Heard It Here First

If someone ever told you that you’d never be able to have fun in a field in the middle of Maine, then they clearly haven’t been to Fam Fest. This intimate celebration of music, art and community was a perfect start to the summer festival circuit. 

Fam Fest truly had a family feeling, highlighting some of the very best that the region has to offer, while also giving back to the community that allowed the event to take place. Artists and vendors took this event to a new level, brightening up the magical patch of land at night with art installations, decorations and some incredible jewelry, clothing and more for sale.

There was no shortage of fire beats, either, as Fam Fest brought out a number of household names in the bass scene–such as Barclay Crenshaw and EAZYBAKED–as well as a strong showcase of rising talent that kept attendees moving and grooving all weekend. There was something for everyone that weekend as attendees got to hear a wide variety of music, including dubstep, drum & bass, UKG, freeform, half time and more.

As they announced on social media, next year will be the seventh and FINAL year of Fam Fest – don’t miss out on the action as tickets for the 2025 finale are on sale now!

On the final day of Fam Fest, we had an opportunity to catch up with one of dubstep’s most promising young talents in Criso. Over the last two years, it’s been tough to catch a dubstep set that hasn’t featured a Criso track. His debut Emerge EP made waves in late 2022, putting Criso’s name on the radar of North American dubstep enthusiasts from coast to coast. Criso’s signature sound and style has been supported by prominent names such as Ternion Sound, Black Carl!, Joe Nice and more, while also gracing some of the finest sound systems at Denver’s The Black Box, Sound Haven and other fan-favorite settings.

Criso’s rapid growth in the underground is the result of experimentation and taking a chance on himself. Formerly known as TYLR, the now-dubstep artist realized that many of the tracks he was working on started to have a similar vibe to them. As you’ll learn in our conversation with him, this decision to completely rebrand to the Criso project has, so far, paid off.

Check out the full conversation below, where you’ll learn more about Criso’s origins, influences, goals for the future of the project and more! Make sure to follow Criso on socials to stay up to date on all of his latest moves.

***

HIHF: Thanks for taking some time to chat with us! When I was putting together these questions, it dawned on me that we are coming up on the two-year anniversary of when you officially rebranded to “Criso” from “TYLR”. To start out here, can you take us back to when you were developing this new project? How long was the Criso project under development before you officially made the rebranding announcement?

Criso: To be honest with you, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with this new project when I decided I wanted to rebrand. It was more of a spontaneous decision that I had one day. All of the recent songs I was making at that time under TYLR started to have a similar sound and style. It was something that felt more aligned and true for my artist path. That’s when I decided that the best route for me was to change the whole project and start with this new collection of songs and just go from there. There wasn’t really a plan in the beginning, it was more of a “let’s see where this goes from here” type of thing as the project started to take off.

HIHF: Was there a particular moment early on where you were like, “Okay, I think this project has the potential to really take off” ? What made you want to keep going?

Criso: I think one thing that always comes to mind is this one time when I was chilling at home and a Ternion [Sound] Selects stream was on (tune in on Twitch if you haven’t already!). I had a couple songs already made under the Criso project, one of which was “Dropoff”, and my friend was like “Yo, send him that tune” for when they listen to songs at the end of the stream. At first I was a little hesitant because I didn’t know if it would really be their thing, but my friend was like, “Trust me, just send it”. 

So I sent the tune, Aric from Ternion listened to it on the stream and immediately said “This is sick!”. He downloaded the song, followed me on SoundCloud, and then things kind of took off from there. I wouldn’t say that was the main turning point, but it was the moment I realized that I had a sound that people really liked and felt like I could definitely turn some heads, as I really value the opinion of the Ternion boys. That’s when I started to really hustle in terms of creating more music, so that I could really hone in on that sound and vibe.

2023 overall felt like a big turning point for me. Throughout the year, I was slowly figuring out where I wanted to go with this project. As time went on, I started to get more and more into this groove where things became easier because I was feeling out what felt most right to me. I think this groove carried on to where we are now and is in a really good spot.

HIHF: You mentioned that 2023 overall was a pretty big turning point for your project—a big part of that year was making the decision to focus on music and the Criso project full time. When did you know that it was the right time to make that transition? What were some of the factors that led to pursuing music full time?

Criso: There were a couple factors that led to this decision. For starters, the shows that I was able to play last year were about 30% of the total booking offers I had on the table. With the job I had at that time, I wasn’t able to travel to all of these cities that I wanted to play. So yeah, the momentum that the project was gaining definitely played a big factor.

I had told myself that I was probably going to make the transition to music full time at the end of the year, but then that thought was confirmed when Aric [from Ternion] hit me up asking if I wanted to play The Black Box in Denver with them for a December show. He hit me up two months before the show and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to take work off, so I just decided that the date of the show was going to be my last day of work. That show was super special because not only did I get to play with my biggest inspirations, but it also marked the next phase of the Criso project.

HIHF: Speaking of the next phase, as you look ahead to the future, what’s on your artist roadmap as you continue to level up? What’s on the horizon over the next year or so?

Criso: Later this year, I am announcing an EP on a label that I’m really excited about. It’s definitely a label I’ve had my eyes on since starting this project! Other than that, just honing in on music. Shows are also a really big thing right now, especially now that I’m doing music full time. I have a lot more time to play more shows and actually travel to more places now, compared to when I was constrained based on my work schedule. 

I think 2025 is going to be a big year for me and my team. We are really mapping out the cities that I’ve been wanting to play for a while. Hopefully hit some cool new cities, get on some cool lineups, maybe get picked up for a tour? But yeah, we’re keeping the foot on the gas pedal. I think if these things come to fruition, it will be a really exciting time for us as well as everyone that’s going to be able to experience it.

HIHF: When you were still under the TYLR name, who were some producers that you were inspired by? And when you were starting to develop the Criso project, did those inspirations change based on the sound you were going for? 

Criso: When I was producing under TYLR, names like VCTRE, Chee, Copycatt and Kursa were pretty big inspirations. Kursa is still a huge inspiration for me today, but under the Criso name I’d say Ternion Sound is my number one inspiration. And then a lot of the homies like Chef Boyarbeatz, Wraz., Hypho—it’s great because I’m really close with a lot of these guys and I also really like their music, so it’s awesome to have sort of this constant source of inspiration. 

HIHF: You had an EP release at the very end of 2023 with DUPLOC that included a collab with one of the legends of dubstep, Joe Nice. As a fellow North Carolina resident, what’s it like to have this iconic historian of the genre basically in your backyard? Do you guys have more music that you’re currently working on together?

Criso: Joe is an amazing human being and someone that has already taught me so much about the space I’m in now. Having the opportunity to chat with him and hang out with him every now and then is a really good thing because not only am I learning from him, but he also gets to see firsthand what this next generation of dubstep/140 is all about. I’m glad I’m able to put him on to new artists, while continuing to learn more about the history and culture surrounding this genre.

In terms of other music we’re working on together, we actually made this dancy four-on-the-floor tune before we made “Knowledge”, which could maybe see the light of day in the future! We also have another tune sort of like that one, but with a deeper vibe, that’s nearly finished. It’s really cool because we’re blending techno with dubstep and this is something I never really explored until now. And then we have also been playing out a VIP of “Knowledge”. Really excited to play these out at some future shows!

HIHF: A few months ago, there was a period where it seemed like both artists and enthusiasts were captivated by this “war dub” challenge that spread on social media. Did you participate in this challenge? Can you explain a little bit about where this particular challenge originated from?

Criso: Yeah! This was a super cool round to be a part of. I believe EPROM kicked off this specific war dub and then it spread like crazy. The goal for this war dub, at least in my mind, was to create a jungle/breakcore track that used intentionally-cliché samples that you commonly hear in a lot of those types of tracks. So I pretty much just used a ton of samples from the infamous Jungle Jungle sample pack and went from there. It was a really fun thing to do, especially given the goofiness surrounding it. I might drop it on soundcloud one day once I polish it up!

I was nominated by my buddy CHOMPPA, and then I nominated my friends Combine, Klippee, Crastinate, and Analog Future—definitely check these artists out if you haven’t!

***

We can’t thank Criso enough for taking some time to speak with us about all of the exciting things happening in his life! Let us know if you’re catching a Criso set any time soon in the comments or on social media. We can’t wait to see what’s next from one of our favorite rising talents!

Support Criso on Socials: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Soundcloud | Spotify | Bandcamp

Follow the HIHF team on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to keep up with news, fresh tunes, merch giveaways, exclusive mixes, interviews, and so much more!