In mid-March Kevin Chapman, aka SNBRN, dropped his debut single “Raindrops” at San Diego’s Fngrs Crssd and left as a highlight of the festival. Since then this LA based DJ has received over 3 million plays for the track on SoundCloud and performing at festivals like Lightning in a Bottle, Lollapalooza and Electric Zoo with his sunset house style. We were able to catch him right before his return to Crssd Fest in October to ask him how he is in the midst of his rising popularity.
Photography by Mike Greene
Questions by Mel Truong
How has your summer been?
My summer has been one for the books! I’ve been all over the US and Canada playing so many festivals, it’s been unreal.
You’ve really exploded since Crssd Fest, what are the most prevalent changes you’ve seen since then? Anything that’s caught you off guard?
CRSSD was my first festival I’ve ever played and there was so much anticipation from everyone about how I was gonna do. After that everything just snowballed from there, and I was given some amazing opportunities.
Can you explain the difference between sunset house and tropical house?
Tropical house is around 112bpm very mellow and guitar driven. Sunset House is faster, more piano driven, higher energy and stays true to that classic house sound. Think of the song that transitions from the end of the day into night and you got it!
After growing up and living in Los Angeles, do you feel that you’re surroundings have influenced your style of music?
Absolutely, there was so much old school hip-hop, reggae and punk when I was growing up. I still listen to a lot of it!
What else do you draw inspiration from?
Day to day life and the experiences that follow. Traveling, meeting new people, different cultures, music festivals, art, etc. If you stay in your room all day and just make music you’re not living. The most inspired I get is the first week when I’m back from touring.
The “Raindrops” music video was different then from what I expected. There a lot of quick cuts to various scenes of a young model staring back at the camera, a cooler presentation opposed to the warmth and energy of the track. What was your inspiration for the contrast?
For me, music videos should be an art piece, a story to the music. There is something so cheesy when the whole video is just the singer running around in different places. Raindrops touches on the subjects of love and heartbreak so you can feel that in the video.
After making the “Where’s the Aloe?” playlist, has any Aloe Vera company approached you with samples?
Hahaha not yet, but would love to see a Coppertone x SNBRN collab in the future
