digital_piracy digiview

I fw "Winning Percentage: 88.8%!", and the one you did with Osyris Israel too (SERAPH).

Yeah, shoutout Osyris man, the god himself. 

How did y'all link up? You've been pretty locked in with him, Lerado, and all the Corazonn guys for a minute.

I got introduced to all of Corazonn through Lerado. He was the gatekeeper. I didn't meet all of them in person at first, it was just through the digital world. And then I started meeting everyone individually when I was logged out. I'm like damn this shit crazy, like there's people just like me out here you know? Makes you feel like you're not alone. Shit's fye.

Would you say you're a part of Corazonn too?

Well, not like that, but they let me in, they let me chill. I don't think I'm an official member, ambassador maybe.

L: So you're from Virginia, right?

Yes, I could say that, but really you could say the world.

My aunt lives in Chantilly, VA. I’ve spent a ton of time out there, and I feel like VA niggas are really into cars. I feel like you're also into cars. Do you mind telling me where that came from?

Yeah, for sure. It's a culture. But where it came from, I wouldn't even say it's Virginia. I feel like it got amplified from being here. But yeah, my pops was a mechanic. So I've always been in and around shit like that.

A: You’re also into Japanese drag and touge racing. You make a lot of references to it in your music and visuals. When did that come about?

My introduction to vehicles in general are Japanese vehicles. Like Honda, my family is a Honda family, with a little Toyota sprinkled in. I love all cars though. The older I get, the more I tweak with different manufacturers.

Do you still have the car from the hydro / frozone video you did with Moshpxt? That was your car, right?

Yeah. I still have it. It’s outside.

That’s tough man, I realized you were really into cars when I saw your wheel was on the right-hand side in that video.

Yeah, it's a trip. My mom still gets mad at me for driving like that.

So we briefly met online two years ago when I was interviewing UTrippin! and y'all were staying together in a house with a bunch of other producers in Atlanta. Do y'all still live together?

Nah, we dispersed, but I'm still frequently down there to see my boy. That house was a hyperbolic time chamber. We just had a lot of work ethic. We were bouncing off ideas, and helping each other with the mentality. I'm grateful for being in that situation.

Did you make any digi_pirate projects while you were staying there?

Yeah, the first two projects I pretty much made there, and a little bit before there. digi_palace and neoten.

L: I really fw neoten a ton. I noticed all the digi_pirate albums are categorized as worldwide. Is that a category that you felt was vague enough to fit under?

Yeah, cause I'm not even a fan of putting things into genres fr. Cause I don't know how to describe it. I just make what moves. I don't need to put it in a box, and if it's not in a box it's worldwide, right?

Did you have a theme for the other two projects you put out? Or were those songs you were sitting on?

I feel like digi_palace was introductory, because it was like the first one. It was stuff that I already compiled. I don't feel like there was much of a thought behind it, besides me having a room for each song in a big ass palace. But neoten is just a soundtrack to throw to. But that one, it's very vague. It was just like emotions of stuff that I was going through at the time. 

A: Who are your top five Virginia Beach artists of all time?

Top 5? I can probably give you 3… Damn, I can't even do the beach. I'm gonna have to do the 757. That's like Hampton Roads, Norfolk, and all around there. So Imma say Fam-Lay, I'm gonna obviously give it to Pharrell, but for the third, I’m tryna give you something special, probably Young Crazy.

I've been hip to you since 2015 when you were going by nolanberollin, and you're still dropping songs under the nolan name. What's the difference in your head between digi_pirate and nolan?

I feel like I need the organization. So one can be a producer and all the entities that come with that. And the other one can be the rapper, musician, artist. So someone who's in front of the camera, and then someone who's behind the camera, pretty much.

L: Do you like producing from aliases that people don't know?

Yeah, I love it. I love not getting the credit and then just seeing people talk about it like "who is this guy?" I love that to be honest.

Why? If you don't mind me asking.

I feel like it dont matter. The beat just speaks for itself. If you separate yourself from the name, and like whatever people put on that name, and the music succeeds, it speaks volumes.

A: What's the meaning behind the digi_pirate name?

digi_pirate is digital piracy. So it's stealing anything that's on the internet. Or you can say, it's being digital P *laughs. It has to do with the digital world. We were watching a lot of Digimon, so this is the one thing that I know. And I always wanted to implement that.

L: Speaking of the digital world, what are your top five animes? 

you asking digi_p that? or you asking nolan that?

Honestly, both. You can pick who you want to answer this question. We'll give you free rain.

Now, nolan he's gonna fuck with Attack On Titan and Haikyu!! If you ask digi_p, he’s gonna be like Digimon, .hack, or Eureka Seven, stuff like that.

Is there anything you're listening to right now that you like a lot?

Wait, like, anything? I've been listening to a lot of J-pop right now. J-rock and J-pop, but that's always. If you want me to put a name out, let me look real quick… I've been listening to a lot of Amy Winehouse. She's fye.

A: What are your top five video games?

Damn, I'mma try to narrow it to five. Any COD before Black Ops 2. That's pretty big, but that's just one point. Couterstrike, I fw The Pokémon, I fw Digimon games. Those are slept on.

L: What about Digimon draws you to it? Because you've mentioned it a few times this interview.

Man…Really, what it stems from is, I liked the art style. And then the older I got, I realized how it had more depth to it than Pokémon. Like the concepts of the friendships and the symbols, everything about that goes into different religions. I was learning about Christianity, Buddhism, and a whole bunch of other shit. And I didn't know that. I just had to keep rewatching the same shit to like unpack that, you know? So yeah, shit got trident layers to it fasho. But the game I would say is Digimon World. That's like the one that had me in a chokehold. And yeah, that's all the games, I mean Smash Bros that's a given.  And I'm gonna end it with Metal Gear.

A: That’s a great list. What are your favorite video game OSTs?

Damn that’s a good ass question… Breath of The Wild, Gravity Rush, and Gran Turismo.

What games do you think have the best sound effects? You’ve used a bunch of SFXs in your music throughout your career.

Yeah. Best sound effects: Metal Gear, .hack for sure, and Smash Melee, the Gamecube one.

Stamp, how did you connect w/ Trip Dixon / Harto Falion? I feel like y'all have both used different names, and have made music together under y’alls original names and under the new ones too.

Shit was mad organic. I think I met him roaming around LA. It was in The Loft. I was collabing with someone in Goth Money. His name is Luckaleannn. We were doing a couple of songs, and Trip was actually the person who recorded us. That's the first time I met him. We briefly kept in communication, but after he came over back East is when we started locking in.

I feel like you've worked with Trip the most as digi_pirate.

Oh yeah, that's facts. Yeah he wanted me to produce his project, and I was ecstatic. I was like, “Damn, me? Fasho, let's do it.” And we just hopped on Discord, and started sending tracks.

One more person that I wanted to ask you about is Eera. The first time I saw his name was from songs he did with you, like before I was even hip to Surf Gang, how exactly did y'all connect?

Pretty much the same shit. I met him in LA. And he's a native out there, so he would show me around. And we all are mutual friends. But me and Eera, that was like an early connection. Me and him used to just produce a lot. We were coming up together at the time. And yeah, that's pretty much it. We just kept working on stuff. Even when I came back over East, we were on Discord working on stuff. 

How many SoundClouds do you have? I found at least six pages you seem to operate: nbr* GOTGLOCKS, digipirate, GAPAHOLICS, GLONE, and one that's like just a bunch of symbols.

I probably got like four or five more. Usually when I run out of space, I just go to another one.

That makes sense. Also what was G-LONE?

That was a group chat on Twitter that just turned into a family to be honest. There's a lot of people that came through that group chat that are like crazy, crazy artists that you wouldn't even think, you know? So it was cool. That whole movement was pretty cool.

L: Were you the nappyhead Youtube account? That page posted a lot of nolan visualizers

Nah, that was not me. I got him added on my discord though, but I don't know dude. Shout out to nappyhead though, he's a real chill dude, but I haven't met him.

True s/o bro. There are a good amount of your older music videos and songs that you took down. Was that for a specific reason?

Nah, I just wake up sometimes and be like, fuck this. It be like bi-polar shit, I just be like “yo, fuck this shit, I'm about to go get a job.” And then like, that don't work. So I'm just back *laughs

A: This is kind of random, but did Spaceghostpurrp ever reach out to you? You ever met SGP?

Nah, I feel like me and him would have a lot in common. But, I haven't crossed paths with him.

Do you have a favorite nolan project?

This next one! I really like all of them, I was listening to one yesterday though that was old and I was like “yo what the fuck was I on?” But besides that one, which I'm not even gonna talk about, yeah I like all of them, but this next one! But, I say that every time.

Well that’s all the questions we have, you just alluded to it, but what should the people expect from you next?

More and more projects until I'm 6 feet underneath.

You got any shoutouts?

Yeah, shoutout to everyone. Shoutout to my mom, and shoutout to life.

And shout out digi_pirate