COPYCATT is one of these standard-bearers of neuro music. He’s a staple of the sound, and anyone who explores neuro with honest curiosity will come across his music. Hailing from Queensland, Australia, Andre Butterworth has been producing and contributing his production knowledge to the world for the last five years and running, all the more impressive when you learn he’s just 22 years old. He constantly makes himself available to curious fans, hobbyists, and contemporary producers through a series of production-based video streams and tutorials. Many of his songs, like 2017’s “Tom’s Battery” with Frequent, have traveled around the world on sound systems. As a result, his influence is tremendous, but this comes as a surprise to Andre.

Releasing just below 40 tracks, COPYCATT has maintained a catalog of monstrous cuts. Every song features a potent mix and master, and that sonic clarity has become a big part of his reputation today. Crafting wild, isometric sounds is one thing, but using them well is an entirely different matter. COPYCATT’s music isn’t just an amalgam of vicious noise and transient downbeats. It has a groove and soul of it’s own, channeling powerful melodies through raucous, warped bass lines.

Although he’s open about his production processes online, COPYCATT is still somewhat enigmatic, in part because he’s never performed in the States, the current hotbed of neuro music. Now, for the first time, he goes on the record with The Rust and illuminates other aspects of his project beyond production: his broad, diverse influences from Madlib to Skrillex, his visa troubles, and his raw feelings about his own art and processes. As a companion to his exclusive interview, COPYCATT has delivered an exclusive mix of IDs, which we will release next week through the Rusted Rhythms mix seres. Stay chooned.

The Rust: Since you’re based out of Australia, you’re in the same boat as quite a few other major players in alternative electronic music. Can you talk about the music culture where you’re from? What’s actually in the water over there?

Andre: It's an odd scene over here. I think Australia has this kind of younger brother complex where we all think every other country has more talent than we do, and so we don't take our own content very seriously. A lot of the musicians I know here also don't take Australia very seriously as a place to have a career in music, and in a corresponding way a lot of the major music sources and radio stations here don't take Australian artists seriously until they find their way into an overseas market like the US, hence a lot of the successful people tend to plant their success elsewhere. There's a lot of incredible talent here though, and most of it is pretty much undiscovered. I've met some of the most talented producers here with less than 100 SoundCloud followers, and they usually live in some rural area and just churn out great music for the fun of it.

The Rust: In the United States especially, you have a high reputation amongst incoming and established producers alike, with many crediting you on their shorthand list of sound design inspirations. How do you perceive that reputation?

Andre: I do find it pretty bizarre to hear that. I think because there's not much of a scene here in Australia for the kind of music I make, I find it hard to imagine what people tell me about the way it's received in places like the United States. My friends who live in the States message me when they hear my tracks being played out at festivals and send me videos and it always freaks me out. I have a bit of a bittersweet joy about it, because usually I'll send my demos to guys like Chee and Frequent to play out at their shows, but if I don't have many shows lined up at the time, the show that they play will probably be the first time anybody hears that demo. But I really love the thought that there's a culture for the stuff I like to create, so I can't complain.

The Rust: How did you find yourself so enamored with thick bass music in the first place?