Hailing from northern Michigan, Ranger Trucco dropped out of college after just one year to move to Los Angeles and pursue his dreams of becoming a professional producer/DJ. At 21 years of age Ranger cycled between flipping burgers at Shake Shack and 2 AM night classes at Icon Collective just to make ends meet and continue his journey towards making goals into reality. Today, his works have received support from the likes of AC Slater, DJ Snake, Malaa, Party Favor, CID, and many other big-time players, and the debut EP ‘Tiffany’ recently surpassed 150k plays on Spotify. After the immense success of this release and a quick follow-up via ‘Sunday Best’ on Tech My House Vol 1′, he’s back with his second EP – ‘Pretty Girls’.
We caught up with Ranger Trucco to talk about his style, latest releases, his ties to Space Yacht, how he first started, and his future endeavors.
Electronic Groove: Hi Ranger, how are you doing? We’re excited to have you here with us today. Where are you based right now? What is the situation looking like over there?
Ranger Trucco: Hi thanks for having me! I am doing better and better every day, I’m currently in Los Angeles and it is finally starting to feel like things are coming back to reality. Fitness centers just opened and it’s looking like shows could be up soon.
Electronic Groove: You’ve got quite an interesting backstory, and an even more interesting sound and signature style. How did that come about?
Ranger Trucco: Great question, when I was a senior in high school I used to really enjoy writing vocals for songs, and freestyle rapping with my buddies, always just for fun. Coincidentally one of my good friends, JP, got this summer internship at a real recording studio in Detroit, I’m talking like Eminem, Dre, Royce Da 5’9 all had worked out of it. He invited me down to check it out, we just hung out and made a couple of tracks for fun…And before I knew it the engineer and owner was calling about hearing the tracks and giving me a contract to be a rapper. Now as flattering as that offer was, and as much respect as I have for that genre, I never really thought of my music career going that direction…But I do use a lot of original vocals in my music to pay a little homage back to that time of my life. Such a great experience.
Electronic Groove: And it’s that unique style and blends of vocals with a raw tech sound that made you the first flagship Space Yacht artist. How did that relationship happen? What have you been doing together with them?
Ranger Trucco: I have known about and been a fan of Space Yacht since I was living in Northern Michigan in 2018. I love how invested in showcasing the next generation of music they are. That relationship really sparked when I sent ‘Tiffany’ to their review show the ‘Tune Reactor’ on Twitch. They booked me to play ‘Tech My House’ on the spot, gave me their contacts, and we just kind of hit it off right away. This next EP with them will be my third Space Yacht release! Honestly, I cannot thank those guys enough. I am 21 years old chasing this dream alone in a huge city, when they started helping me out a little it made Los Angeles feel so much less intimidating. Rami and Hen are like my family.
Electronic Groove: And your single ‘Sunday Best’ recently made it into Space Yatch’s ‘Tech My House’ compilation, which marked their 6th year anniversary, right? What was the inspiration behind it?
Ranger Trucco: (Laughter) Well I definitely don’t stunt on hoes in my ‘Sunday Best’, I’ve actually been told my outfits need work…But the ‘came from the east now I’m in the west’ line was basically just about traveling from Michigan to California to become a producer and I really liked how the vocals flowed!
“I am 21 years old chasing this dream alone in a huge city”
Electronic Groove: Has the pandemic changed your mood and approach to music? A lot of artists have turned to more ‘melodic’ shades, was that your case as well?
Ranger Trucco: I love this question, it will be interesting to see for me personally. Back when shows were a thing, I was really still learning the ropes of Ableton, so all of these stylistic developments of mine have come to me through quarantine. Who knows, maybe when shows come back my music will start becoming just absolutely terrible.
Electronic Groove: And you’ve been a part of the ‘Tech My House’ Livestreams. How do you feel about livestreaming? Do you take a different approach as to a live gig?
Ranger Trucco: I personally think that live streams are so much harder to play than shows. I really do not have a lot of live gigs under my belt to compare to, but I do know for a fact that so much of DJing is reading the crowd and reacting to what’s moving them, also having great stage presence and creating all this good energy. Playing a good set, in an empty room for no one but a camera is so hard, a huge shoutout to all of the DJs who did that once/twice a week for Twitch. True Legends.
Electronic Groove: Speaking about live gigs…How do you envision the future of clubbing? What changes would you like to see from the industry moving forwards?
Ranger Trucco: I expect clubs to reduce capacity for a bit and have a mask rule, whatever is safest I am really all about. As for changes, going forward I really would love to see there be a way for creatives to be compensated better for their works. I have heard talk of certain streaming platforms coming to fruition that really prioritize the artist, utilizing cryptocurrency. I know a lot of artists who took such a hard hit during quarantine, some of who even had to leave the United States, It would be very nice to see a concentrated effort within our industry to help them out, as well as the clubs that were forced to shut down, I think banding together to repair the damages after this disaster would be a great first step when things are back to reality!
Electronic Groove: What can we expect from Ranger Trucco for the rest of 2021?
Ranger Trucco: Boy do I still have some surprises planned for you, I have got another tune coming the first week of April and a 4-track EP in May on one of my favorite labels of all time. I have got some shows starting to come my way, I am really excited for the world to just continue to heal and be able to keep working hard! It has been a crazy year but I’m thankful for it all, nonetheless.
Electronic Groove: Thank you for your time Ranger! We wish you all the best! Have a great year!
Ranger Trucco: Thank you so much!!. I am so honored to have had this opportunity!
Pre-order Ranger Trucco’s ‘Pretty Girls’ here.
Follow Ranger Trucco: Facebook | Instagram | Soundcloud | Spotify
