A Chat With Gaxve About “Human Made”

Q: Hi! You started making music seriously on June 19th, 2023 — and now, exactly three years later, you’re dropping Human Made. Was that timing intentional, or did it just work out that way? 

A: Honestly, it wasn’t planned at all. I’m not some mastermind genius or anything like that hahaha. But when I realized the album was dropping the exact same day and month as when I really started taking music seriously, it genuinely shocked me. It almost felt like one of those things that was meant to happen somehow. 

Q: The album pulls together 16 different producers, each with their own sound. How did you keep everything feeling like one cohesive project rather than a compilation? 

A: Honestly, I think having the rule that every track had to go over 160 BPM and use amen breaks helped make everything feel really connected from the start. Before we even began working, I explained the whole lore and concept of the album to everyone involved, so instead of sounding like random songs put together, it actually tells one story from beginning to end.

I also picked producers not just because they were talented, but because I genuinely liked them as people and felt like each one had something specific where I thought, “yeah, this is exactly what this project needs.”

Q: The dystopian concept at the heart of Human Made clearly comes from a real place of frustration. Was there a specific moment or thing you witnessed that made you think, “I need to make a record about this”? 

A: As a music producer and also a playlist curator, I’ve honestly been getting pretty tired of seeing how AI is being used in the creative process, not even just as a tool, but in some cases people hiding behind it, pretending to be artists when they’re not.

On top of that, with everything going on in the world right now, it feels like the only thing that really matters anymore is money and power. It’s just a buildup of thoughts I had in my head for a long time, and at some point I needed to let it out in some way. Music was the only real way that made sense for that.

Q: You worked with a friend as art director across the 3D models, artwork, and everything visual. How much creative conflict came out of that, and was any of it useful? 

A: I’ve worked really closely with a lot of different artists on this, 3D modelers, animators, illustrators, voice actors, all kinds of people. Everyone really went deep into the project, it never felt like just a simple commission, which I’m super grateful for.

And especially my friend who handled the art direction with me, without him, a lot of things honestly wouldn’t look or feel the way they do now. He gave me a lot of good recommendations, made key adjustments, and threw in ideas along the way that really shaped the final result.

Q: A lot of artists talk about making an “experience” but end up delivering a playlist. What does that word actually mean to you in practice with this project? 

A: I truly mean it when I say this is the project of my life. For me, it’s an experience because it’s meant to feel cinematic, not just like a collection of songs. We’ve gone all in on it.

I really believe that when everything comes together, the music, the visuals, the lore, everything, it becomes something bigger than just an album. It’s more of a full artistic experience than “just music.”

Q: The recording happened entirely remotely across different cities. Was there ever a point where that distance felt like it was killing the energy of a song? 

A: Not really, to be honest. We all had a really good connection and positive energy between everyone involved, so it never felt like the distance was killing anything.

That’s actually why I focused more on choosing people based on how I felt about them and their energy, not just pure technical skill or popularity. Of course quality matters, but for this project the vibe between us was just as important (maybe even more).

Q: Music pulled you out of a genuinely dark period after COVID. Does that weight ever make it harder to create freely, like there’s too much riding on it? 

A: I’m still dealing with some of the things from that time, honestly. I’ve been healing them slowly over time. Some wounds never fully close, but you can definitely make them smaller and easier to live with.

Both music and my fans have given me something I hadn’t really felt from anything new in a long time, love, and that feeling that I actually matter and that I’m here for a reason.

So no, I don’t feel limited creatively because of it. If anything, it pushes me forward and keeps me going.

Q: The album leans into storytelling, lore, voice acting, and animation. Is there a part of the non-music side of this project that you’re most proud of? 

A: Honestly, everything. All the different art forms involved are something I genuinely love and want to preserve. I think we need to protect the human touch at all costs. It doesn’t matter how good AI or anything else gets, there always has to be a human behind it, something that actually feels alive instead of soulless.

So I can’t really pick one part over another, because everyone worked incredibly hard on this. I just feel grateful for all of them.

Huge thank you to everyone who helped bring it to life: 3D model by @xi4olong.bao artwork by @jaavart, voice acting by @zaekodo, lettering by @haokaymanoff and animation and supervision by @lekaikitai.

Q: Is there a track on the album that you think will catch people off guard — something that doesn’t fit what they might expect from you? 

A: I think there are actually two tracks that might surprise people a bit, since they feel slightly different from the rest. But it makes sense for them to be that way, one is the interlude and the other is the final track.

They are like that because they’re meant to be like that. I just hope people connect with them the same way they do with the rest of the album, even if the vibe shifts a bit.

Q: Walk us through the sonic world of Human Made — what does it actually sound like from start to finish? Is there a clear arc, or does it hit differently each time you listen? 

A: The idea is that it starts in a kind of battlefield where machines have taken control, and everything feels chaotic and intense. Then, as it goes on, it slowly blends out of that fight and moves into a more emotional, almost sad ending.

But even in that ending, there’s still hope, like music surviving through it all, and the idea that it will always stay “Human Made.”

Q: And finally — Human Made drops June 19th. Once the dust settles, what does the rest of 2026 look like for you? 

A: Well, I still have a few more projects lined up for this year, but I’ll mainly be focusing on giving full coverage to this release until the end of the year.

I’ve got a lot more plans that I can’t really reveal yet, but I hope everyone who listens to Human Made sticks around for what comes next.