With over millions of views on youtube, and just as many on soundcloud, there’s a pretty good chance that you’ve heard of Butch Clancy. His talent for producing dubstep and electro is apparent and is what continues to makes him stand out from the crowd. Butch was kind enough to give us a new remix that he did of Feel So Close by Calvin Harris, which shows that he has the skill to take beautiful songs and transform them into a dubstep masterpiece.

’Calvin Harris – Feel So Close(Butch Clancy Remix)’
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We recently had the chance to talk to the talented producer ask him a few questions, and this is what he had to say.

The Music Ninja: Most of your songs, especially the Band of Horses remix, go crazy on the Hype Machine. How do you feel about their popular charts, the Soundcloud rankings, and the blogosphere in general? Do you pay attention to them when you release a track?

Butch Clancy: Somewhat. I try to stay in the loop and see how people are responding to my music, but for the most part I am on my computer making new stuff.

TMN: We know you started producing hip/hop early on in your career. Was it easier to transition into dubstep? What do you think is the biggest challenge upcoming producers face when trying to create a unique sound.

BC: It was difficult at first because I started making it the day I first heard the genre.  There are a good amount of similarities between the genres so it helped but the hard part at first is getting used to sound design. There aren’t really any other genres aside from EDM where it’s mandatory to make your own sounds. People do make sounds in rap or pop but its not something that you absolutely have to do. With dubstep or electro you can’t just download a vst or plug in a keyboard, you have to start from scratch and create your own sounds.  I think its the best part about making EDM though. Once you make those sounds they are yours and people recognize your songs just by hearing a certain sound or the style of a sound.

I think the area that a lot of up and comers struggle is sound design. You need to have the patience to figure out whatever plug-in you are using, and really understand what it is that you are doing. You can mess around on massive or whatever you use and make a nice sound, but to really start making good sounds you should know why each thing you do is effecting the sound that way.


TMN: Aside from your obvious talent, is there one particular tool or strategy that has helped you gain as much momentum as you have in the scene? What is the number one piece of advice you would have liked to know before you started producing under Butch Clancy?

BC: I think putting in the time is the most important thing. Put the time in and really work hard. Don’t flood peoples Soundcloud or facebook or YouTube video with spam trying to get them to listen to your very first song. Make a couple songs and KNOW that you are good before you start posting your stuff for the public to hear. Once your music is good enough and you’re getting it promoted on sites without even asking more and more people will hear it solely based on your talent, and there is nothing more rewarding than that.

TMN: You’re known for taking songs that people generally wouldn’t associate with dubstep such as “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People and “Sway” by Amy Kuney, and transforming them perfectly into wobbly dubstep. You also produce electro quite a bit too. Which genre do you enjoy producing more?

BC: Taking a beautiful song and keeping it beautiful even after adding a ton of bass and harsh sounds is my favorite thing to do.  I love making music that has emotion.  I like to feel something from music and I think a lot of young artists in dubstep don’t think about that when they’re making it. They just want to make the most “filthy” or heavy thing they can.  There are great party songs that aren’t beautiful and those will always have a place but I love to change things up so that I don’t get bored.

I love electro, I think its a really fun genre to produce, but I don’t enjoy any one genre more than the next. I just like to switch between different genres to keep things fresh and get new ideas.  If I start making a dubstep tune and nothing is happening I will change the tempo to 110 or 128 or anywhere in between to try and spark some inspiration.

TMN: Dubstep has been blowing up over the past couple of years, and this year we’ve seen a lot of moombahton and trap coming out. Have you been interested in experimenting with anything that’s different from your usual sound?

BC: I have messed around with both of those genres and I enjoy them both but I haven’t really made them my focus.  I’m sure I will end up making moombahton and trap at some point.  I would never stick to one specific genre, I think that puts you in a box and then when you do make something different people think you’re doing it for the wrong reasons.  Which is why I have made multiple genres since I started producing.  I think scoring a movie would be one of the coolest things you could do as a musician.  I have tons of respect for artists like Jon Brion and Michael Penn.

TMN: Your music has elements of Skrillex mixed with a little bit of Porter Robinson and Excision. Do you look up to any of them? Who are some of your musical influences that no one would normally expect?

BC: There are a ton of artists I love and look up to, I think Skism is probably the most underrated artists in the game, he has so much talent its unreal.  I have too many influences to name but the funny thing is if I’m not making music I’m pretty much always listening to comedy.  I rarely ever listen to music.  If I am listening to anything its a stand up album or a podcast.

TMN: Looks like you’ll be heading here to Denver October 13th to play at The Hive, any other shows and upcoming releases our readers should be looking out for?

BC: Yea, I am super excited to be heading to Denver finally.  It seems like I have more fans in Denver than anywhere else in the world so I can’t wait to come out and see what they are all about.  I have a lot of stuff in the works right now, lots of shows and an ep release with some unheard music coming out real soon hopefully.  Fans can keep up to date with all that on my fanpage.

TMN: Ok here’s a random question for you. Tell us one guilty pleasure that you listen to. Someone that you might be embarrassed to tell everyone about.

BC: Ha ha. Well as I said I mostly listen to comedy but if I had to pick it’d probably be say anything.  I think Max Bemis is one of the most brilliant song writers around.  I love all different genres but that’s probably the band I wouldn’t talk about. Right now I’m loving Mister Lies but he only has a few songs floating around.

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