Who is DJmegan23? Over the past few years, the mysterious ultra-online producer has been churning out an endless stream of tracks and remixes, often done in a quick and sick lo-fi style. When taken together with their pixel-crushed, Photoshopped album covers, DJmegan23’s tracks bring to mind the glory days of Tumblr or witch house or seapunk or mashup, but still feel relevant to what is happening right now. It’s music for getting lost and found on the internet. We sent over some questions to the artist—give it a read and listen to “Shaking My Ass Up In Heaven Instrumental,” below.

How did you get into producing?

I got into producing around the same time I got into listening to hip hop, I think it was 2016-2017. I was part of an editing community that would edit video game clips in contests for fun and I found new music through the edits. I remember downloading FL Studio and realizing how much I preferred messing with music production over editing videos. Shot out mito edits though.

You just played your first show recently, right? What was that like?

It was really fun and affirming! For a long time I've been scared to show my face anywhere and because of that I kinda gave myself imposter syndrome and couldn't really accept all the good things coming my way. Seeing people love my music and still wanna meet me and talk after seeing how I look was really healing and affirming and I'm so so glad I performed!!

Is there a period of music on the internet that you are the most inspired by?

Probably the 2010s, but I'm really inspired by everything around me, virtual or not. Finding inspiration is all about looking at everything with a beginner's mind. It's like when a kid really looks at a tree for the first time and sees all the grooves and textures, rather than just seeing a plain old tree. That kind of mindset lets me take inspiration from practically anything I can see or hear.

You seem to have a pretty prolific output. How do you keep the pace?

I think what lets me keep the pace up is my freedom in terms of being able to make whatever I want and knowing fans will at the very least not be thrown off by it. Most artists have a sound to live up to for their fans or certain vibes they only wanna go for, or styles, however 99 percent of the time I don't even have an idea of the song I'm gonna make when I start it. Because of this I don't think I get burnt out quite as easily, and have more space to make more songs!

Within your large catalog, do you have a favorite song?

I really like “Shaking My Ass Up in Heaven,” I think it’s one of my best melodies I’ve ever made.

Take us through the process of making a track. What do you start with? How long does it usually take?

Honestly since I have no endpoint in mind when starting or working on a song, it's different almost every time—to answer both questions. Sometimes I’ll start with synth playing to get a vine down, sometimes I'll start with a sample I like, it really depends on a lot of things. Songs can take anywhere from 45 minutes to multiple days to get right, usually I try not to spend more than a few days on a song or I get tired of it.

What genre is DJmegan23?

I honestly have no idea, some might call it plunderphonics for the samples or footwork for the rhythmic drum styles but I think it varies far too much to place a genre on it. I really just make whatever I want.

I want to know more about your album artwork choices.

For the artworks that I made myself which is most of them, I like to make my art in photoshop in a sort of png collage style, photoshop art is something I've made for a long while now and I usually combo drawn art, downloaded pics, and heavy compression, lighting and smoke effects as the glue to hold the pieces together. I've recently been trying out commissioning artists I like for covers (future releases) and they've been turning out great!

After a long day of making banging remixes, what kind of content do you like to consume to relax?

One Piece!! I read and watch One Piece weekly and it's by far my favorite online media/content!! I also love watching YouTube. Channels like Vsauce, Mark Rober, LEMMiNO, and Kurzgesagt are all great and I can't recommend them enough!