Artist on the Rise: Intellitard
I discovered Intellitard while scrolling through the pages of LiveMixtapes.com. The ludicrous cover and title of his last project Chocolate Unicorn Music immediately caught my attention. Fast forward to two weeks later, I’m still listening to it religiously. It’s glitchy, with extremely heavy bass that makes your sub woofer shake picture frames off your wall. His sound has apparently been gaining him a lot of exposure lately with a few festival sets lined up for this summer. He’ll soon be releasing his Mental Vacation EP on February 24th through Street Ritual which he was kind enough to preview for MusicFestNews. It’s a very impressive work of art that manages to keep the Intellitard sound while still sounding entirely fresh at the same time. We caught up with the man behind the music recently and he gave us some insight about himself and also dropped a outrageous set for this weeks MFN Guest Mix.
Where are you from?
I grew up in Berkeley, CA but I reside in Oakland now.
How long have you been making music?
I used to be in a few shitty garage punk bands but it’s hard for me to call what we did music. I’ve been DJing and producing for four years now though.
Do you play any instruments?
I used to play guitar. I never took it seriously and for some reason thought it was silly until I started producing and wished I had all those skills.
Your new EP “Mental Vacation” is being released on February 24. What makes this release special compared to your previous work?
I think every release is special because I’m always progressing, at least at this point in my career, and each one sounds cleaner and better and crazier than the one before. I think what I’m most excited for about this one is that its the first chance people will have to hear and download some of the new sparkly purple glitchy style I’ve been focusing on and playing out live for the last several months. Its a more refined demonstration of the direction my style is moving. There’s also some complex glitchy madness that makes me feel like I might finally be getting good at Ableton or something.
What other projects are you working on?
I’m just wrapping up an EP of collabs with my homie Downsquarez and that were really really stoked on. Well be dropping that on my own imprint, Wormhole Music Group, next month on 3/17 alongside remixes from Labrat and Perkulat0r. I’m also currently putting together our first-ever compilation for release in May and making sure the next few months of Wormhole Wednesday lineups look more stacked than ever.
Did you have any formal music training or is everything self taught?
Pretty self/internet-taught in terms of production but pointers from talented homies like Bleep Bloop, G Jones, and Yheti have helped me out a ton. I love telling people that SIXIS taught me how to DJ cause its true and it sounds random and fancy but really isn’t.
What DAW do you use? What are your go-to plugins?
I’m ghetto and use Ableton 8 and have very few VSTs. Massive and the fab filter bundle do me very right though. Effectrix has also provided much weirdness in my tunes.
Who are your musical influences?
The helpful homies I mentioned earlier have been super influential but right now my sound is being shaped most by the music of Perkulat0r, S∆LO, Danny Scrilla. The first things that really pushed me towards the sound I’m going for are the first two Taste Tester EPs (nothing like his current stuff) and all the classic Headtron releases. The Widdler is my all-time favorite though.
Have you played a festival before?
I’ve played many festivals, most notably the last four years of Emissions and Stilldream as well as many other Nor Cal fests. This year I’ve already got Serenity in San Diego coming up in March and a few big ones that I’ll be announcing really soon.
Do you have any upcoming shows?
Tons. Most excited for Serenity gathering as well as to play a couple shows with my dude Perkulat0r in March, one of those being all the way in Idaho.
Which famous musicians do you admire? Why?
I’m gonna just blast a bunch of names you wouldn’t expect and not provide any explanation. Lady Gaga, Mikey Cyrus, ODB, everyone in Wu-Tang that’s still alive, Lou Reed, Mac Dre, Beck, Lorde, and Snoop Dogg. I feel like I forgot a bunch of people though…
How did you come up with the name Intellitard?
I was living in Colorado and my group of friends there met the group of friends I grew up with and both groups discovered that they had independently of each other chosen that nickname for me. It stuck. I’m pretty smart but also pretty retarded. My music is too I hope.
How do you describe your music to people?
I use the word weird a lot. And the words purple, sparkles, and gangster.
Your last project, “Chocolate Unicorn Music”, you said that the songs are about your emotions including emotions for your girlfriend. What are your songs on this new EP about?
Its about escaping to the part of your brain that isn’t all stressed about the bullshit going on in your life. That’s what the songs did for me when I wrote them.
What has been the biggest challenge for you?
I’m terrible with rhythm as well as music theory and I like to rush everything cause I’m super impatient. Hopefully people go listen to my tunes before reading that statement.
What does your family think of your performance? Do they support you?
They definitely think I’m weird but also definitely support them. I think they know I’m having more fun than they ever have or will let themselves and they respect that. Mostly.
Check out his exclusive MFN Guest Mix:
https://soundcloud.com/musicfestnews/mfn-guest-mix-005-intellitard
1) S∆LO – Droll
2) Pretty Ricky – Grind on Me (Intellitard Remix)
3) Joker – Boss Mode
4) Wolf-e-wolf – Purple Planet
5) Intellitard – Look Into Your Eyes
6) Intellitard – We’ll Explore Galaxies (Unreleased)
07) Bedroom Trax – Cruise the Cosmos
08) Joker – Fuzz Bop
09) Perkulat0r – Deceptive (Unreleased)
10) Intellitard – Gangster Fix
11) The Originalz ft. CurrtyD and Shana – Sidewayz
12) Bleep Bloop – Inexact Science (Unreleased)
13) Boats – One Hunid
14) Intellitard – Building Starships in Paradise
15) G Jones & Minnesota – Thunderdome
16) Guttstar – Goats on Acid
17) Intellitard – Electroform Dinosaur
18) Kromestar – V7STX
19) Boats – Humid
20) Intellitard & Downsquarez – The Gold Tooth (Forthcoming Wormhole Music Group)
21) Intellitard – New Shades of Purple (Forthcoming Robox Neotech)
22) Intellitard – Distracted Astronaut (Unreleased)
23) E-40 ft. Busta Rhymes – One Night Stand (Intellitard and Spoken Bird Remix) (Forthcoming Chillage Records)
24) Intellitard – Socktopus (Forthcoming Street Ritual)
25) Intellitard – Feel Better (Forthcoming Street Riutal)
26) Intellitard – Presque Vu (Forthcoming Street Riutal)
27) Intellitard & Downsquarez – Pretty Crunk (Forthcoming Wormhole Music Group)
28) Intellitard & Downsquarez – Wine & Cheese (Forthcoming Wormhole Music Group)
29) Intellitard – Cameron the Chameleon (Forthcoming Street Riutal)