Mitch Draper discovered his love for electronic music in 2014 while visiting New Orleans for the BUKU Music + Art Project. The festival would alter the course of his life from being an aspiring drummer playing in dead-end metal bands to becoming one of the hottest bass producers of recent years, TVBOO.

At the site of his epiphany, TVBOO will perform one of his final sets as a New Orleans resident at BUKU 2022. I spoke with TVBOO to learn more about his BUKU experiences, his side projects in podcasting and comedy, and his connection to New Orleans. He shared tips for beginners going to BUKU, his love for pop-punk, and the fear of falling off.

Have you been to BUKU Fest as a performer before?

I opened up the VIP stage in like 2018, maybe. I don’t even really want to count that because it was 15 of my homies who got VIP just to come support. I’ve attended a lot of BUKU Fests.

How many times have you gone as an attendee?

I think there’s only been one year that I’ve missed, really. BUKU was actually the festival that got me into electronic music.

I remember learning somewhere that you used to be into metal, right?

Oh yeah, big metalhead.

What was it about BUKU and electronic music that drew you in?

The energy. It’s the same with metal. That’s what got me was the energy of it. I like that it’s fast-paced and that there are so many different ways you can dance to it. Whenever I saw electronic music and heard it, I was throwing down harder than I’d ever danced. So that’s really what attracted me to it. I thought it was a lot of fun.

Are there any similarities between the two shows that was like a gateway for you into electronica?

Just the energy really. The whole forgetting everything and just having a good time. Metal music is really in your face and aggressive. And electronic music, the stuff that I started listening to in the beginning, was the same thing. I remember listening to heavy dubstep and thinking ‘This is metal but like in electronic form.’ You kinda have to see the parallel between the two.

I remember watching Datsick at BUKU and I was just like, “Yo, it’s just like metal.” Like if metal had to be transported it into the electronic world, this is what it would sound. You know what I mean?

What are some memories you have from BUKU?

I remember Baauer B2B RL Grime was the set that made me go, “Whoa, electronic music is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard.” I just remember that set specifically. It’s so ratchet and rowdy—the Float Den was always the spot. I’ve been to a bunch of festivals and even played a bunch at this point, but the energy of the Float Den, it’s just unmatched. It’s the most memorable stage and I believe that’s the one I’m playing this year.

My favorite memories, I remember watching Kevin Gates at the last one with my best friend and his mom, and we just got ratchet. Like his mom was like turning up to Kevin Gates and it was the funniest thing. He was rapping about just dickin’ you down and his mom was just turning it off and just loving it.

Do you have any tips for first timers at BUKU?

Have meet-up spots, man. BUKU can get really packed, especially at night. I know the last BUKU felt the most organized as far as traffic goes. But it’s really easy to get lost in that festival. It’s not a big festival, but since it is such a small space, it’s really easy to get separated because there are so many people condensed. Have meet-up spots with your squad and be like, “Alright, you see that float? If we get separated, we meet up under there this time before this set, and then we squad up together,” or something like that.

Tell me a little bit about that VIP Stage performance you did. I know you said it wasn’t really much, but I’m curious to know, how did you get the gig?

It was the first year I had lived in New Orleans, and I got to do it. And I was stoked at the time. It was just opening the VIP Stage, but I was just happy to be on the flyer. You know what I mean? Like there’s nobody there at the festival yet, especially not at VIP. The only people who are at VIP are the ones who were getting the free drinks. And then my homies who were there to support, it’s like no one even knew I played other than my friends and everybody that I told on the internet at that time. It kinda sucked looking back and I don’t even want to count it. I was happy and grateful at the time, but now I’m a spoiled little bitch. I want to upstage with the dope time slot. I’m trying to throw it down.

I’ve listened to a few episodes of the podcast Talks with TVBOO and I find it interesting. What brought you from Jackson, Mississippi, to New Orleans?

The music, this is a music scene. I was producing and throwing shows in Jackson, and I kind of hit my ceiling. It was like a crossroad. Do I go to college?’And then go to university and then get out and just want to do the same damn thing? I moved to New Orleans instead. I knew a couple people. I wasn’t friends with anybody, but I was, I had booked the sfam boys, Klutch at that time, Boogie T. I was booking all these people to come play in Jackson and my music was getting good. And I knew there was a scene here.

So instead of trying to build a scene in Jackson, I wanted to go somewhere with one. I got tired of being the promoter. It wasn’t too big of a scene, but it was definitely way, way bigger than what I was used to. And I felt like I was in a position where I was good enough to get in the door, you know, just to get a chance or two.

On one of your podcasts, you talked a little bit about how you used to set up raves in Jackson. What was that like, especially in a place like Jackson?

Interesting dude, it was tough. At the time, I don’t think we realized how special what we were doing was. There wasn’t a scene and there still isn’t a scene in Jackson for that style. And I was the one building it. I put on shows there for two and a half years. It started out with 30 people at a show, building up to like 350 people at a show. That’s a big jump in a city with no scene or no one even knows what that type of music was. I had to educate them there. It’s cool because me and some buddies were doing it and we’d built something really cool—a little community, a little culture. Everyone would show up, we’d have art installations.

What was it that drew you to New Orleans? I know you didn’t have to build a scene, right?

Yeah, well, that’s kind of what drew me. I was traveling from Jackson to New Orleans just to attend shows and I would drive back home that night. The shows were always a lot of fun. They were packed, they brought in big artists. It was just that they had an established scene here and it wasn’t massive. It wasn’t all these different promoters.

It seems like you contributed to that scene a lot. Didn’t you help start the Emo Nights at the Republic, right?

Oh yeah. Me and Andre, Komuz formerly known as Klutch. He was a big staple in the New Orleans scene for a very long time. He’s out in Denver now, but we were the DJs. I can’t take credit for starting it, but we were the DJs for Emo Night the first couple years. And we built an emo scene out here, which was a lot of fun. If I’m home and not on tour, I’m at this, you know.

You’re planning on moving to Colorado soon, right?

Yeah. Moving to Denver in May.

You spent some time here in New Orleans and you’re ready to move on now. What are your thoughts on the scene here now after spending a few years in New Orleans?

It’s got a lot of great things going forward. I felt like the scene here took a little bit of a dip as far as attendance for shows goes after COVID. Now we just had Mardi Gras and all the shows were popping, but you know, some of those shows would have crushed back in 2019. I feel like a good few people left after this last hurricane or during COVID. I feel like it lost some people. I know some people that moved here before the hurricane and after the hurricane, they were gone. I mean, that’s kinda one of the reasons I’m moving is I don’t want to do another hurricane season. I couldn’t get home for eight days, so I didn’t like that.

But here’s the thing, people are always going to travel to New Orleans. There are always kids finding out about music. One of the things that got people into electronic music, at least for me and most people I talk to was they went to a music festival. They stumbled upon it, and they had fun with their friends and then they start going to shows. And that’s typical from what I’ve seen. I think with festivals being back in, BUKU being back and Voodoo, hopefully going to be back this year, I think that’s going to help revive the local club and show scene here. It seems like New Orleans has always had a good club scene, but even with the electronic stuff, there’s always been an underground, like secret raves and shit like that.

What’s the plan for you now?

Well, I can’t spoil a whole lot, but I can say I have an album coming out later this year. That’s the best thing I’ve ever written. And then there will be a tour. I have a headline. And that would be my first one. Moving to Denver, new podcast studio, you know, a lot more cameras, lights, more in-person guests. I’m also going to write another comedy album. I had too much fun writing the last one and not do another one, you know?

TVBOO will be performing at BUKU Music + Art Project which takes place March 25 and 26. For more information visit thebukuproject.com.