Flinch Is All About That Bass

Los Angeles-based producer Adam Glassco has been earning street cred for years with his bottom-end beats. Performing under the moniker Flinch, he stands behind a sound that’s responsible for inducing spurts of dancefloor spasms all across the globe. We caught up with Adam to get a view of the bass scene through the eyes of one of its very own tastemakers. Read the interview below, and catch Flinch as he tears up circuitGROUNDS during Bassrush’s takeover Friday at EDC Orlando.

Your last EP, Too Much, covered a lot of dance music ground. Can you expand on your present musical direction?
It’s a big changeup from my sound. It’s a 128 breaks and trap record. I’m working on either an album or a couple of EPs right now, but I’m not really sure how I’m going to put it together yet. I’m hoping to have them out by the end of the year, if not 2015. It’s going to be a multi-genre, experimental-type record with some traditional, classic Flinch dubstep mixed with some house, breaks, trap, and a little bit of everything. I’m just trying to diversify my music to fit into the sets I really like to play right now.

“With brostep, we get pegged with outlandish, fratty kind of dudes.”

Why multi-genre?
I’m drawing a lot of my inspiration from a lot of melodic vocal tracks. I’ve always been into a catchy hook—but as far as production goes, a lot of hip-hop and bassline house and old school breaks. I’ve kind of been touching back into deep, classic dubstep.

You have a few genres on your hit list. Is there a specific one that will always have your heart?
140 dubstep will always have my heart. I’ve been doing this a long time… making music under different monikers for years. As far as Flinch, I’ve been doing it for about four years, and it has predominantly been dubstep. I was toying around with starting a new project—and I still may start a new alias—but instead of trying to keep to one thing, I decided to rebrand it to do new music. I’m just going to open the floodgates and do what I really want. Right now, I feel like it’s really hard to stand out in bass music because everyone is kind of shooting for the same prize. So I’m just trying to diversify my shit and not do anything that everyone else is doing. Hopefully people will notice it a little more.

What are your thoughts on dubstep and where it currently stands?
I think dubstep got a little slap in the face with trap taking over in the early part of the year. But I think trap brought a lot of elements out, like the space and the low, tonal bass. And now I can see it evolving back to where it started. Plus, with some of the super hybrid trap-dubstep collabs, I think it’s just pushing it forward. It’s keeping bass music interesting.

Should bass music make you feel a certain way?
Obviously it’s different for everybody, but bass music should make you feel excited about dancing. It’s kind of got a counter-culture feel. It represents aggression, yet positive vibes. It’s about breakdancing, graffiti and street culture.

How has that culture changed over the years?
It’s gotten bigger. I feel like all the crews in L.A. started to work together more. There’s a lot more camaraderie. L.A. has got it made when it comes to bass music, from drum & bass to garage to dubstep to trap. Bass music’s epicenter is now L.A. It’s really hard to compete nationally with a scene that’s constantly as good as it is here.

Is there anything being offered in the L.A. bass scene that you couldn’t get anywhere else?
Going to Respect. I’d say it’s one of the longest-running nights in L.A., let alone bass music. It goes every Thursday at the Dragonfly.

Are there any other spots you used to frequent when you first got put onto this music?
When I first started, I was going to Respect, Concrete Jungle, Audiotistic, and a lot of Insomniac parties. I used to throw a couple of nights in L.A.: I used to do a drum & bass night in the early 2000s called Metric, and then I started a night in Orange County called Heavy in like 2008. Then I put my full time into making music.

Have you ever considered throwing your own events again?
I thought about it. I’ve been working with a couple of people on an idea of a free, daytime event where all the proceeds go to a charity.

Are there any misconceptions about bass heads?
With brostep, we kind of get pegged with outlandish, fratty kind of dudes. But I think every year the scene gets bigger and bigger along all lines of genres. We’ve seen a lot more new people who are just getting into it. I guess the stigma you see in bass music is a lot of bros and a lot of dudes. But at the end of the day, check out the girls on the dancefloors shaking their ass. It’s kind of hard to resist that style of music when you’re out there dancing.

What should these newcomers be taught as they come into the scene?
Keep an open mind. There are a lot of different kinds of bass music. If you think you like one thing, go and spend an hour at a festival listening to something you think you wouldn’t like, and see how surprised you’ll be. It’s really just about dancing and grooving. I’m really tired of the hands-up-in-the-air and then the drop comes, and 20 seconds later everyone is just standing around taking pictures and shit. Just keep dancing, try new things, and listen to new music—even house music. A lot of people try to set themselves up on only one thing, but you got to keep an open mind these days.

What has kept you loyal to bass music through thick and thin?
It’s my escape from reality when I need to just cheer myself up. It’s a way of running away without leaving. I got a great crew of friends, and I know so many people from all around the world. I meet a lot of great artists that help me expand my mind [and] my art and open me up to possibilities that I think are achievable. I just feel really fortunate to have people listen to my music.

What makes you Flinch?
Big-room house taking over every stage at every festival… No, politics, global financing, world trade organization, globalization, and GMOs. There’s a lot of stuff that, if you knew the truth, would make you flinch.

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