You might not know who Eric Dingus is…yet. It’s not going to be long before he’s producing for some of your favorite rappers. Already he’s produced for Green Ova’s Shady Blaze, Chris Travi$ of the Raider Klan, Th@ Kid and he has upcoming projects with Main Attrakionz and a “movie”-like EP on the horizon. And, all of this before his 18th birthday in March. The young Texan spends most every day, every minute, making ‘ethereal’, dreamy beats. (He made the beat for “Diamonds”, a Chris Travi$ track at his grandma’s nursing home.) He never stops working. “I love planning albums and projects, things to sample and ways to evolve my sound.”

Hear about his EP, Limitless with Prime, his homeschooling and creative process below.

 

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NOTE: So, this isn’t your typical interview, it’s done over Gchat and it’s presented here verbatim for your reading pleasure. me = Marinate Media. 

6:02 PM ericdingusmusic: hey what’s going on

 me: not much man, how’s Austin, TX? It’s cold as fuck in Chicago

6:03 PM ericdingusmusic: right now it’s 71

 me: fuck

 ericdingusmusic: haha pretty warm for this time of year

 me: So, I guess we’ll get this interview going? I don’t have any order to the questions I just have a bunch of questions, that work?

6:04 PM ericdingusmusic: yeah

 me: I guess just some basic stuff, when’d you start making music? How’d you get into making beats?

6:05 PM ericdingusmusic: I started making beats in 9th grade. Just completely for fun with a drum machine that was laying around unused in my house. I didn’t get real into making beats until the middle of 10th grade when I got ableton live (which is the software I use)

6:06 PM and I’m in 12th now. I’m 17 and will be 18 the end of march

 me: Do kids at school know you make music?

 ericdingusmusic: I’m homeschooled actually.

6:07 PM so I just sorta make music all day really.

 me: Ah! haha well that’s dope

  Can you go a bit into you creative process?

 ericdingusmusic: yeah. school wasn’t working out. well

6:08 PM I love LOVE to sample

 me: WELL FUCK SCHOOL ANYWAY (forreal)

 ericdingusmusic: so usually I start with a sample.

6:09 PM it depends what kinda tune I’m making..

 me: Okay, so you’ll just start with a sample and build around it?

  Do you have any formal training? Piano lessons..etc.

6:10 PM ericdingusmusic: usually I chop up the sample until it’s completely different than the original song. and no training. I’m all self taught. I just have been teaching myself everything.. mastering, recording. mixing. everything. haha I don’t even know the names of the notes on a keyb board

 me: Ha! That’s impressive

6:11 PM How much of your day would you say you spend making beats?

6:12 PM ericdingusmusic: but if I’m making an ambient track which I’ve been doing a lot lately.. I start with a sample and put it into this crappy sampler from the 90s. a gemini ds-1224. which i don’t know anyone who uses one. but anyways I slow/pitch it down and then use a bunch of pedals and then put layer of synth over it

6:13 PM like music is really ALL i do. I see friends sometimes but I’m not very social.

 me: Oh nice, I’ve NEVER heard of the gemini, this is the first damn time, I’m going to have to find a picture of this beast

 ericdingusmusic: so really whenever I’m by myself I’m thinking/planning/making music. sometimes I play old videogames like doom is my fav right now

6:14 PM i posted a picture on my fb fanpage a little while ago

 me: Do you ever sample videogames?

  I’ll have to peep it

 ericdingusmusic: YES. I made two beats today that are posted on my soundcloud now that sampled some videogame soundtracks

6:15 PM me: Oh nice, nice

 ericdingusmusic: just a hint. Silent hill and resident evil

  not gonna say which games

 me: Ooo tight

 ericdingusmusic: haha

 me: that’s probs for the best! copyright bullshit I’m sure

  That’s cool tho

6:16 PM ericdingusmusic: yeah. I mean I’m not selling my albums yet. it’s all being put out myself so I don’t have too much to worry about I guess.

 me: Have you ever performed live?

  True true

 ericdingusmusic: yeah only a couple times.I did a show a couple weeks ago. and I plan on doing more. It’s just overwhelming to dive into the performance side of things while I’m making music on the daily

6:17 PM me: Are you going to perform at SXSW?

 ericdingusmusic: not this year I don’t think

6:18 PM me: Okay, tell me a little bit about Prime and how you got involved with them.

6:19 PM ericdingusmusic: well my manager is in prime and shoots videos for them. and I’m the first in house producer I believe. I had been in contact with my manager for a few months before he started managing me. He had reached out getting beats for one of his artists

6:20 PM me: Oh I see. Is that how your collabo with Chris Travi$ came about?

6:21 PM ericdingusmusic: I just emailed him and he hit me back wanting two beats off my soundcloud. the diamonds beat and hallucinate dreaming one. and we just went from there

 me: Nice, is he paying?

  Or is it more just to get your name out there.

6:22 PM ericdingusmusic: he hasn’t yet. I wasn’t charging back then. exactly it was all about getting my name out there

 me: Nice, nice

 ericdingusmusic: I’ve got some stuff on his ep/mixtape dropping valentines day

 me: Are there some dream collaborations that you have in mind?

  Oh dope!

6:23 PM ericdingusmusic: I just wanna make good music with people. I’m working with a lot of artists I’ve been a fan fo for a while.

6:24 PM me: Have you done any production collabs? Like co-producing tracks?

 ericdingusmusic: but it’d be neat to work with sgp and it’d be so awesome to collab with oneohtrix point never

 me: okay nice

6:25 PM ericdingusmusic: not yet. well sorta one beat. I donno know what happened with it. just some one who reached out on twitter

 me: Okay cool, do you have a favorite track that you’ve produced for someone?

6:26 PM ericdingusmusic: hmmm. that’s hard.. just a sec

 me: ha no worries, we can come back to that one if you want

 ericdingusmusic: chris travis Diamonds is my most played track. I can tell a little about that one

6:27 PM me: Okay yeah, that’s a dope one

6:28 PM ericdingusmusic: I made it in fairhope alabama in my grandma’s retirement home. and I wasn’t really feelin it honestly. I wasn’t a big fan of how obvious the sample was compared to most of my beats. but what he did turned out pretty sweet

 me: Oh damn, so you’re making beats everywhere! I guess you really are constantly thinking about music

6:29 PM ericdingusmusic: yeah so much. Like I love planning albums and projects. and things to sample and ways to evolve my sound

6:30 PM like I said I’m not super social. and I’m homeschooling so I sorta live in my head most of the time. and my head is in music really

6:31 PM me: What’s your goal as a musician? At the end of the day, 10 years from now where do you want to be with your music?

 ericdingusmusic: My goal is to have my music heard and enjoyed

 me: Do you have any music videos out? Is that something Prime is going to do for you?

6:32 PM ericdingusmusic: I don’t really think about my dream life and stuff like that as much as just the daily networking and getting my stuff out there

 me: nice, that’s a good way to go about it

6:33 PM ericdingusmusic: yes. I’ve made some weird music videos on my youtube for fun. but a music video is in the works with prime. for a track off of my next project dropping “limitless”

 me: How would you describe your music to people that haven’t heard it?

 ericdingusmusic: the main word I like to use is “ethereal”

  but dream music. ambient beats. stuff like that I duess

  *guess

6:35 PM me: Yeah, okay go a little into your up coming project Limitless.

6:36 PM ericdingusmusic: It’s really a short mixtape. pretty much an EP. but It’s beats. but more evolved and some have a texas/dj screw influence to em

6:37 PM me: How is it different from your other projects?

 ericdingusmusic: It’s really the starting point for when things will come out. I basically just sent my manager a lot of stuff. and he helped my choose which one’s to go on the project

  the beats are more evolving and longer sorta. more complex sorta.

6:38 PM me: Nice, nice

 ericdingusmusic: almost like movie music, but in the form of beats

6:39 PM me: Nice, who’re some artists that you listen to now? Are there any producers/rappers that you really dig?

6:41 PM ericdingusmusic: I listen to oneohtrix point never a lot. and I’m pretty into some videogame soundtracks right now. like silent hill 2 and chrono trigger. hmm as far as rappers go. I’m a huge fan of Bones formerly th@ kid. I listen to him a ton. a lot of early 50 cent lately too

6:42 PM I also love dj shadow.

  and I’ve been pretty into tim hecer too

  *heker

  and early three 6 mafia. haha sorry there’s just so much

6:43 PM me: ha it’s all good! It’d take me forever to answer that question, I’m always listening to tons of stuff

 ericdingusmusic: yeah, I feel like I’m leaving some important ones out haha

6:44 PM me: Hmmm, I have one last question.

6:45 PM ericdingusmusic: ok

6:46 PM me: WOULD YOU RATHER FIGHT A HORSE-SIZED DUCK OR A HUNDRED DUCK-SIZED HORSES?

6:48 PM and why

 ericdingusmusic: I guess a horse sized duck. cause I wouldn’t wanna hurt a bunch of little horses.

6:49 PM me: ha good answer!

6:50 PM Any last words? Any shoutouts, beefs you want to start?

6:51 PM ericdingusmusic: hmm… shout out to a couple local rappers I’m recording and working with. Sik boy and E.T.A. you’ll hear some stuff from them with me eventually… we workin.

Check out Eric’s Soundcloud (so many jams!!!): https://soundcloud.com/eric-dingus

Marinate Media out. We workin. Peace.