Austin Sturgeon, or widely known as Auselot, is a true spectacle. The young and talented Canadian music producer is one-of-a-kind. With a musical output that is so astonishing, you would think he is a worldwide headliner.
This wildcat is a futuristic, yet contemporary grounded producer that exemplifies the word artist in more ways than one.
We are unimaginably excited to unveil and pull back the curtain on this prodigal gem.
Let’s let the man speak for himself, please welcome Auselot to the storm.
Question 1: You are our first Canadian guest! Thanks for joining us. What can you tell us about the origin story behind “Auselot“?
Answer 1: The story behind Auselot is somewhat unique, I suppose you can say. I grew up loving Minecraft, ever since it first released. After years of updates and new features being added to the game, they eventually decided to include Wolves and Ocelots in the game as pets. I have always been a cat person, but also being a Minecraft player, I decided to take my favorite animals from the game and I switched out the first 3 letters of Ocelot to the first 3 letters of my first name (Aus) and that is the story as to how I got my name and logo.
Question 2: Your music is ultra expansive, spreading across several genres. What is your flagship style?
Answer 2: As an artist, I have created a wide-spread of music from the very beginning. I was making Future Bass and Dubstep, but recently with the start-up of my Duo alias, called Sunny by Sunday, I have decided to take Auselot in more to a direction of various styles of dubstep and heavy bass music. I’ve always enjoyed creating multiple styles and have always had a passion for all styles of music. But looking into the long run and starting my career off, I’d like to take Auselot in the direction of heavy music and melodic bass music.
Question 3: What do you feel Canada does better than any other country? Music-related and beyond.
Answer 3: With this question, I am going to go back a little bit. First of all, I am not saying Canada is better, but I am insanely grateful for Canada’s health care system. The reason being that I was born with a brain tumor and it caused me to have seizures as a baby. After my first surgery, I ended up losing my peripheral vision in both of my eyes. To be honest, I don’t remember much from that age. But I do remember starting minor league rec hockey, eventually moving into competitive leagues at a very young age and the tumor began to grow back, thus, causing me to have seizures growing up. It was very difficult to play and contribute to sports, or even my regular classes in school because I would always feel dopey from my medications. As a teen, my seizures took a massive impact on my self-worth. I didn’t necessarily feel like a “normal” teenager. Being picked last in sports and basically every other activity, or simply just not being able to participate, it killed me as a kid. Eventually, I got in for a second brain tumor removal at the age of 14 and so far at the age of 22 everything is still looking clear, so I am very very thankful and think their health care system is awesome. My surgeries alone without health care would cost over 1.5 million dollars. That is crazy for me to believe. I think free health care should just be something every tax-paying citizen should have. It can save lives.
Question 4: What goes into the day-in-the-life of Auselot? Walk us through a day in your shoes.
Answer 4: My everyday life consists of me getting up at 6am, from Monday-Friday and I work as an HVAC/Sheet Metal worker and I have done it for about a year now. Once I get off work, I usually take a shower and then, hit the studio. I try to set goals for myself each week to keep me on task and motivated. I mark down things that I want to learn or work on each day of the week. That way, I always know what I’m working on and what I should be preparing for. I also love the wilderness though and mother nature. Being from Alberta, I am only about 3 hours from the mountains and I usually like to take trips there to do day hikes and climb mountains.
Question 5: Where can you trace the EDM cord back to that ties to your personal story? What caught your attention, and what ultimately kept it?
Answer 5: I remember way back in like 2011 or 2012 I came across Monstercat. I absolutely fell in love with this artist who goes by the name of Tristam. The thing that really caught my attention with him is that he was from the same province as me (Alberta). I ended up following Tristam for a bit and then he did some collabs with Braken and Pegboard Nerds. He ended up releasing Flight and Razor Sharp and those 2 songs absolutely blew me away. Ever since I discovered Monstercat, I have always wanted to follow and learn from the best. The big artists that caught my attention and drew me into the scene were Au5, Virtual Riot, Tristam, and Pegboard Nerds. Those were the first electronic songs I ever heard, besides Deadmau5.
Question 6: With a monumental appeal in your logo, (the ocelot) where does the fandom come from in choosing a rare wild cat, and how does it tie into your musicality and imagery?
Answer 6: I listed part of this above, but I got the idea of the Ocelot from the game Minecraft, actually. Besides that, I have also always loved cats and have had cats growing up. So, I believed that combining some sort of cat figure with my name would give me more of a personal attachment to my name and be different, while also standing out a bit. I took the first three letters of “Ocelot” and my name “Austin” and started from there. I actually made accounts years ago, but I had an obsession with Deadmau5, so instead, I made Au5elot channels. I ended up rebranding it and turning it into something I quite enjoy and think is an eye-pleaser. The Ocelot in the jungle doesn’t feed off of big prey. They are unlikely to harm humans, but to take on challenges their own size, and with my music, I have been trying to take it one step at a time and not get too far ahead of myself. I try to know my place in the industry and know what to expect from an artist of my size, currently. The overall imagery of the Ocelot I made more evil trying to make it tie into my music and the overall brand that I want to push with my name. I want people to be able to get an idea of what I and my music is all about just by looking at my name.
Question 7: If you could give an up and comer a couple tricks and tips in music production, what would you recommend?
Answer 7: I have a few pointers I’d really like to share that I wish I knew before getting more into music production. The first thing is that gear and MIDI controllers do not matter as much as people think they do. It has to be capable and compatible with what you’re trying to do and DAW you are putting it in. When I started, I loaded up on MIDI controllers and drum pads but ended up selling everything and I am back down to an MPK Mini and Korg Taktile Triton synthesizer. MIDI controllers do not write music for you. Secondly, I would like to end the DAW battle. It does not matter what DAW you use. All of them are capable of the same thing. Pick one, learn it, master it. The more time you fiddle around with what you want to use, you are robbing yourself of time, rather than just learning one that fits best. I think FL Studio is easier at a beginner level. And lastly, I’d like to suggest you learn music theory basics: What’s a chord? What’s a scale? What’s a key?
I would also suggest learning your DAW and the stock VST’s in it. Buying VST’s is super cool, but everything you need to make a hit song includes, a DAW, a computer, some good speakers, and a pair of headphones.
Question 8: Where has been your favorite place to play out your tunes?
Answer 8: I haven’t really played many shows in the past couple of years. I use to DJ back in 2017 but they were all very small shows, in small towns and not a lot of people showing up. I wasn’t really big into production at the time, so I kind of stepped back for a couple of years and decided to learn music production. I have had some friends and other DJs play some of my recently released and unreleased music on live streams and in shows before Covid-19 hit. I have also gained some support on YouTube with my music and have had amazing reactions online so far. So once this is all over I hope to be getting some shows and getting some more originals played out. I have a lot of new music out and prior released songs, plus, I have a ton of unreleased music that I have worked on lately that I can’t wait to start playing out and engaging in both sides of the music community.
Question 9: What can we here at Monsoon Season expect from Auselot in the near future and down the road?
Answer 9: In the future, you guys can expect a ton of new music and videos from my Auselot channel. I will be starting up a YouTube series called, Auselot: Redliner to Headliner, where I will be going over a lot of different topics, from the bare basics and picking a DAW, to mixing and mastering your own personal files. I plan to be having my first episode up within the next week. I have also recently started up an alias Duo artist with my friend Dylan Clouthier called Sunny by Sunday. I decided that I am going to leave Auselot as a bass music artist and use my alias for future bass/pop music. I’m hoping to pick up a label signing in 2020. With all this time we have in quarantine with Covid-19 I have been working on a lot of new music and finding that signature Auselot sound. I’m hoping with the start-up of this series it can boost my production level while also helping people who want to learn production, people who are starting out, or even those who are skilled. I hope this course can bring help to a lot of people. I do have a plan and ideas for over 70 tutorials, so I will be very busy and you guys can expect a lot more than just music!
Question 10: Who do you believe needs more attention and spotlight in their up n’ coming musical careers? Give them a healthy shout-out below!
Answer 10: This is a super easy answer for me. My friend Cameron Benzel (BENZO$). I first met this man a year ago, when he was just starting production. We met through this label called, Be Happy, and ended up joining an online music course together and becoming super close friends. But this man has been rising and improving faster than anyone I have seen. Even myself. I have been honored enough to be able to work with him and see his progression. He brings a signature sound to his name and brand (The BENZO$PIDER). He doesn’t hold back and pushes boundaries in all ways possible.
BENZO$ is definitely the up and comer that I think will take the scene by surprise. He has been getting attraction and support by some big DJs and I do believe this guy will eventually be touring and performing at festivals. Be sure to check him out on all social media:
Facebook: Benzo$
SoundCloud: officialbenzosmusic
Twitter: benzosofficial.
THANK YOU Austin, you are such an amazing guy and artist. We are exhilarated in the best ways possible we had the opportunity to do this. We will undeniably maintain and grow this friendship and partnership into the future and beyond!
Until next time! Keep up the great work!
FOLLOW AUSELOT:
Facebook
SoundCloud
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube
Twitch
Spotify
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BONUS:
Austin has made such an impact on the outlying atmosphere in his manifestation of music that he decided he could deliver that impact to others. His tutoring in music production has made its way to the largest audience in the world, being YouTube.
These tutorials are ever-so-eloquently named Redliner To Headliner.
He starts the tutorials at the most basic level and will exceed and rank up to the more difficult challenges in music production. You can assure yourself now we will be posting each and every level on the way.
Feast your curious eyes on video 1 posted below. The best of luck to you aspiring producers out there.
Redliner To Headliner
Episode 1: Picking A Computer
