The Buckness stopped by to reflect on his career and discuss the launch of The Wild Call Records and its first single.
The Buckness began his musical journey in the rave scene in 2007 in Aiea, Oahu. He got the most authentic experience possible by attending illegal raves at body shops, warehouses, and beach parks. Hardstyle entered his life quickly through friends that were into Melbourne Shuffling to old Fusion Records, The SAIFAM Group, and Scantraxx Records tunes, and he fell in love with reverse bass hardstyle. Holding a fiery passion for the genre, he learned how to DJ and quickly became a force to be reckoned with in spreading the gospel of hardstyle in America.
Today, The Buckness is looking to expand on his story by leaving a permanent mark on the scene through the launch of his brand-new label, The Wild Call Records, with a focus on becoming a platform where producers from all over can let out their wild side. With the creation of this imprint, The Buckness seeks to amplify the feeling of “landing” that bright idea in the studio and hopes to be the bridge between that feeling and multiple streaming platforms for the world to hear.
But what would the launch of a new label be without new music? To celebrate, The Buckness is setting the tone with the first release on the label, “The Wild Call Returns” – a revamped version of one of his earliest singles, “The Wild Call.” This version is completely new with updated kicks, leads, and sound design that reflect The Buckness’s current producing knowledge, getting the party going while holding onto the spirit of the original tune.
With the single out now, The Buckness stopped by to chat with us about his career, The Wild Call Records and the direction he wants to take it in, his future, and more. Listen to “The Wild Call Returns” on Spotify and read on for our full conversation!
Stream The Buckness – The Wild Call Returns on Spotify:
Hello, The Buckness. Thank you for taking the time to chat with us at EDM Identity. We appreciate it.
Heck yeah, man! I’m so stoked to be here and I’m grateful to be considered for this writing, Thanks, Josue!
Before getting to the present, I’d like to turn back the clock to your early career. Can you talk to us about your origins in music production and where your love for hard dance music stemmed from?
Wow, let’s go back in time and I’m about to shed a lotta history! I try to make it well known that it was the Island of Oahu that bred my life of hardstyle. In 2007, I lived in Aiea, Oahu for a year. At 17 years old, I was shown the rave scene in Hawaii. Raves were still mostly illegal at that point – body shops, warehouses, beach parks – then clubs slowly became a thing.
Hardstyle entered my life very quickly, and I fell in love with reverse bass hardstyle. I could listen to a one-hour 2004 reverse bass set if God allowed. After about another year into the scene, I was the last of the group listening to hardstyle. Somehow I came across one or two DJs in our small scene that played hardstyle and I thought, “dude, I could play better tracks than these guys hands down.” Shortly after, my passion project, “J-Rod,” was born. “The Buckness” came later as a rebrand, and the name stemmed from the raging Honolulu days when we got “buck as f*ck.” At the time, the buckest of them all played hardstyle, so I adopted the name.
In 2009, I was living in the town of McCully in Honolulu, where things started to pick up. I acquired a set of CDJ-1000s and a DJM-600 mixer and became very active in the DJ community. I was the only one playing hardstyle in my age group, and I quickly got good. I became the local McCully powerhouse and believe it or not, a new generation of Honolulu DJs evolved in my living room. A bunch of us assembled at the McCully Manor to learn, practice, and prep sets for shows. Some are still active today, and it was an amazing time.
Onto the producing side of things, I had just recently discovered the song “Bazooka Girl” by Ivan Carsten. At the time, Ivan’s production was way ahead of everything else I was listening to. I remember me and the fellas were at my house after a night of partying. We were still tripping on mushrooms, and I played that song to my friends that morning. At that moment, listening to the outro of that reverse bass switch-up, my destiny to start creating this music began. It’s hard to explain how powerful that moment was for me. My heart was captivated.
In 2010, I started a two-year Audio Program at my local CC tailored to recording engineering and started learning Ableton on my own at the same time. After the audio program, I learned everything I know about sound, production, basic theory, and mixing electronic dance music. I finished my first track in 2011 and the ball kept rolling. I still have the rendered file somewhere!
I started producing my first album still under the J-Rod name, Glory Days, while I was still living in McCully. A year and a half later, I moved to California. I burned and printed 1000 CDs and passed out nearly all of them at the first Sound of Q-dance that year, which birthed my local following here in the SF Bay Area. I had my first official release with the Masterminds E.P. on Denver Hard Dance and followed up with my second studio album, The Buckness Returns. There are still bangers on each release!
In today’s era of my music life, I’m fascinated by the engineering aspect of all areas of audio and production: studio building, acoustics, transducer designs, outboard design, mixing, the art of it all, and the art of mastering dance music. Everything has come full circle with my productions and I have learned so much over the years about getting intimate with audio. It’s magical. Sound is my life, and hard dance music fuels my soul. I can’t believe it’s been 12 years.
Your new label, The Wild Call Records, has finally arrived to make a splash in the American Hard Dance scene. Can you share with us what inspired you to create a record label in the first place?
The idea was to create a platform for me to release The Buckness music so I could be able to distribute it on major marketplaces and do it on my terms and my own time to avoid dealing with industry rejections, pushbacks, or any of the politics that comes with the mainstream as we know it today. At the tail end of the launch phase, I thought “holy s*it this might be a little more of a responsibility than I thought if I want to be serious about it.”
It suddenly dawned on me that there might be others that are genuinely interested, and I could be a link to someone else’s life achievement. I could get other artists’ music onto marketplaces, and it could be a “right place right time” scenario for an artist’s release. So in an epiphany moment, I suddenly opened my eyes to the fact that the label has the potential to help bring joy and open doors of opportunity to another artist’s career.
On a simpler note, it’s a platform for other hard dance talents to release music if they want to get it onto marketplaces and continue to build the USA Hard Dance community!
Can you give us insight into your experience with owning record labels and how you will implement this to better the future of The Wild Call Records?
Divergent Records! We had a lot of fun with that and learned a lot. Caleb (Kreation), Isac (The Saraphim), and I ran Divergent Records. We had a lot of momentum at that time. It was fun getting so many artists on board, and even getting some international exposure. Soon after the launch, we threw a show in San Francisco and we had some fire going!
Speaking for myself, the rate of work that took place was overwhelming. I was managing a full-time freelance job, being a music producer, traveling to a studio 30 minutes away, being a label manager and promoter, and setting up release calendars. After a couple of years, I burnt out. The biggest difference with The Wild Call Records will be organization and balance. It takes a village, and the new label is a one-man band at the moment, but my commitment to making sure The Wild Call Records is a comfortable platform for artists to release on is something that does not go unnoticed.
Being an artist myself, I understand the expectations of artists and I’m doing my best to provide whatever I can to help an artist feel like they made a good choice sending in their hard work to the label. I’m finding out that helping others and being of service is one of the many lovely things that make this world go round. We continue to pass it on!
The goals are set high and bar none. I want to do my best to make this a growing force, but it certainly is a team effort. My eyes cannot be bigger than my stomach. With the saturation of music in this day in age, trials and tribulations are at their highest point. However, that doesn’t mean we have to fall into the belief of unobtainium. No way! We go!
What’s the mission statement/goal of The Wild Call Records?
To become a platform for hard dance producers that prevents the feeling of being boxed in by hyper-commercialism and over-flooded re-simulations, and to expand their creativity which brings joy to their existence in this highly occupied world of music.
Will The Wild Call Records be focusing on specific subgenres of hard dance, or will the label be seeking to push a wide variety of hard dance?
Let it fly baby. A wide variety of hard dance all the way. Send it.
Many listeners might not know that “The Wild Call” is one of your earliest records as The Buckness. So what’s the story behind the first label release, “The Wild Call Returns?”
Great catch! It was originally going to be a release on my upcoming album, The Lost McCully Files (spoiler alert). But I said, “heck, why not have it as the first kickstart release?” “The Wild Call Returns” has an entirely new vamp on it – kicks, leads, sound design, mixdown, and of course, mastering job. I figure Radical Redemption could do Brutal 15.0 and it will still bang, so I can do a second revision of “The Wild Call.”
Now that The Wild Call Records is operating in full force, can you share what else you have lined up for listeners in the near future?
I’m planning things accordingly in a bimonthly plan. The goal is to have at least one or two singles or EPs a month. Labels nowadays are pushing tracks every week and sometimes more. One major thing I am paying close attention to is that my releases do not get in the way of other artists’ releases. I think that my releases, visual content, and promotion of upcoming releases on The Wild Call Records should add more steam to the hype train for other artists. Once things start kicking off this quarter, we get off the ground, and distribution pans out well, the frequency of releases will be more forefront and the face of the label will be more present.
Now that we’ve entered 2023, do you have any goals for The Buckness project moving forward, or will you be taking a step back to manage and grow The Wild Call Records?
No way! The Buckness is in full force right now and I’ve never felt so alive with my projects. I’ve been rapidly firing projects and this year will be a serious time to release music. The Wild Call Records is a great way for me to showcase my music how I want to and when I want to.
On a more personal note, I have a few things for The Buckness. One major thing I’ve been doing besides The Wild Call Records and The Buckness is working on a hard techno alias, which is more in the works. The adoption of early hardstyle in the techno scene allows me to relive my youth growing up with hardstyle in McCully, and I am tickling the ideas and would like to fruit them. More to come with that.
Secondly, I’ve built an Analog Mastering Rig. I think my attention to detail and my skill set with audio engineering as a whole have been taken to a new level over the past couple of years and I love the sound of analog gear. It’s a different universe. Being able to take other people’s projects and get them properly ready for distribution and bring them to a finished, polished product is something that brings me personal joy. Last thing – I just moved again, so I have been rebuilding my studio. I love a good-sounding environment. It’s now a workable space, so I’m psyched to be back in the mix of my music.
On top of this, I still plan on growing and managing The Wild Call Records. We’ve certainly got a lot of interest in the flavor, but people need to see the cake once it comes out of the oven! I think this process I have in motion is a healthy approach to the label, and I’m certainly mindful of my steps. The journey is the destination.
Thank you for chatting with us today. We can’t wait to witness the rise of your new label!
It’s been a pleasure. Thanks again so much for having me.
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