_{By Luke Fuller}

Aaron Simmons, aka Gaszia, is a must-know producer/artist/DJ in the Utah electronic music scene. With ten years of experience under his belt, he has toured all over and played with countless people, creating tracks and EPs in collaboration with many of them. It would follow that someone of this caliber, who has toured so far and met so many, has an impressive catalog of music under their belt. In Gaszia’s case, not only is the music impressive, but it is expansive and draws from a wide variety of styles; he said it best in an earlier version of his Spotify bio when he simply used the single word ‘chameleon.’

He takes this chameleon-ness to its extreme with the EP release Ready for It, wherein he collaborates with artist Awoltalk to create a massive, high-octane trap experience that threw me for a loop. The EP is a few years old at the time of writing and Gaszia has since released other EPs and tracks that have a much more grimy, hardcore feel than this record. That said, Ready for It is a very neatly produced record reminiscent of many of the club classics of the mid-to-late-2010’s. Despite its release nearly ten years later, it would definitely fit well into a 2015 club mix, and bring just enough heat not to be forgotten. There’s a very acoustic feel to this record, using a plethora of horns and flutes in tandem with enormous 808 drums and classic pulsing synths.

It’s not an exceptionally deep work; the sound design is great but it’s not always front and center; there’s no lyricism; and the drum grooves are tried-and-true classics of this genre, so there isn’t much to ‘think’ about with this record. But I don’t believe that’s the intention with it. As an EP it really exists to elicit pure hype in the listener—a short 13-minute journey that picks up your energy and sends you on your way. And in that sense, I would say it’s a successful work, as it’s an all-killer-no-filler type record you can put on for a minute and enjoy while you’re working on something else.

I’m definitely the biggest fan of “Doing the Most,” which has a dark, almost looming presence with the way the horns are arranged. It has largely the same instrumental structure as the rest of them (horns, drums, an 808 bass and a few other synths to fill out), but what it does with them feels almost completely different. The horns bounce around octaves which gives a sort of dive-bomb feeling at the drop, which is especially hype-inducing. It also has a drum breakdown in the middle where you get a taste for how complex the sequence really is, which deepened my appreciation for the track greatly.

I had the incredible luck of getting to jam with Gaszia over the weekend prior to writing this and it gave me a good perspective on him and his attitude toward producing tracks. He exudes a level of laidback confidence that I found to be very relaxing. His house is meticulous and minimalist, and his music setup takes center stage of it. It’s no doubt a creative environment and it comes as no surprise that such a creative and skilled artist lives in this environment and is able to consistently pump out bangers such as Ready for It so often.

You can of course listen to Ready for It on all major streaming services and Bandcamp. You’ll also find much of his newer work so it’s definitely worth going to check out as well, as there will surely be something you like. Be sure to follow Gaszia on Instagram and check out “Doing the Most” below!