INTERVIEW: MadBliss
If you like hip-hop-influenced bass music from artists like TroyBoi and smith., then you’re ready for MadBliss. The Los Angeles-born and raised producer is a resident DJ for Good Society's record label. His music combines elements of electronic trap, future bass, and chillhop. Alexandra Nelson from Noisescape sat down with MadBliss to talk about his journey as an independent producer, his biggest hit, “BIG BOY TIME”, and his future goals as an artist.
Photo by Kirk Cedric
Tell us about yourself and how you got into producing music.
My name is Daniel Amaya, and I am 24 years old. I love hiking, bagels, and the movie Borat a lot. I’ve always loved music and considered myself to be a music nerd. I listened to a lot of Hip hop when I was younger and realized the beats were my favorite part of the music, so that’s how my interest in music production began. I remember once being like, ‘why is Timbaland credited in this song if he wasn’t even singing or rapping in it?’ and then I realized it’s because he produced it. So I did more research on production and understood that producers are the ones really putting tracks together. I’ve been making music for about a decade now. It’s kind of a weird origin story, actually [laughs]. I had a math class in 8th grade, and we primarily used Macs. I discovered Garageband, and whenever I didn’t feel like doing work, I’d play around with it and make beats with the loops they have. I didn’t have a Mac at home, so I discovered a program called Mixcraft for Windows. Eventually, I got bored of putting loops together and wanted to create something myself. I looked online and found FL Studio was the easiest to learn, so I started with that. But yeah, I got into music accidentally and ended up loving it. I’ve also always been into graphic design and painting. I think if I stumbled onto those before music, that’s what I’d be doing now. Before I commissioned artists, I used to design my own cover art for many of my older songs.
How did you come up with the name MadBliss?
When I created the name MadBliss, I was 15. At the time, I was a huge Odd Future fan. There was a subgroup within OF called MellowHype, which is an oxymoron. I was also listening to a lot of ScHoolBoy Q back then, especially his album, Oxymoron. I became fascinated with the idea of oxymorons, so I went on a website listing a bunch of antonyms and found the two, mad and bliss. I think the name really encompasses the versatility of my music, too. I do a lot with trap beats, but I also make a lot of melodic-sounding stuff. Those sounds are on opposite ends of the musical spectrum, though, you know? Like, how do you compare my song “Hibiscus” with my most popular song on Spotify, “BIG BOY TIME”?
Yeah, your song “BIG BOY TIME” has 3.5 million Spotify streams, congratulations! How does that feel? Did you ever expect to have so many streams/listeners?
I’m very humbled to have gotten the attention I have on that song, for sure. I never intended to be where I am right now. My end goal with music was never to get famous or make a crazy amount of money. So as long as I have a few people rockin’ with me and listening to my stuff, I’m more than happy with that. It’s incredible that people are noticing I’m trying to take a new direction with my music, but at the same time, it’s intimidating because they might not like it. People might hear “BIG BOY TIME” and say, ‘Oh, I like this guy, let me check out his other stuff,’ then be like, ‘Oh wait, this song is super different from that one’. It’s a blessing and a curse. I want to be versatile and create different things, but at the same time, it feels like there’s a specific sound I should be consistent with. It’s kinda sad, honestly. Artists shouldn’t feel like they have to stay in one lane.
What is your creative process like? Do you schedule a time to create or just wait until inspiration strikes and take it from there?
I usually start with an idea and come back to it multiple times. You can create a banger in one sitting, but you can be in a completely different mood or headspace, depending on the day. I think it’s essential to use that and add to a song over time or modify it depending on those moods. I feel like, for me at least, the other way, you’re only looking at a song from one perspective when music can and should have various perspectives. So I try to come back to my creations multiple times instead of creating all at once. I want to represent those different sounds I’m feeling on specific days to make one cohesive project that spans over time. But I’ve definitely had songs I’ve made in a very short period. I made my absolute favorite song in only a day or two.
What is your favorite song you’ve made?
It’s called “Offline;” I dropped it on my 21st birthday. I just had the best time making it. I probably spent about 14 hours straight on it, coming up with ideas left and right— I couldn’t stop. It’s definitely one of the most memorable times I’ve had creating a song. The final product is something I’m super proud of, and it displays my two favorite sounds; the dark trap with a really melodic ending.
Who are three artists that inspire you?
My number one inspiration would have to be Tyler, The Creator. Even though he’s not relatively close to the music I make, I think his attitude towards music and creating things is relevant to the direction I want to go in as an artist. I love his music and the sounds he uses. Another artist I find inspirational who I’ve been listening to a lot lately is Knock 2. He makes a lot of house music mixed with trap which is the direction I feel I’ve been taking my music lately. I just saw him recently. The show was insane, and I had such a good time. My third inspiration would be a good friend who is also a Good Society resident DJ, Roto. He’s such a versatile DJ, and I think he’s criminally slept on. He’s a great producer, but overall just a sweet human and awesome guy. I definitely look up to him and see a lot in him that I aspire to be.
What’s been your most memorable performance, and why?
It’s kinda hard to pick one, honestly. I have a few favorites for different reasons. There’s not really an order to this, but the first one would probably be a show back in June 2017 hosted by Brownies & Lemonade. It was at The Union, now called Catch One, in their Disco room which is their biggest room. It was a completely packed show. I played a fire set and had a crazy amount of confidence that night. It’s super important when you’re performing to get a feel of what the crowd does and doesn’t like, but it seemed like every track I played that night, everyone was going crazy. So that was the most memorable because of how confident I felt and the energy I got from the crowd. It made me feel like I never wanted to leave the stage.
My second would be another Brownies & Lemonade show, the Film Noir Reunion show in 2017. I was in a collective called Film Noir back in the day, which consisted of other producers like Oshi and Medasin. Brownies & Lemonade threw our debut show back in 2015. It was in an art gallery, so that was dope. But yeah, the reunion show was at the Regent Theater. It was sold out, the crowd was nuts, and it was so fun being back on stage with the homies. It was such a wholesome show and ended up being a blast.
A more recent one was last year in June with Good Society. This was our first show back from COVID, and the music scene finally revived after lockdown. This one was extra special because I had a lot of personal friends outside of music see me for the first time. They always knew I made music but never came out to one of my shows. They showed a lot of love, and so did everyone else in the crowd. I was super happy with my setlist and performance that night.
Here at Noisescape, we like to highlight independent artists making great music. What has been the biggest challenge thus far, being an independent artist? How do you approach your musical promotion?
I feel like my biggest challenge has mostly been staying consistent. Consistency is super tricky, but it’s also essential. It’s hard to remain unique and relevant when other artists come onto the scene and completely kill it. Music isn’t the only thing I do, making it challenging to create. I have a full-time job and go to college, so it’s not like I can spend all my time making music. I’d love to, but it’s impossible right now. I only recently started college again because I realized I need a backup plan for the ‘what ifs’ in life. I dropped out three times before that. There are days when I’m so drained from work and school that I don’t even want to touch my computer or think about being creative; I just shut down. Having the energy and ability to be passionate about creating can be one of the biggest challenges of making music and being an artist in general.
As for musical promotion, social media is definitely key. I have a love/hate relationship with it, though. I mainly use Twitter and Instagram to post clips of my music to get it out there. I randomly had a viral tweet once and used that opportunity to promote my music, which I thought was pretty cool. I used my credit card at a gas station in LA a while ago and got my card information stolen. Then someone spent $600 at Barnes & Noble, so I tweeted about it. For whatever reason, it got 750,000 likes, a bunch of retweets, and so many replies. I put a beat video I made in the replies hoping people would check out my music. I deleted the tweet because I honestly didn’t like the attention and was tired of people in the replies; it got weird. Also, people at work knew my Twitter because of it, which was strange. But yeah, that’s part of the challenge of being an artist. I want to keep my accounts public to promote my stuff, but it’s weird when coworkers or friends of coworkers are contacting me saying they saw something I put on the internet.
How does it feel when someone tells you they’re a fan of your music? Do you have anything you’d like to say to your listeners/fans?
This one’s tough [laughs]. I have a lot to say to the people who have supported me over the years. I appreciate all the love and support. Music is something I make for myself. I like making music that I’ll enjoy listening to. The fact that other people listen to stuff I create still blows my mind. I’m absolutely in shock when someone comes up and says, ‘Hey, I’ve been listening to you since this day or year and love this song of yours,’ it’s like it puts me back into reality, and I think, ‘Wow, people are actually paying attention to me.’ It’s always such a humbling experience. I recently did a show with Good Society at a beach in Malibu, which was so fun. I had maybe three or four people come up to me, which is a lot to me, and I wasn’t expecting that. It’s always a trip, for sure. I’ve never gotten used to it, which I think is a good thing. Those moments genuinely make my day. Looking at analytics doesn’t give me that feeling, though. It’s those real-life interactions that make this so sick.
What are your goals for the rest of 2022? Is there anything you can tease about future music?
I really just want to tie up some loose ends I have right now. I’ve got a lot of unfinished music that I would love to release. I don’t want to brag, but I think I have some pretty good stuff in the vault right now. If I’m thinking further into my career, by next year, I’d like to put out a serious project, like a debut project. I have some projects, like beat tapes, I’ve made in the past, but they weren’t cohesive albums or EPs that started with a single idea and were executed all the way through. My problem is that I’m super impatient. When I feel like I’ve made something dope, I want to put it out immediately. So I’ve been working on a lot and trying new sounds that I hope to release soon. But I also have a long list of songs people probably haven’t heard on my Soundcloud and Bandcamp if you need something to listen to. If you’ve already heard my older stuff, I hope you’re excited about what’s coming next.
So be on the lookout for new releases from MadBliss, but for now, you can stream his latest single, “baking soda,” on Apple Music and Spotify!
WHERE TO FIND MADBLISS
Twitter | Instagram | Spotify | Apple Music