By: Casey Davidson

NastyNasty is back, you dirty little speaker humpers.

The release of his latest album, Broken Moon, heralded the (reluctant) return of Jasper Reeder to the spotlight he's not incredibly comfortable with—but shines in, all the same.

We all know NastyNasty is known for being an artist who isn’t afraid to take risks and leaves it all in every track he produces. He even let us in to poke and prod him about the new album, producer life, and what it means to focus and get down to business in the studio.

Why are we bothering this experimental producer when he'd much prefer to be tinkering in the studio? It's because we're assholes. But also, because he's playing The Untz Festival this summer. Good enough answer for you, Mr. Nosey? Reeder's headlining the Early Arrival Party on Friday, June 2, alongside his fellow sub.mission cronies The Widdler and Thelem, leading into two stacked days of left-field bass on June 3 and 4 at the Mariposa County Fairgrounds in Mariposa, California.

What has fan reaction been to the new album?

Fan reaction has been pretty good, just the right amount of praise and admonishment in my opinion. When I'm at my best I make polarizing music so a little backlash makes me feel like I did my job. On the whole though it got a lot of great coverage and is reaching a whole new audience which is really all I can ask for.

Anything strange or serendipitous happen during the production of Broken Moon?

My whole life is pretty strange but one incident sticks out pretty hard. I was playing around with some guitar pedals and my Moog one afternoon and accidentally used the wrong power supply on this distortion pedal. When the Moog wasn't playing the pedal would send an electrical hum through and this call and response between the hum and the synth eventually became the song “Advanced Chiropractic.”

When you've inhabited these songs and moods for so long in the studio, what does it feel like to transfer that intimate relationship to the stage?

I mean I really only play the ones I feel the most attached too live, most of my intimate relationships are dysfunctional at best and the ones between me and my music are no different. Playing them live is just like "Hey my life is messy, I bet your life is messy too—let's headbang now."

How do you deal with indecisive situations when making a song?

Work on something else and come back with fresh ears, nine times out of ten if I'm indecisive about something in a song that means it's probably not a very good song to start with.

Do you have any hobbies or tricks you have that help you with structured breaks or lend focus in the midst of a music-making streak?

Man, focus and structure are two things I just don't really have, I kind of just try to make sounds as much as possible all week so when a song idea comes I have material to work with.

What's 2017 got in store for Jasper?

I have a metric fuckton of collabs that I'm really stoked on getting out into the world with Sayer, Bleep Bloop, Proko, and G Jones. Who knows what tomorrow brings really....hopefully 2017 has some android babe type unit who can handle my current set of neuroses and shares my level of emotional maturity (approximately that of a 7th grader). I'm not really holding my breath or anything like that just looking to put out more music, happy to still have a place in the landscape after all these years.

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We must say, 2017 is already looking a whole lot better than 2016 with Broken Moon and NastyNasty isn’t afraid to let us into his life by playing the songs he feels most attached to on stage. We have a different appreciation for him and being so comfortable with us, but also showing us his badass side of creativity. 2017 has no idea how awesome it will be and NastyNasty has a hand in it; another year to headbang together and live our messy lives in harmony.

Snag your tickets to The Untz Festival and make sure to get your Early Arrival Party pass along with them so you can revel in NastyNasty's nastiness with us.