Dirt Monkey Swings By To Talk New EP Off 19k, Working With His Son, & What's Next [HIHF INTERVIEW]

Patrick Megeath, better known to the dubstep world as Dirt Monkey, has been on a rampage as of late! The bass music powerhouse has been on the scene for over a decade and is finally getting the recognition he deserves, performing at the biggest music festivals in the world like EDC Las Vegas, Lost Lands, and Bass Canyon.

He is gearing up for his appearance at the legendary Hampton Coliseum, where he’ll be opening for Ganja White Night alongside LSDream, Peekaboo, Boogie T, and tons of other talented artists, in early July. He’s collaborated with some of the hottest names in dubstep over the years, ranging from Subtronics to Ganja White Night to Rusko.

He’s also worked with tons of rising stars, many that whom we love here at HIHF, including Subdocta, TYNAN, Kumarion, Sully, DMVU, G-Space, and tons of other underground favorites. On 4/20, Dirt Monkey teamed up with another up-and-coming artist who has been crushing it as of late, Jaenga, for their dabber’s anthem “1000 Degrees.”

🍌 BANANA SPLIT EP OUT NOW 🍌 pic.twitter.com/MPujMGhBbE

— DIRT MONKEY (@dirtmonkeymusic) May 20, 2022

Today, the esteemed producer is dropping a diabolical four-track EP through his own 19k Sounds label. On Dirt Monkey’s “Banana Split” EP, he is bringing out all the stops! Featuring that wonky dubstep style that Dirt Monkey has perfected over the years at the forefront of the project, the Floriday by way of Colorado bass artist has just gifted fans four absolute bangers.

We had the opportunity to speak with Dirt Monkey about the new EP, as well as what’s next for him in 2022 and beyond. Check out the conversation below and be sure to stream Banana Split down under the interview.

What do you want fans to know about your new Banana Split EP?

I wanted to make sure that it was as eclectic as possible for a four-song EP. Also, I put a ton of time/work (months) into mixing and mastering these tunes to get them to sound as perfect as possible. One more thing – the vocal on Banana Split is my four-year-old son Niko and was actually my wife’s idea for him to say “banana split that’s my shit”. I had to make sure with him that he doesn’t repeat it at school, which I think has worked so far

What’s your favorite part about getting Niko involved in your music? Like you said, you have had him record pre-drop vocals in the past, we know you’ve brought him out on stage before, and also know that he loves dancing to your tunes!

It’s just fun when I play the songs in the car for him – it can immediately pull him out of a bad mood if I throw one of his songs on. I’m def trying not to force it on him but he actually loves getting on the mic. I think he’s gonna be a stand-up comedian so I like to think I’m helping him brush up on his mic presence

In a past interview we did with Kumarion, he explained your sound as more ‘dub’ than ‘step.’ Where do your more reggae and dub roots stem from?

Yeah, that makes sense. Most of the music I’ve listened to in my life and currently listen to come from reggae. I’ve listened to dub since I was like fourteen, way before dub’step’ was a thing, and have always been into classic reggae. I love listening to 90’s dancehall, and am currently on a big soca kick right now, which is more like Caribbean dancehall at around 120-130 bpm. Bunji Garlan’s “Big Bad Soca” is a good place to start for anyone wanting to jump down that rabbit hole.

What was the Depolarize tour like? How was it going on tour with super exciting up-and-comers like Kumarion, Sippy, Digital Ethos, Ravenscoon, and Wreckno?

It was so sick, that whole tour was amazing because we had the perfect crew. I’d need pages to write about each of them individually but I loved all their sets & had a blast doing b2bs with them.

Your collaborative Dirt Monkey & Friends EP was one of our favorites. Any collabs you’ve got in your unreleased vault that will see the light of day soon?

Got this Dalek One collab that’s suuuuper spicy and deep. Also, got Sippy & Smoakland collabs I’m hyped on that are cooking up. Now that I think of it me and Mr. Bill are sitting on a few tunes… Oh, yeah, a Boogie T one that we wrote in the green rooms on the Subtronics tour too! I’m prob forgetting some.

What would a dream collaboration look like for the Dirt Monkey project?

It’d be Rusko which has already happened, but I’d like it to happen more haha

What can fans expect from your upcoming performance at the famous Hampton Coliseum in July, where you’ll be opening up for Ganja White Night?

A big old journey thru the genres & tempos, about 85% originals… been hustling my ass off in the studio so will prob have some more freshies to debut too

What’s one hobby that you have that your fans may not know about you that you could tell us more about?

Surfing has completely consumed me. Now that we live ten min from the beach I’ve been going like 5 days a week with my friends who also happen to be my neighbors. It’s been insanely fun and addicting. Not even kidding, it’s all I think about all day every day, please send help.

If there is one piece of advice you could give a rising producer, what would that be?

Be yourself, don’t get caught up in any politics, don’t ever write any music to try and appeal to anyone but yourself… and try to get on a bus tour so you don’t have to pay these outrageous prices for plane tickets haha wow

Well, thanks so much for sitting down with us! Be sure to peep Dirt Monkey’s new EP off 19k Records down below and to support him on socials. You can also snag his new sample pack on Bandcamp!

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