Metronome #027: Worthy

Insomniac’s Metronome series features mixes from some of today’s fastest-rising electronic stars, as well as championed legends. It takes listeners deep across a wide range of genres, movements, cultures, producers, artists and sounds that make up the diverse world of electronic music.

For music producers, work is never over. But for most, hitting keys, twisting knobs and plugging in cables can hardly be considered work. Last year, San Francisco’s Worthy dropped his debut album Disbehave on his Anabatic imprint. The acclaimed album was a bass-heavy journey through genres, including everything from banging house tunes to ethereal breakbeats. To mark the special release, he’s called upon his long list of friends like Thugfucker, Nick Monaco, Yolanda Be Cool and Aaron Snapes to crank out remixes for a massive, two-part remix package that just saw a release.

Luckily for us, we were able to get Worthy on the decks for a trunk-rattling edition of our Metronome mix series, where he showcases a furious array of tracks. He also sneaks in a couple tracks from his Disbehave remix package for good measure.

Have you gone on vacation now that your album has been released?
I haven’t had a real chilled-out, beach type of vacation, where I get to just turn everything off yet. I have had some nice days off in some great locations while I have been touring in the last couple of months, mainly Sydney and Miami. Maybe later this year I will get some days off to really just relax on a beach for a couple of days with some margaritas, or get to have some adventure travel abroad, which would be nice. At this point, it has been full-force with my touring and making some new music when I am off. Nothing but hustlin’!

What’s the process like trying to choose songs to go on the album? How many didn’t make the cut?
There were certain songs that I wrote that I knew right away were going to be on the album, such as “On the Floor,” “Burned” and “The Words.” After that, I just kept writing and making other songs that I thought would fit onto the album. I wanted to hit certain genres and make certain kind of tracks that would give the album a nice listening flow for people. In the end, there were about four to five songs that I created for the album that did not make the cut. The reason was that they either just did not fit stylistically, or they were just not up to par with the other tracks.

The remix EPs just got released. Do you have any favorites that you’ve been playing out?
I have played them all out at one point or another. There are a couple that I fall back to the most in my sets. One is the Aaron Snapes remix of “I Get.” It just really has a pumping and bassy vibe that I think really works on the dancefloor. I play the Stanton Warriors remix of “On the Floor” in a lot of sets too, since the breakbeat and bass vibes on it work great for me. I also try and get the Thugfucker remix into the end of my sets too, because I love the beautiful chords on this one. I can’t wait ‘til I get to drop it in a sunrise set at some point too… definitely at Burning Man this year.

I just saw that dirtybird announced a camping festival, and it sounds awesome. Any secrets you can let us in on?
All that I am allowed to say at this point are the dates, which are October 2–4. Other than that, I can guarantee that it is going to be one of the most fun weekends to ever happen, with the best music ever, and obviously some killer BBQ vibes. There is a ton of planning going into it, and we are all really excited for it.

Tell us a bit about the mix.
I love the way this mix came together. It has that vibrant energy that I try to get in my sets when I play out. There are a lot of great heady and bassy tracks on here, and some throwbacks to the Bay Area with a “Blow the Whistle” remix. I also have the Walker & Royce and Thugfucker remixes from “Disbehave” on here. It is just a nice, fun mix, and I think everyone will enjoy it.

What’s on tap for the rest of the year?
I have a new EP on Anabatic called The Rusty Hoe, which I am going to be dropping in May. I also have just finished up a remix of the M Machine for OWSLA, which will be coming out at some point soon. After that, I have some collaborations with Sinden and Yolanda Be Cool, which will be released a little later on down the line. Other than that, I am just working on some new originals. The ideas never stop flowing, so it’s back to the studio.

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