Nanosaur

Nanosaur is a Bay Area electronic musician who also has produced beats for some of my favorite rappers including the infinitely awesome Based God. For a while I thought of Nanosaur as just a hip hop producer, and didn’t know he made his own solo music until I saw the video for his really great song “T33N Dayze.” Then, a few weeks later I learned he was producing a whole album Twerk-rapper extraordinaire Chippy Nonstop. Nano is a really versatile producer who can make lo fi, chillwave beats and also huge club anthem beats almost effortlessly. He’s also named after a crazy game that used to come with old Macs. He’s also a very cool guy.

I talked with Nanosaur about the early social networking days of Myspace, Playstation games, starting a band and more…

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How did you get started making music?

Nanosaur: I started in High School out of boredom. It was an MTV game for Playstation and then I moved to Fruity Loops because someone told me you could do it on there. I just really did it out of boredom.

Do you still use Fruity Loops now?

Nanosaur: As soon as I found out about Reason I went to that. It was just so much better. Fruity Loops reminds me of like a videogame or something because I was just drawing patterns on a grid basically.

Was the MTV game you’d play like that?

Nanosaur: Yeah. It’s a lot like Fruity Loops except You couldn’t export it out from the game.

I think I heard that Lex Luger started out making beats from a videogame, too. I’m not sure if it was the same one you had or not. And I think a couple other producers, too. It’s cool that you can go from playing a game to where you’re at now. Were you making the Chillwave stuff you do now at first? Actually, would you describe your sound as “Chillwave?” For me, that seems like a good description, but maybe you think of your stuff as something else?

Nanosaur: Yeah I guess it’s kind of a mix of that and more New Wave. It kind of has an experimental vibe to it. Some is more trippy and some is more straightforward dance music. And when I first started to make music it was really inspired by The Postal Service. And Ratatat. Stuff like that.

How did you get into producing rap? Was the Lil B song you did the first rapper you worked with?

Nanosaur: It was actually my brother and his group Connected. They found out that I had basically a studio since I was doing recordings in my room. I offered to make beats for them and record them. We started doing that and I’d say that six months after that I made this remix of a Lil B song. I forget which song it was. I ended up putting it on Myspace. Probably like two minutes later I got a message from Lil B asking for beats and we ended up recording “I Got Bitches,” the “XXX” version.

How did you start working with Dev?

Nanosaur: We met off Myspace also. She was from the town that’s probably like 15 minutes away from my house. So, we kind of had a few mutual friends. I found out she was doing music and I sent her a couple tracks. We ended up recording this song called “Everything I Do.” After that it was “Maria,” which was me and her both on the track. It was pretty cool because it was the first time I put my vocals on a song. The beat Lil B used for “I Got Bitches” is actually the beat we were originally gonna use for “Maria,” but then we ended up using a different beat.

Are there other people you’re gonna be working with in the future?

Nanosaur: Yeah. I have a couple tracks on the new Shadowrunners. I have one with Antwon. I’m gonna be on the new Dark Sister album that’s coming out in October. Just one song on there I produced. I should be working with Jay Ant pretty soon. He’s a Bay Area rapper from Richmond or Oakland. That’s pretty much what it is right now.

Do you feel like doing the Global School Of Twerk album with Chippy helped get your name out there as a producer?

Nanosaur: Oh yeah. Once Global School Of Twerk dropped it definitely opened doors.

The beats on Global School have kind of a different feel than some of your other production. Would you call that more like a “party” vibe than your other stuff?

Nanosaur: Yeah I had heard a lot of stuff that Chippy had done before. And I knew that I had something really dope we could do. And most of those songs were made on the fly when we were together.

It’s cool you got to make the album in person with Chippy since so many collabs now happen via internet. Internet collabs are awesome, but working in person is definitely something special.

Nanosaur: Yeah, it was the best studio session I’ve had. We got to really work off of each other.

Are you doing any more stuff with Chippy?

Nanosaur: Yeah. I think she’s dropping something new. It might be an EP. And I’ve got one song on that. It’s gonna be kind of like a compilation of her working with other people.

What about your solo music? Your last album came out in the winter, right?

Nanosaur: Yeah, Afterglow came out pretty early in the year. I’m working on all new tracks. It’s gonna be a lot of real instrument stuff. Real guitar, real bass. I’m still using synthesizers, but it’ll be analog synthesizers, not just like Soft Synths.

Do you think analog synths have a different sound than doing it digitally?

Nanosaur: It creates a really fat tone. It sounds like a band versus sounding like something I just programmed on my laptop.

Are you gonna have a Nanosaur band? Like a band you could tour with?

Nanosaur: Yeah, I think I’m about to do that in August of this year. I have two people lined up for this. I’m gonna get started on it ASAP.

That would be cool.

Nanosaur: The live shows would just be crazy.

You’ve worked with a lot of Bay Area artists. Do you think there’s a real scene out there in music?

Nanosaur: I feel like The Bay is finally getting the attention they need. It’s been so long. The last thing that got big was the whole Hyphy movement. It’s weird because I feel like that lasted so long and then just went away. Now other parts of the country are starting to pick up on that, though. I think because it’s very close to southern music like Crunk and stuff. It’s slower tempos, but it’s similar.

I feel like a lot of stuff that used to be just regional has spread out everywhere now. There’s definitely a huge Southern Rap influence on all of hip hop now no matter where you are. And probably a Hyphy one, too.

Nanosaur: Yeah. It’s really dope actually. Everyone in The South seems really networked together. And it’s the same thing in The Bay, too.

And the Internet and social networking has brought people together, too.

Nanosaur: Yeah that’s probably like 50% of how everyone knows each other and how they all wanna work together. You get to see how everyone else is working and it kind of pushes you to be more productive.

I’ve been on Twitter for a while, and when I first got on I thought it was a dumb thing, but my whole opinion has changed because I’ve made some really cool connections with people.

Nanosaur: It’s really crazy. You can see that people are working and also socializing. It’s a unique way to meet someone. Off the internet.

And you were on Social media before Twitter. You were on Myspace. And I know Lil B was heavy into myspace. That’s how he linked with Clams Casino. Probably Keyboard Kid, too…

Nanosaur: Oh yeah. Keyboard Kid and I were on Myspace around the same time. I remember doing a collab with him. It was on my first laptop that I had. It completely crashed and I lost it…But, we’ll probably do something new sometime.

It’s crazy how hard Keyboard Kid works. He’s got so many beat tapes out.

Nanosaur: Yeah. He’s a cool guy.

That’s about all the questions I have for you. Is there anything else you want to say?

Nanosaur: All of this is really dope. It’s crazy to get love from an East Coast blog when I’m all the way across the country. - Mishka

This guest post comes to us from Cosmic Amanda, editor of Haverhill Fever, a blog dedicated to Boston's hipster suburb of Haverhill, MA (yes, Boston actually has hipster suburbs). While she's never lived in San Francisco (the horror!), she always salts her avacado, has been caught graffiting public property, never liked MGMT in the first place, and prefers an It's-It to any other ice cream sandwich. Occassionally she'll be chiming in about the Bay Area music scene and telling you what local bands would sound like if you saw them at T.T. the Bear's.

As a college radio deejay, occasional blog tourist, and lover of all things San Francisco I'm always on the lookout for new music from the Bay Area. Lately, I've been really digging chillwave musician (and apparently fellow aspirational San Franciscan) NanosauR.

This promotional video for his single Bravery sparked a total deja vu moment. It turns out he borrowed the same 1984 footage that Jane gushed over back in May. (Either that or Jane really did manage to make it back to 1984 and this is one of those major paradoxes Doc Brown warned us about.) Check it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cV2AWr3MP4M

Oddly, the worn out haze of old videotape always reminds of the hottest days of 1980's summer. And this really works with NanosauR's blurry vocals, totally amping up the dreamy summer vibe of the track. Plus, I'm not gonna lie- the Pinback sample gives me a girl boner.

The rest of his debut EP, Shades, is equally awesome and includes another stand out track, Shades, which makes pretty tight use of a Computer Magic sample. With each track NanosauR is proving he's not just some kid who makes music in his bedroom with an off-brand laptop and a korg. I mean, don't get me wrong, he is. He just happens to be really good at it.

Download the whole thing for free, put it on full blast, and enjoy this little heatwave you guys are having. Trust me, as someone currently surrounded by six foot snowbanks, it's the right thing to do. - Uptown Almanac

Chippy Nonstop just released her newest E.P. called #globalskooloftwerk. The E.P. is a collaborative piece with NanosauR, who produced all these beats and they SLAP! All seven tracks are full of energy and show off Chippy's unique style which is one that can not be compared to any other female rapper out there. Make sure to download it HERE.

We were able to take a couple minutes away from Chippy to ask her a couple questions about her newest release.

Mad Decent: Chippy, on your most recent release, what was your mental going in on this new E.P.?

Chippy: WELL IT'S CRAZY BECAUSE I WENT INTO THE STUDIO WITH NANOSAUR AND I WAS THINKING WE WERE GONNA MAKE ONE SLAPPER FOR THIS OTHER EP THAT I'M WORKING ON...BUT WE HAD AMAZING CHEMISTRY IN THE STUDIO AND WE LITERALLY JUST KNOCKED THIS TAPE OUT AND IT REALLY SLAPPED AND I'M PRETTY PROUD OF IT, BECAUSE I WAS HAVING A HARD TIME NAILING THE SOUND I WANTED TO GO FOR AND I THINK NANOSAUR GOT IT OUT OF ME.

Mad Decent: How did you and NanosauR get in contact to work in the studio? is this your first release with production by NanosauR?

Chippy: YEAH, WE BOTH LIVE IN THE BAY, AND I'M FAMILIAR WITH HIS MUSIC. MY FRIEND LINA KNEW HIM, AND I KNOW DEV HAD WORKED WITH HIM PREVIOUSLY...AND HE'S A REALLY HARD WORKER AND A GREAT PRODUCER AND VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT DOING IT.

Mad Decent: Any other producers we should keep an eye out for coming out the Bay?

Chippy: PRODUCERS ...HMMM YEAH WELL ...Turbo Sonidero, NETO, MIKE MELERO, #TRILLTEAM666, AND I WANNA START PRODUCING AND DJIN SOON TO...SO ME . HAHAH AND I JUST WANT TO THANK MAD DECENT THOUGH MOSTLY. I FEEL LITERALLY BLESSED TO BE ON THEIR BLOG, BECAUSE THEY ARE ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL GROUP OF PEOPLE IN MY LIFE IN MUSIC AND BIG PART OF EVEN WHY I WANT TO PUSH TO CREATE THINGS I CAN ACTUALLY BE PROUD OF CREATING. - Mad Decent Blog

East Bay dream-pop artist Nanosaur (the one man project of Michael Solorzano) has a new video for his single “T33n Dayze,” shot entirely on the Venice Beach boardwalk. The song lives up to its name, embracing chillwave genre signifiers musically (shimmering keywords and distorted drums) and visually (lens flares, the beach). The light-hearted video follows a young woman as she dances along the boardwalk, engaging locals and tourists alike with her wild dance moves. Smiles ensue. - The Bay Bridged

Here’s a new video from the amazingly-named Bay Area producer NanosauR. You might know him from the beats he made for Lil B. But, NanosauR makes awesome solo music, too. This song “T33N Dayze” is really summery and funky and since it’s officially Spring now this video and song seem perfect. Not only is it the officially spring according to our calendars, but the weather has been particularly awesome recently here in the North East. I’m a big fan of Spring and the summer that comes after it so I’m really feeling “T33n Dayze’s” vibes.

The video is really playful and fun, too. It’s set on the iconic Venice Beach and stars NanosauR’s friend Julia Hernandez who dances around totally unselfconscious. My favorite parts of this video are when she dances up to random people who are hanging out on the beach. Some of them join in (one dude does a sick robot) and some just kinda smile at her. This is super positive, fun stuff. But, it’s real important to stay positive and have fun which is why I like it. The film-making here is excellent, too. Especially the shots at the end when Julia is just a dancing silhouette on the beach.


- Mishka