A Conversation With Xerces and Matt Swain

modrNation: Where are you guys originally from?

Matt Swain: I’m from North Philadelphia and I’m still staying out here.

Xerces: Right now I’m living in Fairfax, VA, but I’ve lived in Nashville, Baltimore and some other places.

modrNation: When did you get started making music?

Matt Swain: I started making music my freshman year of highschool, I’d been into music my entire life but I didn’t start producing until my freshman year.

Xerces: I got into music around quarantine, so 2020, but I started off by writing to other beats but now I’m mainly engineering and that’s become the focus.

modrNation: How did the two of you guys meet?

Matt Swain: I met Xerces through Aviad, I met him a few months before he released Believe, I noticed Xerces engineered the whole project so I hit him up. Xerces was gonna be on my album that just came out but shit happens, we couldn't work it out.Xerces: I met Matt through the tracks he did for Dre Wave$, you and him did a few together right?

Matt Swain: Yeah, it’s crazy though because I’ve been sending him packs for like a year now and I just recently started getting demos back from him.

Xerces: That’s around the time I heard of you because I was sending beats to him too. I really just met Matt through producing and mutual connections though.

modrNation: And how old are each of you guys?Xerces: I’m 18.

Matt Swain: I just turned 17.

modrNation: How has the creative process been putting together this producer tape?

Matt Swain: I first had the idea when Aviad put out Believe, but I really started in December with Langston. Him and I had three tracks but then I switched the direction I wanted to take it in, originally I wanted that Earl or MAVI sound, but now I’m trying to take it in a more upbeat direction with still some influence from that underground lane. 

Xerces: I heard one with Tek that was crazy, I think it was called Never Let Me Go. The album art is fire too. Me and Tek got some stuff coming up soon too to look out for.

Matt Swain: Shoutout Stphsolow for the cover art.

Xerces: Shoutout Stphsolow, shout Aviad, so many goats for real.

modrNation: Are there any guest producers on this project?

Matt Swain: No it’s all solo credits, and I engineered it. I feel like Xerces and I are the two underground engineers right now.Xerces: Yeah I’ve done a ton of stuff for Tek, a ton of stuff for Aviad too.

Matt Swain: Yeah I’ll offer to engineer for someone and try to use that to get songs for the tape.

Xerces: I feel like it’s an underappreciated thing that people do, especially in the underground. Some of these raw takes are rough man.

modrNation: What would you say is the importance of breaking barriers and experimenting with new sounds?

Matt Swain: I think it’s important to be unique, but I also feel like some people go over the top with it and it doesn’t work. It’s important to have your own sound but don’t let being unique be the driving force behind your music.

Xerces: People’s best music comes when they make what they want to make, you can’t focus too much on being different. If you scrap something because it’s “too basic” then you’re heading in the wrong direction.

Matt Swain: It’s important to be yourself, but it’s hard to do anything new now. This album isn’t anything crazy new, but it’s still unique as it’s unique to me.

Xerces: It’s unique to just be Matt Swain and do what Matt Swain does on a project. Aviad was able to push it forward and allow underground producers to make a name for themselves through these producer tapes.

modrNation: Where do you guys find your inspiration?

Matt Swain: I’m a sample based artist so most of my inspiration comes from a great sample. I’m heavily inspired by other artists' techniques, most of my beats from around December last year, they all used that one technique Aviad was using a little bit before.Xerces: My main inspiration comes from listening to a lot of music and the things that happen around me.

modrNation: Where do you see yourselves five years from now?

Matt Swain: Five years from now I’ll be a junior or a senior in college. Hopefully I won’t be in college and just producing.Xerces: I used to wait to blow up off of engineering but now it’s a bit of everything. I’d like to be at three-million streams as a rapper, probably around the same in production credits, and in engineering I’ve already got a million but I’d wanna be around hopefully five-million by then. I’m not rapping as much lately, so in the next five years I’ll probably only put out a project or two. 

Matt Swain: Before we’re done let me shout out Yuuki, Aviad, Inmate, and Kalvis one time.

Xerces: Yeah shoutout Aviad and Dylopillow for real.