Mark Millar has released a wonderful track called “Diamonds” The sound of the guitar really set the romantic tone of this beautiful song. I loved the smooth vocals telling the story and making me like he was singing to me. Be sure to listen to the track above and leave a feedback below. Add this to the playlist
Aline Mayne has released an awesome new track called “Suicide Love” This is a track that is high energy and filled with a whole lot of captivating suggestions. You have to be brave to deal with this one. It’s lots of fun to listen to. The music is Techno so hang on…It’s a good project. Be sure to listen and enjoy…then please leave your feedback below. Add this to your playlist today.
Aline Mayne has released an empowering track called “Superfreak” I liked the way the music takes you on a build-up and then hits the greatest notes ever! I liked the voice of the artist, and the background harmony was fabulous! ” Superfreak is an inspirational song about self-acceptance, no matter how weird or different we feel/are. Putting a positive light on the word “freak”. We can accept who we are, love ourselves, beloved and celebrate our uniqueness because it’s what makes us awesome! The music video features people of all shapes and sizes, looks and vibes, in a beautiful way.”, she said The diversity in this video is going to empower so many. We need to see more of this. The drums, guitar, and keyboard were crisp and perfectly placed in the track. ! Be sure to listen to this beautiful track and please leave feedback below.
Get the track: youtube.com, music.apple.com, deezer.com, soundcloud.com
Connect: https://www.alinemayne.net/
Strath has released an amazing new track called “Dead of the Night” What a weird sound that starts out but very interesting. I like the strange music, I could not make it out to see if it was keyboard or what? but I really liked it. Then the heavy bass comes in and makes sense of it all. The vocals are very nice to the ears. I’m not sure if you can dance to it? but it’s a good project. Be sure to listen to this track above and please leave a feedback below.
RENE’ has released “Space in Between” Singer/songwriter RENÉ was born to Creole parents and is now currently based in London. Growing up in a family full of singers and musicians is what birthed and nurtured her passion for music. The heavy bass and soft vocals made for a wonderful song to be enjoyed. Be sure to listen to this great track above and please leave your feedback below. Add this to your playlist.
Daron. has released the silky smooth sounds of a brand new track called “Around” The heavy bass and cool beat of the drums connect so well to the sexy vocals on this track. The lyrics are sure to make you feel some kind of special. Be sure to listen to the track below and please leave your feedback below. Add this to your playlist.
Lauren Wahl & Simply Put release new emotional song ‘Just Like Me’ Her powerful vocals weave through out the song as she tells a story about real life issues. “The song was written in early sobriety, when I realized I had simply swapped one addiction to another by way of a musical relationship.” she said about the track.
Singer-songwriter Lauren Wahl from Santa Cruz California with her band Simply Put released their EP “Hello, Baby” last year and their debut album “Field Notes” Aug 3rd 2019
DJ Jay Woods has released a new visual for his single “Hold On”. The R&B track is amazing from start to finish with a catchy chorus and emotional tones in the vocals that make you really feel what the artist is saying. The instrumental has a nice light bass element and the classic 808 that we all love. I love the visual as well. He shows where he comes from as he sings his heart out about the struggle.
The video shows Fresco Trey walking down a lonely road reminiscing on childhood, as he switches from a boy to a man. You can also see Trey, as he goes through different things in life; from getting picked on and being thought how to work hard. Widely known Memphis rapper SB SurfsUp is also featured in this production, as he merge with Fresco Trey in the middle of the street, back to back as the video end comes to an end. I really love when artists showcase their vulnerable side to their fans, it just shows that everyone is human. I think this song would be a good fit for the radio and I can’t wait to see where he goes with this.
Co-Directed by Yo Ali and DJ Jay Woods
Shot by Yo Ali
Connect: https://album.link/i/1485355163
How was your internship at the record label and how did it help your career? My internship with OIM Records was really the start of everything for me. I had been customer service jobs while trying to find the courage to make a career change, and this internship became my 6th and 7th workday each week where I just absorbed as much as I could. Sarah Sexton and Jeff Saltzman really took me under their wing and gave me a behind the scenes look of what it took for indie bands to get heard. I was compiling college radio lists, sending EPKs, and even learning to mic drum sets with Jeff. Now that I am recording and releasing my own music, I am able to take what I learned with them and apply it to so much of what I’m doing now, both in and out of the studio.
How was the journey leading up to your debut track, ‘Lost’? The journey was long and full of doubt haha. I spent most of my life trying to find backdoors into the industry, working behind the scenes and thinking that would be enough for me. I’ve always written music but had zero confidence to perform or release anything. Instead I learned audio engineering, wrote for other artists, did session vocals here and there on the weekends, but worked customer service jobs all week long trying to make rent. When I finally decided that I no longer wanted to live for the weekends and that I’d try actually giving myself a chance to go for a career in the music industry, I took the leap as an artist. But even in taking that leap, I didn’t quite know where to go next or what to release first. And then my grandma passed and I started writing a song for her. Then the road to my debut track paved itself.
I know your debut track, ‘Lost’ comes from a personal place, Did you learn anything about yourself while recording it? It does, and I definitely did. I really thought that I was going to release one of the many songs I’d been sitting on for years for my debut track, but when my grandma Nanny passed away, that all changed. She and I were incredibly close all of my life, and making the move here to LA in March of this year was extra hard considering I wouldn’t be able to have lunch with her all the time like we did, but I made the move for my career and she was so supportive. But when she passed away during lockdown the following month, I was heartbroken. After driving home and spending her last days with her, I drove back to LA and immediately started writing and producing “Lost”. At times, I think maybe she wrote it because I can hardly remember the writing process — I wonder if it was the sadness that makes it hard for me to access the memories of creating this song or just how dream-like this year has been in general. In this process I learned not to care how I am perceived by others. Life is too short to care what others might think of you. I always knew that, but my grandma passing helped me really believe it. So now I’m just going to do what makes me happy, and if someone else just so happens to feel connected to something I write, fantastic, and if not, that’s actually (for the first time in my life) really okay too.
What was the concept behind the video? For my “Lost” music video I worked with a long-time creative collaborator and great friend of mine, Ash Danielsen. We shot some footage in the desert that would later be spliced into a glitchy, dreamscape made to mimic the swells and emptiness of the grieving process. After losing my grandma, I would have incredibly realistic dreams of us together, lucid dreams of us hugging each other and not wanting to wake up, and then awaking the next moment in shock because she was gone again. I wanted to try and capture that feeling best I could by using old 8mm film footage of my grandma raising my family, juxtaposed with me wandering the desert without her today.
Isa Leri
How was it being on-set of your first music video? It was not anything like I had imagined considering it was a socially distanced, 4-person team consisting of myself, Ash, his assistant Rainer Schmidig, and my partner Kat Aquino, all doing the best we could with what we had. And yet it was more than I could have dreamed of. It was a small, intimate, low-budget production for an intimate song that I produced and wrote, and my partner Kat mixed. It felt very appropriate.
Will you be more vulnerable in your music? & If so, why?
Absolutely. I no longer want to hide behind masks. I crave connection, rawness, and vulnerability in others, especially right now. And I’m done with thinking that my vulnerability is weak when I see it as strength in others. And considering we’re all just sitting at home (or at least should be) right now, what better time to be vulnerable than in social isolation haha.
What is your writing process like? It depends on the project. For my own music, I can start as a few chords on the piano with nonsensical humming that I later fill in like a mad lib depending on the mood the chords give me. Sometimes the song is completely written as a poem before I then try and format it into a song. And sometimes I blueprint out the entire story of the song before writing a single lyric or chord. Writing is the most fun for me as it feels like one big, emotional word game so I let myself run rampant with my own music. When approaching a gig for hire with another artist, it usually starts with a “therapy session” vibe where I just listen to them spill about whatever is happening to them, or whatever consuming their mind at the moment. The more someone has to say about a subject, the more substance exists for a song. I love being able to write on a song that is cathartic for someone going through a rough period in their life! It is one of the most rewarding parts of being a songwriter for me.
You wrote the lyrics for ‘Let’s Eat’ short film which was amazing. How did that opportunity come about? Thank you! Yeah, it’s making its rounds in festivals right now, but I cannot wait til it’s out for the public to view! The original song and soundtrack for Let’s Eat is by the amazing Max Loh and the collaboration of several incredible lyricists. I was actually introduced to the animation studio team for the purpose of auditioning to sing for the soundtrack, but we have been so blessed to snag Katherine Ho (Crazy Rich Asians) to sing it. So instead I offered my services as lyricist and background vocalist. Working with that team was an absolute blast.
Is it easier to write your music for other people vs yourself? Great question. Wow now that I think about it, I think it’s actually easier for me to write for others, but only in the sense that if they like it or don’t like it, I get immediate feedback from them. It’s not about anything but pleasing the artist in that moment so I’m able to hyperfocus on just finding their truth in a session. Whereas when I’m writing for myself, sometimes I am still trying to uncover what the hell my truth even is! If that makes sense. Having that “therapy session” with myself can be a million times harder than helping a friend through something. I’m working on that.
When can we expect the EP and can you tell me anything about it? My EP will definitely be released this year, though the dates are still being finalized. All I can say is that I am blessed to have met some truly amazing people to help me bring this EP to life, and I am excited to get a little more adventurous and experimental with these songs to show more of who I am as an artist.
story by Ella Audrey Rae
LA based photographer, Keitaro Cloward has become one of my favorite photographers. I found his work on Instagram when I went looking for a photographer for this issue. He can take any atmosphere and turn it into a work of art. His eye for captivating photos and brilliant film direction make him one of the best. He has worked with Volant Magazine, C-Heads Magaine, Flanelle, and many more.
How did you get into this creative field and what has it done for you being able to create for a living? “I don’t know if I ever “got into this creative field”, I think we are all born creative, it’s more the strict and monotonous fields that you have to try hard to train your mind to get “into”. Creativity is something we’re born with, just some types of creativity aren’t recognized as “creative” in the worlds we live in.”
How do get your inspiration for these amazing shots? “It’s almost always a mutual thing. Either some place or thing one of us has seen inspires us. Or the person without knowing it is inspiration itself and then your mind throws on the scenes textures of light, color and feeling and then we try our best to make it happen.”
How has it been doing photography and creative direction in the pandemic? “All the planning parts are done in the mind, so only the actual shoot days are affected. And being creatives it’s our regular lives to always find the new, restructure, and make a new a way. So the first months were hard and stressful but we’re all learned how to stay safe and create.”
What advice would you give to others in your field to help them get amazing shoots in this time? “Don’t do anything you aren’t comfortable doing.”
What has been your favorite project to work on? “Any shoot that I have a lot of time.”
What is the most difficult shoot you worked on and why? “It was a shoot where we had a lot to do, in a very short window of time. And if we didn’t do it all, since it was all connected, then everyone’s time, etc would’ve all been wasted, stress , haha.”
What are your thoughts on the way American’s are standing up for the justice of others? “It’s the minimum, and none of us should only be doing the minimum.
You can view his work here and follow him for more on Instagram.