Fraxiom Keeps It Fresh
Photography by Alexander Jibaja
As artists in the young hyperpop scene continue to explore different stylistic offshoots, few have been able to emulate the controlled chaos of singer and producer Fraxiom. So much so that the term “hyperpop” itself fails to fully encapsulate the broad range of experiences encountered when listening to their discography.
The Massachusetts native’s music embodies the informational overload of modern life. Now based in Chicago, their overall tone is shrouded in irony, while their instrumentals allow space for moments of genuine emotion to shine through. Fraxiom pokes fun at the absurdity of overconsumption and consumerism in their lyrics while simultaneously experimenting with heart-wrenching melodies that clash sharply with untraditional drum textures, creating a uniquely heart-racing experience.
In light of their recent U.S. tour with whoTF, we caught up with Fraxiom to talk about moving to Chicago, their production methods, and their plans for this year.
I read in an interview of yours that you were originally living in Boston before moving here to Chicago. I'm curious about what made you come to Chicago over more music hub places like L.A., New York, and Atlanta?
First main reason why I moved to Chicago is, I'm from Massachusetts, and I really don't like it. I think that it's very alienating if you want to be an artist there or even just anybody different–like just anybody trans or whatever. It is really hard to be your own person and be celebrated for who that person is in that place. And I find that in Chicago, it is easy to be celebrated for who you truly are because, [with] most of the people that you meet at shows and raves, your ego doesn't have currency in a lot of [those] spaces, which I like. I feel like in New York and L.A., it's almost like Twitter in real life vibes–which is so awesome. That's why I love to be there for a month at a time. But also I could never live there because I like to meet people as they are without any pretense surrounding them, unless I'm prepared for a setting like that.
What is your earliest memory of making music and how have your methods evolved up to today?
No, fuck, I actually remembered it and it's so embarrassing. I started off making music when I was like eleven or twelve. I had the Songify app by Schmoyoho on my iPod Touch. I would record parodies and original songs and play them for me and my friends and that is when I first started writing lyrics.
What system do you use now? How has it evolved to your more contemporary production? You do most of your own production, right?
Honestly in my vocal stuff, it’s sort of a mixed bag. I would not say that I do most of my own production. I would consider it probably a straight 50/50 ratio with the self-produced stuff versus not. [Between] learning how to write lyrics on the iPod and right now, I sort of had like nine years where I did not write any lyrics and only thought that production was my vibe, like DJing and producing. [I learned] the concepts of music on Virtual DJ and this DAW for Google Chrome that was out called Soundation. And sort of the things I learned from those two softwares made me learn concepts and want to download, well pirate, Ableton. So I stole the fuck out of Ableton as a 15-year-old and just didn't really look back.
Are there any production methods of yours that you feel are distinctive to your sound? Any specific VSTs or effects that you use that are like your favorites or go to’s?
See like, I have presets and VSTs that I kind of consider like my main go-to palette, but it's funny when you asked me to describe my sound because I've never really thought too hard about what my production style is. I think that my production style comes from the errors that I make when I'm trying to rip off my favorite artists and it doesn't sound like them. The parts that don't sound like them are my production style. And like, more technically speaking, I would say that I use Serum for all my synths and [Waves Tune Real-Time] on all the vocals. Literally my vocal chain for fucking everything is just like [Waves Tune Real-Time] and a compressor and that's literally it.
As for some of your more recent releases, I was looking at the three-track project, You Have Completely Destroyed Me!!!! and your single, “Wendy Carlos” with whoTF. Would you consider these releases indicative of a larger future project or are these more solely standalone releases?
Would it be fucking weird if I said both? … What I try to do when I'm releasing a short project [is] to express an immediate sharp feeling that I cannot live without expressing and also to experiment and try something new. It’s just a single format [that] takes some of the pressure off for you to be able to experiment with styles that you haven't tried before. I am really trying to display my ability as a truly versatile artist and I don't think you should be able to expect my big projects to sound like the small projects that I released in ‘22. Honestly, I think that I was just trying things and now I'm done trying things and now I'm ready to try big things.
So I know that you've been on a U.S. tour these past couple months with recent collaborator, whoTF. Have there been any standout moments from any of the shows that have contributed to making this a unique experience or has the process of touring become normal for you?
I think that touring is the thing that saved my life from feeling like it was becoming too normal. I genuinely do not think that I would have had the mental fortitude and inspiration to try to start working on a serious long form project now if I did not go on tour like that. And I think that is because, at least personally for my brain, I need to see how the shows actually happened. And when we blew up, we couldn't do shows for like a year and a half. And that was like not damaging, that's not the right word, but I think it prevented me from seeing the full scope of the impacts that I can have on the world. And especially at a younger age, it was hard to not feel like I'm boxed in. Like, “Oh, my music is only for the internet forever and for URL shows.” And so getting to prove all of that impostor syndrome wrong by my own actions on a tour that it was just our friends setting it up, no big label, big entity, any of that shit, like it was just very validating and I got a couple of life experiences that I would not trade for anything and I'm really happy that we got to tour. It still feels insane saying we did that and I feel like I'm just rephrasing over and over just how proud I am.
This was your first formal tour?
Absolutely. Everything else was more of like a one off show or something like that.
Okay, I was gonna ask how it compared to your previous live performances, but this is more like your first formal start you'd say?
Absolutely, yeah, we didn't tour in any sort of big way in 2022. I think there were only two food house shows. We didn't really have anyone helping us out and we sort of realized that if we want to do this, we shouldn't just wait. And so we just did it.
If you could collaborate with one artist/group/producer dead or alive, who would you want to work with?
Honestly, I think I would say A. G. Cook just because I don't think I would be trying to make pop music without listening to his music. That's just a dream for one day. I know probably when the right opportunity happens, it's something that I can pursue and try to execute.
Given that you're a producer, you kind of understand how audio and sound is in the shape of a sphere. How I personally envision music sometimes is the singer is in the center, and then the instrumentation and the production is the atmosphere. I call it the aura. So how would you describe your musical aura?
I think my musical aura is a student orchestra, like a middle school student orchestra. And there's seventy of them, they're all sitting around you, and they all look like they're about to play their instruments, but instead they all put their instruments down and pick up their phones and start bullying you and tweeting about how horrible your outfit is. And [they’re] shitting [on you], like pointing at you and laughing. My musical aura is just like parasocial psychological hellscape.
And then what's next for Fraxiom this year?
You're gonna have to find out.
Okay, fair enough. Is there anything else you feel that I, fans, or any newcomers should know?
What people should know is that we are actually like really soon, I don't want to say the exact dates or anything, but I basically am about to go to Florida with the sole intention of writing and producing the second food house album. We're really about to walk in and do that. I can't say how long it's gonna take because I don't feel comfortable giving us a timeframe or any of that, but I'm just happy that even is on the agenda and is about to happen.