Q+A: Inner State 81

Attention to detail is always the catalyst that pushes multifaceted producer Inner State 81 to constantly outdo himself. Whether it’s making a gritty-trap record or a danceable funk tune, the Harrisburg native is willing to adapt and flawlessly execute any collaboration he’s a part of. Conceived by 808s and oscillators, the super-star in the making has already accumulated millions of streams on his infectious and fun beats across all platforms. Today the producing powerhouse shares his latest single “Asian Cigarettes” featuring alt-pop singer-songwriter, Nate Traveller. This single showcases Inner State through a new lens sonically; the track feels more mature and rich, reminiscent of his breakout EP: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The song is wrapped in this nostalgia-driven bouncy and lush production that compliments extremely well with Nate’s incredible and witty flow. 

We had the opportunity to jump on a group facetime call with the duo to hear the story of how this incredible record came about. 

Photo: melancholy.pimp

LISTEN: Let’s talk about this track! How did it come about?

Inner State 81: The beat is about two years old. It came about because I was crushing on this girl through Facetime, it was like this long-distance thing and that was the inspiration for the beat. I made it in a Starbucks in Atlanta and what’s crazy is the date Nate is talking about on the song is the same week I made the beat but we didn’t know each other yet.

Nate Traveller: It was a crazy coincidence!

LISTEN: So, how did you guys meet?

IS81: We met through Q!

LISTEN: Who’s Q?

IS81: He is from Pittsburgh and he peeped me from the city paper. He connected me with Nate and I sent some beats over and that’s how we initially met like right around the start of quarantine.

LISTEN: Nate! What was the process like for you when making “Asian Cigarettes” ?

Nate: I was locked in my apartment. When I recorded it, it was late March, peak quarantine time. I wrote it with a fast turnaround.

IS81: Yeah I sent 10 beats to Nate and it was like through email. 30 minutes later I got three DM’s from like, “These beats are crazy but I can’t record on any of them, can you send me ten more?” I almost didn’t want to include this one because I couldn’t tell if it was the right thing to send.

Nate: I wrote the verse and the hook the same night, called him over FaceTime, and was like listen to this! This is crazy!

IS81: This is within the first two days of meeting each other. Nate is the first person I met who had this energy right off the bat, just connecting over the song made him comfortable enough to hit me up over FaceTime and doing the vocals dry like that. It takes a lot of confidence to do that and when he did I was sold and we gotta work together. Made a great impression on me!

LISTEN: You can hear that synergy throughout the track! What were some of your inspirations or influences when it came to making this track?

Nate: I was really diving into this whole cyber realm of things. Jeff was putting me on and he brought me over to Taiwan. Asia and the cyberpunk aesthetic were very fresh in my mind and I just wanted to capture this. It was really Asia that inspired this track because I'm talking about “Just touched down in Asia what a time to be alive, brand new mask.” It was such a vibe and it changed my whole life, it was medicine. Meeting new people and seeing the culture. In the song I'm talking about “Back in the club,” I would never rap about that in America because it's super basic but because we were in Asia it was hitting different. In the club out there, there would be these guys that would greet us and give us a whole VIP treatment, seeing all the city lights, and even down to the food. There's a place out there called “Urban Kitchen” and I have celiac disease and they had all the gluten-free options. I rap about them in the hook, “Hit the urban kitchen…”

LISTEN: Was that your first time in Asia?

Nate: Yeah that was my first time and it blew me away. The culture, the difference in pace, the way they use space was different. It was very fresh.

LISTEN: Lastly, who are guys currently listening to?

IS81: The new Disclosure and DJ Kicks album that just came out is really good. “Lil Baby Crush” by Jordan Ward is super catchy and has been stuck in my head for a while.

Nate: I’m listening to Sound Devine by Slyte, that shit goes so hard and Phil NDL too.