Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing well. This post is just to let you know I’ve released an EP containing 6 new songs. I call it: Head Space.
Your continued support means the world to me 🙂 Please consider buying the MP3 version from Bandcamp (at 10USD or more):
Or you can stream it on your favorite platform:
You can scroll to the bottom of this page to listen to my latest song, or read on through to get a sense of how I was inspired to make it.
I love Samba music. Years ago I was at a Venezuelan resort and heard an all percussion band play this style of music. (Although, from what I heard, Samba is typically from Brazil)
Here’s what a typical Samba beat sounds like:
Flash Forward to 2019, while watching Guillermo Del Toro’s movie ‘The Shape of Water’ I hear this little gem:
Carmen Miranda was a Brazilian (Portuguese Born) Singer and actress. She recorder this song in 1941 for her film ‘That Night in Rio’. The rhythm in this song is just so body-move inducing! I also love how she mimics the sounds of the bass drum and shakers using the words ‘Boom’ and ‘Chica’. To my ears, that’s an early form of beat boxing.
Now, about the track I made, well it had been sitting on my Hard drive for more than 2 years. Forgotten. I clicked on it by accident recently and thought it was nice.
I don’t remember much about it, but It’s definitely inspired by Brazilian samba rhythms and some of the words are surely inspired by Carmen’s song. I also remember I was in a creative head space when I made it, because I had just bought a new electronic instrument, the AKAI MPK mini controller and was making music while trying to figure out how to work the software that came with it.
I remember that I didn’t think this track was anything special. I probably thought it was too weird, like what style even is this? (I’d love to know you opinion on this if you have one, thks)
As far as lyrics go and what the song is about well, your guess is as good as mine on that one! 🙂 But it does seem to be about something light, festive even.
Thank you so much for your continued support 🙂
/RF
Have a listen to ‘Chika Pow Pow’ the latest single from Roxton Fone on Youtube:
The song is downloadable for a dollar on Bandcamp.
Also available for streaming on Spotify
I can’t figure out how to promote my songs(!) I make Youtube Music videos that no one ever sees(!!)
So. This time I’m trying something different: Humor. It’s the first time I make a music video with an actual narrative, a story (sorta) that is told throughout the video, with a beginning and an end. This is the story of the Bedroom Music Producer and the pitfalls that await. It’s inspired by the last five years of my life really, years I have dedicated to putting self-produced, self-made music music online. It hasn’t been easy or lucrative, but it has been fun. There is hope. Enjoy:
Hello everyone! I’m happy to be writing a new blog post for the first time in a while. I was busy making this track and some others for a new album I call “Cruelty Free”
This track started out with the drum beat. Some of you might recognize the OP-1 synthesizer, from Teenage Engineering. I’ve used the stock drum sound called “Maple” (If I remember right).
Well, funny story: There was a blackout a while back where I live. I don’t have a cell phone and during blackouts, there is absolutely nothing to do. So, I pulled out my OP-1 (Because it runs on batteries) and worked out this drum beat out of pure boredom. The next day I thought wow, that’s not bad! So I recorded that, onto my DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)
The Bass line is what Bob Ross would call a “Happy accident” in that it was not what I intended but just sorta happened. It’s played with a Keyboard controller through some Bass guitar VST on my computer. I had an idea in mind, but it just wasn’t working. Then I started moving the MIDI notes around with my mouse, pretty randomly I must say, played it back and thought, wow, I don’t know what I did, but I’m saving this, and won’t touch it ever again. Everything else came after that.
Visit my Spotify or Apple Music page for more music 🙂
I made this a few years back, but I only released it recently. I get a sense that this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a more mainstream rock form in that it has a chorus, verses, a solo and even a pre-chorus, which is something I’ve always liked in other musician’s songs, but had difficulty reproducing in my own music. The pre-chorus is the sort of build up, a bridge if you will, making the transition between the verse and until the chorus.
I would call this style: Funk Rock. Primarily because of two elements: The drum beat and the funky wah guitar. You may be reminded of Red Hot Chili Peppers or Jane’s addiction (But that could also be just in my mind). I’ve also heard from a fan that it has an 80s vibe, due in part by the synthesizer solo in the middle I would guess.
I was inspired to make this (and this is supported by the lyrics) by the sampling trend in the 90s. Artists like Beck took drum breaks from little known songs, and layered their own music on top (That is very true of his song “looser”). A lot of the time the end result was danceable, funky, heavy. When I started listening to these, I became transfixed. Maybe it’s because my primary instrument is the drums, in any case those break beats really spoke to me. In this song I don’t use samples (Because copyrights) but I try to replicate the funky, heavy beat of those days.
I’m a solo artist, and so I write and play all the instruments your hear. I also produce everything myself, and this includes mixing and mastering.
The vocals are run through an instrument called a Leslie amp, which is a mechanical revolving speaker essentially. It gives the vocals a vibrating feel. But don’t get too excited, Leslie amplifiers can get pretty expensive, so I only have the software version: a plugin which imitates the real thing.
The song is part of an 8 song album called “Cross Talk” released in January of 2019.
“Cross Talk” Album on:
Roxton Fone 