DRIX
Glendora, California, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2014 | SELF
Music
Press
Artist Ben “Drix” Frank puts a new twist on SABAN’s Power Rangers with a new track that moves the popular television theme from the 1980’s to 2013. The new track is scheduled to be released on itunes October 23, 2012 followed by a full music video release in December. Drix, a graduate from Citrus College recording and engineering program jumped at the opportunity to compose the track because grew up watching
How were you selected to produce the music for 2012 version of the Power Rangers Video? I was at the 2012 NAMM Show (Nat. Assoc. of Music Merchants) when I was introduced to a music supervisor Juan Carlos Quintero. We had a conversation about Dubstep music there, and two months later I get a call asking for a sample of my tracks. Little did I know my music was submitted to the Saban Company. About a week later I got a call that I had been selected to do the Remix for an upcoming dance video featuring power rangers and Dubstep
How much say did you have in the creativity of the track?I could’ve done just about anything I’d wanted to do to the song, but I think I made the decision to just to give it the heaviest sound I could while still staying true to the nature and purpose of the Video. Being a ranger fan myself, I wouldn’t try to make anything that couldn’t live up to power ranger’s name.
Walk us thru the creative process for writing the track?
It started as soon as the meeting with Saban Ended. I’d say the first thought driving home was about working my own melodies over the already established Power Rangers Theme. That’s usually the familiar Remix challenge, putting as much of your own sound while still staying true to whatever was great about the original. The rest was mostly technical. My favorite thing about electronic dance music is the sound design so it was mostly the process of deciding what sound I wanted to use to carry the melodies.
What kind of software and tools did to use for creating the music? Anything I can stuff in my Macbook. I Love working with Ableton live because I can manipulate it in ways that other DAW’s aren’t really accustomed too. Like most Dubstep artists out there I’m a fan of native instruments Massive and Fm8. For the really angry bass I used Izotope’s Trash for multi-band distortion, and Sugarbytes’ Wow filter.
Were there any obstacles or difficulties?
This particular song required a longer span of time than most songs that I make for myself. I heard the stems that I used from the original theme might’ve come from Europe, but I’m glad I spent a lot of time with the song because it’s only going to happen once.
Is there a particular section that you favor?
After making this song I kind of started using the phrase Triplet Beat-down, when the song suddenly goes into some kind of crazy triplet feel. That might be the favorite or the ranger ring tone during the buildup. I wanted to make that section completely contrast the angriness of the rest of the song.
What can your fans look forward to next?
There is currently discussion with Saban about doing some other alternate versions of the song. I already have ideas for new ways to explore the power ranger theme, but nothing official yet. I look forward to more upcoming live performances, both teaching and learning new knowledge and skills for my arsenal, and my upcoming Full Length Release.
www.DrixMusic.com www.Facebook.com/DrixMusic Contact MusicBizGal @yahoo.com
- San Gabriel Valley Music Magazine
Discography
"Power Rangers Dubstep" Saban LLC - 2013
"More Fire " (EP REFLEX 2013) single
"Aim For Me Skanking" (EP REFLEX 2013) single
"Space in 87" (EP REFLEX 2013) single
"Obliter8" (EP REFLEX 2013) single
"I Know What You Did to JFK" (EP REFLEX 2013) single
"Top Down" - Mazda - 2012 Firepan Media
"Whoo-Hoo" - Mazda - 2012 Firepan Media
"Feel Good Time - Mazda - 2012 Firepan Media
Photos
Bio
Ben Drix Frank
BiographyBen Drix Frank began writing songs at the age of 12 with a hand me down acoustic guitar that his father gave him, and lessons from the internet. He was born into a musical family that stems from a skateboarding puck rock father and a classic rock musician mother. His father was part of the original DC Punk scene in the 1980s , collected punk records and was the front man for a punk band. His mother played in classic rock cover bands and came from the Back Yard Jam culture of the 1970s. As a child Ben was exposed to GBH, Misfits, Henry Rollins and hard core punk by his Dad. In contrast, his mother exposed him to Allman Brothers, Rolling Stones, Cream and the art of jamming. The name Drix is taken from his childhood nickname Bendrix. He acquired the name one Christmas morning as he received his first electric Guitar from his Dad, upon which his uncle stated who do you think you are now, Bendrix? in reference to Jimi Hendrix.
By age 16 he was fluently writing, singing and playing guitar in multiple styles like blues, punk, alternative and reggae. By this time, his musical tastes evolved from Hard Punk to artists like Sublime, Blink 182, and Coheed and Cambria. At 17, he officially joined his uncles Alternative Rock band as a Bass player and back up vocalist playing in bars until he finished high school. Still sticking to his hard punk roots, he formed Full Tank To Mexico, a three piece reggae influenced Punk band which he still loves to perform with today. At 19, he was accepted into the Citrus College Performing Arts Department. In 2009 he earned a degree in Audio Recording and Engineering or as he states a degree in Mad Skills.
Armed with a Mac Pro, Ableton and a savvy education on modern engineering techniques, he started crafting his own electronic music. He created enough songs to perform live sets, and move a dance floor into frenzy. In 2011 he recorded several songs and performed them as a duo. The duo goes by the name of Funk-No, a take on blending Funk Music and Techno. The live performances consist of Funk Bassist Steven Castillo plugged into his amp, while Drix mixes his tracks to complete each song including dance shuffling and explosive solos.
2011 Drix began creating custom music for film and commercials. He teamed with Musician and Producer Mike Wallace of Firepan Media to create three Mazda Tracks using live and digital instrumentation. In 2012 he was commissioned by Saban to produce a track for a new Power Ranger Music Video. Using only two stems (drums and vocal tag) from the originals Samari version, Drix delivered a brand new song. The track surpassed the clients expectations with nearly 2 million hits at the initial sneak peak launch. The Power Rangers Dubstep Video and Mp3 released on iTunes December 4th 2012 has more than 4 million views.
Drix is currently performing live shows, creating more custom tracks for film & TV, conducting workshops, and engineering pop-alternative records with Grammy Nominated Producer John Avila (Oingo Boingo). His New EP Reflex is scheduled for release in 2013 . For Publishing and Booking Contact: Musicbizgal@yahoo.com
Links
