Mikey Pennington, better known by alias Jackal, exploded into the scene with his trap hit “Shakedown” in 2013 and has only continued to build momentum. His arsenal of remixes, collaborations, and original tracks show diverse talent traversing a multitude of genres with a unique, energetic sound. It wasn’t long before his personal inspiration Skrillex took notice of his music, particularly his most recent collaboration with LA-based duo Boombox Cartel.
Both Jackal and the fierce minds of Boombox Cartel come from strong musical backgrounds, with each of them delving into different instruments and styles from a young age. Their knowledge and experience shines through in “Jamba”, which fits perfectly into the OWSLA family. The track opens with fast paced snare drums and gradually building vocals, and then slams you with a heavy beat and high pitched synths contrasted nicely by the deep tone of the vocals. The track swiftly slides into a more trap-like feel towards the middle, and finishes up strong with echoing vocals and smooth 808 kicks.
The track will be on sale by OWSLA on March 17th and check out our interview with Jackal & Boombox Cartel from this last weekends Wobbleland in the Bay Area below.
What have you been up too recently?
Jackal: Making some of the best music I think I’ve ever made and touring America. I just moved to Los Angeles too so life is sweet for me right now.
Boombox Cartel: We’ve been making a lot of new music, finding our own sound & trying to change the game… and eating a lot of tacos too.
What was the inspiration for/ is there a story behind the track Chinchilla?
J: I actually made that track about a year ago while i was touring Australia, theres a video somewhere of me playing it in Sydney but I got so frustrated with the mixdown I didn’t come back to finish it for like seven months where I finished it on Minnesota’s tour bus. It’s called Chinchilla ‘cus I just thought it would be a dope name to call a track and ended up recording myself saying it on my laptop.
Do you have a favorite track right now?
J: I love “Jungle Bae” off of Jack U’s new EP, very inspiring stuff.
BC: Americo – GTA’s remix of 6th Gear takes the cake for sure.
Jorge – I can’t stop listening to Make It Bounce by Trollphace the wonky wobblyness to that track is insane.
Favorite artist?
J: Skrillex all the way.
BC: At the moment up and coming would definitely be QUIX, Hasse De Moor & Ricky Remedy.
What do you use to produce/DJ?
J: I just recently switched over to Ableton from Cubase, best decision I made all year. That and my headphones is all I need.
BC: We’ve always made music on Ableton and we recently acquired a Prophet 12 so we’re trying to bring a bit of analog sound to our music.
Favorite Plug in?
J: Kontakt is my favey for sampling.
BC: Anything by Universal Audio is amazing & as far a synths Massive, Omnisphere & Serum are really good go-to’s.
How do you feel about the state of EDM scene right now? What would you like to see more of?
J: I think it’s great but if I had to say it would be to see more vocal collaborations. I’m trying to really push my music to be more like a full track rather than just a crazy build and a drop.
BC: The scene keeps growing and growing on a daily basis and that’s amazing! And I don’t think there’s anything we would like to see more of, but actually less of. We’d like to see less drugs, less drama, less jealousy, less negativity and more and better music and better musicianship. More taco trucks at festivals too.
Favorite genre of non electronic music?
J: Obnoxious hiphop for sure.
BC: Indie/Alternative Rock.
What do you like to do when you’re not on tour or in the studio?
J: I’m kinda always thinking of ideas, theres no time to stop in this industry so i don’t really do much else.
BC: Eat new food, go to the movies, hang out with the homies, go back home (Monterrey, Mexico) and visit our friends & families. Sleep… we like to sleep too… a lot.
Any artists you really want to work with?
J: I think me and Elliphant would work really well together, I love her voice and style so much. Her and I got this beat i would love to hear A$AP rocky on.
BC: Skrillex, Diplo, Bro Safari… It’s an endless list hahah, but outside of the electronic music scene pretty much just about anybody would be really cool to work with. For example somebody in the Indie/Alternative Rock side of the industry.
Who are you looking forward to seeing most at Wobbleland?
J: I cant wait to see how the crowd reacts to my new music, that and hangin’ with all the DJ friends, some I haven’t seen in a while!
BC: Everyone! It’s gonna be a dog house in there with all the amazing talent on that crazy line-up!