PREMIERE: Great Dane - Bat Whore (Official Video) + Exclusive Interview

Last week, one of the young leaders of LA’s “beat scene” and Alpha Pup signee Great Dane released his third full-length album (self-titled) and we instantly fell in love with the organic, forward thinking style Great Dane has developed over the last few years. We were lucky enough to get in touch with him between tours to ask a few questions and premiere his first video for the album featuring vine sensation Karl from Online (Do you even surf the WWW bro?).

Check out the video and interview below and be sure to catch Great Dane as he joins Gramatik for the west coast leg of his tour (and heads up… we hear an official remix for RL Grime is in the works…)

Who are your biggest musical influences right now?

Zikomo, M. Constant, Thriftworks, and Daniel Johnston.

What inspired you to make this record? Were the tracks made deliberately for this release or is it an amalgam of work you’ve been holding on to?

This record was made as one cohesive piece so yeah, deliberate. Some tracks were made with no real intent but then they would find their place on the record over time.

After “Alpha Dog” and “Beta Cat” I was half expecting “Gamma Fish” to be the name of the album. Is there a reason why you decided to make this record self-titled?

I had a lot of people just assuming that I would do that but i don’t know..it felt like, kinda predictable and cheap. I’d like to continue with that theme eventually but morph it and change with it, I don’t wanna be stuck making animal puns forever. Gotta keep it fresh. I wanted to make it a self-titled because I think it kind of carries more weight, and i’m really proud of this album so I wanted it to carry as much weight as it could.

The video for “Bat Whore” certainly stands out, what’s going on here?

Karl from Online is a national treasure. I hit him up to make a music video after being a fan for a while on vine because I think he is fucking awesome and his vine persona/ life is kind of in the same abstract and raw universe as my music.

How would you classify the music you make? How do you describe it to someone who doesn’t listen to electronic music?

I really don’t know, and I like that I don’t know. The great thing about Daddy Kev and alpha pup is that when he first agreed to put out music with me all the way up until today, we have never once discussed genres. It’s a really free environment that he sort of set the tone for me at the beginning to be able to make whatever the fuck I wanted and he would support…I mean I’m sure he’d stop me if I brought him some whack shit, but it hasn’t happened yet.

The “LA beat scene” has gained a lot of popularity since early days of Low End Theory. How do you characterize the “LA beat scene” and where do you see things going?

I’m not sure. I don’t like to label things like at all, because every day is different. I feel differently about one idea one beat or one artist and then the next day I feel another way and there are probably a million other people feeling their own ways about the same people/ beats/ ideas and then the next day is different for them. All I can hope for is that good music keeps getting out there and that we can all buy our own houses someday.

With music streaming, it’s easier than ever to be heard but harder than ever to make a living off music alone. How does a young artist like yourself turn music into a career? What has worked for you in your approach to the business?

Grind.

Tell us a little bit about the origins of TeamSupreme and how that has affected your musical career. What’s in store for TeamSupreme this year?

TS started with a bunch of people who love what they do and that’s what it is now. I think this year we’ll get to hear some exciting, newer, weirder, more experimental shit from everyone.

We know what Great Dane does, but tell us… how does Great Dane feel? Tell us a secret you haven’t shared with the internet before.

I am finding peace.

Namaste.