DJ Vermonster

In August 2023 I was diagnosed with probable cancer, and almost immediately went in to have the suspected cancerous area removed. It was an outpatient surgery, and as I was watching a documentary about Rick Rubin that night, drifting in a post-anesthetic haze, the thought crossed my mind: “I want to be a music producer!”

This was hardly the first time a thought like that crossed my mind, as you’ll observe elsewhere here, I have been obsessed with listening to, thinking about, discussing, and writing about music my whole life. But this time the thought landed differently. Well, I thought, okay. Are you waiting for permission or something?

Aftercare instructions were very clear that one shouldn’t make major life decisions while recovering from anesthesia, so I proceeded with some basic “How would I go about it and what would I have to learn?” research. The answers came back: learn to use some music gear, learn about production techniques and tools, pick up some basic music theory, hone in on what kind of music you want to make and sounds that influence you.

I wasn’t sure how far I would get, but I started to do that, step by step. Even through a recurrence of the cancer and a course of chemo I kept going (about 20 months of clear follow-up scans since then, by the way!). I found myself drawn to electronic music (you can find a playlist of my reference sound here) and I also found that I really enjoyed all the learning along the way.

The first full-length song I ever made! Inspired by a love of dub music, completed in November 2024 for the first semester of an electronic music course I was taking. It still needs work, but I’m planning on having a final version be part of a 6-song EP I aim to have out by the end of 2026:

My May 2025 final for the electronic music class was this song, an electronic country tribute to everything that’s right and wrong with country music. And by extension, America…