Meet Aspen Henry | Music Producer & DJ

We had the good fortune of connecting with Aspen Henry, a music producer and DJ by the name of Nepsa, and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Aspen, what is the most important factor behind your success?
For me I attribute most of my success to the support of friends and family around me. When I first started making music, I was really only making simple songs and showing them to my brother and some close friends. They were the ones who initially started encouraging me to release my music on streaming platforms and try and share it with a larger audience. When I released my debut single, I had over 300+ friends share the release on social media which really helped the song bounce and get in the hands of many others. From there, more and more people found out about my music digitally and began to support as well. With each release I am always blown away by the amount of support I get from friends and fans online sharing the music with others and it has continued to be the reason my audience has grown.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I think now more than ever there are a ton of people out there with an interest in producing electronic music and DJing. A lot of these people enter the electronic world with dreams of making it big and being some super star DJ like they see online. As a result, I see a lot of these types of people get burnt out quickly struggling to find an identity around what they’re doing. I think what separates me from these people is that I came into all this from a place of necessity.

Music has always been an escape for me ever since I learned to play guitar as a young kid. I always felt an attachment to it and loved the way that music made me feel. It was something I needed. I never really had any aspirations to headline festivals or even play shows in the beginning. I was simply making music for me because I was addicted to it. It was a way for me to express whatever I was going through at the time.

Later as I grew as an artist, I learned to hone these emotions from experiences in my life into a sound that resonated with me. This is what gave me my identity and authenticity musically that separates my music from others. One of my most proud accomplishments is my first project, “Let You Go EP”, which chronologically alludes to real experiences that I’ve had in my life.

It’s not easy to get to this point as an artist were you feel strongly about the ability to share your real self. Its a very vulnerable thing and can be scary at times. Overcoming that fear took a lot of time for me and a lot of help from others. I’ve learned that even if you are scared to share an aspect of your self in your art that makes you very vulnerable, it will often result in many more people being able to relate to it and thus reaching a wider audience.

I think that is something that I really want listeners to know about Nepsa. That it’s a project I started out of authenticity to myself and will continue to be that way.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I think I would take them around Orange County where I live and show them all of the beautiful scenery. I feel a strong connection to nature, especially the beach. My favorite beach is in Laguna Beach at 1000 steps beach. I feel really inspired by the area and so anytime I have a close friend visit I always make sure to take them there to explore the cave and tidepools. I would also take them to eat at lots of different Asian restaurants in the area. I’m in love with Japanese and Korean food. Wang Cho Korean BBQ is one of my favorite spots, as well as Sushi On Fire for sushi. At night I’d take them up to LA to experience the amazing underground electronic music scene. There are countless warehouse shows and after parties that you really can’t find anywhere else. I like to take friends to events like these, even if they aren’t in to electronic music, just so they can experience what it’s like.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to give a shoutout to a friend of mine named Austin Deeds. He originally took me to my first electronic music show and really introduced me to the world of raving. From that experience, it sparked my creativity and passion to start making electronic music and quickly consumed my life.

I’d also like to give a shoutout to my little brother, Liam Henry, for initially encouraging me to start sharing my music on streaming platforms. I remember showing him an early song of mine that I made and he said “Wow, I think this is one that other people would really enjoy listening to” and encouraged me to post it on Soundcloud. From there I gained more confidence sharing my music online and promoting it to others.

Finally, I’d like to give a shoutout to Abigail Villanueva. She is a very close friend of mine and vocalist and my debut single. She’s done so much for me and my music wouldn’t be the same without here. Through all the ups and downs she’s always been there.

Website: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3XRDCXC0AX6fDGd7oMcZhA?si=hvZQSHdIQeqZ_rFAqKSPjQ

Instagram: @nepsabeats

Twitter: @nepsabeats

Other: more links: https://linktr.ee/nepsa