Austinite-soon-to-be-Yankee RiCHARD.GEAR released his first EP Starz a few weeks ago. It’s a hyper affair, filled with all the usual bumping and grinding you would expect from the dance floor aficionado. Using a razor cut samples from classic disco tracks, GEAR creates a collage of sound built around none other than crazy energies and bottom heavy bass.

Rhythm Sektion tossed a few questions to RiCHARD, and he kindly passed them back. Take a look below, and scroll to the bottom to sample my personal favorite from Starz “Everything I Got.” You can also catch GEAR at Beauty Bar this Friday evening for a special going away disco bash. See you kids out on the town.

So, this is an album of sampled disco tracks. What qualities in these songs stuck out that you chose them over some other rare disco cut?

well, i didn’t really have a formula, I just chose the bits I liked. my process for each of the tunes on the EP consisted of me finding a record that I liked and felt I could work with, recording the entire record into ableton and then skimming through and picking out pieces that sounded good. usually looping sections here or there and once I found a loop I liked, it would just developed naturally from there. I didn’t have any ideas like “i’ll sample this cuz no one knows what it is,” I just took what I thought sounded good.

You recorded this all with Glasnost (Houston). How did you end up working together, and what do each of you bring to the table?

the glasnost boys have been close friends for about two years now. they played the first WILD LIFE party a few years back and just from doing shows we’ve developed a close relationship. the only member of glasnost that was involved with the project however, was Dan Le. and his role was purely post production, i.e. mastering all the tunes once I had completed them.

The EP does a great job at blurring the lines between samples, edits, and original music. I love that there is a kind of hyper, bassier touch to all these old tracks. What is the Richard.Gear signature you’d like to appear from listening to this EP?

I don’t know if I’ve found a signature sound yet, there is certainly a bit of emulation going on here from styles and producers of the past. sample based disco house was certainly not a revolutionary idea of mine! I’m influenced by lots of music, and I have several ideas on the drawing board for whats next, but using Disco was a natural choice. My parents used to own and operate several Discotheques in Austin and DJs and disco music was always around, so, like i said, it was just a natural choice. I certainly will continue to use Disco in the future, but I don’t want to pigeonhole myself.

So you’re off to New York. It seems that this is a typical trend, musicians leaving the sheltered Austin community to brave the Big Apple. What will you be up to there? Tell us what’s next for you?

Yep, leaving this saturday, July 31st. I plan to DJ, continue working on new music, enjoy the city and learn what it takes to survive there. I’m born and raised in Austin, and although I have traveled extensively, I’ve never really picked up and moved anywhere. Texas is my home, and although I’m very prideful of that fact and love living in Austin, if I’m gonna make something happen, I need to do it now. and, more importantly, I think I’m ready to do it now.

Head on over to GEAR’s bandcamp page where you can download the EP for FREE. Check out “Everything I Got” below.

RiCHARD.GEAR – Everything I Got