VINCI
- Apr 7, 2020
- 3 min read

WILL OF BRIKZ & SHAMANS

This is Will.

Will, tell us more about how you got started.

I started out just being a fan of the music, in early 2009. My friend junior had showed me "Night" by Benga & Coki and I was instantly hooked.

I found myself constantly looking for new dubstep tracks on the UKF YouTube channel, and shortly after that I started going to local raves and underground forest parties called "renegades" in the Santa Cruz mountains where I got to meet a lot of DJ's and producers. Later that year, my friend Marcos, who now goes by the name "Centauri" taught me how to DJ at his house. By the time I got more skilled at it, I found myself playing DJ sets at renegades whenever I got the chance.

Fast forward to mid-late 2010, I got a copy of FL Studio and attempted to make music with my cousin Brian. We taught ourselves how to use FL Studio by watching Youtube tutorials and eventually learned enough to make some pretty decent songs.

We made a lot of Trap, Dubstep, and glitch hop back then. We played shows together for a couple of years as a duo, but around 2012, Brian decided he wanted to go back to drumming and stop producing electronic music; so I continued to make Trap music by myself under the alias "NVRMND."

After a couple years of that I pretty much got burnt out on Trap music and thats when I decided to develop my sound under my current alias "BRIKZ." This time I would start to go back to my dubstep roots, taking my music back in that direction. From then on, Ive been growing "BRIKZ" into what it is today.

What has been most difficult about producing & being an owner of a collective?

Yeah, so for those who don't know, I started Shamans in 2015 with my good Friend Aaron, also known as "Mammoth." Shamans is a collective of dubstep artists mainly based out of California.

The most difficult thing about being an owner of Shamans is honestly just managing time to do everything while also being a producer. Between organizing social media posts for all 6 of our artists releases, show announcements, website updates, and also creating artwork, flyers, and clothing designs myself, it can become difficult to manage at times.

As far as producing goes, the most difficult thing would be just developing an original sound that sets me apart from other artists in my genre. To be honest, it took me a long time to find my own sound. It also isn't easy learning how to properly mix a song . That was a long process and it took me years.

I'm still constantly learning new things and pushing myself to get better, and thats what I love about music, the limits are endless and theres always room to learn and grow.

SHAMANS – What sets your company apart from the others?

I like to think of ourselves as a family. We are all really good friends that share common goals and interests. It feels like more than just a collective of artists or a company.