I just followed the music.”ģ2 Levels is an ambitious work, standing in contrast to the modest demeanor of its creator. “I didn’t know what the album would sound like until last July when it was nearly finished. “I went in blind,” he explains, sitting in the control room of The End, a modded MTA 980 console behind him, vintage equipment and hardbound comic books all around. During this process he signed to Columbia and decided to put together an official debut album following three self-released instrumental mixtapes. In the early 2010s, Volpe parlayed his online kudos into increasing studio work, balancing demands for Clams Casino beats on their own with productions for FKA Twigs, The Weeknd, A$AP Mob and more. What he always wanted was to “be behind the scenes,” working in a diligent manner towards whatever vision someone else might have. Beat scene kids and electronic music cognoscenti were also hooked, sans raps, thrusting the hopeful beat maker into another creative arena, one where he was the artist. They became sonic anchors for Bay Area astronaut Lil B and New York renaissance man A$AP Rocky.Īnd it wasn’t just rap fans who wanted more. The specifics of Volpe’s career to date are textbook for his generation-digital production, social networking hook ups, early internet acclaim-with one exception: his vaporous beats, somewhere between the catatonic vibe of a weed coma and the fuzzy headspace of an online binge, stood out from the rest. Today, standing on the roof of The End, a recording studio at the western edge of Greenpoint Avenue, Brooklyn, Volpe still carries himself with the same casual, unassuming air he did then, despite having become an in-demand name with credits on releases by some of the most hyped artists of recent years.įrom emailing laptop beats to rappers across the country to commanding world-class recording studios, Volpe’s journey under the name Clams Casino has been remarkable. Ten years ago at 19, Volpe was just another would-be bedroom producer. It’s a fitting pose for a quiet kid from New Jersey with the world at his fingertips.

Michael Volpe is standing on a rooftop bench, his clean-shaven head covered by a grey hoodie, hands deep in its pockets, the Manhattan skyline unfolding behind him under a moody grey sky.

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