Today we’d like to introduce you to Akaash Chandra.
Hi Akaash, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My family has always been into music. My dad grew up listening to British Invasion bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, so I grew up listening to a lot of classic rock. I took a variety of music lessons as a kid, starting with piano, drums, and tabla, which is a pair of classical Indian drums, and finally guitar and back to piano. I started learning the classic rock that my dad loved, but later played blues, jazz, and bluegrass. Piano was different, because I never practiced. I couldn’t read the sheet music, I could only play by ear. One day, my teacher brought out a full-size MIDI keyboard and asked me to plug it into my computer. We opened GarageBand, and my teacher showed me the stock orchestra sounds the software came with. After a couple of months, we were creating weird arrangements of songs we liked. I stole my dad’s iPad to use the mobile version of GarageBand, watching YouTube tutorials on recreating popular songs. Towards the end of sixth grade, I began my journey into producing music.
One of my brothers and I searched for free music production software, and at the time, our research skills were below par. We started out using a German website called LOOPLABS. In the software, users would take premade loops and mix them to create new beats. After a year or two of Looplabs, we switched to a different European site called Audiotool. Initially, we were mixing loops from the software’s audio library, but eventually, we learned how to use the software’s drum machines to create our own patterns. From middle school to sophomore year of high school, my brother and I consistently created on Audiotool and improved with each beat we made. At one point, we were a top 10 finalist out of hundreds of submissions for a beat battle hosted by Simon Servida, one of the many YouTube producers that my brother and I learned how to make beats from. Receiving that type of recognition as a 16 year old working on such a random online software was one many signs I’ve received over my (at the time aspiring) musical career.
As a freshman, I had a special type of confidence in the mediocre beats I made, and tried looking for collaborations with the SoundCloud rappers a few years older than me. My friend and frequent collaborator Carter, at the time a few grades above in school, was somewhat known around the hallways for his diss tracks on school administrators. I emailed Carter a pack of beats, and he was quick to let me know the folder was trash. The next year, my brother and I received a copy of FL Studio, accompanied by the College Board Official SAT Study Guide 2020 Edition. A few months passed and on March 13, 2020, students were sent home on an extended spring break. The pandemic was an opportunity to tune out distractions and make beats daily. My brother and I started new Instagram pages showcasing our work, and Carter, now graduated from high school and independently pursuing a rap career, messaged both me and my brother telling us to keep going, and that he could hear our improvement. When we returned in person to high school, our confidence in ourselves and our music soared. My brother and I would invite our friends over to record songs. At first, the songs started as jokes, but as we kept working, everyone took the sessions a little bit more seriously. My friends learned how to write, and I learned how to arrange songs just by working for fun with friends. Carter, who had turned his middle name into his rapper name EliJah, invited me and my brother to his crib for a studio session near the end of my senior year. We haven’t stopped collaborating since.
My brother and I produced almost 100% of the complete tape for Carter titled “Where’s E?” which was released in the middle of my freshman year at college. The music features super random sample choices inspired by Carter’s love for anime and video games. At the time, I was living in Philadelphia studying in a music industry program that offered opportunities to learn from prominent business leaders, marketers, label executives, band members, producers, and engineers. College helped me learn from and work with the most talented musicians and artists in my generation. I played in rock bands, produced for rappers and singers, released my own music, and collaborated and created a playlist featuring my music and the music of my peers for a student-organized fashion show. I displayed poor academic performance and left college toward the end of my sophomore year. Philadelphia is always in my heart.
On my way back to Cleveland, I decided to make the best of my situation. Carter had texted me that my Cleveland return meant more frequent collaboration. During my time in school, Carter had been posting music snippets on his Instagram page for a year and a half, and a few posts showed up on the feed of A$AP Twelvyy. Twelvyy messaged Carter that he was a fan and had to keep going, and Carter (who had been a fan of Twelvyy since high school) messaged back and the two eventually worked out a feature agreement. Carter made sure that I was the one to make the beat for their collaboration and I will forever be grateful for the opportunity. A few months later, Carter and I travelled along with my brother (now Carter’s management) and videographer and close friend Henry Green (Nonsense Collection) to Brooklyn to record music, shoot a few videos, and meet Twelvyy in the studio.
I feel that my musical journey can’t culminate into just one specific memory to where I decided this is my future. As I get older, my life consistently provides me with little moments that tell me to keep moving forward.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
This journey has not been the easiest, but life isn’t easy, and it took a while to learn that. I’m still learning how to manage my time and how to appreciate all that’s around me. The best thing I can do is recognize when to ask for help when I need it. People don’t realize how much they rely on others.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a music producer, beatmaker, and artist. I try to integrate the music I was raised on and the music I’ve learned along the way (blues, rock, jazz, RnB, classical Indian, etc.) into my production now. I tend to relate a lot of my work to memories of my life. While I’m making a beat, I’m thinking about someone I admire or love, or I’m thinking about a time, place, or experience that I recollect either fondly or painfully.
Most recently, I’ve produced one single for rapper, and friend, Carter “EliJah” Goins, titled “Fancy,” for his upcoming album “E” releasing in June. The project’s two other singles released prior are titled “way of life” and “Humiliation,” featuring A$AP Twelvyy. I’ve also recently produced a single by Midwestern artist Nuke Franklin, titled “Jeff Teague,” which was featured on a collaborative playlist by label Big.Ass.Kids and licensing company BeatStars. I’m also currently self-producing a mixtape titled “The Kitchen Island” that will be released later this year, featuring a variety of underground hip-hop artists.
From 2021-2023, I produced a variety of singles for EliJah, releasing the mixtape “Where’s E?” almost entirely produced by myself and my brother towards the end of 2022. Close to the end of 2023, I released a project titled “Good Advice,” written, recorded, and produced by myself and many friends. I hope to improve that with every release, I improve just a little bit. I just pray that people can hear it.
I’ve recently ventured from beatmaking into video scoring. I’ve created a few scores for promotional short-form content for Japanese brand Mercari, and I’ve begun work on scoring some short films. Those projects and many more will begin releasing in the next year or so.
I believe what sets me apart in my production is my understanding of capturing an artist’s feelings. Music is how I communicate my emotions. Providing a space for someone else to communicate their emotions is a special kind of blessing. I’m always in my people’s corner. If I can’t collaborate with someone, I find a way to support them, especially if they’re in Cleveland. In the city, it’s taken a long time for the producers, artists, and other creators of my generation to begin talking with one another. Maybe I just missed out for a while. But I guess that’s part of the process of building a community that lasts.
My production work is organized here:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/18VFjZ4CPXWcS8d3WkaTAR?si=6d6e1cc056aa4986
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I have no idea where this industry could go. I hope artists continue to display the passion they have for their work. Artists should be principled.
I’ve heard discussion that people should accept AI, and accept and integrate it into their everyday workflow, but my goal is that I won’t ever become a person that relies on it.
I also hope that now and in the future people stop separating the art from the artist.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/18VFjZ4CPXWcS8d3WkaTAR?si=ae2af6f4fd16415a
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/akaashschandra_/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AkaashChandra
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/@youthfulindividuals
