Photo taken by Carlos Alvarez
“But now it feels like I’m developing my own voice.”
SUGARHOUSE, a project of LA-based Austin Medrano, unwinds EDM house into the grooves of the dance floor. After being in the indie scene for over a decade, electronic music peaked Austin’s interest as he DJ’ed an opening set for his previous band. SUGARHOUSE is now the product of Austin’s world, as he grabs guitar riffs from his previous world into the synths of his world now.
death of a rabbit got to talk with Austin about his indie to electronic pathway and his singles off his latest EP. Dancing Alone, SUGARHOUSE’s debut EP, is out now, September 11th, 2026, on streaming platforms.
DEATH OF A RABBIT: How are you?
AUSTIN: I’m good! I’ve finally reset after being on the road for two and a half weeks. I’m ready to dive back into SUGARHOUSE.
DOAR: SUGARHOUSE is a recent project, have there been different iterations of SUGARHOUSE previously?
AUSTIN: I got interested in house music in 2024, 2025. I tried making some projects and even DJ’ed an opening set for a band I used to be in called Mickey Darling.
I made music on the road and hadn’t brought it home. We toured for a bit and, after a while, I felt like it didn’t click. So I took a year off until my partner and I went to a George Daniel set, and I was like, “God damn, this is so fun, I miss making music like this!” So I tried writing music again and I finally started to feel confident.
I’m not chasing the hype of [a genre] like tech house. I was into Dom Dolla at the time, and it was good, but I got into it for the wrong reasons. It felt like clout chasing, but I was still into it. It just didn’t translate well. But now it feels like I’m developing my own voice.
DOAR: And the audience can definitely tell your intentions. I feel like it’s especially true for EDM fans, like using trendy techniques or sounds.
AUSTIN: There’s a few cliche sounds people hop on to, and it goes for any genre, but specifically EDM; it’s like certain artists’ sounds.
DOAR: How do you feel about house itself? Do you feel like house suits your interests at this moment?
AUSTIN: I grew up on Daft Punk, specifically Homework and Discovery. Those are my holy grails. I never got into techno, but I can appreciate it. House, for me, feels more musical than techno. It’s such a broad term; you can add guitars, orchestra, can even go into tribal beats. It feels more varied than other genres. Drum & bass, dubstep, techno, it feels very narrow.
I think the most exciting part for me that I’ve yet to dive into is the sampling side. sampling oldies and artists I work with. I produce for an artist named Andrew Garden and I’ve already sampled his vocal for some of my upcoming songs. It’s so fun to do, to mix these two worlds, take an indie song and make it house.
DOAR: Do you feel like sampling itself will get daunting? For example, you want to find the perfect sample or feel like one is too pretentious? Because I understand that you could find a good sample and build around it and that’s the song for the sample. Or the other way around?
AUSTIN: So even with the example of finding a sample first and building a song around it, both of them feel highly pressured. You can get in your head really fast. I choose ten to twenty vocal samples and that’s it, because it can get overwhelming fast. You can get decision fatigue fast, with choosing the drums, synths, vocals, etc. Over time, especially with SUGARHOUSE, I’ve limited myself to a physical drum machine and a physical synth. I’m going to start with those and see what I come up with. Then, I’ll bring other stuff because then I’ve spent hours trying to find the perfect synth, rather than just creating. I’d rather create and have fun.
And with sampling, I haven’t gone into it a lot. The instruments that I use are just what’s right there to grab, like the artists I make music with. We have ten songs together, and that’s my set to choose from. I don’t have the entirety of a certain genre to sit down for a day to listen through. I do want to get there because that’s its own fun little journey in itself. But I’m still finding my way, so I’m going to wait on that.
DOAR: You have an EP releasing soon as well. Is the branding similar as you did with the singles?
AUSTIN: I recruited one of my best friends, Carlos Alvarez. He’s such a talented guy. He’s helped me with artwork in the past, and hasn’t been put to use lately so I recruited him to be creative director. And this includes names, he’s coming up with the names based on what feelings he gets and then designing the covers all himself. I also recruited my older brother to do the animations on Spotify. I just want to put the homies on. We’re taking some inspiration from this IDM or other electronic group, who also does a little bit of minimalist ambient stuff too. Oldaker, I think? Just seems like minimalist design, and I like the way that Carlos is pushing the SUGARHOUSE art direction.
DOAR: That’s so exciting. You don’t need to do the most for it, just let the music shine through!
AUSTIN: Yeah, and it doesn’t need to be a picture of me on there, you know? It was kind of the idea of not having my face forward. I used to have a side project with indie stuff and I wasn’t into being a frontman. This feels like not being a frontman, but still having the control over music and creatively expressing myself and having fun without having to be forward facing and be very personable on a camera. I can talk to people in person but on a camera, I just can’t do it sometimes.
DOAR: I also wanted to touch on your music as well, at this point you have three singles out. Do you ever try to encapsulate a feeling or some sort of experience when you go into these songs, or do you hear something and start from there?
AUSTIN: I’ll hear a song and there’s a few different starting points. I hear a song and I get so inspired that I’m like, “Okay, I have to make music right now.” And then other times, I dread making music and it feels like going to the gym, but when I start, I get in the flow and I’m so happy. Sometimes I’ll make euphoric stuff, some emotional stuff, I can make music sound cool or bouncy and have fun. Something I also need to do is explore. Put out more emotional stuff and explore other feelings other than being at a dance party.
On this EP, I’m gonna put out an ambient track in the middle of it. The reason is to have some split between two songs and the emotional side that isn’t necessarily dance. I will wake up in the morning and make these soft sounds and start my morning like that. I’ll sit there and make a dreamscape.
DOAR: That’s beautiful! I like the idea of an ambient track in the middle, it feels like a palette cleanser before you dive into the next half of it.
Traditionally at death of a rabbit, we like to ask about a lyric that you wish you’ve written or recently enjoyed, but I’m going to ask instead: what’s a sample you wish you’ve taken or a sample you want to use later on?
AUSTIN: I would sample the movie “Charlie Countryman.” In it there’s some euphoric, M83-esque synths in the soundtrack that I like.
Check out SUGARHOUSE’s debut EP below!
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