Super Square

The title says it all. Up-and-coming four-piece Super Square have released a new original, “This Atmosphere” that features great atmosphere, melody, and more, all contained within an emotional 5-minute journey. The Seattle- based group start off the single with a rhythmic synth intro blended with soothing vocals. Before you know it, the build up passes by and a massive, progressive drop hits you full-force.
Progressive house has longevity. Artist find surprisingly new, colorful ways to convey the genre – “This Atmosphere” shines, expressing how great progressive music can be. - White Raver Rafting- by Chad Downs

Super Square consists of brothers A_Rival and Jimmy Hits, along with singer/producer Helen Eugene. To put it bluntly, they are hot, talented and emanate rock star status. High energy electro and progressive house, fused with Earth shattering Drumstep is what first put the trio on our radar. Their remix of Drake’s “Started From the Bottom“ as well as their live set from Marquee Sydney show us they are ready to take the EDM scene by storm. When we heard they were coming to LA we jumped at the opportunity to see their live performance. We also caught up with them for their first LA show at Insomniac and sbe‘s latest nightclub, Create, to talk shop about their musical influences and what motivates them to continue making music. - RAYCHEL ESPIRITU, The Frontliner

“Super Square, formed in November 2011, is setting out to pioneer “Open format” production in electronica culture. This group produces and plays Progressive House, electro, Dubstep, and Drumstep among other emerging forms of electronic music. Super Square is made up of four talented artists that have merged into one collaborative sensation. A_Rival, Jimmy Hits, Helen Eugene, and Ben LaVee’s creative artistry and exceptional backgrounds allow them to produce their own music, write and sing their own lyrics, and choreograph their own live performances. They are beyond just producers or Djs: they are entertainers!”

Check out what they had to say during our interview session!

1. How did you guys come up with the name Super Square?

Luke: Super Square stands for a super saw, which is a type of wave they use in commercial house music and a square wave, so it’s like two waves. It’s also like a double entendre, like a square, as in being nerdy. Because I’m a super nerd. We are trying to bridge both things, because you don’t see nerds in a commercial house music club, so we really are trying to bridge the gap between the two.

2. Now, When producing you guys put together such diverse and unique sound, what are some of the techniques or strategies you utilize when creating a track?

Luke: So, It’s funny umm I mean at the beginning it was all about finding a popular track to copy and then completely change everything about it which is a good exercise because I didn’t really produce commercial tracks. It was just not my thing, but then you know, it was a good exercise for learning all the techniques. If you listen to a lot of commercial EDM tracks, you’ll find patterns. There are a lot of trends, so learning all that stuff is a lot of fun.

Jimmy: I guess our sound has kind of changed. When we first started, we just kind of did a bunch of different styles. We were just trying to produce mainstream music. As we developed, we got closer to the sound that we wanted and we know that works.



3. How would you guys describe Super Square Music? What would you guys say that defines you guys?

Luke: I think one of the bigger things I’ll say is the sense of humor that is put into our music. There is a very discreet sense of humor that’s in there. A lot of the time, it’s very subtle because I have my brother and Ben (when he was still alive) to kind of counteract me being too goofy and too critical of mainstream media culture. So, it sort of balances out to this very subtle kind of dry parody of mainstream music, but still has all the elements that make it danceable in the club. So people don’t notice they’re just throwing their hands up and going crazy.

4. How did this group come about? How did you guys all meet? Come together?

Jimmy: Well it was four people (Helen, Jimmy, Luke, Ben). Now it is just (Helen, Jimmy and Luke). Ben was a close friend of mine that I grew up with and I lost contact with him for a long time. I ended up finding him on Facebook, he was a DJ for monster energy drink and he was working for Light Group in Las Vegas . He came up and he asked me if I wanted to start a group and he said that we have to convince my brother so I convinced him to do this project and that’s how it all started! Helen started to do vocals and that’s how it pretty much started.



5. Any tips or advice for our DJ groups out there?

Jimmy: I would say practice DJing and producing. Don’t be afraid to be different. If you’re going to play commercial songs, don’t play songs that you don’t like personally and don’t just play songs just because they’re hits. Try to find songs that are hits that you like and put your own twist on it.

Helen Eugene: We ourselves are still looking for tips that way we can learn and grow.

Luke: DJing is not so much a mechanical aspect. A lot of people think it is and I think a lot of old school DJs are mad that it’s so easy to grab and copy a track and just beat mix and you’re done. To be a truly excellent DJ, like any art form that has their crafts sort of given to you rather than you having to grind it out. The difference becomes more intellectual like it becomes more of a social thing. When you’re a DJ, get the mechanical stuff down that’s like the very beginning phase. The rest of it is just learning crafts and learning how to read people. Not only knowing what people like, but understanding why they like that and then building your whole set and taste off of that knowledge and being able to be in perspective and really open minded to learning and knowing that you will always be learning will be able to help.

6. There are tons of talents blooming from all corners of the industry, now tell me what can one do to separate themselves from the rest.

Helen Eugene: I think being true to what moves you as an artist. I think that’s what does it because then it’s original and it’s heartfelt and it’s organic. People really respond to that. People can see through us.



7. What is the overall goal for Super Square this year?

Helen Eugene: We want to play in a big music festival!

8. So which festival, would you guys actually like to be a part of?

Luke: “_____BLANK” Music Festival.



9. Any shout outs? Dedications?

Luke: We dedicate everything to Ben, our friend who passed away last year. We are keeping his dream alive and keeping his legacy going on, sort of like a labor of love. - LSBMag