Interview: Xtrata
Posted: 10/10/2007

 Division X Records first artist, Xtrata, has been busy working in the studio on a new album. Amazing the people of Detroit with his inventive explorations in fashion, he distinguishes himself from other artists.

Xtrata is an electronic music artist that not only creates all of his own beats but hand makes his clothing from head to toe. His obsession with electronic music began as a teenager and he started producing as soon as he was able to get the money to buy equipment.

In between making public appearances as an artist and working on new material in the studio, Detroit Fashion Pages was able to catch up with Xtrata to delve into what is behind the image.

DFP: I’ve heard that you’re working on a new album, what should people expect to hear? Is there any kind of a different outlook or approach you took while working on this album?

Xtrata: I think it will just kind of pick up where Freaked Out Funked Up left off. There is going to be a couple more tracks with lyrics. I only had two on the last album I am aiming for three of four with this one. I’m definitely trying to get a little more melody going on in there. Right now my capabilities are kind of equipment limited with my 505 and other synthesizer. I don't have a laptop, so I don't have much sampling capability either which kind of limits me in a different way. At the same time, that just makes me work harder to develop the songs with what I have. You can definitely expect the album to be out there though.

DFP: Is this going to be a full album or will it just have a few tracks?

Xtrata: I think there is going to be seven songs. I used to do ten, but I feel like I don't get to put as much work into them if I have that many. So, seven or eight is good. I can really develop those into something good, and it takes me forever because I’m kind of a perfectionist.

DFP: How did you get involved in producing electronic music? When did you begin your involvement that led you to where you are now?

Xtrata: As a child I never really had many tapes or anything like most kids do, when I was a teenager I was always more prone to listen to the industrial kind of stuff that would come on the radio. I would make little tapes and listen to them over and over again and one day my best friend’s sister heard me listening to a tape and she told me that I liked techno. At that point I didn’t know what techno was until after she explained it to me. I started to research and learn about artists like Aphex Twin. I bought a single of his and I fell in love right then and there. From that point on I just couldn’t get enough. Since I was 14 it just went on and on and I knew that was what I wanted to do.

DFP: Has fashion always gone hand and hand with music for you?

Xtrata: Always. When I was a teenager I always dressed really silly. I developed my own sense of style and I was obsessed with fashion magazines. I will say though that fashion is secondary and music comes first and foremost in my life. The music moves me. I can cry from hearing a song that’s so beautiful and get goose bumps. An outfit I can drool over, but it isn’t going to move me.

DFP: When you are performing what do you want the audience to take away from the show?

Xtrata: I want people to come and feel like they have experienced something new and unique. I want them to dance and be able to lose reality for a while and feel like they just had a journey to somewhere.

- Ashley Star

Ashley@detroitfashionpages.com

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