Inside the studio: Sam WOLFE on studio set-up and production flow

Last Friday, Sam WOLFE planted himself in the HILOMATIK family with his newest track ‘The Party’, exactly five weeks after releasing ‘Swipe Right’.

The US-based producer, one of the creative minds behind the 2024 collab hit ‘YES B!TCH’ with Danny Avila and HNTR, took the time to answer some questions to give insight into his personality and production style.

Can you walk us through your studio setup?
It's pretty simple. I use an Arturia MiniFreak as my main keyboard. Other than that, I have Focal Trio 11s, which are incredible—I went from Yamaha HS5s to these, and it really changed my ability to mix. I use a Shure SM7 mic with the Cloudlifter CL-1 Box and a Focusrite Clarett +4Pre as my audio interface.

Do you prefer to produce digital or analog (and why)?
Digital, but that's probably because I've taught myself everything inside the box. If I was a legendary pianist, I’d probably prefer analog, but I’m playing to my strengths.

What DAW are you working with (and why)?
Ableton. A friend showed it to me back in college, and that's all I've ever tried to know.

Can you run us through the production process of 'Swipe Right'?
Sure, I’ll try to condense it. Right now, the 1/8th pumping bassline is very in, but I wanted extra drive to make mine sound special. I found this nasty preset called Bulldozer in a Phonk pack inside Nexus, filtered it down, and that gave the bassline a cool driving groove. From there, I took a bass stab sound I’ve been using and made a rhythmic pattern on top.

Before the bass stab comes in, I repeat the same pattern with a simple sine wave pluck, then it drops into a crunchy bass. I like when melodies start soft but then drop into something harder on the same notes.

After this, I threw together a break with 808s and a cool melody, brought it all back up, and dropped it into a little fakeout with my signature saws doing the same pluck & bass pattern. The vocal fit perfectly on top, and voilà—we have Swipe Right.

What are some of your favorite plugins?
There are so many, but right now: Split EQ by Eventide, TR5 One by IK Multimedia, Standard Clipper, Serum, and don’t sleep on Kilohearts and their suite of plugins, especially their Waveshaper Filter.

What are the first steps you take when producing a new song?
These days I try to start with securing a good vocal, but since those are hard to come by, I like to make a nice kick and bass, then build sound design ideas and grooves. I like to have a lot of ideas, then cannibalize the best parts and combine them into new tracks. I find it easier to create when the canvas is blank, so if I get stuck, I hop to another idea. Sometimes ideas fit together perfectly to create a nearly finished song.

When do you know a song is finished?
Once it's signed and released! My biggest track, Yes B!TCH, started as an instrumental in January 2023. I played it on tour all year as an ID, got the vocal in January 2024, and it didn’t get released until September 2024. Nearly two years from start to finish.

What’s your preferred process when collaborating with other artists?
I prefer to send stems back and forth. Other than that, I make sure everyone does what they’re best at and keeps the ego out of it. It’s a business, but it should be fun—that’s why I got into it.

What records from other artists do you admire from a production point of view?
I respect artists who know their sound and stick to it. Shoutouts to Pavel Petrov, Kos:mo, and Dansyn—consistently making cool records.

Who is, in your eyes, technically the most gifted producer of all time?
There are many, but I love AU5 and his sound design tutorials. Even if I don’t use the same sounds, the way he pushes a sound further inspires me to push my own sounds, leading to some of my most unique creations.