In the vibrant music scene of Seattle, where grunge once ruled and innovation remains the heartbeat, one name is creating waves: Quackson. Jackson Wells, aka Quackson, has been making significant strides in the electronic dance music scene, forging his own path into the mid-tempo genre and securing a spot on REZZ‘s record label HYPNOVIZION. We had the chance to engage with Quackson and delve into his creative process, inspirations, and the journey that has shaped his sonic identity.
Who are your biggest musical influences, and how have they shaped your unique sound as a producer and DJ?
My biggest musical influences in no particular order are REZZ, G Jones, Moody Good, Deathpact, 13, Zeds Dead, and Voyd. There are a lot of nuanced things I love about these artists individually, but a commonality is that their music all has a distinct feeling to it and that’s something I aspire to have people say about my music.
I try to find unique ways to remake sounds or ideas from music that inspires me and put my own spin on it until it becomes something different, and these artists represent a lot of that source material within dance music.
How has being based in Seattle influenced your music and career, and what do you think sets the Seattle music scene apart from other cities?
Seattle’s cool – its a city with a rich music history, our dance music scene included. I was more involved with the scene before the pandemic throwing shows, and that gave me a lot of experience navigating the dance music space, playing to different rooms, crafting sets, etc.
Nowadays I think Seattle is experiencing a bit of a rough patch like most mid-sized markets, and a lack of solid dance music spaces mixed with the turbulent state of the touring industry is making it less steady than it used to be from what I can tell. But, there are lots of good people, talented producers, and I’m sure it’ll shake out.
Besides the scene, I like being in a place that’s darker and rainier. That incentivizes me to stay in and write music, and I think the setting explains my outlook / sound a bit.
Can you walk us through your creative process when producing a new track? Do you have any specific rituals or techniques that help you stay inspired?
My creative process changes all the time and I love that about writing bass music. One consistency is sound design – I’m always making new sounds to use and I think that’s how I keep each track sounding fresh / unique.
As far as inspiration goes, I go through phases of what I find inspiring and sporadic listening keeps things fresh. I’ll go weeks with listening to specific sub-genres or artists, or not listening to dance music at all, and that keeps my ears fresh and ideas flowing.
Mid-tempo is a unique genre within electronic dance music. Can you tell us about your music journey and how you discovered your “sound”?
When I first saw REZZ at Shambhala in 2016, that set ignited my interest to start producing. It was unlike anything I had heard until that point, and the darker soundscapes mixed with the driving, hypnotic drops showed me there was a world outside of conventional genres like dubstep or house. That was a cool time to get into making mid-tempo as the genre really took off the following couple of years, so there was endless inspiration coming out on Soundcloud and new artists popping off all the time.
Since then I would say I’ve become less hyper-focused on solely making mid-tempo, and have expanded my palette to take in influences from all sorts of genres of bass music and otherwise. My sound is always expanding in different ways, but I think I’ve got a good handle on keeping it feeling like “Quackson” – the tunes are still dark, gritty, and driving regardless of the exact genre.
What do you enjoy most about performing live, and how do you prepare for your sets to ensure they resonate with your audience?
Playing live is the most validating part of making music honestly. It’s easy to get lost just staring at a computer for hours on end wondering if any of what you made is good, and seeing my music go off live reminds me why I started making stuff in the first place.
Set preparation is usually a 2 week process if I haven’t played a set in a while. I spend a week digging for tracks, cleaning up my unreleased music and making edits. Then I spend a week putting the set together and making more edits. To make sure my sets resonate with my audience I try to balance my unreleased songs turned into edits with familiar songs, lots of my discography, and a mix of familiar and underground bangers.
You’ve collaborated with several artists throughout your career. How do you choose your collaborators, and what do you look for in a partnership?
With collaboration, I’m excited to work with my friends or anyone whose music I really admire. When working together, I appreciate collaborators who are honest and communicative during the process. You always want to walk away with a song you’re both really happy with, and that can only happen if you’re straight up with each other about what you like and don’t like even if it can be awkward at times.
Working on projects with other people can be a lot more fun than solo stuff. I love it when I work with someone and our sonic palettes mesh well to create something unique for us both.
Can you share any upcoming projects or releases that you’re excited about? What can fans expect from Quackson in the near future?
Totally! I’ve wrapped up some really exciting collabs – one with 1788-L that is massive and will likely be my set opener for a long time, and some cool sludgey collabs with So Sus and KTRL that are both fun as hell.
Besides collabs, I’m sitting on 2 mostly finished EPs and trying to figure out what to do with them. I just need to get art made and figure out release plans. I’m also working on a lot of flips / bootlegs for Soundcloud, that’s been really fun recently. It reminds me of the good ol’ days of not having to worry too much about marketing and getting to connect directly with fans
With several exciting projects on the horizon, Quackson is poised for even greater success. His compelling sound makes him a true innovator, and his authenticity gets bass music fanatics excited for what’s to come. As he continues to evolve and build his brand, Quackson is undoubtedly a name to watch in the ever-expanding landscape of modern music.
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