Discussing Acraze’s Hit Single, Audiotistic, and More
Taking over the globe with his hit single “Do It To It” is DJ and producer, Acraze. Charlie Duncker, better known as Acraze, hails from Staten Island and is known by thousands. His electric sound has been recognized and supported by artists such as Chris Lake, Zedd, DJ Snake, and more. Not only is his music radiate energy, but also his presence on and off stage. We were able to sit down with Acraze at Audiotistic San Diego and talk about what he’s been up to and more!
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EDM Maniac: Hey, what’s up!
Acraze: Hey! Just chillin’. Excited to be here.
EDM Maniac: You just hopped off stage here at Audiotistic San Diego. How was that?
Acraze: We’re here! It was my second time in San Diego, so to come back for a festival, feels really good. The crowd was amazing. The energy was amazing. It just feels good to be here, you know? I love this place. It feels like home almost.
EDM Maniac: Really! This could possibly be home?
Acraze: I mean maybe one day! We’ll see. We’ll see.
EDM Maniac: San Diego is beautiful! They’d be lucky to have you! It’s no secret that your song “Do It To It” has become incredibly popular, not only in the EDM community but also viral on TikTok. And on top of that, you have 40 million streams —
Acraze: 48 now *laughs*! We’re climbing!
EDM Maniac: Oh shoot! That was literally just a few days ago! It must be those 2 million daily streams!
Acraze: 2.5 now *laughs*! Ah, we f*cking love it.
EDM Maniac: Oh my gosh *laughs*. Did you expect this song to gain so much popularity?
Acraze: Uhm, I knew that it was special to me at first, but to be this big? I did not expect it. Like we teased it on New Year’s of 2021 and the crowd just went crazy. Like I woke up one morning to like 500 DMs. People were like ‘Yo, what song is this?’ Me and my manager were in the hotel room and were like ‘Dude, I think this is going to be big’. But we didn’t think this big until we were sending it out to DJs and DJ Snake started playing it, Malaa started playing it, Chris Lake and Joyryde started playing it, and the list just f*cking goes on.
I knew it was going to be big, but it got onto the pop charts on the radio and I was like this is a game-changer song. Like I don’t know how other people see it, but this is a special song and my baby.
EDM Maniac: How does it feel to have that song played by everybody?
Acraze: It’s surreal! We wake up every day and the label hits us up and they’re like ‘Oh, something new just happened! You’re number one on this and number one on this!’ I’m like holy sh*t!
EDM Maniac: Do you have an inspiration for that song?
Acraze: To be honest, there’s not a lot of inspiration for that song. One day, I was waking up in bed during quarantine. I think it was around October and I heard some girl playing a song in her new car and my phone happened to freeze and it was just looping where the drop was and I was like ‘Holy sh*t. This could be dope as a house song’. So, I got out of bed and I made the original demo within an hour. And that was it. The birth of “Do It To It” right there.
EDM Maniac: That’s awesome! You also just did a crazy B4B with Vintage Culture, Nitti Gritti, and Zedd. What was that experience like for you?
Acraze: I’ve always been a fan of Zedd. Him supporting me is huge. I remember he hit me up on Instagram and he was like ‘Yo, I’m going to use your song for my EDC intro’. I was not actually there for it, but my manager was and when that video went viral, he texted me and was like, ‘BRO!’ in all caps with like 20 O’s. It was so cool and [Zedd] texted me after to come to his place and it was cool to connect with him.
But going back to the show, I never got to meet Vintage, so it was cool to talk with him finally. He was also supportive of the song. Nitti Gritti, who I have been friends with for the longest time, we made dubstep records together before I crossed over to the house scene. I love all of them. They’re such good producers and legends in their own ways.
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EDM Maniac: That’s so cool! Would you do dubstep again?
Acraze: No, no. For anyone who’s reading, Acraze is a house/pop project. That’s the only thing I’m doing now. If I come back, it won’t be under Acraze. I still make that kind of music, but I won’t put it under my name anymore.
EDM Maniac: So, if we see an alias come out…
Acraze: If you see a new alias come out with fire music, it might be me.
EDM Maniac: We’ll just assume any dubstep song under a new name is you then *laughs*. If you could collab with any artist who would it be?
Acraze: I have a lot of dream collabs, but I think right now I want to work on a lot of solo stuff. Me and my manager talked about getting into the position of having one good song and then showing everyone who we are as an artist. That’s why now I’m working on a lot of solo projects than collabs.
But, if I was to collab with anyone it would be Skrillex. He’s always been an inspiration to me. I’m trying to think of people I haven’t collabed with yet because I don’t want to drop names I have already collabed with. Skrillex and Chris Lake, absolutely.
EDM Maniac: Awesome! And I know you can’t talk about your secret collabs, but do you have any new projects that you’re working on right now?
Acraze: Oh, yeah. I’ve teased a lot of new music today. We have a lot of songs that we are trying to finish, but in terms of what’s next, I want to keep people on their toes.
EDM Maniac: You’re definitely keeping me on my toes. And you’re touring right now! What’s that like?
Acraze: Touring is crazy! Last year, I went from selling like no tickets then to every show on the road being sold out. So, it’s cool to see that everyone has been loving what I’m doing. It’s a surreal feeling. It’s everything I ever wished for. I’m speechless! I don’t even know what to say half the time, but it’s very fun.
EDM Maniac: What is your favorite and least favorite thing about touring?
Acraze: Least favorite about touring? The flights. It doesn’t matter what flight I get on. I’m always praying for my back. My back is just screwed after every flight.
EDM Maniac: Even like a 30-45 minute flight?
Acraze: Yeah, I don’t know why. My back just doesn’t work with flights.
EDM Maniac: You should get one of those back support things.
Acraze: Is that a thing?! They gotta have something like that right? Should I make something for people to pack on flights?
EDM Maniac: I swear there is something like that! But if there isn’t you should get it patented *laughs*. What’s next after touring?
Acraze: I guess next year is going to be big for me. We’re putting out a lot of new music, playing a lot of festivals, and next year we just announced for Ultra. I’ve always wanted to play at Ultra. It has been a dream of mine. Planning another massive tour and meeting new people! I eat, breathe, and bleed this stuff, so this is what I’m doing.
EDM Maniac: All gas no breaks! What are 3 fun facts about yourself that you don’t think your fans know?
Acraze: One thing that nobody but my team really knows that I’m kind of crazy about is I’m very scared of heights. Like I can’t drive over a bridge. I used to drive over bridges when I was 15, but after 18, I used to pull over on the side of the bridge and have to Uber to the other side of the bridge.
EDM Maniac: What happened to you that made you so scared all of the sudden?
Acraze: I don’t know! I don’t know why, but I can’t drive over bridges. The second thing is I love food. Everyone loves food, but I’m obsessed with food.
EDM Maniac: What’s your go-to food?
Acraze: Spanish food. My mom is Spanish. She’s from Honduras and my dad is from Germany and he’s also Italian. So I’m like Spanish and Italian, but I choose Spanish food over anything.
EDM Maniac: Do you have a go-to restaurant or is mom’s cooking the best?
Acraze: Mom’s cooking for sure. Home-cooked meals are the best thing ever. You can’t touch a grandma’s plate. You can’t *laughs*! The third fact would probably be that I love basketball a lot. I don’t watch games that much, but I like to play it more than anything. Those are the main things I like to do; food and basketball. But any type of heights? No.
EDM Maniac: If you could tell your fans one thing, what would it be?
Acraze: I came from nothing. Like buying McChickens to try and feed myself because I was trying to live a dream and be here and have this platform. No money, homeless for a while, and I found music. I made it my priority and if I was to say anything to anyone it would be: Believe in what you do and be passionate because you have one shot at life and once you’re done, what do you have left to leave earth? So, don’t be scared to take risks and be ruthless about what you’re passionate about.
EDM Maniac: Well said! Thanks for sitting with me and talking!
Acraze: Thanks for having me!
