Artist Interview: Deep Cuddle

Deep Cuddle’s music sits in a line that runs straight back to mid-90s Chicago warehouses: functional, groove-forward tracks built for long nights and loose bodies. He came up during the tail end of the rave era, when abandoned spaces on the South Side hosted sprawling all-nighters and the culture felt self-made. That early environment still shapes his approach now. The records he’s been putting out recently feel pared back and sure of themselves, less about decoration and more about movement and repetition used with intent.

In conversation, he talks about craft, sobriety, community, and the slow shift from chasing external markers to finding ease in the work itself. The following interview traces that arc in his own words.

Looking back to when you first started making music, what was driving you at the time? Were there particular records, spaces, or people that lit the spark?

Authentic curiosity of learning how it gets done, how the sauce gets made and when electronic music was first created. When I started listening to it, you know it was a very difficult task to be able to make electronic dance music. Now it’s not nearly as challenging as it once was. Looking at how sequencing was formed, and how drum machines were utilized and synthesizer was utilized. It took me a long time to really hone my craft to be able to make commercially viable music, which was a huge part of the fun in the journey.

What was your early relationship with club culture like? Were there certain nights, venues, or scenes that shaped how you understood rhythm, space, or connection?

Absolutely, so I came up in the mid 90s rave culture of Chicago. Our parties were at that time completely illegal and most of them were hosted in large warehouses on the south side of Chicago and the south suburbs of Chicago primarily Dalton Harvey. There were 5000 – 8000 ravers mainly from the suburbs that would come to these events and we would go until 6,7,8 o’clock in the morning one of the most recognizable spaces is a place called photon which was an abandoned laser tag facility that was extremely extremely interesting in my evolution it was actually kind of interesting because once I was actually even able to go to nightclubs when I actually turned 21 I didn’t really feel like I even fit in because at 21-22 it’s a different world and you’re like I don’t know if I’m really that connected here then I was in rave culture a lot of the nightclubs.

In Chicago like you weren’t allowed to wear sneakers you weren’t allowed to wear baggy clothes and I’m just like this completely is opposite of what I knew as Dance music culture I didn’t wanna wear a suit I didn’t wanna wear dress shoes. I wanted to go and dance my ass off and enjoy myself so that was a very difficult transition to to get to that point but I think overtime it seems like the clubs and nightlife culture has kind of moved a little bit more to being inclusive to allowing people to wear things in nightclubs that are not as shiny shirt as it once required.

Do you remember a moment when you realised you were doing this for the long haul, not just for fun or curiosity?

Well, I think that it’s not so much the long haul, it’s the art form that has evolved overtime so you know there’s multiple different components to electronic dance music and through my journey there’ve been different pieces of it that I found more interesting than others. There was a time in my past when I was doing events. There was a time in my past when DJing was really like my main focus was trying to be booked playing out you know really being involved in the dance music, nightlife culture of Chicago and now I just feel like it’s really moved into a new phase where my main focus is production and it is learning how to create high-quality dance music that will resonate across the world.

How has your sense of what you want from music changed over the years, both as a listener and as a maker?

I think that at first I would use music to escape just like drugs. I would use the drugs in the music to escape trauma in my past, and the knowing and uncertainty of you know the future as a youth. Now I still enjoy music and art as a release, but definitely more from an intellectual point of view where I’m learning how to make the thing I’m learning how to create the thing and it’s more of a mental buzz of look at this cool thing that we were able to build and then share that with the world then hiding behind the music and the drugs to mask, how can I show this creation as a bit who I am as a person.

You’ve released a few records recently that feel more focused and stripped back. Is that a reflection of where you’re at in life, or something more deliberate in your process?

I think as you evolve as a producer you just become clearer. More intent on delivering the message you know me and the friends that I work with on albums we have a mantra, which is basically we’re making dance music for kids on drugs. So when you come from it from a perspective of that you have to look at it and say does it do all of that? Do all of these components absolutely need to be here or are those components actually taking away from the music itself because realistically house music and dance music should serve one purpose. Some people may say two purposes, but I really look at one purpose. My job is to make you dance. If the track that isn’t driving that narrative maybe it needs to be removed which cleans up the mix and allows you to have a much more poignant perspective on giving the people what they came for.

Outside of music, what does a typical day look like for you right now? What are you giving your time and energy to?

So lately I have been very much focused on wellness, health and nutrition. I try to get to bed pretty early around 10-10.30. I get up early. I like to check my emails and look at what’s going on in the world. I like to meditate in the morning. I really like to set myself up for success and I really I’m really learning lately that I can actually get more accomplished with less stress. I have more intention of needing to get these things done but if I don’t need to get something done, I just gotta take it easy. I think that our society is built for us up to be. We need to work work work go go go chop, chop chop, and honestly over the course of the last couple years especially through meditation I’ve realized that actually about being more intentional with time finding good people to surround yourself. Good connections with those people is the absolute most important thing that there is that is that is life that is living as a human and for somebody who’s had a lot of bad relationships in my life knowing your own self-worth and knowing that you giving a piece of yourself for a relationship you should be getting that back in return and if you don’t have that reciprocation, maybe that’s not the right relationship for you

Are there things you used to chase or worry about in music that you’ve since let go of? What helped you shift your perspective?

Absolutely I was chasing for a good 15+ years. I was like, I need to be booked on the show. Why can’t I get booked on this show? Why am I not getting this spot? Why am I not getting that spot and I would say when I took a break around 2016 and really dove head into production. Thats also when I read the book ‚The Subtle Art of not Giving a Fuck‘. I think it was a catalyst for me to recognize that I really don’t have much interest in exterior validation. I mean it’s nice. Everybody likes to be on a platform, everybody likes to be cheered for, but for me and my team if we’ve created good music, we don’t really need anyone else to validate whether we’re doing it right. We have enough years of experience at this point. If I like it and my friends like it will you expect we we anticipate the rest of the world likes it and

Has spirituality, in any form, played a role in how you navigate life or creativity? How do you find balance when things feel out of sync?

Well, I used to be very out of balance. When I was heavily involved in drugs and alcohol in nightlife, and once I removed that unmanageable habit from my life and through the usage of meditation, sound bath and wellness, I’ve been able to find a spiritual path for my creative outlet Where I can still enjoy electronic dance music. I can still have fun with electronic dance music. I just don’t have to be hung over for three days afterwards and I don’t have to be involved in per se nightlife to enjoy dance music and enjoy you know the music that I create and the music that I enjoy to listen to

As someone who creates from a slightly removed position, how do you view the wider world right now? Does what’s happening socially or politically ever find its way into your music, even indirectly?

I’m not one to sit there and champion certain political views. I love everybody, like if you’re cool I’m cool to you like if you’re not cool well then you know oil and water is not gonna mix but I give the benefit of the doubt to pretty much everyone I meet I believe that they are good at heart and they have good intention so no, I’m not really trying to create some message with my music. Our goal is really for most people to forget about the trials and tribulations. You know this problem and that problem and this war in that war. I don’t have a stick in that fight. My job is my goal. Is that when you turn on one of my songs you forget about the problems that you’re facing and the issues that we’re facing in the world and you just dance.

When you think about the next few years, are there personal or creative goals you’re quietly working toward, or are you more focused on staying present and seeing where it goes?

I think from the beginning of the project and even previous projects, I have a very very difficult time staying present in the moment. I am always like what’s gonna happen in the future like we’re gonna do this event. We’re gonna do that. We’re gonna fly here, we’re gonna fly there. We’re gotta do this. I think I’m at a place now where I’ve kind of become humbled to the process and at an understanding that this works. I hope our music resonates with people. I hope people like it. I don’t really worry about like where the projects gonna go in the future like what big gigs we might get or you know what opportunities we might get from our project I really am just enjoying being able to create the music that I want to give back to my younger self that I as I grew up in the rave culture in Chicago, this whole project is just a love letter to my younger self, giving myself the freedom to enjoy the music of my youth.

Deep Cuddle – Spice feat. suomomo is out now