It can be a difficult endeavor for a mainstream success to maintain underground credibility, but Philadelphia’s Vikter Duplaix somehow manages.

As co-founder of the Axis Music Group, Duplaix has had production involvement with the likes of Erykah Badu, Common and Masters At Work. As Scuba, his project with fellow Philadelphian King Britt, he has a hand in abstract, eclectic sounds. Critical Point is his revolving member project, which focuses on soulful, yet edgy creations. Under his own name, any number of styles may emerge and he offers a smooth vocal talent that can put some divas to shame. (Indeed, it can be heard on “That Night,” Jazzanova’s latest 12-inch entry.) In putting together the latest DJ Kicks DJ compilation, which includes cuts from 4Hero, Herbert, Badu and his own dynamite vocal on the single “Sensuality,” the classically trained Duplaix allows a look into the full range of his musical leanings, be it neo-soul, jazz, hip hop or house.

DJ Times: What’s your objective with each of your musical guises?

Vikter Duplaix: I don’t make music with a format. After it’s done, I judge what it is. I go with the feeling. I’m influenced by the world, so whatever the world is saying or whatever I feel the world needs, I’ll make it. Scuba is the concept of making music from the perspective of living under water, as if you were a mermaid or some type of sea animal and you never came above water, you always looked at people, watched them and wondered what they were about. We make music to sound like that, to describe it. It’s an introspective form of sound. If you’ve ever been underwater you realize you can’t hear anything, but you and your own thoughts, you’re isolated from everyone even though you can still see them. We try and make music from the sounds in your head. Critical Point is somewhere between Detroit techno and an Afro-beat vibe, but not to be limited on that style, those kinds of things, psychedelic, futuristic, next level. [Vikter Duplaix] as an artist is elements of everything, the commercial and the non-commercial, but it will be consistent to me and my personality, which is what it is.

DJ Times: Are there particular pieces of studio gear that are standard in your creations?

Duplaix: The main part has to be the MPC2000 XL, that’s the foundation of all my ideas. Maybe equally as important is Logic Audio. I have a full blown-out Logic Audio at the studio and it’s running through Pro Tools hardware. My studio is set up so you could use Pro Tools, Logic, Performer, all these different types depending on your style. But at home I have it on my laptop, a G4 Titanium. I do a great deal of the songs there in terms of developing, writing, putting ideas down and bringing things to about 80-percent completion. After that I take it to the studio, so it’s balanced properly, mix it in and use better microphones for the vocals. A lot of times I’ll develop an idea, if I need musicians I’ll bring it to the studio, get some input from those guys and I’ll take it back home, that’s really when I get into the shaping of the record, messing with the sounds, going sample crazy and making the track match the mood that I write to.

DJ Times: And DJ gear?

Duplaix: The Pioneer CDJ1000 that you can scratch on is about to change my life. I was one of those guys who was against CD DJing years ago. This CD player, you can really use as a turntable. It will change the way I operate. When you’re doing international travel, the vinyl really works against you. The CD is much better. I won’t ever phase out vinyl. I’ll incorporate two [CDJ1000s] along with the turntables and more effects pieces.

DJ Times: Is the selection on your DJ Kicks a good representation of what you tend to play out?

Duplaix: A condensed version, you’re going to have more of each vibe, depending on my mood that day. For the most part I do something similar. I like things to have a percussive element, but very danceable. I don’t like super abstract things, but I do like to keep it fresh.

DJ Times: The type of soulful, jazzy, abstract, house-y sound you have seems to have a bigger audience now than ever.

Duplaix: It’s getting there. People still have to be exposed to it. Radio is, of course, not representative. Years ago, the music that people loved, they heard everywhere. Nowadays people are being overdosed on their favorite artists, even if the record’s not great. It’s a slightly different industry, but the appetite for quality is still there. Part of our duty as the new generation of musicians is to be a throwback in the sense that when Gamble and Huff and those guys started, they didn’t rely on radio. They took their music to the people, found their audience, built fan bases on the extreme side, threatened people when they had to, in order to get it on the radio. We have to be that aggressive. When hip hop started, it wasn’t on the radio, but people played it and they loved it, until everybody heard about it and got into it because of the quality. Those are the things that we have to do now, find our fans and keep feeding it to them, giving them quality.