Chromeo and A-Trak are long-time collaborators, sharing production credits and festival stages while fusing sounds spanning funk, electro, disco, house, and beyond.
What many listeners may not realize is that Chromeo’s Dave 1 and A-Trak are also siblings who perform together as The Brothers Macklovitch—a connection that adds another layer to their effortless creative chemistry.
In celebration of their latest collaboration, A Pack of Funk, the inaugural sample pack presented by Chromeo’s boutique label Juliet Records, we had the unique opportunity to sit down with the two to discuss their musical toolkits, creative process, and more—read on for highlights.
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Dave 1 and A-Trak on how they shape their sounds
How would you describe your respective sonic identities in your own words?
Dave: Chromeo’s sonic identity is built around analog synths, analog drum machines, live guitars, and basses. Influences range from the funk greats (Zapp, Prince, and the like) to the indie and electronic bands who were burgeoning at the time when we started—Phoenix, Zoot Woman, Soulwax, Ed Banger, etc.
A-Trak: The two main pillars of my sonic identity are the electro sound of the mid 2000s—also when I got my start as a proper electronic producer—and the disco-house feel that I’ve developed with Duck Sauce. I always keep my turntablist roots in mind as well.
A Pack of Funk prominently features the talkbox—how did you craft these sounds?
Dave: We left that up to Pee, Chromeo’s resident talkbox master. These talkbox samples are some of the most authentic you’ll find. The keyboard he uses is the Yamaha DX100, the same one that Roger Troutman of Zapp used, and actually Pee got his presets 20 years ago directly from the Troutman family!
The talkbox used is the classic Rocktron Banshee, and we did minimal processing in the DAW—just a little EQ and compression. Kept it pure.
The pack is also full of analog synth chords and melodies—what specific synthesizers did you use to create these sounds?
Dave: We wanted to give you all the classics: Juno-106, Prophet-5, Juno-60, the Minimoog… As for VSTs, we used things like Diva and Keyscape—those are classics in their own right, too.
How do you balance using vintage and modern sounds? When do you prefer to lean into the robotic and heavily-quantized feel of ‘80s music, and when do you choose to lean into a live feel?
Dave: In Chromeo’s early days, we leaned super heavily into the robotic ’80s feel. Ironically, it’s what made our music sound modern. If you listen to Prince or Cameo, there are live drums layered in there, or the drum machine’s clock is off, or it’s triggered live. We wanted early Chromeo to feel like techno, completely non-human. But, more recently, we’ve been using live drums, layering, etc.
A-Trak: My toolkit is all electronic, whether I program drums in a DAW or a drum machine, or whether I use and splice up house loops.
Do you have any other samples from the pack that you’re particularly proud of?
Dave: I’m really proud of the aforementioned talkbox samples. I think Pee’s one of the best talkbox players in the world, so what we gave you is some of the most authentic stuff you can find.
As a guitar player, I’m gonna say I love the guitar loops too, of course. When we made a Chromeo Splice pack years ago, I think we may have gone too raw with the synth samples. This time, the idea was to make the VST ones indistinguishable from the analog ones, and to process everything so that it could be combined seamlessly.
Dave 1 and A-Trak on collaboration and inspiration
How are you inspired by each other’s music and artistry?
Dave: We have such a symbiotic relationship; both of our artistries are basically inextricable. A-Trak’s been listening to Chromeo demos and giving notes on them since the day we formed the band, and I’m involved with every single A-Trak production, whether I’m credited or not. We share a studio in New York. It’s really two branches from the same tree.
What did your collaborative process look like on this pack?
Dave: A-Trak is very methodical, so he was really the one who made all the lists of sounds we needed to craft. Once that was done, he added pads, drum loops, and one-shots that were more up his alley. The Juliet sound ranges from Chromeo-style funk to disco house and modern disco, and even just funkier electro-house records. We had to give you tools to achieve all of these styles.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with the Splice community?
A-Trak: Juliet Records is a label founded and run by producers. With this pack, we wanted to emphasize that we’re geared towards producers, too. Ideally, we want to forge a fluid community that includes the people who spin and enjoy our records, but also produce music with a likeminded sound—and we can release music by those producers in turn. It’s a loop!
Hopefully this is the first pack of many. As Chromeo likes to say, “Funk forever!”’
Incorporate the groovy sounds of A Pack of Funk into your own productions:
December 23, 2025
