Article by: Jessica Duncan
Over the last few years Alec Berve, better known as Man Cub, has been making a name for himself in the melodic bass scene. The producer from Albuquerque, New Mexico sat down with us to give Moon Lvnding followers a little insight into the person behind the music in our latest edition of Who Are Ya?!
The name Man Cub comes from the Jungle Book, it was one of his favorite movies as a kid because he loved the music. After trying a few different names, Man Cub was the one that stuck; it was more memorable and easier to spell than his actual name. He has been producing since 2011 when he received a copy of FL Studio from a friend as a college freshman and started making hip hop beats. At that time, David Guetta and Avicii were taking over pop radio while Skrillex was bringing dubstep to the masses with Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites. “‘Levels’ changed my life, it was the best thing I had ever heard. ‘Scary Monsters’ was a little bit much at first.”
If you’ve listened to any of his music, you can tell that Man Cub is inspired by multiple artists and genres. His main influences are Avicii, Deadmau5, Skrillex, Porter Robinson, and Illenium. Progressive house and trance are the genres that have been inspiring his work lately. “I’m trying to take that 2010/11 sound and make it modern. Taking contemporary influences and the stuff that got me into dance music in the beginning and making something fresh with them.”
In July 2020 he released his debut album Impressions on Tritonal’s Enhanced Music. It featured collaborations with Tritonal, Haliene, and Svrcina that included elements of melodic bass, bass house, and trance. On working with Tritonal and Enhanced, “Getting to nerd out on the phone with Chad was cool, he speaks my language. Enhanced has been really supportive, they allowed me to make different styles and do whatever I wanted.” If he could collaborate with anyone, he would love to collaborate with Skrillex or Seven Lions, and if he could work with any vocalist, Demi Lovato would be at the top of the list.
Since Impressions dropped during the height of quarantine, he hasn’t been able to tour behind it and play those songs to a live audience yet. The only show he has played as Man Cub was opening for Tritonal in Albuquerque in 2019. At that show, he got to drop “Sure Thing” and see how the crowd reacted before it was released. If he could, he would love to support artists like Seven Lions or Dabin on tour. He plays piano and guitar, and plans to incorporate live elements into his shows to make them more than just DJing.
One of the coolest things he has experienced so far on his musical journey has been connecting with artists like Mitis and Trivecta. Hearing them express they’re huge fans of his music, Man Cub reacted, “I didn’t even know they knew who I was, it was a little bit of validation.”
So far in 2021, he has released “Enough” on Excision’s Subsidia label, “Real Me” and “In The Air” on Enhanced, a self-released progressive house track “Delete” and a remix for Svrcina “Ocean Eyes.” Expect to be hearing a lot more from Man Cub over the coming months. His next single “I’ll Find You” will be released on May 21 and he has multiple collaborations in the works. Stay up to date with Man Cub and listen to his latest releases using the links below.
CONNECT with Man Cub:
Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
LISTEN to Man Cub:
Spotify | Apple Music | Beatport | SoundCloud | YouTube
