Dr. Fresch has become an American household name in house music. His no-nonsense brand of bass fueled beats has floored audiences for years and always kept us on our toes. His latest EP, It Don’t Stop, faithfully continues down that path, featuring five hip-hop inspired bangers that will leave you in a puddle on the floor.
This latest project really explores the Doc’s affinity for hip-hop and marries it with his sharp ear for mid tempo heat. “Bon Appétit,” “It Don’t Stop,” “Space,” and “Work” all sit in that grimy mid tempo pocket where some of his best work resides. But it wouldn’t be a proper doctor’s appointment with out some high-octane house music, and “THICCC” delivers that exact head spinning magic in spades.
Once we finally caught our breath from listening to this massive new EP, we took a minute to catch up with house music’s Chief of Medicine. Check out our interview with Dr. Fresch below, as well as the stream for his new It Don’t Stop EP.
Dr. Fresch – It Don’t Stop EP
Current favorite artists: Nightmares on Wax, The Police – for the classics. Loving Boiz House for new artists, they’re an amazing 6 piece live house band
Most recent Google search: Sacha Baron Cohen
Favorite post-club snack: Chocolate Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream
House or techno: House
This new It Don’t Stop EP slaps hard. What was your vision for this one when you were churning these tracks out?
Thanks guys! Consider this EP a full exposé of my sound. I wanted to not only lean into the mid-tempo G-House sound but also throw in electro and bass house. I wanted to not only showcase one of my favorite rappers of the moment, Chetta, but also pay homage to San Francisco, the city I grew up in, and feature the legend Andre Nickatina!
Tell us about how this collab with Bay Area legend Andre Nickatina came about.
It’s been a goal of mine to produce for Andre since I was 12. I DM’d him one day about reworking a classic, and I ended up producing a record for him on his latest album, “DRUGZ”. That led to us building a relationship and him opening up to the idea. Andre had never worked with any electronic music producers whatsoever, so this was a huge intro. We’re speaking about the next project already and I can’t wait to tell you guys what that’s going to be!
You’ve been dialing in this signature G-house sound for a minute. What’s your favorite thing about this style of music?
I have—it’s the emotion of gangsta rap and G-funk realized in the electronic space. I built my understanding of hip-hop production around what Dr. Dre did in the 90’s, so it’s natural that G-house attracted me initially and also that I wanted to push to combine that with midtempo electro house to form this new sound to match.
What was the drive-in rave with BIJOU like?
It’s the next best thing! It’s what we have right now, and it’s a safe way to keep the scene alive. I’m going to keep doing what I can to stay performing safe, and this is a great option for everyone right now.
Who are your dream collabs? Give us one electronic and one hip-hop:
Dream electronic collaboration was Bloody Beetroots, now is Boys Noize. Hip-Hop was Andre Nickatina, now is Cunninlynguists.
What’s the longest set you’ve ever played?
I used to play 9:30pm-2:30am sets regularly as an open format DJ, before Dr. Fresch. I’ve played one open to close as Dr. Fresch, for 5-6 hours at Audio SF last February. I haven’t broken 6 hours, that’s a next milestone. I’m not trying to break this anytime soon though, after my friend and one of the craziest DJ’s I know, Subset did 48 hours straight at the beginning of quarantine. The bar is set too high, haha.
If you could play a set anywhere in the world with no restrictions, where would it be?
Probably Santorini, Greece! I would love to set up a festival there overlooking that view.
What is the key to eternal happiness?
Only holding expectations when necessary.