Day One at Summer Set Music Festival in Somerset, Wisconsin started out hot and steamy. By late afternoon my T-shirt and body had become one. I pulled myself together by grabbing a water and some shade under one of the tents near The Big Top stage – where I had the great opportunity to talk with Kap Slap before he went into The Big Top to play his set.
Jared (Kap Slap) arrived and got settled in. While he finished his quick look into the stage area, I came and introduced myself and welcomed him to The Big Top, my favorite stage of the festival. “This Big Top tent is really cool,” He said with an excited smile.
That smile remained on his face throughout the day and our time together. His good spirits were refreshing. I asked if he thinks of himself as usually being a happy person, and if that effects his music.
“Definitely! The mashups and the music and just whatever I make is reflective of my happiness, energy and good vibes. It doesn’t really matter what tempo or key it (the track) is, I just try to have people have as much fun as possible.”
He laughed after I told him that I sense that vibe from listening to his take on “Bitch Better Have My Money”, which made me want to dance and not punch someone in the face.
I told Jared that another track I enjoyed was “Let It All Out” because of the amazing vocals of Angelika Vee. I was curious how it was different getting vocals developed for one of his tracks as opposed to taking vocals that were already in place for when he produced a remix. “Specifically with that track, I had the instrumental already done. Once I heard Angelika’s voice I knew I had to get her on the track. After she replied back that she loved the instrumental, I flew out to LA. In one session she recorded a vocal melody for it. She wrote the lyrics like a week or two later.”
Producing so many mashups with Top 40 and Pop songs, I assumed Kap Slap would have a favorite and least favorite track at the moment. He quickly replied that Trap Queen was his favorite song at the moment. However, he then described to me why he doesn't have a least favorite. “I appreciate those songs that get in your head whether you like it or not. I respect the writing that goes behind those songs. Some of the best writers in the world like Max Martin that are involved in writing these pop tracks are just amazing.”
His excitement peaked when I asked if he would want to work with one of those writers someday.
“I would LOVE to work with Max Martin someday,” he said. “I’m trying to work with as many people as I can because it’s one of those situations where you’ll be creatng by yourself, but you feel more creative when you get other people working with you. If you’re in a session together and you’re stuck on something, you can pop an idea off of someone then *click*” he snapped his fingers. Kap Slap brought up an example of how his buddy Gazzo brought him in for an opinion on a melody. When Jared helped on that, Gazzo said ‘Dude let’s just collab on this!’ Jared agreed and hinted that project might be his next single.
Kap Slap was the perfect artist to help kick off the festival. His set was groovy, energetic and straight up fun. You can catch Kap Slap on social media, which he remains very active on. Also check out his new mix “Summer Mix 2015” to experience his fun sound for yourself!
