MANIK and option4 team up as 909 Til Infinity for Treasure Fingers’ new label909

MANIK and option4 team up as 909 Til Infinity for Treasure Fingers’ new label

Chris Manik and Brennen Bryarly have been killing dancefloors for quite some time as MANIK and option4 respectively, releasing huge tracks on some of the most well-respected labels in the world while pushing sounds that run the gamut from sublime techno to funk-infused house. While both of the guys admittedly dislike collaborations, their new project 909 Til Infinity finds the two pairing up for a boundary-pushing, party-starting sound that combines elements of techno, house and fun into one big steaming mess of dancefloor madness.

We caught up with the duo to talk about collaborating in the modern era, Treasure Fingers’ new label Psycho Disco and NBA Jam.

MANIK and option4 team up as 909 Til Infinity for Treasure Fingers’ new label909 Til Infinity Thefuturefm

DA: So how did this all come about?

BB: I was in LA and Chris hit me up one day and told me to come over to the studio to hang out.

CM: I had a scratch beat going and he jumped on it and next thing you know we had an EP done.

BB: In general I HATE making music with people, but we messed around and wrote a full on HIT in like 4 hours. And then we were like uhhh, we should do that again sometime. Chris for some reason is my Huckleberry – when we’re in the studio, it just clicks.

CM: I don’t like collaborations either. Unless you get me in the studio with Russ Westbrook, I wont do it. But basically we wrote about 8 tracks last year in total on about three or four trips when Brennen was out here in LA.

DA: Did you end up finding a middle ground between your own individual styles?

BB: That’s the best part of the duo actually – we’re making music we would never make or release on our own, so it’s like a full-on true duo. A lot of people fake it, call themselves a duo and one guy makes the music and the other guy does the marketing or whatever. This has been rad because we have written every tune together in the studio together, not sending stems back and forth. We’re trying to release music with a bit of an edge. I don’t know of anyone that’s really pushing what we’re pushing at the moment. It’s definitely a U.S. sound, but it walks the line a little bit – it’s not full on bass house, or whatever the kids are calling it, but it’s not techno either.

CM: I would say it’s just good party music. When making music we pride ourselves in trying to make fun stuff. We make all the lyrics – there’s no samples. For example, on the second track on our record that comes out next week, Brennen said on the mic “Don’t clock me out cos I’m still workin.”

BB: Yeah it’s all my beautiful golden angel voice, haha.

CM: And then we have a few other catchy things going on some other jams. On “Dee” we said mid-break, “Hold up, hold up! Spin the record back man, this shit’s been going on wayyy too long – I ain’t no husband!” Things like that make this 909 project real fun. Works well on the dancefloor too.

DA: How did you end up linking w Ashley (Treasure Fingers) for his new label?

BB: We’ve all been friends for a while and we were trying to find a home for the quirky records we were making. So when he started his new label up, we sent the tracks over to him and like two hours later, he got back and was like, “Umm hi, I’d like to sign ALL of these.” Couldn’t be happier working with friends.

DA: And the name 909 Til Infinity – is that just out of love for the 909?

CM: I love music gear and old school hip hop and we both are huge NBA fans, so the whole branding for this project is very old-school NBA.

BB: Real life true story though – there’s no one in the U.S. that can beat me at NBA Jam – you can quote me on that. One time Kastle and Amtrac tried to challenge me and I beat them like 114 to 7, and that was with the computer cheating for them.

DA: What can we expect from 909 Til Infinity moving forward?

CM: We have our new Don’t Clock Me Out EP dropping next Friday (2/11) and then a single on Nurvous at the end of March. We’re aiming for a debut tour before 2016 ends with pizzas and beers in hand!

BB: We’re adamant about making all the music TOGETHER in the studio at the same time, in real life. The focus is just to make edgy fun music and ALOT of it.

Listen below to the premiere of “Do That,” out February 11 on Psycho Disco Records, and stay tuned for more party-busting jams from 909 Til Infinity.

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