After releasing his sophomore EP “Ithaca” this past Summer, Weir debuted his new live set at our first ever Split Something party (Split Second x New Something) presented by Sound Ground. We sat down with Weir to chat about the show, his new live setup and where his shows are headed. Enjoy the interview below.
It is honestly surreal having finally played a show like this. Back in 2016, I attended Vertex Festival in Buena Vista, CO and the experience completely changed my life. Prior to that weekend, I was pursuing a career in business and on day 2 of the festival, I whole-heartedly recognized my calling to music. Acts like Rufus, Odesza and Big Wild had me so inspired and made me realize my dream was to write and perform my own music live.
At the time, I had barely touched a DJ controller and had no idea how to use Ableton. 7 years later, I finally have enough of my own music to finally throw a show like this and I couldn’t be more proud and stoked. This performance felt like the culmination of everything I have been dreaming of creating since I started and I am so stoked to have celebrated this milestone alongside the Split Second & New Something homies.
Huge shoutout to Soundground as well for, once again, curating one of the best vibes I have experienced in Denver. Grateful to work with such a forward thinking and heart-focused team.
I am running my whole performance through Ableton using an Akai APC40 mk2, a XONE K2 and a Roland HPD-20 for live percussion. The APC essentially runs all of my main stems with send FX for each channel (reverb, delay, weird delay), beat repeat for the kick, bus/master FX and some other FX. The K2 is mapped to the various VST’s I am using live – Each column is designated to a certain instrument with knobs mapped to filters, lfo’s, noise etc. The controllers are both running into my laptop and out through my Apollo Twin X with the HPD bypassing Ableton altogether.
After filming the mini-performance last June, I felt as though I could do a bit more with the right tool so I added the K2 to the mix and am very stoked on the new addition - Definitely gives me a lot more to do on the fly & keeps me much more engaged compared to just having the APC and hand drum.
As far as gear goes, I am not sure what the next iteration of this setup looks like…But I do hope to incorporate more live players (like Tanner Fruit on Sax) and vocalists (like Cassie Wilson) as time goes on (depending on the show). I think bringing more musicians in as well as visual artists (like Mellisan and Amplified Visuals) will really help elevate these shows into something truly magical.
Definitely going to try and balance both as best I can. With that said, they’re totally separate in my mind - DJ sets, for me, are more of an experience that we all get to share and contribute to…The energy in the room and the feeling we all lock into is what guides the show; Where the live set is more of a polished look into my project that I spend hundreds of hours developing. To say it plainly, the preparation I put in behind the live set essentially lays out the story I want to tell, and the improvisational tone of DJ sets allows all of us to write the story together, fresh and in the moment. Neither is better than the other; They serve two distinctly beautiful purposes.
All that to say, I hope to do plenty of both, but I want to make sure the live shows are always unique, evolving and special…I never want to tell the same story, regardless of the format.
Now that I am finally on the other side of these shows and the Ithaca EP release, my top priority is writing new music. I am currently sitting on about a dozen tracks and plan to spend the next few months wrapping them all up and creating as many more tracks as I can - I have been exploring a lot of new sounds and styles that I am really stoked on sharing in the coming months.
