Q & A with Torpeedoh: Zach Torpy

photo via torpeedoh.com

What is your real name?  - My real name is Zach Torpy.

How old are you? - I am eighteen years of age.

Where are you from/where are you currently? I was born and raised in West Des Moines, Iowa. I currently live in Ames, Iowa.

What are you working on currently? Lots of things. Beats, remixes, mashups, original productions, etc. I work sporadically on a lot of things at once, bouncing between things when I get bored of one.

What kind of music are you doing? I typically make mashups, but now I do almost anything involving sampling. And sometimes I just make beats and whatnot without using any samples.

Describe your music career thus far. - Incredibly shocking. I never once imagined that I would have as many people listening to my stuff as there are today. When I started making mashups and stuff I was doing it for fun and because I loved Girl Talk and E-603. I basically just wanted to see if I could make an album like those guys. So the people I've met and the opportunities I've had are really cool.

Do you play any instruments? - Yes, the Ukulele. And I'm learning Piano.

Any favorite artists? - This changes all the time. Typically I can always return to Radiohead, Kanye West, Flying Lotus, Gorillaz, the Wu-Tang Clan, Madeon, Daft Punk and Macy Gray.

What influences you? - My influences have changed over time. In a nutshell my influences are Girl Talk, E-603, Ludachrist, Deskhop, Easter Egg, Kanye West, and The Avalanches.

What do you do in your spare time? - Typical college kid stuff. Hang out with friends, party, work on music, sleep, watch South Park. The usual.

Are you in school? Where? - I am currently enrolled at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.

How do you make your music? - I use my laptop, Ableton Live, and an APC40. Also two KRK Rokit 5's and an M-Audio FastTrack Pro.

How did you get started musically? When? Where? Why? - When I was a sophomore in High School I released my first EP titled 'Starting Small'. It sucked. But I kept releasing EPs and whatnot until I honed my skill enough to do a full album. 'Buckwild' was my first actual album and how I broke into the music scene. I put it out for free on my website (torpeedoh.com) and on a bunch of music torrent websites, such as Waffles and What. It is basically just my attempt at making a Girl Talk album. But people dug it and it gained me a lot of popularity. From there I released "Party People" which was essentially Buckwild's older brother. After that I got kinda emo with the whole mashup scene and started releasing more downtempo, a-vs-b mashups. And now I just do whatever I wanna do with music.

Have many tracks have you released? - Wow. I have no idea off the top of my head, but easily over 100.

Have you put on any shows? Any planned for the future? - Yeah I've played a few live shows, but I live in Iowa so there aren't a ton of opportunities here. I don't have any planned right now, but I'd love to do more in the future.

Have you worked with any other artists? - Yes. I've released a few collaborative mixtapes with a bunch of other mashup artists.

What else do you want people to know about Torpeedoh? - Hmm. I guess I just want people to listen to my music. And I guess people should understand that most seemingly-offensive things I say online are entirely in jest. And if any of my listeners are cute/single/female/smart/interesting I am available ;]

Anything you want to tell your fans? - I love you guys. My 'fans' aren't fans, they're friends. I can't thank them enough for listening and supporting me. Also if any of you are in the position to hire someone for a job, I am on the job market as well haha.



Hit up Torpeedoh on his facebook, soundcloud, or website.

Q & A by Rebekah Frye of Beyond Good Vibes.
Special thanks to Banks Anderson.