Saxophones and Professional Bowling // An Interview with Toonorth

Prolific producer Toonorth has been popping up more and more on my feed as of late. Two of his instrumentals were featured on the newest project by UK rapper Lord Apex, he dropped a loose single via Radio Juicy, and was featured in the last two Chillhop seasonal compilations (Winter and Fall). Most recently, the Oregon-based producer dropped the second installation in his ongoing instrumental Car Tunes series. Hazy, smoked out, and smooth as hell, his style is like a free afternoon with nothing to do but roll up and relax in your backyard or in the depths of your couch. Enjoy the interview below and press play on every damn embed on this page. Every track smacks.

How has the year been treating you so far?

Been off to a good start man.

What are you currently working on?

Just finishing up an EP for Chillhop that I’m excited to drop. And I’m always working on the next Car Tunes volume. 

From Dust Collectors to Chillhop to Radio Juicy, I’ve been seeing your name pop up all over the place. Is it tough to split time between making music and making sure it is distributed properly? How do you juggle creativity with marketing?

It’s not really that tough for me. I just try to work with people who I get along with. I talk to Simon, Janis, and Bret a lot. They’re good people, and easy to work with. And shout out Urban Waves and Wizrds Only, love working with them too. 

Your Bandcamp goes back as far as 2013. Is that when you first started making music?

Nah, I started playing Saxophone in 6th grade. Then in 7th grade I took a world music class and they let us use Garage Band, me and my friend Marley made some heat haha. I was hooked after that. Played guitar and made shitty electronic music for a couple years. Then me and my friend Bry.Zen started making beats in like 2009-2010.

I really enjoyed your tracks on Lord Apex’s newest project. At what part in the process of making a song do you know that you will keep it instrumental or send it to a vocalist?

Thank you man. Apex is a legend. Usually if I’m making a beat at some point I’ll start hearing a voice on the track and if I know the person I’m hearing I’ll just send it over and hope they use it. And if I don’t hear anyone on it I’ll just keep it a beat for a project I’m working on, or leave it in my iTunes and forget about it.

Outside of your own music what have you been listening to recently?

Damn so many people haha. Right now some of my favorites are: 

Jerry Pepper, Ewonee, Bry.Zen, Elaquent, Dibiase, Gabriel Lucas Music, eu-IV, J.Robb, and Bari.

What are some studio essentials?

Recently my OP-1 is my favorite thing to use. My guitar, my 404, and Ableton10.

Outside of music, do you have any other hobbies or interests?

I’ve been slackin’ lately, but I’m really tryin’ to become a pro bowler. Might join a league soon. Also been looking into falconry, trying to get a variety of raptors one day when I have enough property.

Do you have any advice for artists working on their craft?

Just make what you wanna hear and try to get that 10,000 hours in. And don’t box yourself into one genre. Make all sorts of stuff. You’ll learn a lot more that way.

Any final thoughts / words of wisdom / shout-outs?

Shout out to Bry.Zen, Gabriel Lucas Music, and Joe. Grew up with those guys and they were the ones who were always making/listening to/talking about music. Helped keep me inspired to get better all these years. Shout out to my parents for raising me on good music and letting me drop out of school to make music. And shout out to anyone who listens to/cares about my music, that trips me out every day.