Hear Montreal Producer Midsplit Traverse the Slick and the Chill on Debut Album

Currently populating some of YouTube’s most viewed music channels such as Trap Nation and Chill Nation, Canadian DJ-producer Midsplit aka Maxence Pepin’s first album For My Future Past is surprisingly guitar-friendly even though it bears the sonic imprint of trap, electronic and hip-hop music.

Midsplit says over email that he grew up on rock and pop-punk turned up on Canadian radio, name-checking everyone from Van Halen to Linkin Park and Avril Lavigne (whom he counts as a dream collaborator, along with producer Skrillex). This is perhaps why the guitar is still a choice instrument. “The sound can be aggressive, happy, melancholic or sad. With that in mind, I just go naturally towards making guitar chords or riffs for my songs when I’m trying to deliver an emotion or a unique sound,” the producer says.

Songs like “ATFT,” “Trouble” and “Burn Me Slowly” employ guitar hooks for a starting point, but quickly morph into full-blown trap territory. Across the 17-track record, Midsplit also emerges with surefire soul-bearing songs such as “Suicide Love” with Jordanian-American producer No-One and Canadian singer A-SHO. The producer was chipping away at crafting For My Future Past for about 18 months, with an eye on talking frankly about mental health but also evoking childhood nostalgia. “Like Mike,” another collab with A-SHO, for example, was written about basketball legend Michael Jordan around the time the sports documentary series The Last Dance was released in April this year. The modern elements for Midsplit come in with his ear for sound design that’s laidback and comforting. Sorting out 17 tracks and 50 minutes of music for his debut, the producer says sonic flow and consistency was the main focus while sequencing.

Listen to “ATFT” ft RIELL below. 

Interestingly, Midsplit claims to have gained 15 million streams across platforms from India for his music. “India is one of the countries in which my music is the most listened to, which is absolutely crazy to me since I live over 10,000 kilometers away from Delhi,” he says. The reach is likely due to channels like Trap Nation, but Midsplit has also been interacting with Indian fans on his Twitch livestreams and over on Instagram on the regular. “Something great about newer markets, such as India, is that their music culture isn’t tainted by the American major labels, they have a very unique sound. Other sounds that wouldn’t work in the older markets, work in India,” the producer says, surmising his popularity in the country.

With a second album in the works – much “darker and closer to dance music than pop” – Midsplit is keen to hop on festivals all over, including India. He adds, “If I come to India I will have to book myself a two-week vacation so I can visit the country, meet people and eat a lot of food.” There’s also his own distribution platform launching in 2021, as a result of Midsplit’s deep dive into the world of music release platforms. He adds, “I have faced the struggle of distributing my tracks, the music community has given me a beautiful life and added meaning to it. It’s time for me to give back and make sure the struggles I have endured will not be faced by the new or present artists and labels.”

Listen to ‘For My Future Past’ below and more platforms here.