Rootiger Interview
Q:. Can you tell us a little bit about your musical history?
A: I started writing pretty embarrassing songs when I was 16 with a guitar my mom bought my older brother Terrence to keep him busy in his freshman year of college. He left it behind and I claimed it, covering it in stickers and starting learning chords. Soon after that I got really into acoustic blues guitar, and my dad started sneaking me into local bars to play their open mics. I bought my first electric guitar two years ago. After several attempts trying to get people to play in bands with me I bought a cheap drum kit, a secondhand Casio keyboard and some recording equipment.
Q: Can you talk about some of the themes in Filmmaking?
A: I started writing the earliest versions of the songs about three years ago in my second year of being active duty air force. Living in a rural desert town in Southern New Mexico I had a lot of time alone to think, which after a year or so gone unchecked just turned mostly into loneliness. I was in a work environment that frowned upon things I was interested in and worked for mostly condescending, self important people. I'd say the main themes of the album are nostalgia, loneliness, depression, isolation and the snowballing effects of these feelings. Having them come around full circle, and after much digging finding the value of it all and my own self worth.
Q: What was it like to do all the recording yourself? Do you think you will stick to the DIY method moving forward?
A: It was so much fun at times and pretty frustrating at others. I did it over the span of about two months. For the most part I would start with the rhythm guitar track, then record bass and drums last. I am by no means a bassist or drummer so I kept things basic and within my abilities and still struggled some having to ditch multiple songs completely and go in different directions than I initially intended. I'd love to have an engineer/producer kind of role player for my next release, and a good drummer would be great. I'd like to grow little by little in audio quality with each release. From this album to the next and that could be as simple as getting it mixed by someone with more experience than I do which wouldn't be hard to find.
Q:. Can you tell us a little bit about your musical history?
A: I started writing pretty embarrassing songs when I was 16 with a guitar my mom bought my older brother Terrence to keep him busy in his freshman year of college. He left it behind and I claimed it, covering it in stickers and starting learning chords. Soon after that I got really into acoustic blues guitar, and my dad started sneaking me into local bars to play their open mics. I bought my first electric guitar two years ago. After several attempts trying to get people to play in bands with me I bought a cheap drum kit, a secondhand Casio keyboard and some recording equipment.
Q: Can you talk about some of the themes in Filmmaking?
A: I started writing the earliest versions of the songs about three years ago in my second year of being active duty air force. Living in a rural desert town in Southern New Mexico I had a lot of time alone to think, which after a year or so gone unchecked just turned mostly into loneliness. I was in a work environment that frowned upon things I was interested in and worked for mostly condescending, self important people. I'd say the main themes of the album are nostalgia, loneliness, depression, isolation and the snowballing effects of these feelings. Having them come around full circle, and after much digging finding the value of it all and my own self worth.
Q: What was it like to do all the recording yourself? Do you think you will stick to the DIY method moving forward?
A: It was so much fun at times and pretty frustrating at others. I did it over the span of about two months. For the most part I would start with the rhythm guitar track, then record bass and drums last. I am by no means a bassist or drummer so I kept things basic and within my abilities and still struggled some having to ditch multiple songs completely and go in different directions than I initially intended. I'd love to have an engineer/producer kind of role player for my next release, and a good drummer would be great. I'd like to grow little by little in audio quality with each release. From this album to the next and that could be as simple as getting it mixed by someone with more experience than I do which wouldn't be hard to find.
Q: What is the creative process like as a solo artist who plays all the instrumentation?
A: Writing the songs on guitar they usually take several different versions to land on the right one. After playing with the song structure and mood sometimes they just go back to the original or become something completely different. I think it's a balance of a healthy amount of self criticism and knowing when you're beginning to over edit, and second guess yourself. When I'm recording I try to set deadlines with myself that give me enough time but not too much where I'm overthinking the whole thing. After adding bass, drums, keys and lead guitar it can begin to turn into something you never thought which could be a good thing or a bad thing. Figuring that out without any outside opinion is the hardest part.
Q: When can we expect new material?
A: If all goes well this summer!
Q: What else do we need to know about Rootiger?
A: I wish I had something mysterious or cool to say about myself. Something that might be interesting is that all the songs on Filmmaking were recorded where I was living in a small cabin in Cloudcroft, New Mexico.
A: Writing the songs on guitar they usually take several different versions to land on the right one. After playing with the song structure and mood sometimes they just go back to the original or become something completely different. I think it's a balance of a healthy amount of self criticism and knowing when you're beginning to over edit, and second guess yourself. When I'm recording I try to set deadlines with myself that give me enough time but not too much where I'm overthinking the whole thing. After adding bass, drums, keys and lead guitar it can begin to turn into something you never thought which could be a good thing or a bad thing. Figuring that out without any outside opinion is the hardest part.
Q: When can we expect new material?
A: If all goes well this summer!
Q: What else do we need to know about Rootiger?
A: I wish I had something mysterious or cool to say about myself. Something that might be interesting is that all the songs on Filmmaking were recorded where I was living in a small cabin in Cloudcroft, New Mexico.