Q&A: Sweater Beats talks Bruin Bash performance, musical inspirations

Sweater Beats agreed to perform at Bruin Bash the week before the concert because he wanted to see Ty Dolla $ign live.

A fan of the rapper’s last album “Free TC,” music producer Sweater Beats showcased his mix of electronic, pop and R&B music in Pauley Pavilion in September.

Students who danced to Sweater Beats’ synth music at Bruin Bash can see him live again in Los Angeles. One month after his concert at UCLA, Sweater Beats will perform at the El Rey Theatre on Friday.

[Throwback: Music producer Sweater Beats to perform at Bruin Bash]

Sweater Beats, whose real name is Antonio Cuna, moved from the Philippines to Maryland growing up. He draws inspiration for his hybrid contemporary R&B set from Spotify playlists such as Discover Weekly, Fresh Finds, Wild and Free, New Music Friday and Hot 100.

The Daily Bruin’s Lindsay Weinberg spoke with Sweater Beats about his interest in music production, his performance at Bruin Bash and his upcoming concert.

Daily Bruin: You played guitar growing up. When and why did you become interested in music production?

Sweater Beats: In middle school and high school I played in a band, but everyone graduated and went on to college out of state and I was still at home. And I wanted to still keep making music so I kind of got into production that way. I just had to program my own drums and play guitar along with that music, because I didn’t have anyone else to play with. So yeah, that’s how it started and discovering new music, more electronic music.

DB: Where do you draw inspiration from your sets?

SB: I would say I just listen to a lot. I have my Spotify playlist and Discover Weekly and that’s some awesome music I always discover from there. Those are kind of like the starting points I guess to build my stuff from. And then I just get music from my friends – I find them really, really cool. Yeah, just trying to keep the vibe going and do some different things and have a dance party.

DB: How would you describe your method and style of music?

SB: I think people would put me under future hits because I put out a lot of music that falls under that, but I’m trying to go a little more forward. I’d like to call it adventure pop … it’s still kind of new and fresh with all the sounds I use, but it wasn’t like the formula pop music and having really hooky choruses and drops. So yeah, I would call it adventure pop.

DB: Why did you want to perform at Bruin Bash?

SB: Honestly when my manager told me that Ty Dolla $ign was also playing I was like, “Yep I’m there, totally down.”

DB: How were you feeling the night of Bruin Bash?

SB: It was great, everyone was super positive. I don’t usually get crowds that are so responsive to the music. And I don’t usually like to talk during my sets because I’m a shy guy but anything I said it was like, “Hey what’s up?” Everyone was going crazy and that really gave me the feels.

DB: This is your first live solo tour. What are you looking forward to with the Los Angeles show?

SB: Just being able to play 100 percent Sweater Beats and this is the first time I’ll have full light production. And I’ll be playing drums, guitar … so it will be fun to kind of break out of the DJ mentality and put on a live set and kind of go back to my roots of playing in a band.

DB: Can you give any sort of preview of your set list?

SB: Yeah, just like all the SoundCloud hits, my Flume remix, “Cloud City” and I’ll be playing all the records from my upcoming EP (“For The Cold”). So it won’t be out yet by the time I start tour, but whoever comes to the show will hear all the songs from the next EP.