Tell us about yourself and your music
Thank you for this interview! We appreciate your time. If you were to look at my life, I have a good life, but I chose the path the world said was the right one. I sit at a desk all day pushing buttons and there’s no joy in it. I feel like I wasted years of my life and should have been making music a year ago. I’m thankful for this job, and this job provides me the resources to move into music now, but I don’t want to work at the computer screen for the rest of my life. I feel like the ideas and thoughts that I and many like me feel and believe are not spoken enough in the real world. We have ideas and norms and beliefs shoved down our throats by many mediums, but no one really speaks for those of us that don’t fit the norm. No one really speaks for the OTHER. There is more expression about conforming to society that there is being true to yourself and to be YOURSELF. I speak to those music lovers and artists that feel like we need to speak our voices, speak out against society’s ills, and still love our craft. Artists and musicians have gotten lost trying to make money, but have forgotten that we create this world too. It is our commentary on society that helps it move forward. It’s time to get back to that.
Talk to us more about your latest release
My latest release is called Urban Electric, found on most music platforms and our YouTube Channel. It’s been an album long coming. I grew up listening to pop songs of the age and then moved to RnB and Rap, slowly loving classic rock and rock music and then embracing love for EDM and electronic dance music. Urban Electric is a voyage in both urban R&B sounds and electro dance music. It’s just Good Music and Good Vibes.
What inspired you to write this release?
I believe my music is compelling and people will connect with it. I don’t just make music to make money or for fame, I’m expressing myself. I feel like to connect with people and other artists who like good music but also want the story to be about more than just good times and good feelings. We live in a world that is so much more than that. This press release will help introduce our music to the world and help us grow our fanbase.
Describe the writing and recording process
Usually, I start with a riff or a piece of a chorus. Sometimes it’s lyrics or lyric pieces, but usually, it’s music first for me. The lyrics or the story comes after I figured out the actual song. I’m not a person who usually does songs without lyrics, although I have a new lyric-less song planned for my next EP, Love & Pain. I can’t listen to just music, like Jazz or EDM song that is all just beat. I feel a song is incomplete without the story. Once I start to record, I never know how a song will come out. The songs just create themselves once I’m in my lab.
Any plans to release a video?
https://youtube.com/channel/UCegDo7EmDpTXAiwHdoHDE2w
Any plans to hit the road?
Currently, we have no plans to tour. We are working hard to get our music heard and build a fanbase while still working on a new project, Love & Pain.
As an indie artist, how do you brand yourself and your music to stand out from the rest of the artists out there?
GOOD VIBES. GOOD MUSIC. Listen to our songs. Listen to what we talk about in songs like Introductions, The Healer Is We, The 3rd Verse, and The Forgotten. We, as artists, have a desire to create our art, but we are also aware of what’s going on in the world and our communities. Our songs are great to dance to and listen to, but there is also value in the message we relate. Some of our songs like The 3rd Verse and The Forgotten may be considered controversial, but we have to be true to ourselves and then to our music.
Who have you been listening to lately?
Actually, because of the pandemic, we have not had a chance to listen to a lot of music lately. I follow more news than I do music lately. I usually listen to music while making my commute to and from work, but since we have been on lockdown, I have not had a lot of chances to listen to much music. I recently heard a song by Ra Ra Riot Called Bad To Worse that I’m really loving it right now.
Who are your biggest influences?
My influences are everything from Disney movies to Fraggle Rock to Michael Jackson to Van Halen. Everything I have ever absorbed is my influence. My muses rage from colors to lost loves too early sunrises. All my experiences help me create my sound.
Tell us about your passions
I’m simple. I love the sun. I love nature and plants. I love good food and a good film. I’m REALLY passionate about football. It’s football season now and I’m having a little trouble working on my next project, Love & Pain, but I could use a little break after finishing Urban Electric. On a macro scale, I have a passion to see justice and equality be something everyone experiences. Humans have a long way to becoming more humane.
What else is happening next in your world?
My goal is to keep putting out music, grow our fanbase, and to keep working with other artists. I need to keep working on my craft, getting better at music production, and learning more about promotion. We would love to get our songs on Sirius XM, but it’s going to take some work for that to happen.
Thanks for an awesome interview, R Steele
Connect with R Steele
Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCegDo7EmDpTXAiwHdoHDE2wSoundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/5-supreme/sets/urban-electric
