Exclusive Interview: Kap Slap

A few weeks ago, EPIC Productions had the chance to sit down with Kap Slap (Jared Lucas) and talk about his upcoming show in Denver.

We were able to catch Jared again, but this time on the east coast as he, Gazzo, and Jai Wolf made a stop at the Theatre of The Living Arts in Philly on the #BreakoutTour. The 25 year old DJ embodies everything that is right within the EDM culture. He told us his top priority “I try to provide consistent party music. I want them to play my stuff and know that is KAP SLAP. Im not going to follow the trends. I want to make party music people can enjoy with substance.”. There is nothing better than providing your fans with consistent, high quality music… and that is exactly what Kap Slap has done for us over the past three to four years. He was the original/premier mashup artist and has recently released his first original hit “Let It All Out” feat. Angelika Vee on vocals. His down to earth, yet carefree demeanor throughout the interview parallels his stage presence. Having fun dropping his vintage mixtape hits as well as shooting unsuspecting fans in the face with an air cannon is all part of Kap Slap’s M.O.

We were lucky to avoid the air cannon during our interview though….

EPIC PRODUCTIONS: You obviously have come a long way since you opened up for Kaskade in 2012, (which by the way is a HUGE deal!). Did you ever think you would be headlining your own international tour not even two and a half years later?

I really didn’t even think about that. It’s one of those things where I try to stay in the moment. I am always trying to think of the next step and trying to make myself the best I can. Everyone is always asking “where do you think you’ll be in 5 years?”, and my response is that I don’t really want to think about it right now. I want to think about getting everything I can get done this year. You have a general goal of trying to be the best you can long term. To try and think about specifics, its stupid. You would rather be the best you can be at that certain time and go where life takes you.

EPIC PRODUCTIONS: Well, I mean you’re obviously KILLING IT since you have your own tour! But, why did you decide to team up with Jai Wolf and Gazzo for the #BreakoutTour?

So... Gazzo, were still not sure how we met but I think our managers linked up because he lives in Hoboken also. But the dude is crushing it, we are really compatible and we got to know each other in the past year. We were looking for support and he was honestly the best choice. He is easy to get along with, he’s on the way up and he’s KILLING it! To bring Gazzo on was a no brainer. Jai Wolf  used to be part of No Pets Allowed  and was a mash-up guy way back in 2011. I was in this Facebook group called “The Mashers” and I found out he was doing Jai Wolf. It such a great rebranding-it’s catchy, it’s easy to say and he’s doing the whole future trappy kind of feel. He has so much potential, it’s huge! We wanted to bring as many people on tour that we knew were going to be MASSIVE. We wanted to try to get them out there because people should know about these guys.

EPIC PRODUCTIONS: We wanted to touch on your first original “Let It All Out”- what were your hopes when you were producing it? Did you think it was going to be this well received? I mean, it was #17 on the iTunes charts the FIRST DAY…

Its very surreal because for the past 3 years, I have been trying to get out an original track and make it perfect. I was put into a position where people expected a lot from me. Imagine a baby bird, and instead of being pushed out of the nest, thrown about 3 miles into the air from an air cannon. Spinning around, where am I? And now, here you are and you have to learn how to fly.

EPIC PRODUCTIONS: FLY OR DIE!

Haha yeah! Exactly! This was my period of fly or die. My fans expect a certain quality of music and I use professional stuff so I wanted to make sure my track was going to be up to that caliber. I am a stubborn person, so I want to make sure I know my stuff- I can’t take any shortcuts. My first track has to be my own. It’s a downside, but long term it’s good because I spent so much time perfecting it, and now I’m finally taking the training wheels off. It’s a journey, and now that I am so confident in myself, it’s really exciting. I am thinking about my thought process now- how to make songs more quickly instead of perfecting it. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it’s a matter of it sounding right and being able to pump out tracks that are fire.

EPIC PRODUCTIONS: EDM is your oyster obviously, so why did you choose to go in the progressive house direction for your first original when there are so many options to choose from?

That is how I got introduced to the EDM scene, you know, Swedish House Mafia, Avicii  ’s “Levels”. That WAS house music… what is house? THAT is our generation. I’m not going to say I was this super hard core underground DJ when I was 10 years old. I was just a normal guy who listened to everything: progressive rock, jazz and Red Hot Chili Peppers . That was my first experience with EDM. I wanted to prove to myself that I could be that good. I listen to my track side by side with tracks from my idols and I am very happy with it. I realized I could follow my dream and be happy.

EPIC PRODUCTIONS: You have killer vocals on “Let It All Out”. Where did you find Angelika Vee?

Great story. The specific melody and chord progression started out as a remix back in 2013. I was supposed to remixing a track by the Stafford Bros. I wanted to see what I could do here, so I took the vocals only and tried to make a nice progressive house kind of track. I had a month deadline and the month passed by and I thought “it’s not ready”. I kind of pulled out and I didn’t want it to happen. I took out the vocal and worked on the instrumental. I got a demo vocal from someone else- it wasn’t perfect. So, I was listening around and found this track from Thomas Newson  called “Don’t Hold Us”, that was on Beatport. I heard her voice and said “oh my god, shes amazing!” I did some more research and realized she had an absolute fire voice, and out of no where, I messaged her.

EPIC PRODUCTIONS: That’s really ballsy.

Yeah it was pretty ballsy, but at that point I had some fans. I asked “can I send over an instrumental for you? It’s going to be perfect for your voice and your range.” She said it was awesome and we wanted to make it our top priority to make it happen. I flew out to Los Angeles and worked on the melody. During the whole melody, she made up her own words and versions. We finally had the melody down after a long session in LA and she wrote the actual lyrics based off of the melody. It was a very organically made track. We are so proud of it! I am going to listen to this 20 years later and say that I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

EPIC PRODUCTIONS: Sooooo…. youre a brunch guy according to your Snapchats. Can we just rename your Snapchat to Kap Slap’s Flapjacks? What is your go-to brunch item?

HAHAHA! ooooooohhhh Kap Slap ’s Flapjacks! I feel like I have to do pancakes now, that would be sh*tty if I didn’t. But seriously, Eggs Benedict- always a classic. With the hollandaise.

EPIC PRODUCTIONS: Are you a dinner guy?

NO. haha!

EPIC PRODUCTIONSIC: Alright, last question… If you could creep on any other fruit, besides a banana, what would it be?

Oh man, EPIC! Theoretically, the #bananakreep should be eating an entire food in a Snapchat, with someone not really noticing you, and then noticing you at the end and being very surprised at what you are doing. Then you finish the food. So it’s a question of “what fruit can I eat in 10 seconds fully?”. I think if I had floss, I would do an apple- applekreepin. I can crush an apple real quick.

A huge thank you to Kap Slap and his management team for making this interview happen! Have fun on the rest of your tour!

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AUTHOR CREDIT: AINSLEY ASHTON & KIMBERLY PHAN PHOTO CREDIT: SHANNON MURPHY