This week's FADER mix comes via Califonia's Zane Reynolds, a 23-year-old electronic producer and illustrator whose handle reflects his allegiance, firstly, to the suburban San Fernando Valley, where he grew up. It's also, he says, a nod to the Roland TB-303, the early '80s bass synthesizer that gave birth to acid house's signature squelch. SFV Acid's Neighborhood Archives EP, out today on UNO NYC, brings together some house-inspired cuts he made in 2009 with others he recorded in 2012—still living at home with his mother, he says, but with a slightly cleaner production sense. For this mix, he's made us a sampler of the "San Fernando Valley Sound," showcasing a handful of electronic producers who share his preference for making night-life music at a remove from the maddening crowd, and whom he affectionately refers to as "The Heaviest Dwellers in the Vall."
Download: SFV Acid's FADER Mix: San Fernando Valley Sound
Do you do a lot of visual art? Yeah, I mess around with a whole bunch of different things, but that’s what I mostly do. Music was kind of a second thing, but visual art is kinda the first thing. I think it would be classified as illustration or something. Or comic book. People call it cartoon but I don’t really consider it that. I don’t really know what it is, I just do a lot of drawing, and draw a lot of people and places, and sketch art. But then I also mess around with clay and photoshop.
Did you go to school for art? I was lucky enough to go to a Waldorf School my entire life from Kindergarten through 12th Grade. I got accepted to CalArts but I didn’t go; I ended up just going to community college, Pierce College, when I was 18. I actually went there today to just fucking mope around and use their computers and stuff. But yeah, I just took art classes and kind of wasted two years of my life there. I mean, it wasn’t wasteful, it was fine, but it was just like, a void.
What’s a typical day for you like now? Well, I guess the typical day is like, try to get up as early as I can and try to draw or make music or something. But lately, I haven’t been making new music, so I just draw. You know, go on the internet for a while. What else do I do? I don’t know, I’m in and out of town a lot, so when I’m home at my mother’s house, it’s just an average day. I don’t really have a normal day job. I do sound at a museum. Every day is different.
Would you consider yourself to be pretty involved in the local music scene? Well, I’m from the Valley. I’m 20 minutes outside of the metropolitan city. I mean, there’s a thriving scene out here, but it would be arguably considered outsider, and no one’s going to know about any of these people. I mean there’s a scene, but it’s not going to be FADER-able or XLR8R-able. It’s not like the white-boy fucking house movement that’s absolutely disgusting. So I don’t know, just keeping it low key in the valley. It’s weird out here—a little hick-ish. It’s a little hub, but there’s a lot of rockers out here.
What’s it like living in the Valley? It’s nice and quiet and there’s just not much going on. LA is literally just a huge suburb, but the Valley is a little bit more of a suburb. So, it’s kind of detached. I mean, I wasn’t aware of like, the utter hatred of this place until I started doing club nights and stuff. But people from LA, the hipsters or whatever you want to call them—the young people in LA do not want to come out here for any reason. I guess that’s how it’s influenced me—it’s like you live in the Valley, or you live Pasadena or maybe Pomona even, and you end up knowing all of LA county because you live outside of it. Because you have to go to LA to go “do things.” Yeah, I have a pretty broad look at this city and I’ve been here all my life.
And you feel like there’s a divide between the music you make and what’s cool downtown? Well, I started doing it just as a hobby. It was just like, something else to do besides drawing, because the drawing gets crazy. Too much of one thing gets crazy. I just needed something else to do and I was interested in tinkering around and just playing with stuff all day. And you know, escalating the idea, or something. Wait, what was the question? I was like, spacing out.
I was just asking about what you think distinguishes you from other people making house-inspired music in the Los Angeles area? Well I just feel like this “house” thing, which I call “white house”—it’s embarrassing now. I mean, it’s the internet that exploded it. If it was in print it would be seen differently. With my stuff, things will be there if they’re there; it doesn’t need to be hoisted up on a media platter. And it’s not about really making music or being expressive or anything, it’s just about seeing something and basically mimicking it; that’s how I feel. I feel like most people right now, they’re hopping on the train for one second, and then that’s it. And I like making like house music; it’s a novel thing to do, it’s like buying a whoopee cushion at Oz. You can spend hours playing with that thing, you know? Playing with that sound. And it’s fun, but it’s all been taking too seriously. I mean, I don’t want to get political or crazy, but it feels like everyone’s capitalizing on something that doesn’t really exist. I try not to pay attention to anything anymore because it’s so harsh.
And how does it feel to be called by someone from a magazine asking about your music? It feels fine. I guess I’m glad that people are paying attention. I mean, it’s fun for me. But yeah... No, it’s fine.
Tracklist:
1. SFV Acid - The_NET
2. Northridge Mindset - Opening
3. LA HARDCREW - Alway
4. Roh Sham Boh - Now I Know
5. Roh Sham Boh - Pasadena
6. SFV Acid - Do it
7. SFV Acid - Ooh Yeah (80)-
8. LA HARDCREW - Rez Black
9. SFV Acid - Ashland Slumber