The Tampa electronic music scene is strong when it comes to putting a variety of different DJs and producers on the decks. Of those artists, one of the most versatile producers in the Tampa scene is Grant Lee, also known as Kyushu. Grant has been seen filling bay area dance floors with bass house, and with the recent start of his future bass project, Black Diamonds, this producer shows us the sky is the limit for his immense talent and flexible creativity.
In February 2017 Kyushu released Balance, an EP consisting of four completely unique and versatile house tracks. The EP features a little something for everyone, with softer tracks like “Something More” and festival bangers like “Lex Trexler”. Kyushu has played prominent venues in the Tampa Bay area like Amphitheatre and AJA Channelside. More recently Kyushu announced his upcoming spot on the Sunset Sounds lineup, an electronic music event aboard a beautiful yacht that sets sail in Clearwater, FL.
Lee has also started another project called Black Diamonds, a duo consisting of himself and Eric Hrach. Black Diamonds brings the element of live musical instruments into the world of dance music creating a completely new and unique sound. The duo has released their first single “Waterfalls”, a radio-worthy festival hit complete with captivating sounds and lyrics. Though this is a brand new project, this group has already opened for many accomplished artists in the industry like Afroman and Herobust.
StaticRed had the chance to sit down with Lee and ask a few questions about Kyushu, Black Diamonds, and what to expect from him next.
StaticRed: Tell me a little more about your new project Black Diamonds.
Grant Lee: Black Diamonds is a future bass duo that consists of Erik Hrach and I. We are incorporating live instruments into electronic music to create a completely new genre of music for our fans. Erik plays guitar and sings while I play guitar and DJ. Further down the road we plan to incorporate piano, drums, and even controllers into our live performances. Our project began in the Fall of 2017 and we have already played shows with artists such as Afroman, Herobust, Kevin Flum, Laser Assassins, Nitti Gritti, and Skellism. We are currently working hard on original content so make sure to keep up with all of our upcoming releases for the upcoming year.
SR: How is this new project different than Kyushu?
GL: The main difference between Black Diamonds and KYUSHU is the genre of music that I am producing. When it comes to KYUSHU I focus on making house music. I am primarily focused on making Bass House, Night Bass, G House, and Bassline House for KYUSHU. Typically when I play shows as KYUSHU I stick to DJing on turntables. In the future I plan on finding ways to incorporate my Launchpad into my performances. I found myself creating a wide range of music I decided to start an alias under the name of Black Diamonds. I have been playing guitar for about 11 years now and wanted to find a way to bring that into electronic music. Now that I have my side project Black Diamonds I am able to make a wider range of music as well play live instruments during my performances. I really enjoy playing live instruments and doing live vocals at EDM shows. I have a lot of people coming up and telling me that they have never seen anything like that before. Which is exactly what we are trying to do, something that has never been done before.
SR: What accomplishment over the last year are you most proud of?
GL: My biggest accomplishment over the last year was releasing my Balance EP through Smokehouse Records. This was my first time releasing an EP and I wanted to make sure the release was as professional as possible. It taught me a lot about the business aspect of music. I also learned what steps were needed to take in order to make my release as smooth as possible. The EP is available from streaming and purchase on platforms such as Beatport, Spotify, Apple Music and many more.
SR: Which artists inspire you most?
GL: I am all around music lover. I find inspiration in every single genre of music. I grew up playing in hardcore and metal bands in the Midwest. I now find myself playing electronic music and everything in between in Tampa, FL. Currently my biggest inspirations for music are AC Slater, Taiki Nulight, Volac, Phlegmatic Dogs, and Wax Motif. They are pushing the sound of house music in a direction that I enjoy very much.
SR: What was your favorite track to produce on the Balance EP?
GL: Out of the entire Balance EP my favorite track to produce was Something More. The original idea of the track came together in a matter of hours and felt very natural the entire time I was writing it. I took a day or two to mix the track and after that it was completely finished. A fun fact about the track is that the ending of Something more transitions perfectly into Lex Trexler by key signature and tempo.
SR: What do we have to look forward to from both Kyushu and Black Diamonds in the next few months?
GL: You can expect to hear a lot of bangers from both KYUSHU and Black Diamonds over the next few months. I have some dope house music that I plan on releasing under my project KYUSHU. As well music videos, covers, and a lot of exciting collabs with my project Black Diamonds.
Both the Balance EP and Black Diamonds’ new single “Waterfalls” are available to stream now below. If you’re interested in catching Kyushu live, tickets for Sunset Sounds are available here.
Photos courtesy of We The Plug, Sunset Events
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