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A New Path Forward

May 6, 2020 By Michael

A New Path Forward for the Music Industry

Empty-Red-Rocks

An Empty Red Rock Amphitheater

Unique Times - Early 2020 

Festivals all over the world are being canceled, postponed, or reimagined due to the Covid-19 outbreak.  Since the dawn of the internet, there have never been such far-ranging closures, travel restrictions, gathering prohibitions, government-mandated lockdowns, and stay at home orders.  Seemingly overnight, the world has changed. The world has adapted. Many people are 'working from home' as a result.

Two of the most startling visual representations of the drastic change experienced across the world include:

  1.  The Decrease of Pollution in China as Seen from Space
  2.  The Decrease in Percentage of People Traveling Within Cities Across the Globe

The drastic changes in society have caused many artists to rethink their approach, dust off their online marketing skills, and rekindle those email lists.  Gone are the golden days of the recording industry when artists could make money from physical sales of CDs, Tapes, and Records.  Are the golden days of touring gone too? Many artists have turned online for answers.  

New Opportunities

It seems as though this is just the beginning.  The door has been opened for a while but people are catching on to the possibilities afforded by high-speed internet and the creations of talented computer software engineers who make the whole process happen seamlessly.  While earning money online is not novel, it is becoming more widespread and mainstream.  Festivals are popping up online.  Artists are streaming from their homes, and people are finally tuning in to be apart of the live events happening left and right. Bands are playing to in-person crowds of zero while streaming their sets to thousands.  Large organizations are amplifying the movement even further and some are even raising money for charities on top of that.

A New Frontiers - Online Festivals

Let's take a deep dive into a recent online festival. Beatport hosted an online festival, ReConnect.

The festival featured 33 hours of uninterrupted music, featured artists from around the world streaming from their homes, and raised over $180,000 in the process.  Get this, the cost of a ticket was $0!

Not even Live Nation's greedy little hands could tack on a $10+ digital 'convenience' charge. According to Beatport's' website, all of the money raised was donated to the WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund as well as the AFEM (Association for Electronic Music) Members’ COVID-19 Hardship Fund. Although, on a different page there is the "Bridges for Music" organization that is cited as a recipient of donations. Regardless, the money was definitely donated to several charitable organizations.

How did they do it you might ask? They corraled a top-notch list of acts and leveraged the artist's networks to promote the event.  Sure Beatport has its own reach but by collaborating with artists, who promoted the event and their set times, amplified the awareness for the event and leveraged geographically diverse 'influencers'.  The event was an Electronic Music Event and According to Alive 365,

ReConnect reached over 8.5 million people!

Hey Boomers, only 400,000 people attended Woodstock, for reference. That is over 21x the size of Woodstock!  The nature of the event is completely different than traditional concerts with artists live-streaming their sets from their homes. It was an intimate party.  Families, friends and strangers alike tuned in on their preferred platform.  Twitch, a gamer-centric live-streaming company helped provide the servers and tech so that millions could take part in the event.  People tuned in on YouTube as well.  All the while, live chats and donations streamed in. It is an incredible feat for technology and artists alike that people were able to come together on short notice and "ReConnect" the world through music. It is perhaps the largest music festival ever to have occurred.  A list of the largest concerts top out at 3.5 million people and the largest festival tops out at 3.1 Million attendees.

The Initial LineUp from ReConnect featured electronic musicians and DJs from around the world and included:  A-Trak, Agoria, ANNA, Axel Boman, BLOND:ISH, Bonobo (DJ set), Carl Cox, Chris Liebing, Destructo, Duke Dumont, Eats Everything, GRiZ, La Fleur, Nastia, Nicole Moudaber, Nina Kraviz, Nora En Pure, RÜFÜS DU SOL (DJ set), Sébastien Léger, Themba, Todd Terry, TOKiMONSTA, UMEK, Wax Motif, Waze & Odyssey, Gorgon City

** More artists played.  The initial 24-hour lineup above.

What does the future hold?

So back to the questions... 1. Is this the start of a major shift in the music industry?  2. Will live-streaming events continue to reshape the music scene? 3. How long before VR (Virtual Reality) / AR (Augmented Reality) live-streamed events become commonplace?  4. Will music and musicians benefit from such shifts in 'attendance'?  5. Will new forms of art emerge from the remote presence?  6. Can I still dance with people at a show? 7. Will Music Creation Change? 8. Will Music Die?

I will attempt to answer the following questions and provide my predictions for the future.  I know the only thing I know about the future is that I don't know it... Yet.  I will take the questions in stride and embrace the uncertainty.  My predictions to the above questions are addressed in order.

1. I believe this is the start of a new shift in the music industry.  No longer are we going to movie theaters to enjoy the entertainment but we now stream it from our phones, TVs, and tablets. Concerts, especially the largest artists and acts, will have a majority attendance from a remote location.  Currently, most artists have an 'in-person' audience of 0, so you could argue that it has already happened. However, I would like to believe that live in-person events will come back as strong as they were in 2019.  Another major shift in the music experience is already underway, moving from in-person to a remote live experience.  

2. Live-Streaming Events will continue and will complement the live in-person experience for years to come.  By the year 2030 there will begin to be a noticeable absence of in-person attendees at events.  To compensate for this, events will begin offering 'digital perks' at live in-person events to slow the shift. This could mean AR (Augmented Reality) art installments at live events only available for in-person attendees.  In short, there will be in-person perks offered only to those who attend physically, in an attempt to motivate people to get up off their couch and dance.  

3. This answer hinges on the word "commonplace".  I must start by referencing a great quote.  "The future is already here, it is just not evenly distributed"- William Gibson.  This is a question of human behavior not a question of technology.  According to recent stats (from early 2020) the world has a human population of 7.8 Billion people and 3.8 Billion people are not yet 'online'.  So is the internet commonplace now?  Some might argue yes.  So perhaps commonplace, for the purpose of this article, represents a ~50% market share.  To get back to the question, it is already possible to have a VR conference. Here is an article about a virtual reality conference that the writer attended in 2018. So in short, yes.  VR and AR music events are coming. It is just a matter of time before the equipment evolves and the price point is lowered so that many people can enjoy and attend the digital experience.  Live stream events in the regular 'flat' format will take over first before VR / AR live events.  When the technology finally arrives and is standardized with common formats, like mp4 videos, and can be played on a myriad of devices (Magic Leap, Google Cardboard, Oculus VR, Apple VR, Android VR, etc) live-streaming on a 2D 'flat' screen will be old fashioned, like watching a movie on a Black & White TV.  VR has been like a mirage, with interest peaking in 2016 (according to Google Trends as of the writing of this article).  My estimated time frame for a majority of content creators to start making the switch from 'flat' videos to 'VR' content is 2030.  I predict that a key technology will be the 'flattening' of the content from 'VR' to the current standard formats so the older executives can justify the switch because the content will be 'backward compatible' to run on legacy technology like your brand new smart TV.

4. I certainly hope that musicians benefit from the evolving technology but expect the future to be similar to the past.  When the record labels suffered, from the transition from physical to digital sales, so did musicians.  I think that derivative works will be sorted out using technology and therefore musicians will earn more money from future recreations and remixes of their work. I suspect that the future transition will be another difficult transition for many artists but ultimately, I believe that artists will end up leveraging their global audience and benefit from doing so.

5. I believe that artists will work together to create immersive experiences.  Android Jones, a renowned digital artist has collaborated with top tier electronic musicians, to create 3D visual experiences accompanied by octatonic sound. One of his signature pieces is called Samsakra. I suspect that in the future visual artists will become as important as the audio arts.  Creating a unification of experience will be the result.  Humans are visual creatures and visuals will become more intertwined with music as 3d spaces are created and enjoyed. To take this one step further, there should be a term invented to represent a group of cross-disciplinary artists who perform together.  I imagine a DJ and a visual artist will create works together with one working with pressure waves and the other working with light waves in a harmonic duo.  There is no need to limit to two people and groups of the visual form are just as likely to form. These artists could sell tickets to their virtual experiences so, in theory, they are opening up their presentation to the minds and homes of anyone in the world.

6. As clothes become smart, filled with sensors and our digital worlds begin to merge through VR and AR, I do think that you could dance 'with' someone from the other side of the globe.  5G is purported to bring latency down to under 12 milliseconds.  Some even speculate that that number could be as low as 1 millisecond. With a virtual avatar in a VR / AR environment, is seems feasible as though you could truly dance together without noticing a time delay between your movements.  One critical difference is, you won't "step on anyone toes" or bump into someone, for in the virtual space mass does not actually collide.  However, you may get a haptic response, like a rumble pack on Nintendo 64.

7. Music is already created, recorded and modified digitally.  While analog techniques are likely to be used for an effect, a majority of music is already digitally altered.  This trend will continue and I predict many new digital instruments will be created.  One innovative example created by a small team here in Boulder, Colorado is Specdrums, which enables you to drum on different colors and create different audio frequencies based on your digital program.  Musicians and DAWs (digital audio workstations) will begin to support and create quadraphonic and octatonic sound. What is 16 called? How many angles can sound come from and still be distinct? The bitrates of audio files will likely increase but sample rates will not likely increase much (as the Nyquist sampling rate and Nyquist Frequency dictate) as a higher sample rate is only applicable to frequencies beyond human hearing.

8. No.

It would surprise me if virtual events leveraging VR and AR do not start popping up this decade. With 5G just around the corner, faster connectivity speeds are here to stay.  New Software Languages and Platforms will emerge as tools for artists and businesses to leverage.  When Apple's rumored AR / VR Glasses come out and Googles "Glass" project comes out of hibernation, more devices will hit the market incentivizing business, developers, and content creators to leverage the platform. Consider the fact that a mobile app was not created until the iPhone.  The AR/VR devices are in their infancy (think Motorola's Razor, cool at the time but not that functional compared to modern smartphones) and many different twists and turns are coming. Eventually, when things get standardized, I suspect entertainment and music to be one of the first broadly utilized applications for these new platforms.

Stay Tuned ~

Back to the music!

Some of my favorite sets from ReConnect included:

Griz

Nora En Pure

Rufus Du Sol

Filed Under: Africa, Asia, Australia, Central America, Concert Reports, EARTH, English (US), Europe, Festival, FM, Freio, FreioMusic, Language, Live Music, Marketing, Musicians, New Music, North America, Oceania, Profit, Promotion, South America, Venues, Visualizer / Visual Artists Tagged With: 19, 2020, 2030, 2035, AR, Augmented, Augmented Reality, Change, Covid, Covid-19, Decade, Festival, Forward, freio, FreioMusic, future, Innovation, Live, Music, Music Festival, Music Industry, new, Path, Prediction, Predictions, Reality, Revolution, Stream, technology, Virtual, Virtual Events, Virtual Reality, VR

FMP 018 – Kelvin Chikumbirike

November 1, 2019 By Michael

The Freio Music Podcast

Episode 018 - Kelvin Chikumbirike

https://media.blubrry.com/freio_music_podcast/p/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/freiomusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/FMP-018-Kelvin-Chikumbirike.mp3
  • Overview

  • Links

  • Videos

Overview

The featured artist in this episode of the Freio Music Podcast is Kelvin Chikumbirike. Kelvin is from Zimbabwe traveling through the USA on his first international musical tour. In this episode, you will hear Kelvin's music recorded for the first time In the Freio Music studio. Enjoy this episode of the © Freio Music Podcast

Links


Kelvin Chikumbirike's Links:

Instagram
 
Facebook
 
Linked In
 
YouTube
 
Twitter
 
Email:  KelvinChikumbirike@gmail.com
 
WhatsApp:  +263 734 598 204
 
 
 
Kelvin's Organization - Vaima Arts Trust
 
Twitter
 
Facebook Vaima Arts Trust
 
 
 
 

Videos

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Ride Festival 2019

October 27, 2019 By Michael

Recap

The 8th Annual Ride Festival backdropped by steep slopes of evergreens and aspens in downtown Telluride was filled with good vibes and great music. Everyone has their band, and for this crowd, it’s Widespread Panic. And Panic does not skip a beat. Mean solos and raspy, eerie vocals define this legacy band. Long jams fed a stellar ambiance in the crowd.

However, the Ride Fest is not just Widespread Panic. Take a listen to some of the alluring artists of the festival below and be sure to check them out on tour.

TYLER BRYANT & THE SHAKEDOWN

This band ROCKED, bringing a new generation of the rock genre to the forefront. It was rugged, raw, and dirty. Small town Texas-born guitarist/vocalist Tyler Bryant commanded the stage in the best of ways. Riffs of southern jam band, blues, and slasher rock were skillfully crafted in their music. Only in their 20s, this band is on the up. I wouldn't pass up the opportunity to see them live.

And who’s not a sucker for a little slide guitar?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2YGMdGJOF4

PONY BRADSHAW

Pony Bradshaw, whew! This project, backed by singer, songwriter, James Bradshaw, has a honest, pure vibe. He has a beautifully smooth voice and haunting, intriguing lyrics. He kicked off Saturday afternoon right with his Americana storytelling. I really dug Pony Bradshaw, take a listen below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vR4xEVVB1M

 

Photos

Filed Under: Colorado, EARTH, Festival, FM, North America, Ride, Ride 2019, Telluride, USA, West Tagged With: Colorado, Festival, freio, FreioMusic, Music, Photography, Ride, Ride 2019, Ride Festival, Rock, Rock Festival, Telluride, Thunder, Thunder Pussy, ThunderPussy, Widespread Panic

FMP 014 – Sevana

April 30, 2019 By Michael

The Freio Music Podcast

Episode 014 - Sevana

https://media.blubrry.com/freio_music_podcast/p/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/freiomusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/FMP-014-Sevana.mp3

  • Overview

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Overview

The featured artist in this episode of the Freio Music Podcast is Sevana. Sevana made a turn towards music at age 16 and has had an explosive recording career. Her hometown Savannah-La-Mar in Westmoreland, Jamaica inspired her stage name and keeps her in tune with her Jamaican roots. She has toured throughout Europe and even made an appearance in the USA. In the episode, she shares some of what she has learned throughout her musical journey. Sevana's music is heartfelt and ridiculously groovy at the same time. Her vocals will melt upon impact with your ears. Listen in, Stay Tuned!

Links

Sevana's Links:

Website - SevanaSiren.com

Music - Sevana EP 

Twitter - CallMeSevana

Videos

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FMP 013 – Snug Boy

March 1, 2019 By Michael

The Freio Music Podcast

Episode 013 - Snug Boy

https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/media.blubrry.com/freio_music_podcast/p/freiomusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/FMP-013-Snug-Boy.mp3

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Overview

The featured artist in this episode of the Freio Music Podcast is Pedro Bernabe aka Snug Boy. Pedro currently lives in Angola and is from the small town of Lubango. Pedro, as a young kid, escaped Angola during the civil war and became a war refugee in the neighboring country of Namibia. Pedro returned to Angola after the war and restarted his life in the country. Pedro started out his musical career as a lyricist and a rapper. He is now focused on making music from the heart and has moved into Reggae. Snug Boy's music now focuses on world peace and unity. His latest track "Love Matters" is accompanied by a powerful music video and features many languages. The beauty and genuine message resonates through his music. Stay tuned for some musical previews and to hear Pedro's story in his own words.

Description

The featured artist in this episode of the Freio Music Podcast is Pedro Bernabe aka Snug Boy. Pedro currently lives in Angola and is from the small town of Lubango. Pedro, as a young kid, escaped Angola during the civil war and became a war refugee in the neighboring country of Namibia. Pedro returned to Angola after the war and restarted his life in the country. Pedro started out his musical career as a lyricist and a rapper. He is now focused on making music from the heart and has moved into Reggae. Snug Boy's music now focuses on world peace and unity. His latest track "Love Matters" is accompanied by a powerful music video and features many languages. The beauty and genuine message resonates through his music. Stay tuned for some musical previews and to hear Pedro's story in his own words.

Links

Snug Boy's Links:

FaceBook

Instagram

Love Matters Music Video

iTunes Music

CD Baby

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Filed Under: Africa, Afrikaans, Angola, EARTH, English (US), FM, FMP, Freio, FreioMusic, FreioMusicPodcast, French, Genre, Instrumentation, Interviews, Language, Marketing, Music, Musicians, Podcast, Podcasts, Reggae, Soul, Vocals, World Tagged With: Africa, Angola, Boy, episode, FMP, freio, FreioMusic Podcast, interview, Music, Music Video, Musician, Podcast, Rap, Rapper, Reggae, singer, Snug, SnugBoy, song, song-writing, vocalist, writing

Arise 2018 – Photo Recap

January 26, 2019 By Michael

2 © Freio Music_Arise Music Festival 2018-61

Arise Music Festival in Loveland, Colorado 2018 - Photo Recap

Another orbit around the sun and another opportunity to shoot at Arise Music Festival.  Here are some of my favorite moments and photos from the event.  Huge shout out to all of the artists who made this festival possible.

Photos by Michael Morahan

Photo By Michael Morahan
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Photo By Michael Morahan
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Photo By Michael Morahan
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Filed Under: 2018, Acoustic, Arise, Colorado, EARTH, Electronic, English (US), Festival, Freio, FreioMusic, Genre, Live Music, Loveland, Musicians, New Music, North America, Photos, Sunrise Ranch, Uncategorized, USA, West Tagged With: 2018, Arise, Arise Music Festival, Artist, Festival, freio, Music, Photography, Photos

FMP 010 – Aphasia

November 26, 2018 By Michael

The Freio Music Podcast

Episode 010 - Aphasia

https://media.blubrry.com/freio_music_podcast/p/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/freiomusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/FMP-010-Aphasia-Freio-Music-Podcast.mp3
  • Overview

  • Description

  • Links

Overview

The featured artist in this episode of the Freio Music Podcast is Aric Rudnick aka Aphasia. Aric reveals how he creates and utilizes custom sample packs. Aphasia's music is electronically produced and with attention to detail. Aphasia's songs have an underlying clarity and smoothness but vary widely in regards to tempo.  To give you a little taste of his music we have inserted a few short song clips to illustrate his techniques. Enjoy this long interview and conversation with Aphasia. Stay Tuned!

Description

The featured artist in this episode of the Freio Music Podcast is Aric Rudnick aka Aphasia. Aric reveals how he creates and utilizes custom sample packs. Aphasia's music is electronically produced and with attention to detail. Aphasia's songs have an underlying clarity and smoothness but vary widely in regards to tempo. Aric reveals how he is able to balance a budding music career with his day job and still create art daily. Aric is strategic about his health and art by 'turning on his antenna' and getting adequate sleep despite his tendency for making music at 3am. Aric is only 24 years young and already has a solid foundation that will propel him forward. Enjoy this long interview and conversation with Aphasia. Stay Tuned!

Links

Aphasia' Links:

https://soundcloud.com/officialaphasia

https://www.instagram.com/aphasia.beats/

https://facebook.com/officialaphasia/

 

Adm x Eve

https://soundcloud.com/admxeve

https://www.facebook.com/admxeve/

https://www.instagram.com/admxeve/

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Full Transcription & Show Notes

Transcription Coming Soon...

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FMP 012 – Eric John Kaiser

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Filed Under: Boulder, Colorado, Denver, EARTH, Electronic, English (US), FM, FMP, Freio, FreioMusic, FreioMusicPodcast, Interviews, Musicians, North America, Podcast, Podcasts, USA, West Tagged With: Aphasia, boulder, Colorado, Denver, electronic, freio, Freio Music Podcast, FreioMusic, FreioMusic Podcast, Music, Podcast

Enchanted Forest Gathering

June 3, 2018 By Michael Leave a Comment

OK so the weekend is fast approaching and you still don’t know what you’re going to do. Here is an 💡:
What about having a blast in California? An enchanted forest with some of the best electronic music acts in the nation. Of course, no festival can lay claim to owing music but it can be said that this festival has some great taste in artists. From Ozomatli to Beats Antique, this festival embraces a diversity of genres and styles while still cultivating each in their own form. The early morning yoga and health classes are a bonus and a welcome refresh after a long night of dancing. This festival has it all. Just a few hours north of San Francisco this event is set in, you guessed it, an Enchanted Forest with natural beauty all around.

Look no further than Northern California. You can still grab your tickets before its too late here: http://bit.ly/2JvK2N6

Info & Links

Enchanted Forest will take place at the beautiful Black Oak Ranch in Laytonville, California from June 8-10. Featuring performances from Beats Antique, Keys n Krates, Graves, Ozomatli, Dumpstaphunk and Del the Funky Homosapien w/ Amp Live, Lyrics Born, Truth, Mark Farina, Antennae, Sticky Buds, Phutureprimitive and over 100 nationally renowned acts in only three days!  Get excited.  Get your tickets. Get your groove on. See you there!

 

Links:

Important Enchanted Forest Gathering Links

Buy Tickets link: http://enchantedforestmendo.com/get-tickets/

Website: http://www.enchantedforestmendo.com/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/EnchantedForestGathering/

2018 Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/398780250544889/

Lineup

Filed Under: California, EARTH, EDM, Electronic, Electronica, Enchanted Forest, Experimental, Festival, Freio, FreioMusic, Funk, Genre, Glitch, Gypsy, House, Jamtronic, Lo-Fi, Minimal, North America, Techno, Trance, Trip Hop, USA Tagged With: Antique, Art Festival, beats, Buy, electronic, Enchanted, Festival, Forest, freio, Music, Music Festival, Ozomatli, tickets

Shambhala Full Line Up Announced

April 2, 2018 By Michael Leave a Comment

Shambhala Full Lineup Announced

What do Claude VonStroke, Feed Me, Justin Martin, Destructo, Snails, Malaa, Gramatik, REZZ, The Glitch Mob, Mr. Carmack, Boombox Cartel, Brasstracks and more have in common?

Shambhala Music Festival!!!







Shambhala Music Festival Announces 2018 Headliner Lineup With Claude VonStroke, Feed Me, Destructo, Mr. Carmack, REZZ, Justin Martin, Malaa, Gramatik, Snails And More

The festival previously announced Canadian DJ and record producer REZZ and the pioneering electronic trio The Glitch Mob as the first two headliners, and now Shambhala has returned to announce their full headliner lineup for 2018 which includes Dirtybird founder Claude VonStroke and his hip-hop leaning project Barclay Crenshaw, legendary UK dance music aficionado Feed Me, renowned DJ and event promoter Destructo, San Francisco based DJ and Dirtybird favourite Justin Martin, and hip-hop meets electronic producer Mr. Carmack.

Other highlights include mysterious bass music producer Malaa, Slovenian electronic musician Gramatik, UK drum & bass duo Camo & Krooked, ubiquitous UK hip-hop artist Dizzee Rascal, Montreal dubstep duo Adventure Club, the electrifying 2¢ project from Craze and Four Color Zack, Mad Decent duo Boombox Cartel, turntablist legend DJ Qbert, masked Canadian trio Black Tiger Sex Machine, Montreal bass music phenom Snails, Grammy winning live duo Brasstracks, glitched out Australian act Opiuo, and a collaborative set between Ooah and Boreta of The Glitch Mob under the name 29 Palms.

Following the headliner lineup, Shambhala will soon be launching the lineups for each individual stage: Pagoda, Village, Fractal Forest, Living Room, Amphitheater, and The Grove. Keep an eye on the social media channels of Shambhala Music Festival throughout the next week for more info.

Don’t miss out, tickets are almost sold out and won’t last long. Purchase your #Shambhala2018 tickets here. High-end camping packages are offered in addition to some other accommodation packages for those travelling from afar. Carpool options and additional travel information is available on the Shambhala website.

STAY CONNECTED:
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify

Filed Under: British Columbia, Canada, EARTH, Festival, Live Music, New Music, North America, Shambhala, Uncategorized Tagged With: Boombox, Canada, Drop, Festival, freio, Freio Music, FreioMusic, fresh, lineup, live music, Music, REZZ, Shambhala

ProJect Aspect – FMP 002

April 1, 2018 By Michael Leave a Comment

The Freio Music Podcast

Episode 02 - ProJect Aspect

https://media.blubrry.com/freio_music_podcast/p/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/dev-freiomusic.pantheonsite.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Episode-02-Project-Aspect-The-Freio-Music-Podcast.mp3
  • Overview

  • Description

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Overview

This Episode's Featured artist is ProJect Aspect AKA Jay Jaramillo, a high-energy electronic producer, and guitarist from Colorado. ProJect Aspect is a collaborator and an instrumentalist. He reveals how he is able to play live instruments on stage while synchronizing everything to a computer. Each performance is unique because he is able to mix his instruments and software live on stage. Keep an eye out for this young artist!

Description

This Episode's Featured artist is ProJect Aspect AKA Jay Jaramillo, a high-energy electronic producer, and guitarist from Colorado. ProJect Aspect is a collaborator and an instrumentalist. He reveals how he is able to play live instruments on stage leveraging the power of multiple computers to produce complex and high energy sets with a full band. Jay reveals how he is able to tame the complexity of playing with several musicians with several computers live on stage while leaving room for spontaneity and unique events. The same song will never sound the same and he decodes the mystery behind it all. He discusses how he was able to get started and how is unorthodox education helped him become the creative powerhouse that he is today. Stay tuned!

Links

ProJect Aspect's Links:

Listen to ProJect Aspect Music

Listen to Unlimited Aspect

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Mile High Sound Movement

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Full Transcription & Show Notes

 

Start out by introducing yourself

Thanks for having me, man. It is good to see you. My name is Jay Jaramillo, I go by Project Aspect. I am twenty-nine years old and started playing guitar when I was about ten years old. My dad gave me a guitar with a built-in amplifier on it. Previous to that I had never thought about being a musician or even playing music. He kinda shoved me in that direction and the rest is kinda history. I just kinda picked it up and played by ear. I started joining bands and putting together my own bands. I made t-shirts when I was like 10 years old. That kinda progressed and snowballed into producing music, which is what I got into at the end of HighSchool. After high school, I took it to the next level. Me and my friend, Zach Karuza, aka Kruza Kid, one of my best friends, we went to high school together. We started the mile-high-sound movement which is a collective of artists and promotional record label that we have kind of like grown into what it is today. It is becoming bigger and better. It is developing into what we want it to be. Instead of throwing together random shows, we put time into it and we curate events. We make sure that our friends have a chance to vend their jewelry and their merchandise. We like to bring everything to the table, as much as we can.

A full-service event.

Ya, for sure. So that has kinda been the focus for a while, other than pursuing trying to be a full time touring musician. So that is where we are at now.

Now tell me your vision a little bit more with Mile High Sound Movement… How many artists are involved currently and where do you see it going in the future?

Our roster right now includes about eight artists that we are fully committed to. But it is always open for interpretation. If you are in the Colorado Music scene, don't hesitate to reach out. We are always open. It is an open invitation. We are always down to expand the family. The vision at first was to just kina help hungry musicians who had a product that they are passionate about. Give them a chance to showcase that on a bigger level rather than a local cafe show. When me and my friend Zach were starting out we had so much trouble getting shows. It was such a struggle and we really didn't have that much help. We were doing a lot of show at Herman’s Hideaway on south Broadway because we had a hip-hop band at that point. We wanted to bring something together that helped people. [Like us] when we were in that situation that we wished we had. We just want to put people on, and get people in front of crowds and enable them to do their thing.

Kinda help them get to the next level.

Exactly. It has transformed into a record label which has always been the vision. For about a year now it has been an official record label. So we are really excited about that. We want to keep that going and make it as big as possible.

Clearly, it sounds you are sharing what you have learned along your path with the next generation, or at least with your friends and the artists around you. So you have mentioned your dad already who was an influence on you early musically. Are there any other artists that kind of helped you on the path?

Not really, man. Just kinda my peers and the people who I went to school with and started these early bands with. Other than that, I was just heavily influenced by Punk Rock and Classic Rock. My dad raised me on Classic Rock. I eventually got into alternative music and punk rock. That was a major influence to me and molded me in the early years. I did a lot of power chords on the guitar. But it was all self-taught. I just kinda played by ear.

Picking up tabs online?

Ya, Picking up tabs online. Honestly, I can just listen to something and replicate it by ear. Obviously, I wish I had a little more classical training. This way it is fun. I like to let my mind do the work for me. Do the work for my hands. And just freestyle. That played a huge role in the beginning too. Then When I started producing music I just took that knowledge and put it into arranging and making sections of a sound.

Can you remember your first musical memory as far as performing? So not just hearing a song but the first time you either jumped up on the table in front of your family and started singing or the first time you played for your school...

One memory sticks out vividly. I played at this coffee shop and it was just an acoustic performance with me singing. I was probably 11 or 12 years old or something. I told my whole family and all of my friends. My whole family came out and we packed out this cafe. It was just this little coffee shop. I did a couple covers but it was mostly original. I have always just written music and performed it. But I remember covering a Staind song. Remember that song ‘Outside’? [singing] “I'm on the outside. I'm looking in”. I played that song and a bunch of other songs. That was just the beginning. That was the first musical memory. It was pretty well received but I was just a kid. That was the very first time I had showcased what I was working on. It was gratifying. It was tight.

That's awesome. It is also… I think very telling, that you had a family their that really packed the venue. You had a sold-out crowd on the first show.

Right. Ya, my family has always been a huge support. Huge support. My mom, my dad, my brother, my siblings. Everyone has had my back from day one and believes in my dream. It really helps me and influences me to keep going.

So guitar was your first instrument? Is that correct?

Correct.

What about artist have influenced you by ear or meeting them in person, touring. I know you are very active in the music scene, and you get exposure to lots of different artists.

Like I said I was really into punk-rock back in the day. We were talking earlier about my Offspring remix. Offspring was big early… Just kina listening music influence for me. I liked Blink 182 a lot. Blink 182 was the first concert that I went to that I vividly remember. Apparently, I was at Michael Jackson when I was a year old… but yeah seeing Blink 182 when I was around 10 years old, just after I started playing the guitar. Bad Religion opened for them. A lot of people back then thought that that was kind of strange because Bad Religion was a huge Punk-Rock band and Blink-182 surpassed them playing pop-punk music. That was a sweet experience. I really didn't start being inspired until, by music, until I started joining bands in high school. My peers were huge influences for me. I had a band called “Street Light Symphony”. It was an Emo band. The members in that band were a huge influence for me. But I ended up going to a show at Red Rocks in 2005. That was what really opened my eyes to a whole new world of music.

What show was that?

That was 'Big Summer Classic' a two-dayay event. String Cheese Incident headlined both nights. They had a stacked lineup, both nights with Umphrey's McGee, Keller Williams, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Yonder Mountain String Band. That two day event was a major turning point for me. I went from liking alternative music, hip-hop, and rap music to this hippy jam-band happy go lucky scene that I had never imagined participating in but it opened my eyes. It turned my brain around and made me want to explore that more.

Great. So we were talking earlier, and I found it interesting, somehow it came up in conversation that you went to an atypical school and it really impacted your life or trajectory. If you could go into that a little bit and talk about why the change of school was such an impactful event for you. And how old were you roughly or what grade?

So, I left traditional school in 6th grade… Actually ya I think it was 6th grade. It was the transition from 5th to 6th grade. I was going to Green Mountain Elementary School. I had transferred over to Jefferson County Open School, which is an alternative school in Lakewood Colorado, that my sister had been going to because she was a “Problem Child”. These schools were meant for kids who weren't excelling in traditional schools. It kind of helped them find more meaning in their life and pave their road for the future. Which was huge for me. This school, they made you create your own curriculum. So you did six passages; Adventure, Global Awareness, Creativity and so on and so forth. Each one was a different challenge for you to research and make a paper and do hands on work. For instance, my creativity passage was making an album.

That’s Awesome

My plan was to make a full album and I only got to three tracks. Just doing multi-track recording. It was a huge learning experience for me because I learned that recording doesn't come easy. You can't just knock something out, just like that. It takes time. It takes so much time. Yeah, it takes so much time. It really opened my eyes to what the world of music had in front of me for the rest of my life. For my adventure passage, I became a vegetarian, for two months. I learned a lot about the facts about meat and healthy living. And how it made me feel. I got a little irritable.

With meat or without it?

Without it. I made me kind of learn that I do like meat. I like it in my life but I am still open to trying it out…

That’s great that you are open-minded enough to totally radically change your diet.

Ya, it was a great experience for me.

And that was part of your school! That is so interesting... Coming from a western mind, an American Mind, thinking about diet in school is very far down the list of topics.

The school was more so getting you ready for the life ahead of you rather than more school if that makes sense. Instead of molding you to get ready for college. They mold you to get ready for the rest of your life. And it changed my life. It made me realize I wanted to be a musician for the rest of my life. If it wasn't for that school and my advisor Daina, I wouldn't be the man I am today. So I am thankful every day that I made that transition.

That is great! Out of curiosity, do you think that this school is great for everybody or is this kinda a creative outlier school that's...

I think the school is good for anyone who applies themself and really uses their tools to take on what you want to do. I think if you are really passionate about something. I think that if you want to get out of the traditional learning situation and focus on your life, I think that’s a good move.

Ok, moving on from that. You collaborate frequently. There are many different vocalists on your tracks. You mentioned Kruza Kid [earlier]. Tell me about collaboration why you choose to do it and if it is important to you, why?

I think the most fun thing about collaborating is that you are not limited to your own ideas. So when I collaborate with someone, it’s fun because you can take a pallet that someone else laid out and manipulate it. You kinda already have something to work with. When you are doing something by yourself you have to start from scratch. It's all you. You are kinda limited to that. When you are working with someone else it sparks off so many more light bulbs. It makes you… It brings more influence to the table. For instance, when I collaborate for Unlimited Gravity, we feed off each other. We bounce back and forth. We do what we call the “Hot Seat”, and that's when we are in the mode, and one of us is going to be producing and the other one will be kinda chillin in the background. When we are the one producing we call it the “hot seat”. We just go until we feel that we did something substantial then we switch it out. You know, we eventually we come up with this orchestration of sound that we would have never been able to accomplish on our own. That's the beautiful thing about collaboration, is that you can use both minds to create something bigger.

That’s great! You said a lot of awesome points that I hope young musicians hear and really take to heart. As you said, when you are working with yourself, you are limited to yourself. And you've got to recognize that you everyone is finite and we are all limited. I love the “hot seat” idea. Both the fact that when you are feeling the flow you have got to be in the driver’s seat, in the control center, in the cockpit, or behind the mixer, but at the same time you have got to yield way to the other, for their turn in the hot seat and kinda sit back and listen.

Yah

Sometimes you have got to let… I assume you guys are working with loops and you have got to let the sound kind of soak in.

Exactly

And eventually, maybe an idea comes out. From not the hot seat but the dude chillin in the back who has been there with his eyes closed.

Exactly. There are two important roles for sure. It’s fun to sit back and listen to what you have been working on and listen to what they are working on.

Truth. Because one person is actively trying to slay the dragon and the other person is just kinda being more passive and being more reflective.

Yah. I like that. I like that. Yah, that is definitely the approach for sure.

But I think it actually takes a lot of discipline to sit back and let someone else do some work.

That's true too. But you would be surprised at how anxious we can get too.

Yah, sometimes you have to speak up.

Haha, sometimes we are like you've got to let me in there [the hot seat], I've got this idea. Like I said collaboration is like another level of creation.

Tell me about your album.

I am working on a full-length concept album called “Sync About It”. This is kind of my baby right now. This is what I have been working towards and putting all my energy towards right now. Did you want to talk about “all we dream”?

No, let’s talk about your new album.

So this new album is called “Sync About It”. It is a full-length concept album which means that it flows from beginning to end and there are no breaks in the tacks.

So it is meant to be listened to in order?

Correct. So it is just one long story. I have always wanted to create something like this ever since I was a kid listening to Pink Floyd albums and stuff. So this is a really important project for me. This is actually breaking me outside of my comfort zone. When I was a kid and I was in and out of bands playing guitar and singing, I did a lot of singing and I did a lot of writing. I wanted to get back to that. I am not the greatest singer in the world but I like to sing. I did a little singing on this album and I did a lot of guitar work. I wanted it to be something that lasts forever. The Idea behind this is to make something that has substance and holds true for generations to come. I just want something that’s going to stick around. That people will be listening for a long time.

Are you collaborating with other artists on this album?

Ah, I do have Kruza Kid featured on a track.

Is it fair to say that this album is, in a way, a different path than your others in the sense that you are getting back to your singing and writing?

In a way, yes, but it also stays pretty true to the traditional Project Aspect sound. I don't want to do something completely different that it is unrecognizable. I just want to expand on what I have already got. So it is more complex I would say. It just has more substance to it. I want to branch out my sound. I don't want to limit myself to just making dubstep, or bass music, or electronic music. I want it to be real music that anyone could listen to. So I would like to head in that direction. But I'll never stop making heavy bass music because I love playing that at shows. It is always be something that is important to me. So I just wanted to branch out on this album and kinda create something that has a lot to it and I would like to reach different demographics.

So it is going to be a wide-ranging album?

Yah, definitely, There are going to be some rock-n-roll inspired tracks in there. And I do a lot of intricate guitar soloing and harmonizing my guitar. You will find some hip-hop sounding tracks like the one that Kruza Kid is featured on. There are ones that follow the traditional Project Aspect sound that I have always stapled into my music. I am always going to love to make the glitch-hop kind of grimy bass music. So there will always be parts of that scattered throughout the whole record. I am excited for it man. This is something that I have been working on for almost two years. I haven't released a full-length album since 2016. So this is a big one for me and I hope it breaks some barriers.

Ya, I believe it will. I'm excited to hear it and we are all going to have to stay tuned. Where will the new album be released, just for our listeners? Where can they find it when it comes out?

You know we are still in the early stages of it. I have a lot of promo work that I am trying to work on. But I am shooting for the end of spring.

Ok. When it comes out… ProjectAspectMusic.com?

We are also working on launching the Project Aspect website. So stay tuned for that. So it is going to be a process of things leading up to the album. First, we are going to launch the website. Then we are going to launch the videos for the singles. Then the album is going to drop. Then we are going to do a whole album release party in Denver. So it will be one thing after another leading up to the album.

Nice, that is a good campaign. So some of the people listening [to this podcast episode] will likely be listening in years to come. So in a way, we will be in the past when they are listening. Am I correct with the URL ProjectAspectMusic.com?

Right, ya.

Ok I just wanted to make sure because when it is launched, someone will be new to it and it will be already out there.

That will 90% likely be the URL.

When you decide to market your music... First of all, how do you balance your time between creating new music, performing your creations, and at the same time hustling, for lack of a better term. You have got to get the next venue to call you, you have got to get on the next bill, you have got to collaborate with these artists… not only that but you have got to launch your website, you have got to get your music videos, you have got to get your apparel. So how do you balance those demands and do you have a team working with you?

Um, really it is just deciding what to do next. It is just one day at a time. We try to not look too far into the future because you only know what is going to happen today. So we are steadily game planning, me and my manager Chris Bockman(spelling?) and Ronny, Unlimited Gravity. We are really just scheming towards what we are going to do next. We are going to be releasing a new Unlimited Aspect album “Bass Ass Volume II” which will be coming out in the next few months. So that will be the beginning of that route because me and Ronny love making music together and doing the Unlimited Aspect thing. So we want to do that as much as possible. But as far as finding balance, man, its like I said. It is just taking on one thing at a time and not overwhelming yourself. We do everything in-house, we are not working with an agency right now. We are doing everything ourselves. It makes it that much harder but at the same time, the reward is that much sweeter. We are trying to organically create this snowball, this tidal wave that is going to eventually crash, and its going reach everybody. It's going to be something special, man, because we are working on something unique. It's going to be something that I hope people are going to be behind for a long time.

When you release an album, let’s say you and Ronny are making a collaboration… Do you then finalize it, stamp it, bounce it and you are done or do you send it to a mixing / mastering engineer? Can you walk me through the workflow after you have produced a song?

So when me and Ronny produce solo tracks we usually do our own mastering. It is kind of an unorthodox method we just use plugins and do it our way. Sometimes we send it to into mastering. Sometimes we create mixdowns that are at a lower volume and send them to someone to master. But for the Unlimited Aspect album, this was kind of a unique situation because we tracked drums for this album because Unlimited Aspect has become a live band. So our drummer Steven Kuzma is going to be featured on the entire album. So that was another challenge because we had to track all the drums. And our engineer who ended up moving away and we were not able to finish it with him. So we kinda had to take it on with what he had and finish it ourselves. So that is where we are at right now. Just kinda putting on the final touches to it and finishing it ourselves. We like to do a lot of it hands on. It is not the most professional method but it sounds good in my opinion. We like to have it completely our own.

And you get the final say. You get control over it. No one is going to send it in a different direction that you didn't foresee.

Ya. I have sent my own masters to some pretty good labels and they have accepted it, which felt pretty good. So I think we are on a good track.

So if you don't mind, can we jump into some the equipment that you use, either on stage or in the studio. What types of software, plugins, mics, guitar, whatever you want…

I produce in Ableton. We perform all original tracks. So I break down all of my songs into stems. That’s like pieces of the song that I play simultaneously. So I can affect every piece differently. So we have highs, bass, drums, vocals. So we play all of that simultaneously and we use APC 40’s by Akai. When we are using the APC 40’s we can literally manipulate pieces of the song and mix in different pieces of the song. We can jam out and toggle back and forth with anything we make. All the songs that we make are split up so that we can do this crazy interactive hands-on DJ technique that not a lot of people do. I think that it is really unique. A lot of people use stems but the way we use it is unmatchable in my opinion.

You are talking about the live performance, right?

Ya

So if I am not mistaken, we are talking about a beat pad that has translucent buttons.

Ya, its a midi controller.

And that hooks up into Ableton.

Correct

So you are slicing and dicing your song on the fly.

Right. We produce them. We export them all into pieces [stems] and we put them all into the live set and we put it all into the live set and we slice and dice on the fly… correct.

Beyond the computer and how you are interacting with your tracks [APC40], I have seen you perform and you frequently have a guitar and everybody has an instrument on stage with you.

Ya

How are you mixing that in? And tell me about what instruments you play and what is on stage.

Like I said. I started out playing the guitar when I was a kid. Then I went into the producing game and I kind of put down the guitar for a while, for about three years. Eventually, I realized I wanted to bring it all back into the music. And have it all together, the electronic and the analog. So for the past three or four years, I have really been hitting the guitar hard. Bringing it back into the live sets and recordings. So when I do the live set guitar, I do live looping. So I have the guitar plugged into another computer, which is also on Ableton, and I sync the two computers together via ethernet. That enables the second computer to slave to the first computer so I can quantize and loop my guitar on another controller. I can manipulate the guitar record on the fly [live] with the controller. So that’s been a really fun adventure to bring that in and also have it be part of the live set. Where I can still manipulate it like the other tracks. It can be all like one huge live workstation. It is really fun. It is fun to improvise and bring it in now and again and just rock out. For Unlimited Aspect, I play guitar, Ronny plays keys, and we have our drummer Steven Kuzma, and Ronny does live looping with the keys too. Eventually, he is going to bring his vocals again. Which we were doing for a while. He was doing live vocals and looping live vocals. He is working on a new album as well, which is showcasing his vocals because he was in choir pretty much his whole life. So he wants to go back to his roots and showcase that. So I imagine as we start doing more Unlimited Aspect shows he will start singing too. So that is exciting. Sometimes we bring up a saxophone. Sometimes we have other sit-ins. I dabble with pretty much any instrument, except for brass. I have never really messed with Brass. Anything I touch I can play a little bit. Not great but I can dabble.

Enough to be quantized, spliced, and put into place.

Ya, the guitar is the main instrument that I feel like I can handle.

I appreciate you revealing how you have two computers running and one is a slave to the other

Ya, I feel like people don't get to know that or see that during the live set.

As an audience member, I am always thinking how are they doing this!? Trying to decode what is going on onstage. As a sound engineer, myself, I am always thinking about monitor mixes and I see people with in-ear monitors and someone has a click track somewhere. It is a complex signal path. So I appreciate you demystifying what is going on on stage.

Ya it’s a pleasure for sure.

It is certainly interesting and I think it will help people get to the next level. A few more questions… One regarding your music and distribution. Your music is out there. I can stream you on Spotify, on Apple Music… I can find you on SoundCloud. You are doing a great job getting your music out there. So first of all, how did you decide where to put your music and how to get it there?

Oh, man that is a really good question. Basically, with music that I have come to the conclusion of, you just have got to get it out there, regardless of how you do it. Whether you are pedaling burnt CDs or putting it on SoundCloud, or you are doing a professional label release. In the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't matter because it is going to be out there and word of mouth is going to circulate. That is what I am coming to the conclusion of… If I have music to release I need to get it out there regardless of how it happens. One of the first Sonic Blooms that I attended… Shout out Sonic Bloom by the way. That is my hometown festy right there. I burnt a bunch of CDs. Me and my homie Ronny actually, Unlimited Gravity. We burnt a bunch of CDs and handed them out to people. And to this day people will come up to me, and that was about 8 years ago, and say “hey, I've still got that CD you gave to me at Sonic Bloom”. That is crazy to me because that was such early on music that we made.

And you were there as a fan. An attendee, non-performer.

Correct

So you really just showed up to where the music is and hustled your music. And give it a few years...

It was the dopest campaign too! We would be like “do you guys like free music?” People would be like “ya”. Ok, “Here, take this”. It was easy to get into people’s hands. I might start doing that again, you never know.

What is amazing to me is that a few years later, a few cycles around the sun, you are playing at Sonic Bloom. That’s awesome.

Ya. It really came full circle with that one.

That is interesting and I appreciate you sharing the hustle. You have got to be Guerilla Marketing…

That’s true man. You have just gotta think outside the box. I mean people have been hustling CDs out of their trunks forever. When you are giving out free music it is kinda hard to say “no”, you know? That was definitely the early hustle.

Ok, a few more quick ones [questions]... First of all, describe your music in one sentence… or a word. A rough sentence, it could flow into a few.

All original, high energy, high octane, electronic bass music with guitar.

Booya! This one is kinda far out, big, philosophical question. I went to school for Philosophy so you have got to forgive me. But… What is music?

Music is what feelings sound like.

Very nice.

It is the best I could come up with right now.

That's great. Do you have any odd or interesting pre-performance rituals before you get out on stage?

We like to get down on the spliff game, me and my bro Cam. I love smoking spliffs so that's always been something I like to do before a show. Other than that, man… I get anxious before shows honestly.

Is it just nerves coming up?

It is nerves but also just wanting to get up there. And being backstage and having to wait to go on. It’s something that I have always… Not an issue with… but it always kinda happens, regardless of the situation. I am excited. I want to get up there. I want to play. I don't want to hang around and talk about nothing. I want to do my thing. But I love connecting with the people. That is one of the biggest parts of this scene is the people. It’s all about making those connections. So that is a big part of the pre-ritual is having your family there. Having your friends come backstage and hang out and just kick it. That really calms the nerves for me too. Just hanging out with the homies too is a big thing.

What advice would you give to a musician starting out today?

Go with your heart. Make music that you want to hear. Make music that makes you feel things inside. Don't do it for somebody else, do it for yourself.

Moving towards the end. Some label questions if you don't mind?

Sure

You are on 1320 Records, GruntWorthy Music, and Adapted Records. Can you tell me about how you made those connections and how you got signed to a record label? There are lots of aspiring artists out there who think that “I just need a record label and the doors would open for me”. I just want to hear your experience with the different record labels that you have worked with and why you chose to collaborate with them.

As I mentioned before, It is not a huge impactful thing regardless of how you release your music. But it is an honor and always a privilege to release your music under an established record label. It is just another form of collaborating. As I also mentioned before, collaboration is one of the most beautiful creations we have. It's fun to work with other people on your music and work on distributing it and getting it out there. 1320 was a huge one for me because it's Sound Tribe’s record label. Sound Tribe was a huge early influence for me. They were the first band I saw using Ableton. That was before I even knew what Ableton was. They made me research what Ableton was. Eventuall,y I got signed to their label and I got to open for them. That was another full circle thing. Shout out Sound Tribe for everything they have done for me. 1320 Records was a huge step for me. It was cool just to be under… not only under such a huge touring act and someone that I looked up to but also being alongside of other people who have released music under that label. That is another cool thing. When you release music under different labels you are alongside all these amazing artists. There are so many artists out there, and most of them I have never even heard of but they make the dopest music. It's an honor to be alongside people with similar interests. The Adapted thing was cool because it is an Australian label. It was cool to get my music internationally released. That was kind of the fun part about that. Like I said, it is just fun to work with other people.

So how did you get to Australia?

Man, we just submitted it and they liked it and they released it.

Walk through a young artist… What do you mean you submitted it? You found something on their website and obviously you had some tracks that were fire and ready to be released.

Ya, so most record labels have a demo submission page on their website. If you make music you can always send it to labels it's not an issue. Whether or not they will listen to it or like it, that’s up in the air. But must labels have a demo submission page. Even the biggest record labels in the world have mailing addresses that you can send it to. Ya, it’s just submitting your demo and hoping that the right person hears it and likes it. It helps having word of mouth and having friends on the inside too who have worked with the record label also. That is a slightly more helpful way but if you have the right music and you submit it, there is no reason that it won't be picked up.

But you chose them out of a group. There are thousands of record labels. I would imagine that you targeted some and I guess that you did not send your record out to every label. So how do you choose and what do you look for when you are working with a label?

Just look for professionalism. That is the one thing that you try to find in anyone that you work with in the Music Industry. Just professionalism because there are a lot of shady people out there and it is important to find people who are doing it for the right reasons. People who are in it for the music and willing to work to help you get your brand out there. Being on top of dates and royalty checks. Just being communicative. Communication between the artist and the label is really important.

Reflecting back on your younger self… What would you tell yourself then that you know now?

Get ready for a hell of a ride buddy! You are about to meet a lot of people and see a lot of things. I don't know, man. I think that I was prepared for what I am doing today. I think that the school that I went to and my dad and going to shows has molded me into the person I am today. I think I knew what I was in for but not quite the fashion that it’s in right now. So I think I would just tell myself to “get ready for a good ride”.

Well Jay, aka Project Aspect, thank you so much for being on the show! Is there any last parting words of wisdom that you would like to share and or links / plugs for your upcoming album or social handles that you would like to share.

Ya, keep on touch on the Facebook man. Facebook and the Instagram are the number one resources to find what I am doing next. So Facebook.com/ProjectAspect Facebook.com/ProJectAspect Like I said, I will be launching my website soon so keep an eye out for that, along with starting my promotion for my new album. Keep an eye out for the new music videos coming in the next few months. Just keep in touch and don't be afraid to reach out. I love to connect.

And Fans can learn of your new tour dates and upcoming shows on your facebook page?

Yes.

Great. Well thank you so much for coming on the FreioMusic Podcast.

Thanks Mike, Much Love!

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FMP 021 – Bioluminescent

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