If house music is disco’s revenge, then mumble house is for sure rap’s groovy play-cousin. Oh, you haven’t heard of mumble house? Don’t sweat it, I didn’t either until I talked with our featured artist. I asked him how he would describe his sound and he let me in on the gag. “It’s kind of an ongoing joke between me and my friends. We call it ‘mumble house’ because it’s a mix between r&b, mumble rap, and house.”
And you know what? If you listen to his music, the label kind of fits.
Photograph by Waithira Gatei
Say hello to our #artist2lookout4, Divine Interface.
Drew Briggs, better known as Divine Interface (or more affectionately, wifi_daddy to those who follow him on the gram), is an Atlanta-based producer and DJ who makes experimental house and club music. Part of 2MR and FWM, he has been producing and DJing in the Atlanta nightlife scene since back when MJQ on a Wednesday night was MJQ on a Wednesday night. It was poppin’. You just had to be there.
Music has always been a passion in his life, beginning with learning how to play piano as a child in church, then playing saxophone in middle school and bass guitar in various bands in high school (shoutout to Mountain of Youth!). “When I got to high school, I didn't really want to play saxophone or piano anymore. So I stopped doing that and tried to teach myself bass guitar—did that for a while. I was in a few bands, did vocals and also learned how to record in a home studio during that time. It was like those home studios in the early 2000s. It was the first time I’d seen one.”
It sparked his curiosity, prompting him to go to school for audio engineering to learn more about music, recording, and producing. He started to make his own songs, putting out bodies of work right after college. “I realized you don’t need million dollar studios. You can just use a laptop, a microphone, and a keyboard and you can really do anything.”
He’s released two EPs: Precious Cargo in 2017 with Atlanta’s CGI records and Seeking Arrangement in 2020 with 2MR. Both EPs showcase a juxtaposition of styles inspired by old school r&b and booty bass. He blends smooth sounds, powerful beats, and sultry lyrics—creating dance tracks that are both reflective and infectious. The biggest difference between the two? Trust. More specifically, self-trust. In our conversation below, he explains how with his second release, he allowed himself to really believe in and stretch his artistry. For him, Precious Cargo was more of a technical exploration, while Seeking Arrangement was centered on variation. “I'm not saying I freestyled Precious Cargo, but it was a lot of just putting stuff together really quick. [With Seeking Arrangement]... I was just kind of…doing a lot of research about different people and scenes. I was trying different mediums, experimenting different times, different tempos, different vocals.”
Since dropping his latest EP, Divine Interface has been working on different mixes, still testing the limits of his sound. Anyone who knows him knows his love for radio as a medium. “People say it’s kind of a dying platform, but here it's still a big part of the culture.” And when it comes to local Atlanta radio, he boasts, “First off, Atlanta has some of the best DJs in the world. There’s nothing else like it.” It’s another one of his biggest inspirations. He’s been played on NTS shows, the Lot Radio, A/V Radio, and, of course, other local Atlanta stations. Though there is a missed opportunity for a designated house station in Atlanta, here’s to hoping he one day launches his very own. Mumble house on the airwaves—I’m here for it!
Photograph by Champagne Camera
You can catch his electrifying sets at Revery VR bar where he is a resident DJ, or at his grown and sexy On The Low parties, which he throws around the city. You can also listen to his dope selections of house, funk, and r&b classics right here.
If you do see him in person though, buy him a shot before his set. I hear it’s his pre-show ritual.
Describe the sound evolution from your debut EP ‘Precious Cargo’ and your latest, ‘Seeking Arrangement’.
I really like this song called Hanging On A String by Loose Ends. It’s a big inspiration to me, and it sparked me making my first song I did vocals over, Designer Desire on Precious Cargo. That was a big formula for that album. Plus, old-school Atlanta, like So So Def and booty bass are always big inspirations. They were r&b songs that were jamming at like 125, 130 bpm. They were dance tracks, but they were soulful and sexy. So, I tried to make my own versions of those songs—intersecting house, r&b, and hip-hop. I'm not saying I freestyled Precious Cargo, but it was a lot of just putting stuff together really quick. It was not easy for me, but it worked. [With Seeking Arrangement], I had more time to work on it because COVID shut everything down. I was just kind of playing with sounds and doing a lot of research about different people and scenes. I was trying different mediums, experimenting different times, different tempos, different vocals. I sample myself; I’m not a professional singer so I put a lot of effects on my vocals to alter the sound. I crafted the songs doing demos first, and then I would listen for a couple of weeks and then make changes. It was definitely a really cool artist process—start with a sketch. Start with songwriting, start with a demo, and then move to the next track, mix them and get them mastered. Seeking Arrangement was more artistry, more songwriting, more development, more experimentation, and more trust in myself.
Seeking Arrangement came out in 2020 and it’s filled with a sultry ambience riding club waves. Do you think this was a product of isolation? Was there some pent up sexual energy you needed to release?
Ha! Yeah, that could be it. I think that [isolation] helped me because I do get nervous about putting out music. Like, are people going to understand me and what’s going on? During that time I realized people really do feel like [how I’m feeling] as well. That kind of helped me be a little bit more free about those different moods during that process. Quality time is my love language. You know, as a DJ, you’re always around people. And before COVID you were around people all the time. But I’ve grown to know that you just need either that quality time with somebody or some alone time. My social battery kind of dies down pretty easily. I'm a “people person”, I'm pretty good at socializing, but after two or three days I need time alone. Like, you can be around, you can be here, but just know I’m not gonna be vocal. So yeah, it's a blessing and a curse.
In an interview with Immersive Atlanta, you said that you produce tracks at 125bpm, but then you slow them down after you finish and that’s when you start writing lyrics. Has this always been your creative process? How does slowing down a track help you write?
It’s been a big part of my creative process. I don't really write stuff down. I record a hum or something, then go write later and come back and record over. I think slowing it down just makes it a little bit easier to groove. The program that I use, you can—I mean, most programs allow you to lock in time. So it's just part of the experimentation: I like this sound, but what is it going to sound if we slow it down to 98 bpm? Or, I started a song at 98bpm, but what does it sound like sped up to 125bpm? A lot of house music is at 120-125bpm, but then a lot of funk and r&b is at like 95-100bpm. So, I kind of bounce between those speeds. As far as DJing, I usually try to start at 100bpm, and then move up to 120bpm, speed up as the night progresses. I've kind of tried to do that with some of my production, but it just depends. It's always kind of switching—switching the time and changing things around. It works well. It's fun.
What track of yours was the most difficult to produce/write?
Probably the title track of Precious Cargo. That was a long process because it wasn’t on my computer. I used an outboard synth. A guy I used to live with had a synth and I recorded on it. So, I had to re-record it on my computer, and getting the timing of that right with everything was a lot. I had the beat for a long time actually. When I wrote on it later, that was definitely a more difficult track to record. And then also on Seeking Arrangement, I have a song [Sometimes] with Fit Of Body . It’s two songs that blend into each other. I've always liked it when people do it on their projects, but it’s not as easy as people think. It is sort of a challenge to get the timing right to have it split. So 1-800-411-Paranoia and Sometimes kind of blend in together. I recorded them as one track, but they are two different tracks. That was tricky to time correctly so they flow into each other.
Anyone that follows you know that you love local radio, especially local Atlanta radio. What is it about that particular space that draws you in?
First off, Atlanta has some of the best DJs in the world. Those lives mixes in the club are definitely a big inspiration on my DJing. Some of those mixes in the car, hearing it is insane. There’s nothing else like it. I don’t really listen to the radio whenever I go to other places, which is my mistake, but I feel like here it's very, very niche, very regional, and it’s very important to the culture. Maybe not so much as far as music, but you know, the concerts, the sound effects, the commercials. The commercials—you have to keep up with the culture, you have to keep up with all the times, you have to keep up the lingo. It really is of the now. Other radio stations in other cities, they don't put songs out until [artists] are big, but Atlanta [radio stations] will put early artists on. You'll hear songs that you don't really know on the radio. It's definitely an incubator. People say it’s kind of a dying platform, but here it's still a big part of the culture.
What would you like to hear more of on the local radio stations?
Definitely more dance and house music. It's kind of happening now because Jersey club is building. There are a lot of Jersey club songs [that are popular right now]. I’d like to hear more dance music on rap radio. Maybe a house radio station? You know, there really isn’t a house radio station. That’s crazy.
Photograph by Nylah Desir
If you could change one thing about your journey to today, what would it be?
I wish I would have put myself out there more when I was younger. As far as like putting out music, I wish I would have put myself out there earlier. I was in bands and stuff, but my own music I kept tucked for a long time. I didn’t really tell anybody, I kind of just sat around. I still kind of do that, but it just takes time.
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Interview by Rahel Tekle