Prints of Monaco – A Clue Recited

Posted on February 23, 2019 by Kolade Olamide

Prints of Monaco is an NYC indie rock band. They play sadboysongs for you. They use brushstrokes of synths and guitars to create musical prints, searching for catharsis.

After working with Greylock Records at Virtue and Vice Studios they are releasing the results song by song in 2019.

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Tell us your view on old and new school music in terms of preference.

I’m not sure I prefer one over the other. A great thing about music is that it’s not a binary comparison, and different songs fit different moments.

Sure, production approaches have changed significantly over the years, and I love tracks with modern, popular production.

However, there are aspects of older songs that blow new ones out of the water.

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Tell us your most memorable day as an artist.

So far it’s really been the completion of each song I’ve written. It’s so satisfying feeling like I can call a song “done.”

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Tell us how you protect your singing voice.

I like to play with dynamics and volume, so that I’m not always belting. I also avoid alcohol prior to shows.

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Tell us the major reason you are into music.

“A Clue Recited” actually describes a lot of why I’m into music. It provides a creative outlet for catharsis, and music connects and unites people. It’s also a skill that can always be honed, so there’s always room to grow.

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Discuss creativity and originality in music.

Music is a reflection of some aspect of the creator, and all people are unique. Therefore, if a person decides to honestly express themselves in music, then their work will be completely original from others music. That’s pretty cool to me.

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Tell us your plans pertaining music.

Release songs for the rest of my life.

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Tell us the secret of success.

I don’t believe there’s one secret to success, but a constant is that one must try.

Try and practice constantly at whatever you want to succeed in and it may work out.

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Tell us how you become a musician.

If you have a passion for music and are patient enough to keep trying, then that’s pretty important. The point at which you call yourself a musician is the point in which you are satisfied with your own self-expression in my opinion.

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Tell us what makes you happy and sad on this project.

This song was meant to be a comfort to people, so if it makes people feel warm and good in any way I would feel that tenfold.

Where I feel sad in other songs that Prints of Monaco plays is typically when I revisit sad times in my life or other’s lives.

However, I think revisiting sad feelings and memories can be helpful to moving past them in a healthy way.

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List the people that assisted in making this song.

Eitan Akman, Sebastian Chiriboga, Junichi Arima, Cale Hawkins, Ben Talmi, Drewofthedrew, and Maddie Rice. All amazing people.

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Tell us how you get financial support to run your music career.

I work full time.

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Tell us the genre of your music and the reason you went for this genre.

I play Indie Rock, but there are a lot of influences in Prints of Monaco’s sound.

I told people at first as a joke that we play sadboysongs. This term stuck past the punchline so now I refer to that as our sound.

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Tell us if you prefer to write your own songs or you prefer to write with professional songwriters.

I’ve written Prints of Monaco songs almost entirely by myself. Although it’s really fun to write with other people, I thrive in a self-imposed seclusion. It allows me to develop certain ideas that may take more time than a two hour session with another writer.

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Tell us if you prefer to produce your songs or you prefer to work with reputable producers.

I love having a producer to bounce ideas off of. I’ve been working with Ben Talmi out of Greylock Records for a while now, and we’re pretty comfortable when it comes to developing a tune.

I don’t relinquish all control in terms of production, but it’s really important to have someone you respect to bounce ideas off of.

If you don’t you might convince yourself certain things sound good when they don’t to most people.

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Tell us the story behind this song.

“A Clue Recited” grew during a time where I was getting kind of down on music as a helpful or measurably positive way to spend my time.

I got caught thinking: grand scale, making music isn’t as effective in doing well for others as being a doctor or humanitarian.

I started writing this song as an ironic criticism to making music, but ended up reversing course.

I found myself trying to describe how songs can bring meaning to life, and unite people.

In terms of sound, I loved how the song “July” by BOY is so comforting, and wanted to emulate this somehow.

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Tell us your favourite brand of microphone.

Lauten Audio’s Clarion FC-357! It matches my voice well, and is very versatile with guitars and other instruments.

Alyssa Sequoia

Posted on April 18, 2018 by Kolade Olamide

James Sklar is a music manager, musician, producer and certified yoga teacher.

Alyssa Grew up in Westchter County NY – She was deeply inspired by the music found in her family record collection with its extreme diversity from Simon and Garfunkle to Sarah Vaughn to stand-up comics and so much more it became her world. With no formal music education Alyssa’s earliest memories are of writing songs. She began singing her originals and jazz standards in cafes and clubs in NYC when she was nineteen and began to explore her sound – an eclectic mix of jazz, folk, rap, world and soul. Alyssa has continued preforming in NY and beyond and still exploring her sound today – She has recorded 2 full length albums “~within~”, “Queen Annes Lace”, and two five songs albums, “Flow With Me” and “Alyssa Live” along with various singles and re-mixes. Alyssa’s music can be heard on radio stations across the country and Europe.

https://soundcloud.com/alyssasequoia

The Last City

Posted on April 11, 2018 by Kolade Olamide

The Last City combines classical instrumentation with indie rock arrangements and pop melodies. Adrien (guitar and vocals) and Lizbet Palmer (violin and piano) draw from such influences as Damien Rice, John Mayer and Fall Out Boy. As “religious free agents”, their music and lives explore different cultures and spiritual practices, but is also willfully human. After living abroad in Japan for three years, they are currently laying roots in Dallas, Texas.

Tory Ruperto

Posted on February 8, 2018 by Kolade Olamide

Discuss your personality.

I would say I have a very free spirited personality but at the same time I’m also very driven.

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Brief us about you as a musician.

I tend to be a perfectionist when it comes to music. As a musician I believe excellence is extremely important, and I never want to do anything partially. I want to create exactly what’s in my heart and in my head.

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Go into detail on what has changed in your life for choosing music as a career.

When I chose music as a career I started to understand how beautiful risk is, and instead of worrying about tomorrow, I’ve begun to fall in love with the mystery of life – where it all leads and who we’ll meet along the way. This career path is teaching me how to find joy in the unseen and how to persevere without the immediate outlet in sight. I guess I just believe if I give it all I have, then the right moments and opportunities will come. Choosing this career path has helped change my perspective.

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Tell us the benefits and drawbacks of choosing music as a career.

Like I said, life isn’t very stable when you are pursuing music full time, but I’d rather do what I love and maybe be uncomfortable than do something I hate and have comfort.

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Tell us how you will manage fame as an established artist.

If fame came my way nothing about me would change. In my heart I’m an activist before I’m a musician. I’m not motivated by fame. I’m motivated to see love and art heal perspectives and shift culture.

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Elaborate on the story line of this song.

My song “Changed,” can be summed up into one word, disruption. When life throws challenges or when the going gets tough, how will I respond? We only get one life to live, and I hope to always allow life to make me better not bitter. Our circumstances never own the power to define us, but it’s actually our choice. We can try to fight the waves or the undertow, but I think it’ll leave us more exhausted. I’m learning to embrace the process of this life, find the beauty in it and even find how love from above is always leading me if I let Him.”

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Tell us how to find your music and how to connect with you.

You can find my music on iTunes, Spotify, and Sound Cloud! On Instagram and Facebook I’m under Tory Ruperto.

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Let us know the greatest moment of your music career.

I think the greatest moment of my music career thus far was the moment that I said yes. I threw away my backup plans and stopped asking how to make it happen. Instead, I decided that even though I don’t know what I’m doing, I will figure it out. For me, that’s been the greatest achievement and I’m excited to learn more and to see how this story unfolds.

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Discuss your experience pertaining live performances, gigs, shows and tours.

I have been a touring musician for about 4 years now. I travel with a nonprofit called Carry the Love. We tour college campuses and universities Across America, England, Germany and Singapore. I also have played shows and gigs in Venice beach and on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood. So I feel very at home singing live in front of an audience. It’s a beautiful way to connect with a room of people in one moment. I recently sang the national anthem at the Monster Jam 2018 in front of 60,000 people.

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Tell us how you relate to your fans.

I tend to relate the most with those who support me by sharing a similar outlook on life, we also relate in the way we love to be loud and dance.

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Tell us what you would like to change if you could turn back the hands of time.

I wouldn’t change anything even if I could turn back the hands of time.

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Tell us the most important people who have boosted your music career and how you met them.

My biggest support and the person who has boosted me the most in music has been my dad. He has championed me and pushed me forward since before I believed that I even could. I would say my producers have also been a huge support in my music journey. I met them at an event I was singing at, last July. A few weeks later in August I received a phone call from them. They met me and sought me out because they too saw something in me and have believed in me. Of course many of my dear friends have cheered me on and connected me with people who are now becoming a part of my story. It’s really awesome to see my team developing and how each person is bringing unique things to the table, how easy and family it feels. I’m really just starting out so I’m excited to see how everything unfolds.

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Brief us on what you had in mind before considering music as a career.

Before wanting to pursue music, my heart has always been for missions and people. I helped with earthquake relief in Haiti a few months after that massive earthquake back in 2010. Then I helped out at an orphanage in Nicaragua. I’ve also done humanitarian work in South Africa and India. I love the nations and the many different cultures of this beautiful planet. But one thing I have learned is that my reality is so different from theirs. People in third world or second world countries aren’t stories to me but names of my friends who I love. I want to do something that can help them and the greatest way I know how is through love and encouraging others to go and help too.

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Discuss your good and bad experiences in life.

Life is messy and wonderful. My hardest moment was losing my mom in a terrible accident, but my greatest joy has been my family. We all have grown in our love for each other and we value life in a whole new way. I never want to waste a moment and each breath I don’t take for granted. The bad was losing her but the good has been an outlook of love.

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Name the artists that have influenced the world.

I’d say some artists that really have influenced the world would be painters like Michelangelo to musicians like Michael Jackson.

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Tell us about your moment of rejection and how you were able to cope and move on from it.

I don’t remember any moments of rejection but what I do know is that I can’t please everyone and that’s okay.

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Tell us the most negative comment you have ever received about your music.

I honestly can’t remember what the most negative comment was if I received one.

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Tell us how to become a famous artist.

I don’t really know if there’s a formula to “becoming famous,” I just think if you work really hard it will pay off.

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Tell us how you plan to make an impact on society.

I believe true love can heal anything. Not the emotional physical kind of love. I’m talking about selfless love that fights no matter what the challenge is. I hope to impact society to love like that through art and through my honest experiences.

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Elaborate on the recording process off this song.

We spent two days in the studio, we worked hard and fast! Since the song has a lot of ocean like language, I thought it would be awesome to have the sound of waves in it. I’m really inspired by big drums that have a huge blasting kind of feeling, and I love drops that feel unexpected. It was a total collaboration which made the process so fun.

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State the official date of release.

MINDSEED

Posted on December 28, 2017 by Kolade Olamide

Share your life story with us.
After listening to a Beethoven at around the age of 6, I turned to my mother and told her that “music does something to my insides”. Fast forward 20 years, and that is still the case. Music is my reason for being and carries my purpose, so I do it.

Share your press release.
“Braggadocious” is MINDSEED’s new single. Lyrically, the song is written from a humorous perspective of one’s ego run amok, while the music fuses a blend of hip-hop and rock.

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List the names of those that have assisted you so far in your music career and use this opportunity to thank them.

BJ Downey, the host of the Calgary chapter of Rockin’ 4 Dollars, earned us the opportunity to open for legendary pop-punk band MxPx, which we are forever thankful for. We are also extremely grateful for the YYC Music Award committee nominated our single “Rush-Hour Crush for”- “Best Alternative Recording” which offered us more recognition.

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Narrate your experience while recording in the studio or while touring.
Both “Braggadocious” and the entire album “Households” were recorded and produced by Grant Howarth at Audio House. We went in with a particular vision, and what we ended up with was even more than we could have hoped for. The process involved entering the studio having practiced our parts to perfection.

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Go into detail about your songwriting process.

My songwriting process has always been very intuitive. The music comes first, and the lyrics spawn from the music. I draw inspiration from everything around me.

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Brief us on what you have on the way for your fans out there.

We have a lot more sounds we’d like to explore, and we will be making music until I drop dead.

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Tell us what you are doing to increase your fan base.

We use social media and entertaining live shows to increase our fan base. We also put a lot of effort into our branding and marketing, so we’re always looking to expand on that.

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Tell us that point in time that you just feel like giving up on your music career.

The first time Mindseed ever performed was on a line-up with all reggae artists… obviously, the reaction to us (more rock-oriented at the time) wasn’t great. I sat down on the curb after with my head in my hands and really did feel like giving up. But ever since that night, there’s a fire that has been burning steadily. I just want to make music and see where it takes me, I’m not taking anything too seriously, and life is short. I want to live to the fullest and have no regrets.

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Go into detail on how you make your instrumentation or melody.
It comes to be very intuitively. I can be walking around during my day and a melody will pop into my head out of nowhere, or I’ll be playing on a guitar and I’ll play something that connects with me in a powerful way. Then, I move forward based on that.

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Tell us your complete understanding of music licensing.

Our understanding of music licensing is that the artist is paid by the licensee to use the music for their own purposes (commercials, TV, film and so on).

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Tell us the best way to get in touch with you on social media.

You can get in touch with us easily via Facebook, Instagram, or a message on our website:

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Give us the links to your various stores.
https://www.mindseedmusic.com/store

https://mindseedmusic.bandcamp.com
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Tell us your favourite genre of music.

I enjoy all forms of music, but have been especially into hip-hop and rock lately. Hip-hop has appealed to me a lyrical inspiration, in the way that hip-hop artist use wordplay, metaphor to such an incredible degree that I have never witnessed in any other genre of music.

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Tell us the subject matter of most of your songs.

The subject matter differs greatly – from spiritual to humorous, personal and outrageous. In more concrete terms, we have discussed topics like spirituality, relationships, politics, social media, and more.

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Tell us all we need to know about this song.

This song is written from the perspective of one’s ego, and is NOT a reflection of who I am personally. I wish people would separate the art from the artist, as I feel an artist has the creative right to step outside his own mind and into the shoes of a character. Much like an actor playing a role in a film is not judged as the character he/she portrays, the same should apply to this song and other music. Let artists try new things – if it’s not something you enjoy, just don’t listen to it! Someone else will enjoy it! But people are going to think and say what they want to think and say.

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Tell us what you think about digital distribution and streaming.

Digital distribution is fantastic, and enables us to get our music out to people we might not have been able to in a pre-digital age. However, the drawback is that the competition is tenfold, which challenges us to increase our knowledge in other areas such as branding and marketing.

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Tell us various ways that artists can boost their revenue.

An artist can boost their revenue by offering a truly fantastic musical experience.

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Tell us your thought on self-training and going to educational institution to study music.

Considering I’m a music teacher who took piano lessons at the age of 10, guitar lessons at age 13, I am a huge proponent of a formal musical education. Self-training is good, but having live feedback on a regular basis is integral in not developing poor habits.

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Go on at length on what it takes to write a hit song.

A chorus/hook that gets stuck in your head whether you want it there or not, engaging lyricism and quality production.

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Tell us what you will buy if you want to build your own studio.

A powerful Mac, studio monitors, mixing board, professional microphones, a solid-state hard drive for backups, and so on.

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Go on at length on what it takes to gain the attention of the audience while playing live.

To capture the attention of your audience when performing live, a solid groove that people can jive to and a bit of vulnerability plus some silliness can work.

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List your five favourite songwriters.

Daron Malakian (System of a Down)

Tupac Shakur

Jimmy Urine (Mindseed Self Indulgence)
Mos Def

Maynard Keenan (Tool)

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List your five favourite music producers.
Dr. Dre
Grant Howarth
Rick Rubin
Brian Eno
Quincy Jones

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Describe in details how you feel when you hear your song on the radio.

When our single “Rush Hour Crush” was played on major radio for the first time, it was the most incredible feeling I had ever heard in my life. I remember dreaming about that when I was younger, so to have it manifested in real life was a feeling I could never fully explain.

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Describe your best mood to write a song.

The best mood for me to write a song is whenever there’s an intense energy of any kind (joy, anger, sadness) to build from.

Lanoo

Posted on December 24, 2017 by Kolade Olamide

Discuss your personality.

I am honestly a laid back kind of guy. I really enjoy spending time reflecting on my life and decisions I have made. I am also an ambivert, there are times where I’m super outgoing and times where I can be closed off and quiet. But I can easily adapt to situations and environments.

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Brief us about you as a musician.

I like to think of myself as a musician/artist that can do many things, a musician that is very versatile. As an artist we have the right to express ourselves in many ways and I use music to express specific moods or events I go through on a day to day basis. For example one day I might be feeling jazzy/ groovy and the next day I might be making an inspirational record.

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Go into details on what have changed in your life for choosing music as a career.

As a child I dreamt of becoming a homicide detective and all those things until I fell in love with music and poetry. I have decided to put my time and attention to getting better, and continuing to make good music. Music has helped me overcome the darkest of times and I believe something with that type of power to heal should be shared with everyone. Music has also helped me to grow as an individual and allowed me to have a platform to express myself artistically.

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Tell us the benefits and drawbacks of choosing music as a career.

I only see positive things about music. I think it’s more than just music for me; it’s more like medicine. So as I grow as an artist I know that the benefits will continue to bless me. I don’t look at it as a burden. I’m still growing, and working hard to get a stronger fan case. And if you begin viewing the negatives of what you do then you just don’t want it bad enough.

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Tell us how you will manage fame as an established artist.

I strongly believe that fame is just a reward for working hard. I am not the type of guy to glorify fame in any way. I just love what I do and being able to become “famous” would just tell me that I am doing the right thing and making the right steps towards my goal of making music and inspiring the lives of others.

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Elaborate on the story line of this song.

This song was written after I came out of a really dark point in my life. I was struggling emotionally, and financially. I had a lot going on in my life, so this record marks my transition from overcoming that dark past. It allowed me to become more confident in myself. This song is about staying true to who you are, because I know I got what it takes to be big. And there are going to be a lot of people in this world and in this industry that are going to try to shut me down. But this song is about refusing and avoiding bad energy. I also share some personal information about my family and what I have gone through growing up but I literally let my heart spill.

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Tell us means of connecting you and purchasing your music online.

I am currently on SoundCloud. This record ‘Black Glass” will be on other music platforms including Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, YouTube music and many more. But very soon I will be releasing more music soon. I go by the name of “Lanoo”.

Instagram

lanoogotten

Twitter

LGWantsBetter

SoundCloud

Lanoo

Facebook

Lanoo Gottem or Delano McFarlane.

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Let us know the greatest moment of your music career.

The highlight of my music career so far has been having the opportunity to reach some people with my music. I take pride that people can listen to my songs and see my potential. They see how genuine I am in my songs, and that my songs come out of passion for what I love.

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Tell us the highest amount of money you have ever received from your music career and how it happened.

I actually have not received any money for my music yet. I am still growing as an artist and still working on building a stronger fan base, so once that comes I will be able to make some stronger strides with my music.

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Discuss your experience pertaining live performances, gigs, shows and tours.

I have performed at small venues such as open mics and at colleges. But I have not started touring yet. But I do have that as a goal for the future.

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Tell us how you relate with your fans.

I honestly be myself. I am not interested in posing as someone I am not. So I connect and relate to my fans by speaking about my life and being myself and most importantly having fun with it. And exercising my creative freedom through my music.

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Tell us what you will like to change if you have the chance to turn back the hands of time.

There isn’t anything that I would change. Everything happens for a reason and those events have only made me stronger.

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Tell us the most important people that have boosted your music career and how you met them.

I haven’t met any famous musical artists yet face to face but I reached out to Token the rapper and he gave me some pretty useful advice about how to overcome negativity. Besides that I have not met any other artists but there are artists that I look up to in a sense. Such as Eminem, Logic, Joe Budden, King Los, Cyhi The Prynce, Nas, Fabolous, and many more there’s a long list.

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Brief us on what you have in mind before considering music as a career.

Well actually before I fell in love with music, I wanted to become a homicide detective. When I was a child I loved the idea of being a cop, mostly because their priority is to protect and serve and I loved the idea of having the power of protecting people. I also thought about becoming an FBI agent, or homeland security.

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Discuss your good and bad experiences in life.

Well, there were a lot of good experiences like being extremely blessed with a really supportive mother who has helped me get through high school and put me in college. There were also struggles of growing up poor, and how that has influenced my life as well. There has always been financial struggles although we figure out a way to get by semi-comfortably.

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Name the artists that have influenced the world.

There are many artists who have changed the world, especially the music world in my opinion. Like Jay Z, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Eminem, Kanye West, Lauryn Hill, Nas, Damian Marley, Bob Marley, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan and the list just goes on.

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Tell us about your moment of rejections as a musician and how you were able to cope and move on.

Every time I release a song, I am pretty sure that there are a few people who don’t like my music, or are not a fan of that specific song. Everyone has their own tastes in what they think is good music. I honestly try not to focus on the rejection, and focus more on getting better. Building my skill set is extremely important and you always have to maintain a positive attitude. And just have some faith. There is going to be a herd of people out there that like what you can bring to the table.

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Tell us the most negative comment you have ever received about your music.

I think the most negative comment I have ever read was what this guy said. He said that my music “just doesn’t stand out for me” or something of the equivalent. I’m not exactly sure what he meant because I write my music to speak to the people. But I don’t spend too much time thinking about negative comments. Sometimes I don’t even read them.

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Tell us how to become a famous artist.

I believe that creativity has now become an integral part of making it as an artist. Now if I had all the answers I would have been famous already. But I also believe that work ethic and creating good quality music is equally as important. But you must also stay consistent! You should be able to pinpoint your growth in every record that you make. You have to be able to connect with the people in some way, shape or form because the fans or the listeners are the most important part about music.

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Tell us how you plan to make an impact on the society.

I mentioned before that I wanted to be a cop mostly because I loved the idea of helping and keeping people safe. I just loved the idea of protecting people. Now I have transitioned that energy and positivity to my music. And I want to have fun with my fans; I want to heal them with good genuine music. I want to change the lives of the future generations. I feel that as musicians you have the power to be able to influence many lives. It’s not just about becoming the president of the United States or becoming a doctor. Many of these kids begin to listen to music at a very young age. Now it is your duty as a musician to be able to speak to them and teach them things about life. I plan on being a role model not just in music but in everyday life as well.

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Elaborate on the recording process of this song.

Being a local Boston artist, this record was recorded at a local Boston recording studio in Roxbury, Massachusetts. “Black Glass” is a song written from my heart. It took me a couple weeks to write because of the things that I was going through in my personal life. But I am glad that it all came together.

Ben Noble

Posted on December 23, 2017 by Kolade Olamide

Tell us your real names, country of birth and childhood experience.

Ben Noble, United States. Born and raised in Denver, CO. I moved to Minneapolis, MN in 2009 for college and have been in Minneapolis ever since.

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Tell us your academic qualification.

I have a Bachelor’s degree in music (and just finished paying off my students loans, suck it college).

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Tell us about your music career, band name, musical background, experience and skills.

I have played music my whole life. I grew up playing saxophone, piano, guitar, drums; whatever I could get my hands on. I started recording my own music using a desktop computer mic and Windows Movie Maker (each overdub was played through the speakers into the same mic; imagine seeing my jaw drop when I discovered multi-tracking). I didn’t get serious about my music career until 2 years ago. I had a “real job” and eventually decided that if I wanted to make music actually happen I needed a big change; I quit my job and have been scraping along as a freelance musician (big shout out to my wife for her support!).

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Tell us about your genre, concept and idea behind your music video and the song.

My music is Indie Folk with influences ranging from Bob Dylan to Radiohead. My song “Worldspin” was originally inspired by a line from a book called The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene. The line was talking about pride, calling it “the sin by which the angels fell”. It really stuck out to me. When you think about it, the root of most evil in the world is thinking you are better than someone.

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Tell us how to run a record label independently and successfully based on your experience as an artist.

Work really hard but also decide on good goals before you start working. Any success I’ve had has come when I have strategically thought about something before working on it. As an independent musician it is helpful to assemble a team of people and play to their strengths. Know your limits so you can focus on what you are good at. More than anything you need to realize that you are the boss (after all, you are the one writing all the checks) and the ship doesn’t move without you.

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Tell us how you are promoting your music.

I am playing shows regularly in Minneapolis and am looking to tour in 2018. I am also working with a publicist and we are blasting local radio and media outlets.

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Tell us what makes you happy and what makes you sad.

What makes me happy: my wife and daughter, seeing people laugh, hugs, buying things, writing late at night with some nice whiskey. What makes me sad: assholes who are mean to other people, overcooked hash browns, a car mechanic telling you you’ll need to make more repairs than you thought.

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Explain clearly the story or concept behind the song.

As I said earlier, it is based off of a quote from a book. The root of almost all evil is pride: thinking you are better than someone. Later in the song there is a line that says: “You can play the fear, you can move the skies, and you can make the world spin however want with your crooked pride”. It goes on to say “it will haunt you at night”. I like the idea of mean, prideful people being haunted at night by things they do that they think they can get away with. I’m not a super-morbid person, but this is the emotion that this song was born from.

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List the radio stations, TV stations and blogs that have aired or featured your new song.

The Current (Minneapolis), Root Cellar on KVSC Radio, City Pages (Minneapolis), MN Spin (streaming service).

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Give us links to where the song can be purchased.

iTunes

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/worldspin/1208656055?i=1208657060

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Tell us about other members of your band, music producer, crew or music video director, how the song was recorded and how the music video was shot.

“Worldspin” features my friends Hilary Ritchie (violin), Whitney Loher (viola), and Hunter Selg (cello). I recorded everything by myself in a cabin. Later I wrote string parts and recorded them in my basement.

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Tell us how long you have been in the music industry, your experience and your future goal.

I have been writing and recording music for ten years. I’ve been getting more serious about putting out my own music as well as producing for other artists in the past two years. My goal for the future is to release a bunch of records, build a studio to produce others, and make a sustainable living off of a combination of the two.

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Tell us what makes you unique from others.

I do my own producing, I am a half-time stay-at-home dad, I doubt myself a lot of the time (oh wait, that’s everyone).

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Tell us your weakness and strength pertaining music.

My weakness and strength is that I usually try to do everything myself. I am in no way a type-A person, but when it comes to my music, I’m a raging perfectionist. Everything has to be done my way. This helps because I can take an idea and see it all the way through but it hurts because it limits the input of other voices and it doesn’t always use other people’s strengths.

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List your five favourite songs including the artists.

Holocene – Bon Iver

Death With Dignity – Sufjan Stevens

No Surprises – Radiohead

Was There Nothing? – Asgeir

Callow – Novo Amor

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Tell us your position on “DIY” Do It Yourself” and signing to a major label.

If your music is deeply interwoven with who you are as a person, don’t sign with a major label (unless you feel like they get you). If you write meaningless pop tunes, go ahead (I’m not hating on pop, but yeah, take the money).

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Tell us the instruments put together in this song.

There is a sea of acoustic guitar and vocal tracks, violin, viola, cello, a random box I used for percussion, and hand claps.

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Tell us other activities you will like to pursue apart from music.

I spend most of my non-music time with my wife and daughter. We listen to audiobooks, travel, bake cookies, and jump on trampolines whenever we get the chance. If I had an endless number of hours I would design and build my own house, learn to do a backflip, and learn to make donuts.

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Tell us about gaining the confidence to sing in front of a large crowd for the first time.

I dealt with anxiety about singing in front of a large crowd for years. When it’s your music, it is hard not to equate people’s response with your identity and self-worth. The turning point for me was realizing that when you are the one singing, you are the one being vulnerable, which is way braver and badass than any critic standing safely and anonymously in the audience.

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Tell us the best way to make money in the music business.

You have to spend money to make money. Invest in good gear and good musicians, work consistently, and try things that scare you. Also, learn to produce so that people will pay you because that is much quicker income than original music!

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Tell us your experience pertaining TV/Radio plugging.

I have worked with a Minneapolis-based licensing company with limited success. The stars need to align to have any success but it is there for sure.

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Narrate your recording experience.

This album was self-produced in a cabin, one mic for everything. It originated as a 6-song EP and I was ready to release it; after showing it to trusted sources I decided to start again and make it a full-length album.

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List your various works.

Debut album “Whisky Priest” released March 10, 2017.

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5 Stars of the Day

Posted on December 14, 2017 by Kolade Olamide

https://soundcloud.com/hank_sweets/north-3-prod-hank-weets

https://soundcloud.com/finefabriq/get-behind-the-feeling

The Two Romans – Cutting Strings

Posted on October 16, 2017 by Kolade Olamide

Tell us your real names, country of birth, date of birth and childhood experience.

Samuele 1987 and Mattia 1993 the Zanella brothers, born and grew up in Rome playing football in the streets, always dreaming of becoming a football pro like Francesco Totti. by moving to switzerland at the age of 16 (first sam, 5 years later Mattia) that dream changed to inspire as many people as possible with our music.

Tell us about your music career, your band name, musical background, experience and skills.

We are The two Romans. alternative pop-Rock band based in switzerland. The band that inspired us the most so far was probably Mumford and Sons, but surely not the only one. But we feel like we found our sound now.

Tell us about your genre, concept and idea behind your music video and the song.

We want to spread something positive. We want people to be touched by our music and make it their own. unity, energy and hope are our pillars. We love singing about life, good moments as well as the bad ones. Always trying to put positivity in it. Music videos are a fantastic way to underline the feelings of the song. We have good friends who help us with the video-productions, without them it wouldn’t be possible.

Tell us everything that we need to know about you as a musician and the ups and downs you have faced in the music business.

As we are a young band we almost only had good moments but are aware that there will be deserts we ll have to walk through. we hope that by being aware of the moment and cherishing the highs we ll make it through the lows. we love playing live. we played over a 100 gig since starting 30 months ago and have 23 gigs still ahaed this year. best shows this far were at Gurten Festival, Montreux Jazz festival or our Europe Tour in May supporting Future Thieves (USA), definitely are some of our personal highlights.

Tell us about other members of your band, music producer, crew or music video director, how the song was recorded and how the music video was shot.

The band is also composed by Dave Mägert (drums), Flo Fettke (Rhythm-Guitar, Mandoline), Brian Boy (lead-Guitar) and Jürg Steiner (Bass). we grew into being a big family and we love spending time with each other. “Cutting Strings” has been recorded at Kaliforni Records in Switzerland (www.kalifornirecords.com) as part of the “SUN” EP. As an indie-band, we produced and recorded the songs ourselves. The mixing has then been made by Simon Beck (www.beckrecords.ch) our live sound tech and mastered by Serge Christen (www.mazzivesound.com). The video was shot at different shows we played in summer ’17 and put together by our friend Raffael Thielmann.

Tell us how long you have been in the music industry, your experience and your future goal.

We started in March 2015 with this project, so i’d call us “toddlers” in the industry. we don’t set boundaries to our dreams, so we like imagining ourselves touring Europe, or opening for big artists. who knows? we walk with our head in the clouds and our feet on the ground, there’s still a lot of work to be done.

Tell us what inspires you to write, compose and sing.

Life. we love life, we are grateful for this wonderful gift and we love cheering it. everything that life’s bringing to us, inspires us. after the inspiration has come, the process can change from time to time. either you start with the lyrics (Mattia loves doing it that way) or you start with a lick, or a beat or an arrangement (the rest of the band does that way around). in the end we end up in the studio composing, arranging, trying till late at night till we have the song.

Tell us the secret behind making a hit song.

I wish i knew myself. honestly, I’dont think that there is a recipe. to me it has to be honest and hit the nerve of a strong demographic. Labels and radios have their influence in making a song a hit.

Tell us the message you will like to pass to your fans out there.

“Cutting strings” is a song about unconditional love and forgiveness. once you find that kind of love you never want to leave . it’s not easy to always love, but we must try.

Tell the kind of advice you will give to an upcoming artist.

Constantly write songs and go out and play. also don’t neglect social medias 🙂 be patient. accept a genuine, slow growth.

Elaborate on your music careers, albums, songs, tours, recognition or awards you might have obtained.

We won the Emergenza Band Contest in Switzerland and released Waves EP 2015 and Forest EP 2016.

List Radio or TV Stations that are airing your songs and blogs that have featured you as well and send message to them via this platform.

Alexrainbird, Anotherwhyskey, Purpole Melon, Cougar Microbes, Keep Walking Music and couple of others I don’t remember.

Name five biggest artists that you look up to like idols.

U2, The Killers, Mumford & Sons, Sting, Gang of Youths.

Name the artists you have collaborated with before in your songs or artists you are willing to collaborate with in the future if you have the chance to do so.

None so far, we love co-writing and are totally open for that.

Give us the links to your website and your entire social network.

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Give us the links to your various stores for fans to buy your music.

http://lnk.site/sunep

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Tell us about your happiest day and saddest day.

My happiest day is when I’m on tour with my boys, my worst day…. when i can’t beat Sam in FIFA in a best-of-5 session.

DL Moreno

Posted on October 16, 2017 by Kolade Olamide

Tell us your real names, country of birth, date of birth and childhood experience.

I’m DL Moreno, a solo independent hip-hop artist from Bakersfield, CA. I was born in Merced, CA, USA in 1986. Childhood experience was centered around music, mom was a “rock-n-roll” singer in a trio girl group back in the day so guess it’s in the “blood” so to speak. I learned to play the drums and read music at an early age, played in orchestras and bands, gravitated to hip-hop music in my late teens.

Tell us about your music career, your band name, musical background, experience and skills.

Playing drums was the real foundation to my music career. I love beats and when I started getting into hip-hop, it was really a natural progression for me to start spittin’ rhymes, like playing drums with my voice. I was inspired by Dr. Dre, Tupac and of course, The Notorious BIG. Those were and continue to be my top influences. Dr. Dre’s music and the wordplay from Pac & Biggie, just genius! As far as proficiency, I can play drums and I work with Logic software for pre-production, recording vocal tracks, etc. As far as NAH MEAN and other recent songs I’ve released, I started working with producers who currently work in the music industry and have created music for Trey Songz, Drake, The Weeknd to name a few! Since I’m not an engineer, I send all of my pre-production out to a professional for mixing/mastering, although I do give my input as far as what effects I prefer for a particular vocal track.

Tell us about your genre, concept and idea behind your music video and the song.

Hip-hop/R&B would be the genre for sure. I wrote the music video treatment and chose the location. I wanted it to be fun and sexy, a whole party vibe. In my humble opinion, the director John FU, who also directed Baby Bash’s video Fantasy Girl, was a great collaborator on it and delivered a great video.

Tell us everything that we need to know about you as a musician and the ups and downs you have faced in the music business.

As a musician and vocalist, I spend hours in the studio until I get it right. I don’t want to put something out there that is sub par. I strive to get it as perfect as humanly possible. As far as my experience with the music industry, there have been a lot more downs than ups but I love music and I never give up. I recall one time I got my music in the hands of an A&R exec at a major record label. He told me he liked what I was doing and to keep on working at it. He said he would send it over to someone that could possibly help me, but I never heard from him again. The exec ended up signing a singer who became one of the biggest female pop icons in the world! And thank God he did sign her, I was just happy that he saw the talent in me. That was inspiration enough to keep on working at it.

Tell us about other members of your band, music producer, crew or music video director, how the song was recorded and how the music video was shot.

I’m a solo artist, so just me. The music producer for NAH MEAN is JAYWAN INC, I leased the beat from him. The music video was directed by John FU, and we shot the video at one of the local clubs here in Bakersfield, CA. I wrote the lyrics and recorded the vocals in my home studio, then sent them off to my engineer Dave Fore aka Orange Octane, for mixing/mastering.

Tell us how long you have been in the music industry, your experience and your future goal.

I’ve been an independent artist off an on for about 10 years. Future goals, to continue to create music that people enjoy and/or love, to continue to grow my fan base, and last but not least, to earn enough income as an artist to be able to support my family and me.

Tell us what inspires you to write, compose and sing.

Life inspires me to write, including past relationships, a turning point in my life, good or bad. Of course, my mom being the lead singer she was, was a huge inspiration for me as a singer.

Tell us the secret behind making a hit song.

Still working on the answer to that question, lol.

Tell us the message you will like to pass to your fans out there.

Thank you for all the love and support you’ve given me since I began this journey as an artist. I hope I inspired you to do good things and/or to pursue your dreams as a fellow artist. Feel free to reach out to me on my social media, I’m fairly accessible and have given advice to lots of independent artists.

Tell the kind of advice you will give to an upcoming artist.

I tell them that if music is something they love, to never give up. It takes lots of time an persistence to achieve a real career in the music industry. I’m still working at it and getting closer everyday to my dreams. I’ve gotten specific questions from how I was able to secure a lease on a beat, to the steps I took to promote the record. Also, I get questions like “is this or that company legitimate to work with?” I always give my honest opinion because I know how hard it is on the “come-up.”

Elaborate on your music careers, albums, songs, tours, recognition or awards you might have obtained.

I released a single called Savage feat Trey Songz. On 5/20/17, it topped the Digital Radio Tracker (DRT) National Airplay Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Chart at #9 and the DRT National Airplay Top 150 Independent Chart at #3! Proud moment!

List Radio or TV Stations that are airing your songs and blogs that have featured you as well and send message to them via this platform.

My single NAH MEAN debuted on DJ Suss One’s radio show on HOT 97 in NYC! My single Savage feat Trey Songz continues to play on online radio throughout the world, some FM stations in the US, and is still on the DRT National Airplay Independent Chart. I’ve done live radio interviews on We On Radio in NY, Twin Radio Syndicate on Blogtalk Radio, and A.V.A Live Radio in FL. I’ve had a featured blog about my single Savage feat Trey Songz on ThisIs50.com and JackThriller.com.

Tell us how you write your lyrics, compose, sing and record in the studio.

I listen to tons of instrumentals/beats online. When I find one that inspires me, I start writing to it. The writing process has taken anywhere from a day or 2, to a month. If it’s something I believe is going to work, a gut feeling that I have something unique, I’ll try to get the exclusive rights to it so it becomes an original (which will be helpful later when it comes time to copyright it and obtain a synch licensing) and go from there.

Name five biggest artists that you look up to like idols.

Dr. Dre, Tupac, Biggie, Eminem, and as far as singing, The Weeknd.

Name the artists you have collaborated with before in your songs or artists you are willing to collaborate with in the future if you have the chance to do so.

Trey Songz is featured on my single Savage, so I’d like to work with him again. Dr. Dre, Eminem, The Weeknd, Drake, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, any and all of those artists would incredible to collaborate with.

Give us the links to your website and your entire social network.

Give us the links to your various stores for fans to buy your music.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/dl-moreno/id357427480

Tell us about your happiest day and saddest day.

I would have to say the birth of my son was the happiest day of my life. I don’t think the saddest day has occurred for me yet, that would be the loss of any one of my family members. Thank God they’re still with me!