Every month, we will be posting a new article called the iStandard Member iD. This article will showcase one of our producers on the site’s homepage that is active within the iStandard community and most of all has bangin’ tracks!

This month’s Member iD is Equivalent Exchange

http://www.istandardproducers.com/Equivalent_Exchange

When did you start making beats?

I started making beats in March of 2004 shortly after the release of Garageband. I always used to come up with beats in my head while sitting in class but I never had a way to bring my ideas to life.  I used to mess around with Soundtrack Pro in my high school video production class and ended up putting together some pretty cool beats but soon realized that I wanted to make music that I could truly call my own.  Soundtrack Pro was limited to using only royalty-free loops and I really couldn’t create what I was composing in my mind.  So when Garageband was announced by Apple I immediately ordered it and an M-Audio Radium 49 MIDI keyboard and began making music.

Who are your musical influences?

I listened to a lot of Bone Thugs when I was younger, so I really felt DJ U-Neek’s dark sound – heavy basslines and melodic synths.  I was also a big Hot Boys fan, but more so for Mannie Fresh and his crazy drum patterns.  I was also really into video games growing up, so I was actually heavily influenced by their scores.  Chrono Trigger and the Final Fantasy series on the SNES have some of the dopest music of all time in my opinion.  As of late I’ve really felt joints from The Alchemist, Timbaland, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, and Bay Area producers Cozmo and Rob-E.

Describe your style?

I feel confident in saying I have developed my own unique style.  Whether I am sampling some obscure song from Malaysia or composing an epic orchestral track from the ground up, I’m always producing quality that surpasses people’s expectations of what a hip-hop track should be.  I can do the crossover radio hits, uptempo R&B tracks, etc. no problem, but where I really shine is with those Equivalent Exchange tracks.  You won’t hear anything like them anywhere else.

What are you using to make your tracks?

I use Logic Pro, an Axiom 49 MIDI keyboard, KRK Rokit monitor speakers, and have access to the staple sounds of current hip-hop in the forms of the Motif, Fantom, and Triton.  I also use Omnisphere and Nexus extensively, among many other virtual instruments.  At the end of the day though, I really believe that it’s the producer, not the gear that determines how your music will sound.

If you could work with one artist, who would it be and why?

It would have to be Tech N9ne.  He’s one of the greatest rappers alive and his crazy flow would fit with my orchestral tracks perfectly.  I have one word for the tracks we would collaborate on together – EPIC!

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I see myself making a comfortable living with music as my main occupation.  I love to make music and although Hip-Hop is my forte, I would like to expand into other genres and make my mark in film, television, and video games.  Hearing my music played every 5 minutes on terrestrial urban radio wouldn’t be bad either!

I’d like to thank Gerald, J-Hatch, and Frankie at iStandard for the opportunity.  To anyone reading this – hit me, I’m ready to work!