Go into detail on how you decide to choose music as a career. 

When I was a kid, my father bought me a guitar, which sparked my desire to create something unique.  I idolized all of the rock & hip hop stars that I heard growing up, and I wanted to be a leader in sound like they were; on a worldwide level with a major influence.  As I grew up, my friends and I would mess around freestyling over beats for fun, and it came to a point where I realized that I was actually decent at staying on beat and creating lines.  This led me to write hip hop for the first time when I was in college, and right from the first song I knew that I could do it for a living if I wanted to.  It was like an internal reminder ticking throughout my childhood all the way to that point, and I knew in my heart that I wanted to do it for a career.

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Brief us the feedback you are getting from fans concerning your music.

The response from fans who hear my music is a major part of the motivation to continue creating innovative and positive music moving forward.  I’ve received messages on a number of occasions from people describing my sound and outlook on life as something that has changed theirs in a positive way, and that brings tears to my eyes.  The main reason for starting to do music in the first place was because I knew if I tried hard that I could make a positive impact on people, so that kind of response humbles me and keeps me motivated to make something even better musically.

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Discuss the relevance of social networking to music. 

Social networking is HUGE in this industry, especially as an independent.  I’ve never taken a label deal, so I have always dealt with and controlled everything on my social networks.  Though it is very time consuming, it is absolutely key in this technological day and age for retaining people’s interest in your brand and sound.

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Brief us about the recording of this song. 
I recorded and mixed this song in my home studio, as I do with most of my other songs.  I felt so confident, excited, fun and happy laying this one down.  A lot of the music that I have released in the past is serious and message driven, which I love, but it was so cool to step out of my norm and make something wavy and carefree.

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Tell us the story behind the song.

I met the producer, TNB Beatz, while at a music conference and performance in Toronto, ON.  He sent me a package of beats a few weeks after I got back, and right when I heard the beat I knew I wanted it to be a new single I immediately wrote the entire song in one sitting, it just poured out of me.  I had so much to say because I had also just returned from a music tour in Vietnam, and I knew I wanted to flex a little bit and make something super confident because the momentum in 2017 was extremely progressive.

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State your area of specialization in music. 

I am a very strong lyricist and pride myself on what I am able to do from a vocal flow standpoint.  I like to be diverse as well though, so over the last few years I’ve been putting a lot of time into production and engineering behind the scenes as well.  I operate a studio full time in Fort Wayne, IN now as part of my music career, and I love working on my own songs in addition to other artists that I believe in.

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Tell us how long it takes to finish a song from the start. 

If I am immediately inspired by the production, it can be finished within a couple hours.  If I am working on something more detailed and inspirational, it can take days.  It all depends on the subject matter of the song and the style of the production really.

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Go into detail on how you develop your lyrics and melody. 

I just try to feel naturally what sounds best and let it occur without thinking too hard about it.  I want the vibes to be totally organic and pour out of me in a way people can connect with when they hear it.

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Discuss music generally in full details. 

Music is everything to me.  It’s been my release, from a creative and emotional standpoint since I was a boy.  I love seeing people do their own thing with music, and there is such an amazing diversity in all music as well as my specific genre of hip hop.  I think music has the power to connect people in ways that nothing else can, and that is inspiring to me looking forward in my career.

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State your five favourite genres of music with reasons.
Hip hop is my number one because I can connect with the lyrics here more than I can with any other genre and writing lyrics is one of my favorite parts of creating.  I grew up on classic rock and that inspired me to pick up the guitar when I was young, so that is a strong number two.  Seeing iconic stars like Hendrix & Morrison in their era was inspiring to say the least.  In my teenage years, I got into Metal, so that is my number three.  I love energy and going absolutely crazy at my shows, and I definitely gained some inspiration for that from attending Metal festivals.  Pop music has always been fun to listen to when out at the club or hanging with a group of friends, feel good vibes that connect people are among my favorite sounds.  Pop is number four for that reason. R&B has inspired me to take my singing to the next level in the future, I can connect with the love vibes pushed in these songs heavily so that is the reason it sits at number five on my favorite genre list.

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Discuss your rehearsal. 

I usually just relax with the team backstage before a show until performances start, and then we all typically head out to observe the other talents that are hitting the stage. It’s important to me to give other acts on stage attention because I remember the shows when I performed for hardly no one.  Plus I like to hear what other people create and do on stage.

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State your favourite musical instruments. 

My favorite musical instrument is the guitar because of its key in bringing me into music as a kid.  I am a big fan of the drums and admire the people who play.  My father played drums when I was younger, and though it has always been tricky for me to figure out the coordination between hands and feet simultaneous I love trying it out and watching others rock out.  I perform with a live band now, so feeling that energy on stage from the drums is incredible.  I’m a huge fan of horns and love seeing acts incorporate them live.  My good buddy Chuckie Campbell out of Buffalo, NY does this and it’s just such a great vibe when combined with the other live instruments.  Bass carries the live show in my opinion and provides the line for everything else, so I have always appreciated that as well.

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Describe the chemistry between you and your fans during a live performance. 

Connecting with the fans while performing is something that I pride my entire brand on.  I built everything on the live show, and the energy in that has taken me all over the world.  I try to crowd surf at every performance and get each and every individual involved in the show.  Energy over everything!

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Discuss your personality in full details. 

I am a chill and low key introverted guy most of the time, a studio hermit haha.  When I am on tour or out for shows, I am extremely social and love connecting with the fans at every stop.  Having a high amount of energy and love is my key to expression.  I’m a very positive person, and always got a smile on. 😀

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Tell us about your musical background. 

I’ve played guitar for 15 years, which led to my production background in the studio.  Getting an electrical engineering degree also led me to be more behind the scenes in the studio and into creating beats and overall mixes.  I’ve been writing hip hop for the last 7 years and it has been my job for the last 4.
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List your musical work. 

I’ve released 5 studio albums so far in this order:

Fresh Air

Evolve

Authority of the Soul

Spirit Scientist

Pilot

Recently I’ve been focused on singles, with two releases in the last few months titled “Who Are You” and the one I just dropped, “Bluetooth”.

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Give us the links to purchase your music and contact you. 

You can find everything purchase wise for my music via my website www.realtzank.com.  You can reach me via email at realtzank@gmail.com

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State what takes your time apart from music. 

Everything outside of music is family for the most part.  I have a wife and daughter, and I love spending most of my time outside of music with them.  Being active with exercise, diet & sports is something I try to keep in mind as well, so you can find me at the gym or the kitchen often when not in the studio.  Day trading stocks & crypto currencies has also become a nice little hobby and side project too.

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Share your memorable experiences with us.

I’ve been blessed to tour the world from my music, so seeing and experiencing different cultures is always fresh on my mind.  A goal of mine is to see every country and spread my music to each of them across my career.  I’ve been blessed with a diversity of lifestyle so far in my life.  I coached tennis in Maine for two summers and was a mentor to youth at that time as well.  It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.  I worked as a chef and in a kitchen for 5 years as well and learned a lot of valuable things during that time.  Seeing my daughter be born was life changing to say the least.  My wife and I got married in Paris as part of one of my European music tours, and it was a beautiful time that I will never forget.

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Tell us the good and bad side of mankind you know. 

The bad side of mankind is our inherent greed and selfishness.  I think we all struggle with this, and I believe that is a huge part of the current state of our World and why we are how we are to this day.  The good side is that we all inherently have love in our hearts, and if we can find a way to bring that out individually and connect it with each other on a global level, the world will change massively in a positive way.  For that reason, I will always have hope in mankind.