USD musicians collaborate with Soulcrate

University of South Dakota seniors Ross Miller and Dylan West didn’t originally set out to create music together, but after becoming housemates in 2011, they tested the waters and realized they clicked.

Together, the two create electronica-based music that also features rap.

One of West’s roommates ended up backing out of moving in at the last minute in 2011. Miller knew of West and his roommates through the local rap community and was invited to live with them.

“I had never met the kid, and he ended up living with some buddies and me,” West said. “He would just sit in his room for hours writing and reciting to himself, and I would be across the hall in my room doing the same thing.”

Miller said it took the pair six months of living together to finally create their first song as a duo.

“It takes time to figure out a collaboration, but he produces, engineers and records all my music,” Miller said. “I do most of the writing and he makes the production behind it. We do it ourselves in our living room.”

Individually, their journeys as musicians are a little different. West’s older brother was into production and West said he took an interest to it around the age of 12.

“I recorded my first song on (my brother’s) equipment,” West said. “When I’d finally saved enough money, I bought music production equipment.”

West said he was initially going to attend McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul, Minn., for production, before deciding on USD.

“I came to the realization that this was something I could figure out on my own,” West said. “A degree in production isn’t very marketable. I knew this was something I could learn on the side and still pursue a degree.”

Miller, on the other hand, didn’t get started writing music and rapping until about four years ago, when he was 19.

“I didn’t get started so young, but I did a lot of speech and debate in high school, so I had done that kind of performance,” he said. “One night, I was with some buddies and we were writing some raps, and one of my buddies got cold feet and I spun it into a rap. It felt good, so I kept doing it.”

Miller said by the time he realized he wanted to pursue a music career, he was too far into earning his degree at USD to justify dropping out of school.

“Before I felt like my music was good enough, I figured I had to get my degree,” he said. “Plus, school has given me the flexibility to pursue music the way I want to. It’s a good academic environment where you can learn so many things from everyone around you, which is nice, since it’s hard to be creative working a dead end job.”

Once Miller and West graduate in spring 2014, they plan to move to Denver, Colo., where they said there is more support for their electronica-based rap.

“We’re part of the Mile High Sound Movement, which is a collective of musicians that throw shows mostly in Denver, so being right in that will be nice,” Miller said. “We’re hoping to get our album signed to some sort of label or at least a distribution deal. It’s hard to get exposure in Vermillion, South Dakota.”

West said the two are building a network with more established acts.

“It’s like stairs,” he said. “So right now, we’re working with Soulcrate, and they have outlets with artists like Grieves and PROF. It’s kind of about association and just keep climbing the ladder.”

The duo is featured on Soulcrate’s latest album, which was released Sept. 3.

“Once you start bringing people in consistently, any promoter is going to eye you because you’re going to keep putting on successful shows,” Miller said. “Our recently announced show with Grieves came about because of Soulcrate. It’s just about building any networks that you can. When you treat it like a profession and not a hobby, you can build up your resume. This didn’t come easy, but now it’s starting to get fun and interesting.”