Did you guys know each other previously?
Chop Ford: So Kansy and I met last summer in 2019. We met through a friend, Myles Carter. I was recording at a friends studio, and he came through and we banged out our first single, Thinkin’ Lately. After that we got a lot more attention than we thought, partially through our partnership with the app Weed Firm. Now we’re super excited to release our second track together, Feeling.
What was your process for the song?
Chop Ford: So I had the beat made beforehand, I made it while I was still in school at Stanford University. Corona virus hit so my girlfriend and I did the trip to NYC via a rental van with a mattress inside. Midway through the trip I decided to send the song to Kansy. He loved the track and within 30 minutes he had a first draft, which is pretty close to the final one. We knew it was going to be the next one we put out.
Kansy: I literally got the beat sent through text from Rick and immediately heard a hook in my head as i was listening for the first time. Recorded on the spot since i have a home studio and sent back the demo version in like 20-30 minutes.
Do you guys have more in the stash?
Chop Ford: I’m currently building a studio on the upper west side of manhattan, so we plan on recording a lot more music in the next few months. I think with coronavirus we’re going to be in the studio a lot, hoping a lot of good stuff will come out of that.
Kansy: We have a couple old joints we recorded a while back but we’re eager to lock in at some point to make some new music in the near future.
General influences for the song?
Chop Ford: I was definitely looking to make something a little more calm than what I’ve been doing. I’ve been working with some female artists that’ve been pushing me toward indie. I found the vocal sample, after playing with it a little bit I added really pronounced hi hats. I thought that a minimalistic skeleton would be perfect, and adding too much would’ve changed the vibe. Once I sent it over to Kansy he added a lot more embellishing with his vocals.
Kansy: The second I heard the beat I got indie pop/r&b vibes subconsciously and melodies started popping in my head pretty quickly. I tend to record verses without writing them down for the most part especially with tracks like this. I pretty much caught a vibe off rip and let everything flow out naturally.
Do you think having an international background and being from NYC helped shape your sound?
Chop Ford: Yeah definitely. I was born in Italy, and we lived there for 2 years before moving to Brazil where I lived for about 7 years before coming to the United States. Now I’ve lived in New York for 11 years and I feel like a New Yorker. I’ve been going back and forth from California the past 4 years which played a role in the sounds that I was listening to. Working with different genres played a role in each song. My music is never one genre, there’s always a mix of something else. One of the main things about my background that influences my music is being Italian and Brazilian. Growing up on Italian rock like Vasco Rossi, as well as Brazilian rhythms. Living in Brazil I was able to witness the Carnival festival. Seeing those huge drums booming, feeling it in your chest, really leaves a mark on you. Defiantly influenced how much I value percussion in my songs.
Kansy: Yes being from NY has been a huge part of my personality and music influence growing up. Not necessarily based on a specific NY style/sound but more so the blending of culture, art, and music we have here. The lines in which you can express yourself are becoming so blurred that anything can be an influence. The beauty of NYC is that we start trends because of this creative diversity.
Whats your favorite thing about this song and working with each other?
Chop Ford: My favorite thing about working with Kansy is he surprises me every time we work together. I remember with Thinking Lately, when we recorded his verse it didn’t sound very clear, but then we heard it back like 3 weeks later and it sounded completely different, so that’s what lead to thinking lately. In this case, he surprised me with how quickly he got back to me with a verse. It’s always great to work with artists like that.
Kansy: My favorite thing about making this song/working with Rick is the efficiency in which we communicate. The second the song was done we did not hesitate to plan a rollout because we knew it was something special. This song will be the first official single from my upcoming album “4 Better or Worse” dropping August 21st on all streaming platforms and I couldn’t be happier to start the rollout with my guy. He def came through clutch with this one.
