One of the most remarkable moments from my conversation with Tyler Minford, the guy behind Louis Futon, was when we discussed Aaron Carmack, aka Mr. Carmack as one of our biggest inspirations.

Minford said that he first heard Mr. Carmack’s two-song EP off of Mad Decent during his sophomore year in college at Temple University in Philadelphia. It’s remarkable because around the same time, high school Cat was in listening to that same EP, among a hodgepodge of other artists like Wave Racer and Ryan Hemsworth. The tracks “Birth Control” and “Hopscotch” are long-time favorites of mine.

“I’d never heard anything like it before,” Minford said. “I wanted to try to recreate that sound.”

He watched Youtube tutorials to learn sound design, eventually adopting his own unique style, which incorporates everything from R&B, pop, soul and chill electronic influences.

Louis Futon has been KILLIN’ IT recently, starting off his new “Fall on Me” tour at Chicago’s Chop Shop last weekend. He brought out trumpet player Ariel Shrum during his performance, and whipped out his guitar alongside his drum set to serenade the crowd.

Today, he released his new track “Fall on Me” featuring BXRBER!

Minford’s passion for music started early in life. He was in and out of bands throughout high school and college. In his live performances, he drives the show along with an electric drum set and reinforces the melody with emotive guitar notes.

He’s recently been inspired by soul singers such as Leon Bridges, and is known most (probably) for his track “Surreal” with RKCB, a loved up song saturated with passion and the essence of good times. It starts with an innocent, dreamlike opening and builds into a feel-good chorus with RKCB laying on Sam Smith-esque chords.

He also rocked the crowd with his flip of Frank Ocean’s song, “Solo,” the result of a beat challenge that he posted on his Youtube channel.

Minford has a creative and unique way of interacting with his followers on social media, by posting the behind-the-scenes of his production and showcasing a bit more of his personality through video.

The beat challenges began a year and a half ago, in celebration of J Dilla weekend, a Miami event dedicated to the rapper and record producer. Minford made a production video on his Facebook page, which has since garnered 26,000 views. He decided to turn it into a recurring occasion to share his production process, engage fans and stay creative when he’s travelling.

His beat challenges are a great way for Minford to add his own spin to pop culture songs such as the Stranger Things soundtrack. He’s also teamed up with Louis the Child to rework Childish Gambino’s track “Telegraph Ave.”

Minford said that aspiring producers should remember to keep things fun, otherwise they’ll get frustrated and never make it past the learning curve.

“Don’t force yourself to create something,” he said.

Check out other shows on the tour on his website.

Here’s a playlist of all my favorite Louis Futon tracks!