Free Drinkz

“A Mexican and a Jew who don’t know each other’s real names,” Free Drinkz is the collaborative project of thefaded and Mickey from The Interns. The two artists came together to form the duo in February 2013 and have already gained the support of Diplo, Bro Safari, DJ Snake, Flosstradamus, Gent & Jawns and many more well known producers and DJs. Their debut EP is set to release later this Summer.

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One of the most significant events/time periods in music for me was when I interned for Flosstradamus. I got to explore the real Chicago music scene via this experience. Between girls juking, hipsters dancing, and a general sense of camaraderie at the shows, I knew this is where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do with my life. When I saw the way people reacted at Floss’ shows I thought “I want to make people feel that way.” When you stop caring, when nothing else matters other than the music and just getting down and dirty with your friends. -Mickey (The Interns)

 

Interview

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Home Town: Chicago, IL (The Interns) & Santa Barbara, CA (thefaded)
Currently Living: Chicago, IL (TI) & Oxnard, CA (TF)
Origin Of Name: When we decided to make our collaboration an official duo, we were going back and forth with names and thefaded suggested “Free Drinks.” We thought it would be funny when we would begin to show up on posters for shows people would see our name and think “Oh hell yeah, free drinks at this place!” We changed the S to a Z and it was official.
Weapon of Choice: Our ears, and our Mexican/Jew charm
Source of Power: The hood

Was there one particular moment in the recording or mixing process for your Discovery Project entry that made you feel like you were creating something pretty damn special?
Mickey (The Interns): We killed the mix. We sent edits back and forth until we came up with the 30-minute session of gold we currently have. Personally my favorite part is when we transition from the TWRK edit of David Banner’s “Play” into the original track. That shit is rad.
thefaded: When we went from “Certified” to “Bumblacot” in that stutter switch I knew, I just knew what we were doing was something great.

Are there any dots to connect with where/how you grew up to your musical output?
Mickey (The Interns): My brother inspired me. He played guitar, then I copied him. After I was sick of being the “white boy acoustic guitar” Jack Johnson esque dude, I started working on beats. My brother stole a copy of Fruity Loops in 06’ and ever since then I’ve been grinding.
thefaded: Oh definitely there’s a huge connection with my childhood to my current state of musicianship. As far back as I can remember, I was surrounded by music. My brother was 15-years older than me when I was born so as I was growing up in the ‘90s, I was constantly surrounded by all the great and incredible music being made at the time. And I literally mean all of it. From the “Siamese Dream” to “Doggystyle” to “Homework” I was constantly taking in music. When I was about eight, my brother began DJing warehouse parties in Santa Barbara so I would bug him to teach me how to use his turntables. He got a Roland 909 when I was like 10, and that was when I fell in love with making beats.

What do your parents think of what you are doing?
Mickey (The Interns): “Get a real job?” -Mom
thefaded: “Turn that shit down!” -Mama Faded

What’s the strangest part of your job?
Mickey (The Interns): YouTube comments on our songs.
thefaded: That people all over the world have heard my music. That quite literally my music has made sound waves and was heard by people all over the world.

What’s the biggest misconception about being a DJ?
Mickey (The Interns): How rewarding watching people dance to your music feels.
thefaded: How incredibly hard and time consuming making beats is. Lots of people think you just watch a few YouTube tutorials, torrent Massive and Fruity Loops, and you’ll have a critically acclaimed EP in a month.

How does what you do for a living affect you on a day-to-day basis?
Mickey (The Interns): Friends don’t take it seriously/never have. My boss says, “No techno shit today right?” In regards to me listening to trap on Soundcloud, haha.
thefaded: My homies are very supportive of my beatmaking and hold me down so much, it’s really crazy sometimes. They search me on Google all the time to boost my presence on there, they post about all my stuff on all their social media outlets, they try and find me shows, they leave my Soundcloud tracks playing all night so my plays go up, they’re just my fucking dogs.

What is your ultimate career dream?
Mickey (The Interns): Give A-Trak the biggest hug and have Sabbath dinner with him too.
thefaded: To play a show…in fucking space. Like an all glass room—in fucking space, bruh.

Are you impulsive with your work or do you have a sketch in mind before you start?
Mickey (The Interns): I used to have ideas come to me and work on them before hand. Now I just take a pella, get some synths going and see where it goes. Once in a while I’ll hear something on Soundcloud or the radio and be like “That’s a dope idea, I need to fuck with that.” Otherwise, it has all started from scratch lately.
thefaded: Both. Sometimes I have an idea in my head, sometimes I just sit down and fool around till something cool happens.

How, if at all, does listening to music figure into your creative process?
Mickey (The Interns): The bird, the bird, the bird bird bird bird the bird, the bur-bur, the bird the bird, the bird bird bird bird, The Bird Machine (by DJ Snake)
thefaded: All. The. Time. I always draw inspiration from stuff I listen to. Last track that literally made me drop everything and go make a beat? Baauer “Dum Dum.”

What’s the most important piece of gear in your studio and why?
Mickey (The Interns): Red Bull/peanut butter combo.
thefaded: Monitors. If you are going to spend money on fucking anything, make sure it’s some good monitors.

How important is it for you to experiment and take on the risk of failure?
Mickey (The Interns): Experimentation is crucial. Listen to our Lana’s Theme remix. We took elements of the Flosstradamus tune and flipped it via experimentation with Lana’s vocals. It was super fun, but scary. Once we finished it was gold.
thefaded: Incredibly important. Musical failure is something that doesn’t exist to me. If I like it, I like it, everything outside of that is subjective.

If we pressed Shuffle on your iPod while you went to the bathroom, what would you be embarrassed to come back to us listening to?
thefaded: My iPod selection is perfect you feel me? Perfect.

What sound or noise do you love?
Mickey (The Interns): I want to say the Harlem Shake lead synth, but now that sound just makes me cry. As of lately, I’ve been fucking with vocal cuts a lot. Chopping vox and bweep bwoops is my favorite.
thefaded: The sub bass/kick I used on our “Goin’ Up” remix. I solo that shit out and just listen to it on full volume and fall in love.

What should everyone just shut the fuck up about?
Mickey (The Interns): Genres. Who cares. Music is music.
thefaded: The Lakers. Just let them go. Let. Them. Go.

What gets you excited when you think about the future of electronic music and club culture?
thefaded: That hip-hop is becoming legitimized in the EDM scene. Also how accepting people are becoming of just listening to beats and feeling a beat. It’s such an incredible feeling when you can just feel a song.

When you look at electronic music and the surrounding culture, what worries you about the future?
thefaded: The proverbial “bros.” Also how many undeserving fuck boys seem to be catching hype for mediocre tracks and gimmicky appearances. Oh, another 140 BPM hip-hop track with a Dutch line? “It’s cool bro, I’m wearing a snapback with my name on it and a bandana.”

What are your weaknesses?
thefaded: Puppies—especially Pit Bull puppies.

Do you have a secret passion?
Mickey (The Interns): I want to say that I love food and that is my passion, but what I’ve come to realize over time is that somehow every DJ is into food. It’s like a weird secret foodie society.
thefaded: Bruh, I’ve been cheffing since I was 16. I almost took off to NYC more than a few times to get my cooking career off the ground but something has always held me back.

How would you describe your sound to a deaf person?
Mickey (The Interns): I would need three girls to twerk for that deaf person in order for him to truly grasp what our sound can do.
thefaded: I would show them that picture of Lil’ B as the sun, and only then would they understand.

Is success physical or internal?
thefaded: A bit of both. Success to me would mean I would be able to just make the music I truly want to make for the rest of my life and make a decent living off sharing it with the world.

What do you remember about your first DJ gig?
thefaded: My first legit gig was at these “Beat Society” showcases they used to have in LA in like 2005. I was dope as fuck dog, are you serious? I was only like 16 at the time, and people gave me so many daps. I also remember doing my first public underage drinking then and getting the spins off like two beers.

What’s the hardest professional lesson you’ve learned thus far?
Mickey (The Interns): In this music game, nothing is handed to you. You have to work super super hard or else, no, you won’t make it. When your friends are out getting fucked up/having fun, you need to stay inside and work on beats.
thefaded: I’ve come to learn on my own that you just need to keep pushing this shit forward. Just never stop moving and never become comfortable or stagnant. Keep pushing weight.

What advice would you offer someone thinking about entering the Discovery Project competition?
Keep your 30-minute mix unique. Don’t just play tracks you think the judges want to hear, or the typical bangers or Beatport Top 40, play tracks you actually fuck with and fresh and doing something new.

Last words?
thefaded: Snoop Dogg will always be Snoop Dogg to me.

Winning Track:

 

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