There's More to Kill The Noise Than a Drunken Toronto Afterparty

"From what I was told, the first part of my set was great," recalls Jake Stanczak, the producer commonly known as Kill The Noise. "Then, the second half I was screwing around and playing Rick Astley." He is referring to a now infamous drunken DJ set at an after-party for Veld Music Festival in Toronto.

The co-owner of Slow Roast Records and a legend amongst bass lovers, Stanczak, whose after-party antics were precipitated by a day of drinking with friend AC Slater, reflects remorsefully on his erratic behaviour. "There's a problem when you become too comfortable with anything," he says. "If you feel like you can get away with whatever you want, I think that's when people start losing respect for you."

Two months later, at the Toronto stop of his Occult Classic Tour, which shares its name with his refreshingly colourful new album, the 34-year-old revealed his true character. Stopping the show mid-set, Stanczak took to the mic to apologize for his previous display of debauchery. "I was like, man, that really was a dickhead thing for me to do, just get that fucked up and expect people to listen to me," he shares. "I'm not trying to piss anyone off and I appreciate people's support."

Sincerity and genuineness seems to characterize the often-masked Stanczak, who politely pauses our conversation to give a cheery hello to the driver taking him to the airport. His natural warmth likely explains the wealth of A-list musicians he calls friends. Whether he's making musical satires with Feed Me, or creating soundtracks to teen action films with Juicy J, Kill the Noise, the man with the morbid moniker, is leading a bass music uprising through his musical camaraderies. "That's the reason I make music," he says. "It's to hang out with the people I love."

Stanczak invites a lot of friends to join him on Occult Classic, his most adventurous album to date. "Working with other people's always a great way to step outside your space and make something cool happen," he explains of the ten-piece collection, which features an impressive ensemble of leaders in dance music, such as Feed Me, Tommy Trash, and Dillon Francis. "I took a lot more risks. If you're a musician, be a musician. Fuck all your infrastructure."

Boldly going where no bass head has gone before, Stanczak uses the songs on Occult Classic as a vehicle for addressing important contemporary issues. "I wanted there to be a certain layer that makes people recognize that I'm an artist and I'm writing songs that have some type of meaning," adds the DJ.

Occult Classic seems to aim higher, thematically, than much of dance music. The album playfully and provocatively critiques the state of the music industry, as well as the vicious dangers of cocaine.

"I think part of the reason satire exists is to create a conversation," he theorizes, referring to his now hugely popular parodic collaboration with Feed Me, suitably called "I Do Coke With Feed Me." "I'm sick of trying to have conversations backstage at clubs and guys are doing blow and wasting my time talking about bullshit. They don't realize they're stuck in a loop." While his musical deep-dives are valuable tools for learning, he also recognizes the importance of a good time. "I think that sometimes people forget that we're making dance music and it's easy to start taking yourself too seriously," he laughs. "I want people to have fun. Right now I'm not interested in making a super dark album."

His let-loose mentality is what gave birth to "Dolphin On Wheels," the strangely squealing, cartoonish musical brainchild conceived with Dillon Francis, which has been constantly trending on the Twittersphere since its release. "I went to one of [Dillon's] shows at The Shrine in LA," he recalls. "He was pressing this button that had this dolphin noise and he just kept pushing it. I was thinking, why isn't there a song like that? So I went home, and I made a little demo, and I was like 'dude do you want to work on this?' and he was like 'fuck yeah I wanna work on this.'"

A diverse collection of escapist sing-a-longs, Occult Classic is a refreshing exploration of new musical territory. "People are only going to give listening to the whole album one chance," he adds. "You have to show people what you can do outside the box."

With one minor drunken setback behind him, and a successfully ambitious album pushing him well ahead in the saturated sea of digital music makers, it's not only Stanczak's music that's laudable, it's his character.

"When you've chosen a creative path in life, it's hard to look at it and say, 'yeah this is going to get me where I want to go'. Yet, all of a sudden, everything kind of seems possible."

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