I.H.O.S Chats With: MSCLS
There has been a quiet little storm brewing over in Austin, Texas that has made a huge blip on our radar. I’m sure you all have gotten a taste of the intoxicating sounds coming from young producer Josh Vela, a.k.a MSCLS. We first encountered this house wiz kid when he put out that bumpin’ track, “Baby, You”, that featured vocals from Tony Mundaca and we haven’t lost his trail since. He is looking to make some big moves in the coming months and we predict that he will be blowing up very soon. We recently got a chance to pick his brain a bit about his music, his fuel, his new collaboration with Silky Gold and Big Kid Xavier. Get to know this burgeoning talent, fall in lust with his deep, heavy bass tunes and remember his name!
Read the full interview after the jump!
IHOS: The first time we came across your music, we were bumping “Baby, You”. Great track by the way. What was it like working with Tony Mundaca and how did you two get started on the track?
MSCLS: Well thank you, glad you guys haven been feeling that tune! I’ve known Tony for a long time actually, he’s a been a good friend of mine for a while and him and I use to work at Guitar Center together in the pro audio department. He’s always great to work with, him and I have done a few tracks together back in the day when I was under a different alias and had some really big support on them that was getting rinsed by Knife Party, Bro Safari & Diplo to name a few. It had been a while since him and I had gotten in the studio to jam and whatnot but he came to Austin one night a while back and we ended up writing most of that track that night he was in town. It just came together so naturally and organically and so quickly.
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IHOS: How did you come up with the name MSCLS? And can you describe the MSCLS sound?
MSCLS: MSCLS (Muscles) was actually first coined around 4-5 years ago or so. It started as an inside joke with a friend before I actually began dj’ing or producing. She had asked me one day ” If you start Dj’ing, what would you DJ name be?” to which I replied ” DJ Muscles”. It was one of those kind of moments when you “had to be there” because we laughed our asses off and thought it was hilarious which in retrospect it really wasn’t that funny haha. Fast forward a few years and I decided to make a new alias and had kept that moniker in the back of my mind as kind of a joke but decided to go with it and it somehow has kinda worked I guess? What mainly inspired me to go with it was I felt like it reflected myself at the time I decided to start working on this project and writing house music and that was to not take stuff to seriously and get back to having fun with music again and just go with the flow of things.
As far as describing the “sound” that’s kind of hard for me to do, mainly because it’s hard to look from the outside in to describe my own “sound” I can tell you thought that the things that influence the way I write or sounds I like to use have a huge range from R&B, Old Chicago House, Jackin House, Deep, Dark.
IHOS: Has music always been a career path for you?
MSCLS: I would say that’s pretty much the case. From the moment I first picked up a guitar and learned how to play it I basically decided at that point all I wanted to do for the rest of my life was to create music, tour, and have a career in the music business. I’ve played in countless bands growing up, I’ve worked live sound for a few years, I went to college for music business, worked pro audio for a short period at guitar (which was my last job about two years ago before I decided to leave and do this full time). One way or another whether it’s on stage, behind a mixing console in the studio or working on production for various outlets in music (i.e scoring, writing music for televison/film etc) I’ve made the choice to do this full time a long time ago and honestly couldn’t be any happier or wouldn’t have it any other way!
IHOS: Most of your tracks are available as free downloads, is this going to be a common thread? Or is this just for the first few tracks?
MSCLS: I feel that it’s important to be able to give out free content to the world of music and have been happy to give my first several releases out for free. At the end of the day I’d rather people download a song for free and be able to hear my music or share with a friend then have someone turned away because they didn’t want to pay .99 cents or 1.99 for a song which is ridiculously cheap for music considering the amount of time and effort that goes into creating a song. I do plan on doing official releases in the near future and I’ve toyed with the idea of creating my own imprint and working on a platform for me to release my music on but that’s something that is in the works and I can’t speak to much on right now.
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IHOS: What is the music scene like in Austin? Is there a prominent house/electronic community?
MSCLS: Austin, Texas I feel has a gone through a few changes over the past 4-5 years but has a very strong electronic music scene here. There’s definitely no shortage of great shows or good venues to play in across all genres of electronic music. Texas as a whole is actually a really great market for club music and esp. house music. Dallas, Houston, Austin all have really kick ass scenes for house music and the majority of the scene is very supportive of each other which is not always easy to find but I’m glad it exists, especially here in Austin.
IHOS: Who are you itching to collaborate with?
MSCLS: Oh man, there’s a ton of artists that I would love to work with!! I do have a few that I would think would be great to work with because they have a pretty versatile palette when it comes to writing house tunes. A few that I would say would be, AC Slater, Gorgon City, Tchami, Justin Martin, Motez… there’s obviously a ton of other artists that I would love to work with as well. It’s always great to get in the studio and jam with someone, reminds me of playing in band and it’s a good feeling to vibe on something with someone else when you’re used to working alone.
IHOS: What would you say are five tracks that are essential to any playlist?
MSCLS: I have about 28475972 tracks that are essential to a variety of playlists but I’ll narrow it down to five for you guys!
1) Ten Walls – “Walking With Elephants”
2) Alex Metric & Oliver – “Hope”
3) Justin Martin & Eats Everything – “Steven Jello”
4) Thomas Schumacher ft. Caitlin Devlin – “Every Litte Thing (Hot Since 82′ Remix)”
5) Calippo – “Back There (EDX’s Dubai Skyline Remix)”
IHOS: Any upcoming releases you’re excited about?
MSCLS: There’s quite a few there we’re working on at the moment that I’m really stoked on, but I can’t really say too much about them yet. Gonna have to stay connected and see what happens 😉 !
IHOS: We got a taste of that pulsating new track that you have brewing with Silky Gold and Big Kid Xavier. What was the process like working with them?
MSCLS: I’ve known Silky Gold (David) for a long time from when I used to live in San Antonio a few years back. We’ve both played a few shows together after I moved back to Austin a early last year and finally decided to get in the studio and write a jam a few months ago. We had been working on the tune for while and was having a hard time nailing a vocal sample to put on it the track and linked up with Xavier who’s from Houston. We spoke with him and gave him a little bit of direction as to what we were kinda looking for (which was something with a bouncier vibe) and the rest as they say is history. He worked on the vocals for a week or so and we got them back and fell in love with the way it came out. It kept it playful and bouncy and the vibe just fit the track and we all ended up pretty happy with the way it came out I would say.
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IHOS: Do you have any plans to stir things up in L.A at all?
MSCLS: Actually I do! I’ve been working on a west coast tour for the fall for the past few months and LA is one of the stops which is TBA right now. I also have plans of making my journey out there and doing the “big move” by the middle of next year I would say. It could end up being sooner than that but for now that’s the game plan.
IHOS: Is there a mission statement or goal behind the music you make?
MSCLS: The mission statement I would say is to have fun with music, don’t take it too seriously because that’s what ends up taking the fun and life out it. Everyone should be able to listen to the music I write or come to a live and have the same feeling at both ; have fun, forget about the troubles of life for the time being and to be happy living the life you do. It may sound corny or whatever but that’s what music does for me and I want everyone be able to experience it the same way that I do.
IHOS: What do your live sets consist of? Do you work with vinyl or digital?
MSCLS: It’s kind of eclectic to be honest.. I do play a lot of my original material as well as some unreleased edit’s and bootlegs that I’ve made for live sets. I like to play a lot of deep and jackin bassline kinda stuff but sometimes I lean a little more techno & dark whereas other times I may keep it lighter and play more fun “nu disco-y” kinda stuff. It just depends on my mood at the time and the way the crowd is feeling also.
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