Listen To Baauer’s Globetrotting ß EP In Full

On Monday we premiered a lil' beat called "One Touch," which rolled three FADER favorites into one: Rae Sremmurd, Alunageorge, and the man behind the music, Baauer. Since posting, I have lost count of the times people have said "that song is sooo addictive" to me. Now's your chance to hear Baauer's debut solo EP in full, ahead of its November 4th release on LuckyMe (pre-order here). Titled ß, it cycles full-throttle through a world of textures and languages. "A lot of the samples came from my trip with Redbull for the Searching For Sound documentary we did," Baauer explains over email. "I went to Japan and the United Arab Emirates and was able to record some incredible stuff. A lot of those samples get chopped, filtered, distorted, and then in one way or another folded into the tracks. There's also a lot internet samples in there too, like someone's recording of their cousin singing a song they learned at camp." Stream it after the jump, and find out how he has "Harlem Shake" to thank for his well-travelled new record.

Where did ß start for you? It started from bunch of tracks I've been making of the last year or so. I've spent a lot of time touring and just putting out music in different unconventional ways—throwing out USBs at shows, DMing people downloads to tracks—just to try some different stuff. This collection of tracks is a great representation of the stuff and styles I've been into lately, as well as a preview of what's to come.

What's the meaning behind the title? I originally wanted to make the title of the EP the weird triple B thing that's in my logo, but It would be too hard to make a keyboard version of that in time. I love the idea of making a new letter. Instead, Dom (from LuckyMe) and I decided on the German ß, which means like a double 'S' sound. It can also can mean "Beta". Overall though, the meaning of ß and how to pronounce it totally is up to you.

Both Aluna and Rae Sremmurd have very distinctive voices. What do you look for in a vocalist? Just someone who I really like to listen too. If I like a vocalist, I let them do whatever they are feeling on a track, 'cause I know I'll like the outcome. Both Aluna and Rae do an amazing job making their voices pop out and stand on their own above the beat.

What gear do you use and can you share any pro-tips for it? Recently I got this thing called a Digital Mellotron. It's really the only piece of gear I have, but I love it so much. It only has 100 sounds, which is a cool space to work within—and it sounds so, so nice.

Has "Harlem Shake" been a help or a hinderance to you? It absolutely helped. I've gotten to travel round the world... I've had a number one record. The first one born entirely from YouTube. It's completely changed my life for the better. It freaked me out for a while sure. I was offered Good Morning America. Stuff I hadn't imagined. We opted for a Reddit AMA. I think now though I'm right where I need to be. No one expects a viral from me. And those who like my music and heard it through "Harlem Shake" are still here for the ride.

In what ways does New York shape your sound? It's tough to say exactly how...but NYC has a massive influence on my music. So many cultures mashed together here. So many different sounds. The other day I heard a little kid singing in Spanish through a shitty karaoke speaker from outside my apartment. It sounded amazing. I gotta find out who that kid was and get a feature.