Exclusive interview with Chooky

For those unfamiliar, who is Chooky & how did you get started in all of this?

I have been playing music all of my life, both of my parents are musicians. In my early teens, I began playing drums in a few bands, producing music for local artists and interning at a local recording studio where I now work part time. I developed the nickname “ChooKy” at some point in high school and it just stuck with me ever since.

Although it seems your production is rooted in Moombahton, your music spans multiple styles. Without boxing yourself in – What is the Chooky sound?

Thats a tough one! I’ve always gravitated towards producing BIG tracks that still have a wide dynamic range and strong melody. I strive to make groovy music that one can jam to by themselves but also translates well in a club setting.

How has your music progressed/changed over the years? Anyone you are currently working with that has helped facilitate that?

This year has been all about making music that makes me happy. I have gone back to my roots and started implementing some live instrumentation into my productions and have been writing more on the piano. David Heartbreak has helped me get back to my musical roots, Jesse Tittsworth helps me push new boundaries and get weird, and my homies i.V. and Royal over at Indigo Studios have helped me improve my mixing and mastering skills.

Speaking of D.C. – it seems there are a lot of budding musicians coming out of the scene there, can you comment on this / any homies you want to plug?

Yeah DC has changed a lot in the last 5-10 years. Its really exciting to finally see some light shed on this area. The guys over at Indigo Studios and Crackbeetz (i.V, Royal, Blaise, and more) are doing some amazing things for the area. Its great to see people finally coming together and creating a collective to push a whole team forward. I think that is one thing that holds lots of artists back, especially in this area.

New EP/Album coming out later this month. What can we expect from that?

Yes! #FutureLove EP. Not 100% on release date yet but I am so happy with this project. I poured my heart and soul into this thang and I really hope it resonates with people.

You have a couple official remixes coming out… For Who/What/ & When?

I have 2 remixes being released with OWSLA, one with Warner and a few others that I can’t mention yet :)

Any other artists big or small reach out and let you know they are fucking with that Chooky Music?

I have been lucky enough to receive support from Benny Bennasi, 12th Planet, Dave Nada, Tittsworth, David Heartbreak and my homies from Indigo Studios, i.V. and Royal, to name a handful.

Who are some artists you are hoping to work with – in the near future. Electronic music or not.

There are so many its hard to narrow down to just a few.

Rumor has it you are working on a project with OWSLA’s David Heartbreak, can you confirm / whatsup with this?

I cant really say much more than we are doing a lot of work together and have a collaboration on his upcoming album entitled “Armageddon”. The track is HUGE and we can’t wait to release the beast!

As far as you can recall, what were some of your earliest musical influences?

The beatles, my dad is a fanatic and some of my earliest memories are of The Yellow Submarine and Taxman.

Next time we’re in D.C. – what’s a restaurant we HAVE to check out?

Gotta go to Bens Chili bowl and get a half smoke. Its the DC thing to do.

A club/Venue we HAVE to go to?

For killer underground vibes, definitely Uhaul (U St Music Hall). Awesome club with an amazing sound system. For bigger shows you gotta hit up Echo Stage.

5 years ago today I was doing ___________?

Playing in a band, playing lots of college shows and recording/producing tons of music from my parents basement.

5 years from today I will be ___________?

Living in LA or NY working full time in a recording studio while producing music for some of the biggest names in the music industry :)