Dallas mainstay Pass The 40 lands on Unlearn with a sizzling tech-house two-tracker.
As a staple in the Dallas electronic music scene for more than a decade, Pass The 40 has carved out the perfect lane himself. The versatility of his DJ sets and productions have garnered the respect of DJs from all the genres that electronic music encompasses. He’s released music on well-respected labels like Space Yacht, Box of Cats, and Holy Mole!, to name a few.
In 2019, he won the Corona Electric Beach DJ Contest, which led to him making his debut at Insomniac’s EDC Las Vegas. From sweaty night clubs like Dallas’ famed It’ll Do Club, to festivals like EDC, Pass The 40 can, and will, get any crowd dancing until they can’t dance anymore.
I Wonder – which features vocals from Honoré – pairs the silky sweet vocals alongside a thunderous bassline and prominent percussion for a tribal-inflected dancefloor workout. On the flip, Who, Me treads a darker path, with raw, saw-tooth bass and cacophonous fills creating a deeply menacing atmosphere.
Hey, Pass the 40, great to chat! How has 2022 been for you so far? Are you feeling optimistic about the year ahead?
Thanks for having me! 2022 has been great so far! Getting a lot of love on my tunes, and the gigs have been pretty consistent, so I can’t complain. Definitely excited for what the rest of this year and 2023 have in store!
How did you get to where you are in music? What has been your journey so far?
I’ll try to give you the short version haha. But basically, God, hard work, and some very helpful hands along the way! I got my first pair of turntables back in 2002, when I first started to fall in love with house music. I started making hip hop beats a couple years later, after just being so inspired by artists like Madlib, J Dilla, and Fat Jon, and would continue until 2008 or so. However, once a friend of mine invited me out to a big local rave in 2009, house music came calling again.
In 2011, a friend of mine passed on one my mixes to one of the local dj’s who was big in the scene at the time, and I got my first gig. Ever since then, it’s been a fun ride! I’ve been extremely blessed to open for, and perform with, countless of the best names from trap, to trance, to house, and techno.
In 2013, I released my first single with Astronomar’s (now recently defunct) label, Main Course, which has led to me releasing music with some of my personal heroes, and legends of the scene. If you listen to my first release to now, you definitely hear the growth and maturity of my sound over the years. It did take quite a while to hone in exactly where I wanted to fit in, just as a consequence of loving just about every form of electronic music. But, I definitely believe I’ve got it nailed down now.
In 2019, you won the Corona Electric Beach DJ Contest, congrats! How was this experience for you in terms of affirmation of your own ability?
I love this question. Firstly, thank you! What an experience, just overall. I still kind of pinch myself that it happened the way it did. Found out the Tuesday before EDC, on the plane Thursday, on the stage Sunday.
It was actually a *huge* affirmation for me. It was the “aha” moment, if you will, that the “big stages, flashing lights, and lasers” aren’t just for Carl Cox and Kaskade, it can be for me, too. Dreams really become reality when you put the work in.
What inspired or influenced the upcoming ‘I WONDER / WHO, ME’ release?
Recently, I’ve been on kind of a tribal/percussive wave. I’ve always enjoyed drums and percussion, ever since my beat-making days. So with “I Wonder” I really just wanted to express that and have the drums/percussion be the stars of the song. Along with the bass line, it’s a simple but effective mover. “Who, Me”, funnily enough, is the track that won me the Corona Electric Beach EDC Contest! It’s a track that means a lot to me for that reason, so I’m happy to have found it the perfect home! Also, the name of the track accurately encapsulates my disbelief when I found out I won…“Who, me?”
How did you hook up with Doc Brown and Unlearn on the release?
This is the perfect segue! I met Doc Brown in 2019 at EDC when I won the contest. He played right after me but we spoke a bit before he got on. He was just the nicest guy, and had nothing but nice things to say about my set when I got done. We’ve kept in touch over the years since then.
I was in Miami for this year’s MMW and had reached out to Doc so we could possibly meet up, but our schedules weren’t matching up. But as fate would have it, I ended up running into him at Space in the wee hours of the morning at the closing party haha! We caught up for a bit, I told him I had some tunes I needed to send him, and now, you and I are chatting!
For you, what are the important aspects of finding the right label to release your music?
This is a great question as well! I think an understanding between the artist and the label a&r is key. What I mean by that is: does the label understand where you’re coming from artistically? Do they understand and appreciate the subtle nuances you have in your songs and things of that nature? Music is art, and art is subjective. So the best place for me to release my music is the place where it’s appreciated the most.
In this upcoming release you also worked together with Honoré for the vocals. How did you find each other?
Honoré is actually my girlfriend’s best friend! We have always been thrown the idea of working together around, but it had never come to fruition until now. The original version of “I Wonder” actually contained the Lisa Lisa sample, but with obvious concerns over sample clearance, Doc and I decided it would be best to get a vocalist to re-sing the hook. And who better than my girlfriend’s best friend with a killer voice? It was the perfect opportunity and I’m thrilled with how it came out!
Where do you hope your musical journey will take you in the next few years?
I hope my musical journey will take me to new places, metaphorically and literally. I just want to continue to get better in every sense, and make my contributions to the culture. But, if we’re being specific, I’d love to play Kappa Futur Festival one day. So, I hope my musical journey lands me right one of their stages haha!
PASS THE 40 – I WONDER / WHO, ME
LABEL: UNLEARN:RECORDS
FORMAT(S): DIGITAL
RELEASED: 19.08.22
