Trap influencer, innovator and overall pioneer UZ has been at the forefront of the bass and trap scene since its early integration into electronic music. The French producer, DJ and turntablist, who is widely known for his masked image and dark and minimal productions, continues to be regarded as one of the most well-respected producers in the scene.

From his original ‘Trap Shit’ series to his award-winning Quest Mix for Annie Nightingale and more, UZ has continued to stay on top of his game for years. Now, running his very own Quality Goods Records label, he continues to pave the way for the next generation of forward-thinking and experimental producers.

We teamed up with UZ to look at how he gets his pristine sound, from his DAW to his monitors and more. Check it out below, and find upcoming tour dates at www.balltrapmusic.com.

In the Studio: UZ

Pioneer Turntables + Pioneer DJM-S9 Mixer

Since turntablism has been one of the greatest parts of my life, these are still one of my favorite pieces of equipment. I have always and will always use them to perform live and If you add the Pioneer mixer and Serato you’re getting a killer combo! They tried to make me switch to CDJs once but it won’t happen!

Apollo Twin MKII QUAD

Everybody needs an interface and I feel like that one is becoming a standard in home and professional studio setups nowadays. I was using the Apogee Duet for the past 5 years and I recently upgraded to the Apollo and I’m really happy with it, sounds super clean and crisp and the plugins are awesome. Great investment!

Dave Smith Instruments Prophet-6

I recently acquired this nice synth and it really sounds amazing. Working strictly with a laptop is great but adding a little of that analog touch always adds warmth to your production. I used to have a lot of analog gear but I had to sell everything when I moved to the US, unfortunately. I’ll get more analog stuff in the future like a compressor or stuff like this.

Ableton Live

I started producing on Fruity Loops 3, then produced music on Cubase for the longest time but when I bought the last Upgrade I just felt that they were trying to be Ableton. I have been hearing the best about Ableton for years and I recently decided to switch and I think it was the best decision I have ever made. I felt like I was limited in Cubase and I wanted to be more free and be able to experiment more in a shorter period of time. Definitely a game changer for me!

Focal Shape 65 Monitors + Sub

It’s been almost five years since I moved from my old place where I had a great home studio and was making music all day every day, but since I moved out I was basically making music on the road or in my living room with my headphones on. Now that I have my house with a great home studio again I invested in Focals Monitors + sub and it is just night and day, they sound so clean and it is just a pleasure being able to sit there and write music on those. If you don’t know that brand, go to your local music shop and try them, you won’t be disappointed!

Listen to UZ’s brand new album, The Rebirth, now:

Connect with UZ: Facebook / Twitter / SoundCloud