When did you first become involved with music?
I was first introduced to music pretty young, at 10 years old, after my childhood friend and I had been running around with some toy guitars. We had decided that we wanted to start a real band, and my parents bought me my first guitar, a Squier Stratocaster. That led up to the formation of several bands throughout high school and eventually the founding of my own home recording studio and the decision to pursue music professionally. I am currently studying Music and Recording Technology at California State Polytechnic University of Pomona but I have been reading blogs and watching youtube tutorials on recording techniques since 2008. After becoming infatuated with electronic music, I've decided to pursue DJing as well as producing original dance works so that I can do something independently, as opposed to relying on band mates and such.
What was the first ever album you bought?
As far as I can remember, "The Mark Tom and Travis Show" by Blink 182 was my first hard copy album. They were and still are heroes of mine, and much of my musical inspiration has come from them and their music.
Did you have any professional training before you started working in the music industry?
I would not consider myself a professional, nor yet in the industry, but all of the training I received prior to my collegiate work has been self-taught or through school clubs. I learned how to play the guitar by ear, learned the drums through concert band in school, the bass guitar after guitar, and piano through college classes. I've recently studied and taken interest in music theory because of college and am refining my musicianship as I progress. Most of my recording knowledge comes from countless hours in the early morning reading blogs and watching tutorials on youtube of programs I had just acquired, but I am still learning more.
How would you describe your music? Who would you say were your key musical influences?
It's very hard to describe my musical style because I haven't had much time to develop it, but I can list many influences. The fast punk rhythms and strong melody of Blink gave me a solid foundation of musicianship, which led me towards artists like As I Lay Dying who gave me strong understanding of more complex and dissonant composition. Shortly after I surrounded myself with hardcore, like Bane and Verse, who helped me develop a taste for loud and aggressive progressions. After a long period of hip hop albums like those from Atmosphere and Sage Francis, I found myself knee deep in electronic music as it reached the shores of California. All these different genres have given me incredible insight, all of which I bring with me as I write.
If I had to list some adjectives, I'd call my music captivating and aggressive. I try my best to fuse a loud and crazy sound, while maintaing a pleasing melodic progression. Like the concept of yin and yang, I try to create a balance of the two.
Your studio equipment list, here, features some impressive contents, did you use a single DAW to sequence and record 'The Ones' or did you share the resources from a combination?
All of that equipment was acquired with intention to do live audio recording, but I've since adapted it to accomodate electronic production. Although I typically use Cubase to capture audio, "The Ones" was all arranged and composed in Ableton Live. I prefer Live's interface for MIDI work and sequencing. Reason is another go-to program of mine for its synths and samples, though it's not used in "The Ones."
Are there any notable third-party plugins or content which you used?
My equipment list wouldn't impress any professional in the biz, but I have heeded the wisdom of many by investing in quality VST plugins. In "The Ones" I used 13 instances of Native Instrument's Massive, 4 instances of Lennar Digital's Sylenth 2, and 1 instance of FXpansion's Strobe. Much of the mixing was done using Waves plugins such as the SSL bundle and the notorious L2. I've learned to love Waves stuff from my recording experience. They virtually do everything any piece of hardware can do.
Through your career as a DJ have you encountered any artists in particular whose music you enjoy more than others?
I really haven't had too many gigs as a DJ; Most have them have been house parties that I've booked through word of mouth. I am a frequent concert goer, though, and my favourite sets have some from the likes of Wolfgang Gartner and Porter Robinson. Porter's my younger brother's age and he's throwing down on stages with E.D.M. legends!
How did your work with Divine Recordings begin?
After recording for the first time with my first band at a studio in Los Angeles, I became infatuated with the recording process. I'm not sure why, but seeing a drum kit fully miked up was the coolest thing to me. That summer I got a job at Subway and put all of my pay checks toward buying studio equipment, starting the Presonus interface and the M-Audio monitors. I did my own band's recordings first and then began promoting my services to other bands we had played with. Those sessions were FAR from pro sounding, but I was doing 3 songs, mixed and mastered, for a Franklin. I'm still learning to this day and I'm far from calling myself a professional engineer.
Where do you see yourself in five years time?
This is a really tough question for me because the place that I'm in today is nothing like what I thought I'd be in just a year ago. I'm the type who loves revamping my life every other year, so 5 years from now could be anything. I am really pushing for internships and my bachelor's degree, though, and I'd love to be pursuing music to pay the bills. Producing and writing music is my passion and performing is the most exciting thing to me, but I'll be realistic and say I'll probably be living in a one-room studio apartment, working a day job while staying up late into the night working on my own music. I'll probably be driving the same car my parents bought me and eat canned food twice a day. I'll probably have the same exact equipment list as I do today and might even have taken interest in new genres of music. But that's all fine to me, because I'd rather shoot myself than do anything else. And I've known this since I was 10 years old.
Finally, for any aspiring artists, do you have any words of encouragement or advice?
Once again, it's hard for me to feel like I'm any one credible enough to offer advice, but my words would be anything you've all already heard: Work hard and be the best at what you want to be. I used to hate math because it had nothing to do with playing the guitar but I needed an A in math to get to the college that's helped me become more a musician that I've ever been. In music, not only do you have to be talented enough to distinguish yourself from the trillion other bedroom producers, but you also have to have the charisma, business savvy, and good fortune to get ears to hear you. If you're not willing to sacrifice time, money, effort, emotion, rejection, criticism, doubt, fear, and uncertainty, I think you might be in for some disappointment. Not like I'd know yet, but I'm ready for all of that.
Once again, The Sonic Music Review would love to thank Scenic and wish the artist all the best.
If you represent an electronic act and wish to submit music to The Sonic Music Review, please get in touch.
