Studio 2.0 Artist Profile:Boston Chery
“Everything that I create is all about feelings.”
Boston Chery is a Boston-born, Brooklyn-based DJ and producer with a passion for creating community through music. Known for infectious, dancefloor-ready Afro-Caribbean club music, they also founded The 8th Path, a label which focuses on highlighting BIPOC producers and DJs around the world.
“What I love with beatmaking is creating a soundtrack to a point in my life.”
Growing up in the bustling metropolis of New York City, Boston Chery was inspired by the sounds of their surroundings, and can recall beatboxing along with the sounds from passing cars and trains from an early age. Their Haitian background also played a role, especially Kompa, a genre of Haitian dance music known for its melodic basslines and use of a distinct barrel drum called the tanbou.
Music Style
Percussive, Colorful, Caribbean
Current Go-To Setup
Serato Studio with AKAI MPK
Influences
Darkchild, Timbaland, Missy Elliott, Kaytranada, High Klassified, TRAKGIRL, Nova Wave, Melo-X, Haitian Kompa music, the Caribbean, summertime
By the time they were in high school, they were producing using Soundtrack Pro, a discontinued Apple product that was meant to help videographers produce royalty-free music for their videos. It came built with a collection of audio loops and sound effects, and once Boston Chery figured out that they could manipulate those loops to create their own music, the rest was history.
“It’s fun – you’re taking different parts of a song and creating a new song.”
Boston Chery calls themself “a sample producer,” someone who has no prior musical education but instead creates their own iterations of existing compositions. In some ways, not much has changed since they were using Soundtrack Pro all those years ago: they’re still finding loops that they can break down and build up again, adding their unique touch along the way.
As a producer, Boston Chery draws inspiration from a variety of sources: namely their Caribbean heritage, and producers like Darkchild and Timbaland who are known for their distinctive brand of bass-driven R&B. Using Serato Studio with Stems is a “game changer” for Boston Chery’s process, and gives them the tools to get their ideas out quicker and have more fun in the process.
Akai MPKmini
MKIII
Trackgirl
Soundpack
Juls
Soundpack
Beats
headphones
Still water
