Drawing influence from Chicago House and '90s techno, the duo Acid Farm craft their own pulsating beats from the ground up for a sound that's dripping with synths and dark grooves. Acid Farm call their brand of electronic music "hardware house" since they build their beats live from equipment rather than simply pressing play on a laptop at every show they play. The band started out as a movement under the banner of "Baby Raves"—small dance parties that they threw in bedrooms. They've since graduated to actual stages, but the dancing hasn't stopped. They regularly attracted crowds of people eager to boogie down to their unrelenting rhythms. 

Homebase: Portland, Oregon

Members: Morgan Hynson, Jesse Mejia

How did you each get into making music? How did you guys originally come together in terms of collaborating?

Morgan Hynson: We were homies before we were musical collaborators and we both had a bunch of gear kicking around. I had just gotten one of the synths we use – the Roland MC-202 – and due to its age and technology involved it was difficult to integrate with some of our other gear. Some of the stuff Jesse had interfaced with the 202 so we started to jam based on that. We were originally called “Boxes”.

For your music, you've sampled some wacky sources. What inspires you to include sound bites? 

Hynson: Just Youtube adventures and searching for the vibe that motivates. We recently found an amazing youtube user who films himself beside forest streams and recites his own spoken word poetry. His videos only have like 30 views so they are pretty slept on. We are trying to incorporate longer sections of spoken word in the style of A Man Called Adam or other balearic classics.

Your song "I Get Crazy" samples someone talking about Flaming Hot Cheetos. Are there any snacks that make you crazy?

Hynson: We’ve been really into putting salsa in soup recently. Is mezcal considered a snack?

Rather than press play on a laptop, you make your music with real hardware. How did you make that decision and what are the challenges and benefits?

Hynson: It’s just what works for us, there definitely isn’t a right or wrong way to do it. Challenges are high cost of entry for the gear and the timesuck of learning new equipment. If you buy the wrong thing you can end up wasting time and money but unfortunately there often isn’t really a great way to know. Benefits are directness, fun and simplicity if your gear only does one thing (as opposed to a computer that can do anything).

For someone who wants to start making electronic music, what tips would you give them?

Hynson: Don’t let anything stop you, make lots of mistakes. Don’t worry about doing it right, just get some beats out of the box. Inspirations are way more important that process or technique. 

Can you explain "Baby Raves" to us?

Hynson: Just a tiny party in a bedroom or kitchen. No bozos, no randos. The music should reflect fully the vibe of the party and whoever’s bedroom it is. It should be considered a success whether there are 3 people dancing or 30.

Based on what you learned with baby raves, would are your top party throwing tips to make a night legendary?

Hynson: Keep it tight, keep it off facebook and make sure you have an environment that engenders trust and camaraderie. Play your favorite jams, even if you are worried about them going over well. If everyone in the room has trust and believes in what the party is working towards you cannot fail.

If you could soundtrack for the party scene in any movie, which would it be and why?

Hynson: That one scene in the movie “Le Grand Bleu” where the protagonist leaves his girlfriend in the middle of the night to go swim with his dolphins. He would prefer to party with his dolphin homies than stay with his boring human girlfriend. We can’t really identify with this attitude but we can definitely hear the music in our heads if Acid Farm wrote the soundtrack.

Where would you like to be as a band a year from now?

Hynson: Playing a sunrise party in Ibiza on the beach.