Have you ever taken a break from a hobby and picked it up again many years later? Sometimes in that scenario, you forget all of your bad habits and you get to start fresh by reinforcing all of the good ones. You could say that that was the case for Soohan. The sample based producer and DJ started making his own mashups in college when Girl Talk's stock was skyrocketing but he put his work on hold for a few years to work on building an event company with a friend. Fast forward to about a year ago and Soohan has returned to production, putting out two impressive projects. As many rappers claim in their raps, Soohan is back like he never left.
Steve Suchan, or commonly known as Soohan, grew up in Philadelphia with a healthy dose of oldies and doo-wop. But another type of music along the east coast had captured his heart: Baltimore club music. He found that the mix of the bouncy rhythm tied to the classic, old school samples made for a genre of music that he could really sink his teeth into. Outside of that, he also found kindred spirits in MIA and Diplo who's style of uptempo music drew from the past and served as an inspiration.
When he got to college in 2007 (University of Maryland), he spent his first semester producing on Garage Band instead of drinking away his days with the rest of the freshmen class.
"That whole year I was basically in my room making mashups. This was the Girl Talk era, so mashups were kind of in their peak at this time. My productions actually did pretty well. I hosted them on a site called Pure Volume and I got over 200,000 plays for my mashups. Naturally I wanted to become a DJ too, so I returned a mandolin I had recently purchased and exchanged it for the original Serato."
But then, just like that, after a couple years of building a fan base and releasing his music, he switched gears and joined with some friends to launch the event company MANIFEST. Once he moved down to Baltimore, event production proved itself to be the next move. So that's what he did. They started throwing large scale underground warehouse parties and eventually developed their brand further by moving it into a legitimate venue and bringing talent to Baltimore. For five years, MANIFEST brought in acts like Tipper, The Polish Ambassador, Random Rab, Bluetech, Heyoka, Star Slinger, and Minnesota.
And then just as easily as he had slipped into MANIFEST, he had an "epiphany" to revisit his own music. Part of this decision is due to the coaxing from his mentor and friend, Space Jesus. After MANIFEST brought Space Jesus to Baltimore in 2010 to play with Minnesota, he reiterated what he had been saying to Soohan for a while: "Put this shit out." So Soohan listened and prepared his first project, Made In Baltimore. This homecoming was composed of old mashups that he dug up and reworked into legit remixes, largely focused around the 808 kick. It was a reintroduction for Soohan that was well received.
The beauty in Soohan's music is found in the obscure and unpredictable samples that he finds and tailors. Instead of going record hunting at a vinyl store, he'll dig into the World section of iTunes and other sites for acapellas, such as Youtube. So while your body finds the rhythm of his music familiar, he's also educating and opening your brain to other countries' sounds and cultures. Being such a savvy sampler, we asked him a few quick fire questions about his preferences when composing new tunes:
- What is the most undervalued sample in your opinion?
All of the large aquatic birds that I sneak into my songs.
- What is your favorite sample to use?
Honestly. Probably some of the "Ha's, What's and Hey's" that are unique to east coast 808 music. I am using a lot of Blaqstarr and Rye Rye samples. Stuff that I've acquired from Baltimore Club producers, Jersey Club producers, and now Litefeet producers in NYC. I like to keep that Baltimore Club feeling in my music and this is how I accomplish that.
- Is there a sample you wish existed in reality that exists in your head?
Yeah I am super interested in all traditions of polyphonic singing. My favorite sounds are ones that make you feel like you are charging into battle.
With the release of his second project, Volume Twohan, in the last year, we're already looking forward to what he has in store for his third one. We asked him to speak on the difference between the second and first one, as well as what he's working on now:
"I would say that they both act as the intro to my music career. There is a nice combo of hype and pretty on both albums. For my third album I am really focusing on making all of the tracks pretty hype and dance floor friendly. There will be a few pretty songs on there. There might be a silly song on there too to infuse a bit of humor into the release. But overall, my goal is to deliver a product that DJs around the country would gladly sport in their sets. Most of the stuff I am working on now is World music oriented. Lots of trapped out Folk music, 808s, and chopped up Hip-Hop."
Trapped out Folk music? You have our attention, Soohan.
Last Call
1. What is your favorite movie of all time?Waking Life
2. As a young DJ, who was the one DJ you looked up to?DIPLO!!! Still Do.
3. As a DJ, what's your biggest pet peeve?Just feeling like I am a monkey beating cymbals together. I get around this by just having fun and infusing my sets with as much new content as possible.
4. What is your current set up at home?I have been on Serato for eight years. Finally switched over to one of those Pioneer controllers and it's been working on really well thus far. For production I just have Ableton, two KRKs, and a KRK sub which has helped TREMENDOUSLY. Get a sub. Or else you will never know what your music even sounds like. It's been crucial.
5. What's your favorite record of all time?The Tittsworth and Ayres record of Baltimore Club and Miami Bass Breaks.
Keep up with Soohan on his Facebook, website, Instagram, and Twitter. If you live in the Baltimore area, follow MANIFEST with their events on their Facebook.