A proclaimed champion of interstellar funk, Freddy Todd is not your typical DJ. Spending most of his days surfing the cosmic waves of sound, he’s cultivated a sonic palette best described as an extraterrestrial concoction of psychedelic glitch-hop and bass-infused electronica.
Although the Detroit-born producer is praised as one of the bass scene’s most talented artists, he doesn’t seem to fit any one conventional style of electronic music, nor does he want to.
Spawning into the sonic matrix at just 14 years old, Todd has nearly 20 years of producing under his belt and has explored every sound under the sun.
Limiting himself to just one style of music would not only induce severe boredom but drive him to the brink of utter madness.
So, in an effort to salvage his sanity, he loses himself in expression and relinquishes the constructs of genres and expectations. In doing so, he has not only assembled a discography filled with innovative records like Nineteen Ninety and Wreckulous but has developed a stunning one-of-a-kind live show that has rocked festivals like Electric Forest, Okeechobee, and more.
Yet, through all his success, he’s still just a regular down-to-earth dude. Of course, he could easily bask in the stardom he so rightfully deserves, but for Freddy Todd, that’s not what’s important. Instead, he emphasizes a sincere sense of gratitude and simply just wants to “make music and have fun with the homies.”
After a monumental 2023, filled with incredible releases, massive performances, and reaching career milestones, the renowned producer has set the stage for an even bigger 2024.
At the end of January, he joined forces with Of The Trees’ imprint Memory Palace and dropped his first track of the year with Shadow Of A Torch. Blending psychedelic soundscapes with vibrant bass-heavy beats, he not only kicked the year off with a bang but offered fans a glimpse of what’s to come.
Following the release, The Daily Frequency caught up with Freddy Todd to discuss Shadow Of A Torch, joining Memory Palace, playing GRiZ’s Ursa Major, and so much more.
Check out the exclusive interview with Freddy Todd below.
DF: Thank you for chatting with us! You’re coming off an incredible year in 2023. How are you feeling about life right now?
Freddy Todd: Amazing! But also counting my blessings because the world can also be such a crazy place, ya know? Grateful for a roof over my head, clean water & food, heat, electricity, my family, my girlfriend, friends, and cats. The fact I can make music on top of that is more than a blessing! My penchant for just barely understanding how fleeting life can be might be why I’ve been making so much music and (hopefully this year) releasing some of it.
DF: Your new single, Shadow Of A Torch, is a psychedelic melting pot of glitchy funk sounds and heavy bass. What was the inspiration behind the track?
Freddy Todd: Pure inspiration would be my friends and like-minded bass music artists. But to dive into that track (NERD ALERT!): to be honest, since I started it, I’ve always loved its main bass sound, this whipping quetzal reesey snapper that I had actually made in the past. I was messing around with this new soft synthesizer VST plugin called “Current” by Minimal Audio (which is absolute fire, and I can’t recommend it enough). I was playing with that previous sound I had made and had bounced to audio in the past but dragged into this new synth’s Granulizer section and was just getting really splattery with it, and I knew I had to hit record, haha. That made for the main juice of the song, but also, that funky lick in the intro and interludes likely came through the ether due to me working out of a studio Eminem used to record in.
DF: That’s wild especially with you being from Detroit! How did that come about?
Freddy Todd: At the time, I was cutting a record with Eminem’s producer’s son and my producer friend Ludlow in metro Detroit, just a mile north of 8 Mile. I wasn’t even listening to him at the time, but listening back, it almost sounds like something from that era or something that could be sampled – although it isn’t a sample and is indeed me playing/writing everything (minus the glitchy vocal choppy sample).
DF: Shadow Of A Torch really takes us on an immersive journey into sound. Is there a specific mindset you try to get yourself into when creating such a captivating record?
Freddy Todd: Really, the majority of the time, I like to drink coffee (and a lil of that ganja once things get going, if ya know what I mean) and make what I hope will be a banger. It’s just super fun and something I, if “successful” in the studio, would want to play out at a party, or my DJ friends would want to play out. It’s really just pure fun and also maybe a sense of community while also a very exploratory going-into-unchartered-depths-to-extract-something-fun-and-new type of vibe. And I’m a little addicted to it. At the same time, if I make an incredible downtempo chill track that I actually like, then I am equally satisfied. Either way, banger or chill song it’s kind of my meditation and something necessary for me to feel “normal.”
DF: Would you say how you feel directly affects how you produce?
Freddy Todd: It might be unhealthy, but when I don’t feel great, I don’t get “results” in the studio butttt I guess that’s when you go to the gym or maybe listen to someone else’s music or do literally anything else, and get inspired. You can’t take it too seriously (even though it is my livelihood and an incredibly sacred art form, you really can’t take anything too seriously in life).
DF: Not only is it your first release of 2024, but you dropped it through Of The Trees’ new imprint, Memory Palace! How does it feel to work with such an innovative label?
Freddy Todd: It feels great because since Tyler (Of The Trees) is such a good friend, I’ve been able to see some of the inner workings of the label. I knew from the beginning that it was going to be something special – and once they hit their stride and are in the release swing, I could tell that was especially true and that they pay attention to a lot of little details that most indie labels don’t (or don’t even have the bandwidth to, so you can’t blame them).
DF: What aspect of his involvement surprised you the most?
Freddy Todd: Tyler’s been pretty hands-on with helping make sure the visual art happens smoothly with the artists we’re working with. On this (Sam “Planttdaddii” on the main art and Wes “Goodkinghippo” on the typography – Wes has been on team FT’s visual end since almost day one), which is a first for any label boss I’ve worked with. But, also, since he’s one of my besties and I’m proud of his craft, I really trust and appreciate any influence he’s had on that process.
DF: How important is it to surround yourself with artists like Of The Trees, who are also pushing the envelope of creativity?
Freddy Todd: It is incredibly important. If I didn’t have my friends sending me new music almost every day (honorable mentions to the boys-chat, one of which is with Esseks, DMVU, and Of The Trees) that either they wrote or a new cool artist they found, I wouldn’t be involved in this “scene.” There is no “scene”; the scene IS the homies, right?! Something I’ve always said is, “What are we doing here?” like – basically, it is our job to make insane sonic boundary-pushing sounds and bring the utmost party. If that isn’t happening, what the hell are we even doing here?
DF: Overall, you have such a unique sound and are constantly pushing the boundaries of dance music. How are you able to consistently create something new yet, at the same time, stay true to your sound?
Freddy Todd: I think about that a lot, haha, and I think the only answer is I’m lucky enough to have been producing for such a long time that I could probably nail any genre I want to. So that being said, I try to keep things fresh by (first, sometimes getting inspired by listening to something super dope, then) producing whatever different genre I’m currently inspired by. My main-stay is funkified gangster subbed-out bass music. BUT we can also have jungle, drum and bass, rap, pop, house, techno, dubstep, riddim, trance, psytrance, and all the other rave-forward goodies and beyond. I try to tie it all together with a common FT-style catchy hook in most tracks, with a theme of Detroit soul, jazz, and funk somehow interweaving throughout it all when it can.
DF: It’s clear you can’t be constrained to one genre. As an artist, how important is it to expand your horizons and explore different aspects of not only electronic music but music as a whole?
Freddy Todd: So important! As I stated above, it keeps me from going insane and not just producing one genre. Like, I really do LOVE riddim. But imagine doing only quarter notes or whatever for forever. I really do love it, and there’s space for that in my world. But there’s also space for like 50 other genres (and cadences) and subgenres, haha. I also understand the need for genres, organization, and scenes, and I respect that. It’s also not even about me getting bored, but more so me getting INSPIRED to hop over to a different genre on any given day (or in a DJ set). Lately, I’ve also been doing house flips of bass tunes I’m working on while I’m working on them. It’s just been fun over here.
DF: Switching lanes, you had the opportunity to perform at Ursa Major, GRiZ’s last major event before his hiatus! What was that experience like?
Freddy Todd: It was one of the doper shows last year! GRiZ is my longtime homie (we went to middle school together and had a side project, “Splatterbox,” at one point), and really, any event he throws is usually a banger. Super proud of him. So that one being one of his last shows before his hiatus + being in magical Flagstaff, AZ, near the Grand Canyon and Sedona with a bunch of homies and a kick-ass sound system, and crowd was perfect.
DF: You once tweeted, “Music saved my life an infinite number of times.” Between performing on stage and creating in the studio, how important is it to express yourself, and if music wasn’t an option, what would you be doing?
Freddy Todd: Man, it is SO important. As I stated above, I’d probably go crazy if I couldn’t make music as much as I do. It’s my meditation and my craft. Again, I am very lucky. If music wasn’t an option, and if I stayed in college, I would probably have become an engineer, either computer or automotive. If I had to do it over, I would take this stressful artist’s entrepreneurial lifestyle any lifetime over a cubicle (which I have worked a job in) and a boss (who I’ve had but haven’t had to work a day job in over a decade thanks to music), and that is not to knock anyone. I also never graduated college, so this musical artist thing is all I have. I live and breathe it and show up every day, very grateful.
DF: After kicking off the year with a massive single in Shadow Of A Torch, what can fans expect for the rest of 2024?
Freddy Todd: Well, well, well, there is SO much music. Guess I’ll spill the beans to any “lucky readers,” haha. To start, there’s the rest of the album. We haven’t announced the name yet, BUT I can tell you there are nine tracks total, with one more single on the way. Beyond that, I have almost 20 different collaborations with multiple talented underground bass music artists that I’m excited to get out there in 2024. Those tracks are bass music-centric with a heavy dose of breakbeat double-time action in the middle of a lot of them. 2023 saw a sample of that with singles slow-releasing from it, including collabs with Chef Boyarbeatz and Common Creation.
Fans might have an idea of who else to expect based on my live sets in the past year. We have the first Heatline (my house alias) release ever to formulate in 2024. My chiller downtempo franchise Moonflavours might see a third installment this year as well, as those tracks are starting to stack up. We will definitely see a release this year from my side project with Of The Trees, BLAAP, which has been making waves. I also started a new super poppy house music collaborative outfit with my longtime friend Ludlow, whom I mentioned above. We go by “The Light Works,” and you will definitely see us put some records out in 2024.
And beyond all of that, I just keep making more bass music (and jungle, and DNB, and house, and so forth). I already kind of have the next, possibly full-length Freddy Todd bass music adventure album almost ready to go, if not multiple smaller EPs. Just so much music! Ya’ll can hear most of this live at shows, so come through. I also just synced up with a new team who are going to really help me delegate all this music out into the realm, which I’m super stoked about.
Keep up with Freddy Todd and stream Shadow Of A Torch HERE!
Check out more exclusive interviews with The Daily Frequency HERE!