How It’s Made: Manic Focus’ Never Not Blue

Manic Focus, a Denver-based producer, has released his seventh studio album, Never Not Blue, which reflects his musical and personal growth as a multi-genre artist. Diagnosed with Bipolar 1 in 2007, Manic Focus has turned his experiences with manic and depressive episodes into the driving force behind his creativity. The new album represents his mental health journey and offers a glimpse into what it is like to struggle with bipolar disorder. The album’s interlude tracks depict the various stages of a manic episode, giving a cohesive thread throughout the tracklist.

Never Not Blue is a career retrospective, looking back at Manic Focus’s earlier work and how far he has come. The album’s lead single, “You Do You,” is an explosive bass-infused track that introduces the new era of Manic Focus’s music. The rest of the album is filled with similarly boundary-pushing tracks that blend various genres and sounds, including “Illa Mind,” a blues-inflected electronic cut featuring producer/guitarist Marvel Years, and “Blamma,” a rowdy and immersive dubstep experience.

So let’s dive into the process and techniques used by the Denver-based producer to create his latest LP. The article will delve into the creative and technical aspects of the production, shedding light on the inspiration behind the tracks, the equipment and software utilized, and more to provide an in-depth look into the making of Never Not Blue and provide a unique perspective on the producer’s creative process in his own words. 

Out now across platforms

Serum

Serum has been one of my favorite synths since its release in 2014.

Prior to Serum, I used primarily Massive and Absynth. I really love the LFO section in Serum, as well as the Hyper Dimension and Distortion FX. It’s an incredibly versatile and popular synth with so many possibilities for creating big bass synths and leads. 

Most producers already know about this one, so I’ll move on to the others 🙂

 Symphony Series String Ensemble and The Grandeur by Native Instruments

These two plugins are my go-to for strings and piano. The versatility and dynamics of both are truly incredible. To me, they’re some of the most realistic-sounding strings and pianos, and there’s enough control on them to get the results I need. 

I use these with a Komplete Kontrol S88 MK2 Keyboard which is great for not only playing live and getting realistic dynamics, but also for scrolling through the settings and various plugins.

EMT 250 Classic Electronic Reverb by Universal Audio

This is the main reverb I use on most of my songs. I put it on a couple sends, dial it, turn off the noise, and send everything from vocals to percussion and snares. It’s a beautiful plugin with reverb/modulation effects that emulate the first digital reverb unit introduced in 1976. I think it adds a lot of dimension to sounds that, without it, are somewhat flat. I really love how this sounds!

Eurorack Modular system featuring Roland AIRA Modular Scooper, 4ms PEG, Intellijel Dixie II+, SVF201 Analog State Variable Filter 

I first got into Eurorack synthesis back in 2015. I don’t have a massive setup, but this small rack can achieve a lot of cool results. The Roland Scooper is probably my favorite piece of gear in this photo. I’ll throw any audio into it, like the Dixie II or a sample from my computer, and just crank the knobs till I find something cool. 

I also like to throw the envelope generator on the Scooper’s filter to get some really wild results. If I’m ever stuck working on a tune, I’ll turn on the modular stuff and turn knobs until I find something unique, then record that into my computer. The filter on this is also very smooth and great on almost anything (the resonance knob on it is a lot of fun). For sequencing the oscillators, I use an Arturia Beatstep Pro (not pictured).

Playbox by Native Instruments

This plugin played a big role in a lot of the songs on Never Not Blue. In my opinion, it’s the ultimate tool for when you’re stuck creatively. The flexibility for manipulating each sample and chord, as well as the randomization features, really helped to keep me inspired and moving on this album. I applied it to a few songs I had been struggling with, and a few times ended up writing something completely different around the results I got from it. It’s truly a beautiful piece of software.

Honorable Mentions: Supermodal by Polyverse, Infiltrator 2 by Devious Machines

These are two plugins I started working with in 2022. Supermodal added a lot of sparkle and movement to my pads and arps. Infiltrator added a lot of chaos to vocal samples and synths that I would later resample and dial in. I used Supermodal on a lot of the arps and pads you hear on the album, and Infiltrator on the heavier glitchy sounding elements of the album.