Tell us about this new release.

SUS1ER: I made Rage Configuration over 2024 and 2025. I was listening to a lot of Evian Christ’s BBC Essentials mix which really made me go through and listen to more trance and see how it has progressed over the years. I’ve always loved hardstyle as well so I thought I’d try weaving some trancey hardstyle stuff through a bunch of different genres. I wanted it to be defined by the massive saw leads and arpeggiators that tie it all together. I like to think of it as the soundtrack to cheating in a multiplayer game.

Who is your production GOAT? Who really made you want to get into this shit for real?

I’d have to say Gud. His early stuff like the Beautiful, Wonderful EP and a few of the singles he dropped around that time really piqued my interest when I was younger, and to see the progression from those tracks and his production for Yung Lean and then to producing tapes like Foreign Exchange was super cool. The balance between doing solo things and producing out-of-the-box rap music is something I'd like to try to replicate in my own work.

How does living in Australia inform the music you make? Do you have any favorite Australian artists?

Australia is very isolated and far behind in terms of music trends, especially in rap and electronic music. It often seems like Australia gets its trends by boat. The majority of Australians aren’t exactly into the culture of finding new music if it is not presented to them by listening to the radio. I grew up in a small town in regional Western Australia and wasn’t really interested in playing sports, surfing or whatever, so I spent a lot of time online playing computer games and reading online forums, and I guess listening to and searching for music on SoundCloud came with that.

Through being on the internet so much, I’ve become surrounded by like minded people who also have a similar passion for music to me (shout out to the third EASTERN BLOC member, John Chu). There are countless incredibly talented underground artists in Australia who I'm sure meticulously look for music like I do. Some of my favourite artists would be the homies Fatshaudi, AlexanderHenry, Tetohundred, Effective Power, Lovefear, Scan, Laces, and Kenta204, just to name a few. I also listen to a lot of the bands like Low Life, Oily Boys, and Total Control.

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