because of my interest in Deadmau5, and then I started just trying to make long and weird tracks a la Infected Mushroom. Then I started getting really into dubstep, when it really blew up a few years back. I started trying to make dubstep tracks, but for some reason I really wasn't all that good at it. That's when trap hit me and it took over my soul. I fucking love that shit. Which makes sense because I was always a huge rap fan. I got so into all this trap music, and then I just tried to find ways to expand the sounds into other genres, to really start making it my own.

What do you love so much about trap?

The 808s, the high hats, the bass, the vibes—all of it. It's just all good feelings.

So where did the inspiration for your Renaissance EP come from?

I originally wanted to make an album, and I was so dead set on it. I released a couple of songs but it didn't have the momentum behind it I needed, so I waited and kept making music. That's when I started making these tracks, the ones you hear on the Renaissance EP, and then that's when this whole idea struck. I was reading all these Dan Brown books, like Angels and Demons and whatnot, and that inspired me a lot. I started using these weird church vocals and then merging them with the trap sound.

What draws you to this dark, cavernous feeling in your music?

I just always thought making this happy music was kind of cheesy. I spent probably about a year straight, staying up till about six, seven o'clock in the morning, making music, and I guess it was always dark out and my sound started to mirror that. I'm good at the chill stuff and the dark stuff. After a year of doing that I moved into what I'm doing now and it all came together nicely.

What instruments do you use in your productions?

A weird thing about my production is that I don't really use a piano anymore. I stopped about a year ago, and it actually helped me create. I really had to think through the sounds in my head rather than relying on coming back to the piano and laying them all out. It's made it a different type of challenge; I've enjoyed working through it. I always wanted to play drums in high school, but it was too loud so I couldn't get that shit, and then I got given a guitar when I was sixteen, but I wasn't feeling it too much. It was the piano and FL studio that really hooked me and got me into creating.

Who would you love to work with?

There are a couple of people I'm sort of working with at the moment: Hoodlum, Ain't No Love, and some others that I can't give away quite yet. But I like to think big—I want to work with people like Drake, Banks, all the great singers and rappers. I listen to so much rap that I've always had this in my mind, to make beats for other people as well and do side projects. I'd love to work behind the scenes with other artists. I want to release on whatever label will let me make music and grow how I want, I don't want to be held down to this certain style that someone wants me to pop out over and over again. I want people to trust in my production and my vision. That's what I'm really looking for.

You had a lot of gigs in May, what was one of the best ones?

One of the best shows from May was definitely the one at the Garrison. I don't like to mess up. I like to plan what I do. But the Garrison got me completely out of that bubble because they wanted me to DJ for an extra hour and a half, and there were at least two hundred people there. It was really nerve-wracking but it was also great. I only taught myself to DJ over a year and a half ago At that point I went completely random, throwing songs out everywhere, which was a lot of fun. It was a great experience to really let loose. I had thought I was ready to do something like that, but actually doing it is a little scarier. But it turned out great, so there we go.  More up and comers
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