Heard It Here First

At the beginning of the year, we mentioned that Super Future was an artist you need to keep your eye on. The Michigan-based producer has proven over the last year or so that he can do it all. His sounds can range from uplifting future bass, to ambient downtempo, to experimental bass face-inducing wubs. He has continued to use his platform to promote art like you’ve never seen before and provide his fans with an out-of-this-world experience.

Today, Super Future returns to Liquid Stranger‘s downtempo label, SSKWAN, to release a monumental EP. “Equilibria” adds a unique twist to what you would normally hear on the label. Super Future creates something special for everyone and you can really feel the energy he radiates towards his fans.

“Equilibria” combines emotions and spiritualism to create a seven-track journey that explores multiple spectrums of bass music. Tunes such as “Open Up” and “Rain Dance” put you at ease with the soothing, meditative bass that is indicative of SSKWAN, while “Fall Forever” and “Radical Acceptance” bring joy and happiness to your soul. For those WAKAAN lovers, “Heart Beat” contains the perfect amount of deep bass to get you on your feet and moving.

A big theme present in “Equilibria” is raw emotion. Super Future relays what many have felt over the pandemic, which is darkness, uncertainty, sadness, and for some, hope. Each tune represents a different tale and radiates a different tone. Everyone has gone through a struggle this past year, and the beautiful message behind this groundbreaking release is that we must find a balance between our hardships and our successes.

We had the chance to sit down with him and chat at Sound Haven to talk about the beginning of his career, his friendship with superstar Wreckno, releasing on SSKWAN, and what the next year holds for him. The future is certainly looking super for this rising star artist. Read on below:

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HIHF: You’re playing Sound Haven today. This is one of the most stacked festivals with bass talent we have ever seen. How does it feel to be sharing the stage with so many fellow up and comers with big careers ahead of them?

SF: There’s something to it that you won’t find anywhere else. After doing a few festivals that are on both sides of the spectrum, whether it’s smaller, community-driven, or it’s bigger and mainstream, you start to understand what festivals are valuable to people. And for a number of reasons, it could be for networking, it could be for seeing the coolest, hottest stuff that’s happening right now. Or it could be just to support your homies, whether you’re another artist or someone who’s working in the community itself. And this is the perfect intersection of all those things. Just being here is my priority, because of how many cool people are doing things here at Sound Haven.

H: How did the name “Super Future” come to place for you? What’s the origin behind the stage name?

SF: I originally had trouble with branding. For a while, I was gonna go with Nick Rowland (my full name), but I had some philosophies I wanted to exude through my brand. This was as I was getting into spiritualism and metaphysical things. I call it “psycho-spiritual”, which to me is defined as the balance of how your psychology feeds back on itself with your spiritual intuition and your understanding of how the universe works. As I was gathering that entire perspective with my wife, we were going through a lot of learning.

One of the biggest themes that came up was that when you look towards the future, there is always something brighter to come. I wanted to have the superlative version of that. So Super Future just rolled off the tongue for me. I remember as I was coming to terms with this idea in 2012, there was a song by DallasK called “Super Future”. I really liked the way it sounded when I said it out loud. It brings happiness and a brighter outlook when you think about what the brand means. It translates to a lot of what I create, no matter if I’m creating trap, deep bass, or bangers. There’s always the midpoint that has the “Super Future” involved with a better future, where you can be more in your element.

There was this book I once read that helped you figure out your strengths. Included was this personality test, and my number one quality was a futurist. That really aligned with my brand. Futurists work on the future. People who have big ideas about the future get excited about that. And that gets them gassed up and want to make sure they not only capitalize on it, but tell everybody in the process.

H: You’ve mentioned that you like to take listeners and show-goers on a journey through sound. Can you elaborate on that?

SF: Many people will say that they do the same thing because that’s the foundation of playing shows, but you want to have something profound behind it. That could be a story, a feeling, or a journey. Personally, I like using the analogy of a “roller-coaster”. I’m always gonna have a starting point that dips down, but it always comes up for bigger peaks and valleys. Tension and release are really important for me in my sets, because you can build up a moment by having a spacious drop out, give people the chance to breathe, build back up, and slam with some bangers. And then it comes down to, “Alright, we’re breathing again”. That whole cadence adds plenty of dynamics to music and shows, and I need to have these dynamics.

H: Following up on that, is there a specific subgenre you’ve wanted to experiment with that you haven’t yet?

SF: Liquid drum ‘n bass. Drum ‘n bass has its own spectrum. I personally like the heavy style that comes with it, and Slug Wife comes to mind for me. It’s a lot of fun, but I don’t think it would really translate well for me and my personality and how I write music. Liquid dnb can still lend itself to a very deep and immersive experience with wubs and R&B samples. I love how that sounds, too.

Hypernatural Friendship

H: You have been close friends with Wreckno for a while, whose growth has been explosive over the past year. What’s it like seeing your friend succeed? Is it inspirational?

SF: This is a question that I wish more people would ask. I’m noticing that a lot of the people I surround myself with have a clear-cut trajectory to the top, whether it’s in the West Michigan community with Sully and Peekaboo, or with friends like MeSo. The list goes on. I just like that the average of my entire community and friend group has always been lifted.

But with Wreckno, when I originally met him, I was just really impressed with how he used his sassy energy and trap music the same way that I wanted to try to make beats. It was truly a lock and key fit for us to go on tour. He was looking for a producer to piggyback with, and our styles really blended well. The balance we have is truly special.

I remember one time where I had this fire beat for “Bout Me”, and because he was rapping since high school, we experimented with his raps. We played it out live when I opened for Mersiv in Detroit, and the crowd’s reaction was insane. You could tell that Wreckno has that diva, gay icon personality to him that shined like Lady Gaga and he was exuding it in his own unique way. That’s when I saw stardom in him. I want to see him succeed, and I’m so thankful that a very marginalized community is getting somebody who can really be their flagship artist.

H: I feel like Wreckno is at the forefront of pushing this kind of sound, especially as an artist who identifies as LGBTQ+. Do you feel that’s encouraging to the scene?

SF: Yes. I have a lot of respect for him, and it comes very naturally to him, which is so cool. Our scene and culture has appreciated this shift so much that it’s put him on this amazing platform. It’s starting to translate well for people who want to be like him. And you love seeing these people who originally did not have this platform slowly begin to build a successful subculture.

Wreckno just being himself is inspirational. He’s been in his own lane and built this incredible platform to inspire a generation of people wanting to be like him. It gives them a lot of passion, hopefulness, and inspiration. I’m really proud of him.

Equilibria and SSKWAN

H: I want to talk a little about your brand new EP, “Equilibria”. What kind of vibe were you going for on this one?

SF: My degree is in chemical engineering. I wanted to include a theme from that. During the pandemic, there was a lot of strife and negative energy that we were all being forced to see every day. One of the hardest things I had to learn was just how to keep my head on straight. I had to try not to let that negativity bug me and be passionate about what was going on at the same time. There were a thousand things we were all having to deal with. I had deaths in my family, people in my circle were dealing with depression, and my own energy was spread so thin. I needed to find some type of balance.

In chemistry, a balanced equation is an equilibrium. All of the cornerstone sounds of this release are in equilibria, the plural. There’s a lot of balance in this EP. Dark stuff, cathartic sounds, trap and bass energy, future bass, and even a track with no beat, just ambient downtempo. A true balance. Equilibria is more than just downtempo. I wanted to show that it’s not just music that people zone out to, ambient music-wise. It should engage the heart and bring healing, as Liquid Stranger says. I needed to show that it still had both SSKWAN and Wakaan flavor. That’s exactly what all the songs I wrote for Equilibria are sounding like. It’s like “Satori”, which has plenty of bass in it, but it gives off that emotional energy. That’s what this EP is about.

H: This EP is being released on SSKWAN. What was your initial reaction to releasing tunes with Liquid Stranger’s label?

SF: Ever since the humble beginnings of what I’ve been doing, me and other homies had our eyes on Wakaan. As I got older, I realized there was a lot more to the balance of music, and SSKWAN was the perfect answer to what Wakaan already does. I was much more drawn to being an artist who could be in that camp of SSKWAN and being one of the forefront people involved in bringing a combination of healing sounds, fun vibes, and bass. I’ve been wanting to release music on something as interesting as Liquid Stranger’s label for about three to four years, and having the opportunity to release on their newer label, but also giving it that same kind of experimental flavor, means a lot to me. When you think of the style that Wakaan brings, they have a very attractive approach to bass music, as it’s all freeform and experimental. SSKWAN can be that same thing, and I made sure to bring that uniqueness.

H: Speaking of SSKWAN, how did you link up with MIZE and how did your collab “Satori” come to be?

I specifically remember at Electric Forest in 2019, I met MIZE at a Spicy Bois interview that The Untz was doing. I checked out his music and really understood where his trajectory was headed. His sound is so nostalgic, yet so creative with a lot of range and potential. I reached out to him after EF and said, “Hey man, it was great to meet you! I just want to go out on a limb here. Give me your worst work in progress that you have nothing going on for, and I will turn it into something amazing.”

The track he sent me had an incredibly gorgeous beginning with a lot of ambiance and atmosphere, but he just didn’t know where to take it next. I put my melody head on and improvised. I created a solo on my guitar even, and that actually made it in there. Every aspect of what we did turned out to be really cool. Both drops of Satori have a special feeling.

The Future Is Super

H: Earlier this year, you started to emphasize building a community for your fans. What are you most looking forward to as you continue to connect with fans around the country and build this platform for them?

SF: I think an artist’s most valuable aspect is their community, because that’s what keeps them alive and thriving. A lot of the community enjoys having someone to look up to and something bigger to be a part of. On top of that, having those people there to support means so much to me that I want to give them something beyond the music. For instance, giving aspects of what I’ve learned through spirituality, physical wellness, and togetherness. The community that I’m building will have all of that. Whether it’s just having fun, hanging out on Discord with friends, game nights, listening to music or even meeting up like we did today at Sound Haven. I want to give my fans something to keep returning to and enrich their own lives. They can find more friends within this community and I really enjoy the sound of that. I think I can give my brand a longer life span by helping people.

H: What’s next for Super Future? Any big plans for 2022?

SF: I’m in the middle of writing a LOT of music that is being sent to labels that I really appreciate, mainly the ones that have supported me in the past. I want to spread my sound into different corners of the bass scene. I’m also going to keep the music coming back to my independent platform. I’m looking to build this universal feel, where it all comes together very cohesively. Super Future isn’t just a person; it’s going to be its own universe. There’s so much in store for the project that I’m really excited to share within the coming months. It’s gonna be incredible to share those future experiences with the world.

Big thank you to Super Future for chatting with us at Sound Haven! Be sure to check out his new EP with SSKWAN below, and let us know your thoughts in the comments section or on our socials!

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