Written and Published by X
There is no secret to being successful. Success is the result of hard work, and time. Robert (Bobby) Ticsay, otherwise known as TRAPTOR, knows this all too well. Although Bobby started learning how to produce bass music back in 2018, music has been a huge part of his life since he was little. He attributes most of his music endeavors to his moms side of the family due to growing up as a classical pianist with help from his mother and grandmother. “I always hated reading music. I would ‘cheat’ by listening to the song I wanted to play and play it back by ear, with my parents thinking that I was actually reading the sheet music.” I loved hearing about this because I can actually relate. I played instruments growing up too, and didn’t know how to read sheet music, but I could always learn the basics of the song in about 10-20 minutes. It’s a truly a gift that you have to be born with. Playing music by ear is such a great concept, because you really process music a lot differently than others. Bobby took this talent to the next level.
As time went on, Bobby picked up a few more instruments along the way. He played the trumpet at 12, bass guitar at 13, drums at 15 and lastly, his voice. He had grown up singing in church choirs and musicals. “I grew up listening to a lot of alternative rock such as Smashing Pumpkins, Tool, Radiohead and also loved Daft Punk, Bassment Jaxx and Robert Miles. Those last three artists are who inspired me to take my hand in writing my very first techno and trance songs when I was 13 using a Kurzweil Mark 10 keyboard.” It became obvious to me that he had an immense amount of experience with music as a child, and that music was quite literally his life.
As much as Bobby enjoyed both traditional and electronic genres, he claimed that he gravitated towards dubstep because of how unconventional it was in the realm of musicality and theory. And it’s true- dubstep has its own stylistic and cultural origins, but it is relatively new in terms of its own category. It’s a crazy domino effect. A lot of music branches off to different subcategories until it becomes own and then branches off once again, and so on. As I kept talking to Bobby, I asked him what his creative process with dubstep was. “I like to think of a song from start to finish. I know a lot of dubstep producers tend to focus on the drop primarily and build around that, but I work the other way around. I think of a motif that carries through the intro and let that guide how a song will flow period to me, I'm very big into intros because it sets the stage, the mood, and can control the intensity of a given song.” As I listened to some of his tracks, I noticed that he really meant what he said about his intros, because I got goosebumps right from the beginning. It’s unexpected, syncopated, heavy, and above all, astounding. I was very, very impressed. Using Ableton, Bobby figured out how to create intense, sparse, rhythmic patterns that keep you on your feet.
Recently, TRAPTOR opened for PhaseOne. “The show was a lot of fun, I’m looking forward to playing at Soundcheck again in the future. By far one of the best venues I’ve gotten to play at thus far.” Said Bobby. After all that was said, I can tell just how much Bobby has grown as an artist, from his childhood, until now. He’s reaching new heights. I feel as if we’re going to see even more growth within his music and as an artist in general. I can’t wait to see him live. If you want to listen to some great dubstep by TRAPTOR, click the links below. -X
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3qWUqnsdeFpFxG1wf14Efx?si=LCZFSH7hTpKcp7dkE06GlA&dl_branch=1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/traptor.music/
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/traptor-music