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WMP #138: The Melodic Odyssey of Dak Dubois

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WISCONSIN MUSIC PODCAST WMP Linktree: https://linktr.ee/WI_Music_Podcast AMPLFYING WISCONSIN MUSIC dak duBois

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EPISODE 138

Embark on a rhythmic journey with Milwaukee's own Dak Dubois on this latest episode of the Wisconsin Music Podcast, hosted by Zach Felt. Known for his eclectic mix of indie pop, 70s funk, soul, and snippets of 60s and 70s psychedelia, Dubois has been creating exciting ripples in the music scene.

In this illuminating podcast episode, delve deep into the musical world of Dubois as he shares the stories behind his acclaimed self-titled album and dynamic performances with 'Doc Dubois and Company'. Gain insights into his creative process, musical roots, on-stage energy and the magic that unfolds with each performance.

Uncover the man behind popular anthems like 'Seaside' and 'Portland'. From harmonious soundscapes to Dak's shift to focusing full time on music, explore everything from his multicultural musical influences to the pivotal role of books in shaping his career. This episode promises a melodious adventure through the upbeat world of Dak Dubois that you simply can't afford to skip.

Landscape through the retro-modern universe of tunes Dak Dubois crafts, colored with classic rock and roll inspirations from The Beatles and Led Zeppelin and a psychedelic zest inspired by The Grateful Dead. Gain a unique perspective on Dak's journey, gigging experiences, industry transformations over the years and inspiring words for emerging artists.

Immerse yourself in the enlightening world of Dak Dubois, an inspiring figure in music balancing life's nuances while striking an engaging note with listeners. Join this melodious sporting adventure with Dak by tuning in to the Wisconsin Music Podcast and following him @DakDubois on Instagram for the latest updates on his musical journey.

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Transcript:

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Music.

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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of the Wisconsin Music Podcast.

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I'm your host, Zach Felt, and today we have a special treat for you,

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for all you music enthusiasts out there.

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And before I continue, hopefully I will say your name correctly. Is it Dak Dubois?

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Dak Dubois. Dak Dubois. Okay. Dubois, yeah.

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Just like Marge Simpson's last name. Sure, yeah. Okay.

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Our guest on the show today is none other than Dak Dubois, The Milwaukee-based

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artist who's been making waves with his unique blend of modern indie pop,

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70s funk and soul, and a touch of 60s and 70s psychedella.

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His self-titled album, a testament to his multifaceted talents,

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was entirely crafted in the comfort

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of his own apartment-turned-studio and was released in April of 23.

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What makes Doc truly exceptional is his live performances. He's not alone on stage.

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He's joined by a rotating cast of talented local musicians, collectively known

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as Doc Dubois and Company.

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Their shows are a fusion of funk-driven, jammy vibes and captivating crowd engagement,

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promising an unforgettable experience.

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One of his standout singles, Portland, even premiered on Radio Milwaukee,

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and his album has been lauded as an imaginative, colorful exercise by Milwaukee breaking and entering.

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If you're eager to dive into his world of music, you'll be delighted to know

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that his latest album is available on all major streaming platforms.

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So stay tuned as we dive into a conversation exploring the intricate stories

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behind his music, the vibrant energy he brings to the stage.

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This is an episode you won't want to miss, so let's jump right in and discover

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the magic of Doc Dubois. So welcome to the Wisconsin Music Podcast.

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Cool. Thanks for having me, man. Cool. Cool. So let's get the listeners a little

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bit more in depth about your music origin story.

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How did you get started in the music and how did you land where you are today?

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Yeah, for sure. So, I mean, I started learning guitar when I was like 11 years old.

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I really enjoyed the sound of like the 60s and the 70s and a lot of different

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like kind of alternative and indie sounds too.

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29 years old. So at the time, like early Arctic Monkeys, Strokes,

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Flaming Lips, stuff like that. A lot of that really got me into music.

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I started learning guitar at like 11, played a lot, you know,

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throughout my teenage years.

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I had a stepdad who was a drummer and he would bring me out to

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all of these open jams and so i started

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playing with a bunch of like blues guys and stuff once i

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was about 16 and interesting to start playing in

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bars at that age too but yeah you know over

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the years i just kind of crafted more and more of

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myself as a musician and figured out how

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to sing better and play all the other instruments too

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and but yeah still guitar is kind of like my main love

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but yeah i love getting to do everything thing and kind of write it all out

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so wonderful wonderful so you said and other instruments so what other instruments

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do you play besides guitar yeah so i play i play drums i play keys i play bass

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pretty much anything that has strings on it i feel like i can kind of get down pretty quickly.

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So like mandolin ukulele kind of

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stuff like that a little banjo but yeah yeah

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pretty much anything thing with strings i'll try ripping so cool

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very cool have you ever tried like the non-fretted instruments

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like violin cello and in the such no no

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i don't think i came from that uh that level of prestige as

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a child so no i haven't tried but i

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understand they're just tuned differently they're tuned in fourths instead

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of fifths so right right i feel like that'd be pretty easy

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i play slide guitar so kind of used to not using frets

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with that so cool cool very cool and have

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you implemented let it slide into any of your songs i actually

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haven't no i've done it a couple of

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times with live i know last night we had a show at

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oak and at one point i grabbed one

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of my drummer's drumsticks and started playing slide guitar with that so that

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was pretty cool it's just on my sg too and i have an sg that's awesome for playing

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it sucks for slide but it somehow sounded okay last night so i haven't really

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heard anybody using a wooden drumstick for for a slide.

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Must be an interesting setup it was the first time i

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ever tried it so yeah we had a two-hour set we had

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to stretch it out and gotcha you know i looked at the boys i

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was like we're gonna get weird you know so we got weird people

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like it when we get weird so yeah right i was gonna say i bet the

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audience was enjoying it i bet for sure yeah definitely cool

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so how long has this has this group

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been kind of like together i know it's mostly you when you have this rotating

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set set of musicians but as this entity how

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long has this been going on just six months so i launched the album six months

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ago and that was kind of my first time doing this before that i was kind of

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a journeyman like guitarist i would just play guitar in a lot of different bands

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whether you know kind of a lot of across a lot of different genres but i moved

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down to milwaukee from the fox cities back.

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About a year a little over a year ago and started working

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on this album and knew that i kind of of wanted to like squeak out

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in this scene down here and and just try

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something new with it so really glad i did it's been really successful

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so far and people have taken taken it really nicely so

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excellent so kind of one of my questions is talking

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about the local scene so it seems like you're getting a positive reaction from

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the scene which is great what are some other positives that you've been kind

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of noticing about the local scene for you oh man i got so many homies in the

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scene And it's been crazy to just really be in a new place and get to meet all of them.

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Yeah. I've gotten to collaborate with quite a few different artists and I think

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getting to do recording stuff is great too, but I just love how diverse the scene is.

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Honestly, there's so many talented people from so many different like genres

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and sub genres that I think it makes, it makes it such an intricate scene in Milwaukee here.

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And I love getting to see it, man. man. There's just so much talent and people

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are just incredible songwriters and players in general. Yeah.

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It's a lot of great talent out there in the Milwaukee and outing areas,

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all the way throughout Wisconsin. There's just a lot of great musicians out here.

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What are some of the struggles that you've kind of seen in the local scene,

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though, that maybe needs help to help it make it stronger? Yeah.

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I don't know. I guess I haven't really experienced a lot of struggles necessarily. necessarily.

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I feel like selling merch is kind of hard, but I feel like that's kind of,

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everybody has that right situation.

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I also know that we're like in an interesting financial situation as far as

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like the world's concerned right now.

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So I'm not going to be like luring that over anybody's head. No.

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Yeah. I don't know. I feel like everybody's really cool and it doesn't feel

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grossly competitive or anything like that. Like.

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Yeah i don't know i guess i think i

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wish that the hip-hop and r b scene had a little

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bit more support from some of the some of the faces that

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i kind of see in the circles that i play in and stuff yeah because i love getting

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to play across you know different scenes and work with other people and i mean

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they definitely have a lot of support but i feel like it's there's just so much

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untapped talent there that i wish that we could almost support those people

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a little bit better but but that's honestly my only gripe.

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I mean, we're supposed to be a melting pot of everything, right?

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Yeah, totally, man. Right, exactly.

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Now, talking a little bit about this new album that came out in April,

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we're at the end of October with this recording of this interview,

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so it's been, like you said, about six months.

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So why don't we talk to the listeners

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through the journey of creating this project. How did you get started?

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How did you put the things together, like your recording equipment and things of that nature?

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Year how did it go being in an apartment is the drums

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you said you're a drummer so are these live drums or are

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these program drums can i talk about all the details of this album yeah definitely

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man yeah so in i have a studio in our apartment here and yeah i just sound dampened

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a ton of it you know just added a ton of foam and stuff but i live track i live

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tracked all the drumming usually i'll I'll do like an eight mic setup on the kit.

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I'll do like a mono overhead. I'll individually mic up the hi-hat and like the ride cymbal.

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So pretty much just the crash is coming through on the overhead as well as like

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the overall blend of all the drums.

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I just single mic the kick, double mic the snare, one on top, one on bottom.

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Tom's individually. And that's kind of like the general thing.

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I think having your mic placement's the best way to go because you don't want

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things to be out of phase or to like not come through sounding right. Right, right.

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So that kind of took me a little while to figure that out because this is like

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my first time really like recording to this capacity. So.

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I just had to keep messing stuff up. Even on that album, when I listened to

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it, I'm like, yeah, definitely, I've been doing things differently since I recorded that album.

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But yeah, I feel like I started recording it because I had played in a lot of

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other bands, and I was like, I think I could do this all by myself,

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and I wanted to take that on as a little bit of an experience thing,

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and I'm really glad I did because it really taught me.

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I think it made me a lot better of a guitarist in general, getting to really

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look at every single instrument and what it does to add to like the general sound of something.

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And I think that, you know, the end result is always what's the most important thing. Right.

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That being said, we live above like a venue too.

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So yeah, I got to really learn a lot about noise gates.

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And I also learned a lot about retracking. So yeah.

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And then there's a church across the street that's very old

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and it just it rings bells like hell man yeah

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crazy yeah so did you sample

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any of that and put it in your songs i actually didn't know

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i had a friend that i was playing and i had him as a rhythm

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guitarist for like a few shows and every time he'd come over to like jam and

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stuff he'd always be like oh dude the bell's going off i gotta go record this

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and he'd like run outside and record it and he actually used it in one of his

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songs and i thought that that was really interesting so very cool yeah he was

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more nerdy about it than i was i was just i I always see it as a nuisance.

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I'm like, I don't need that bell, you know? So the only bell I want is off of a ride.

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Yeah, I hear you. I hear you. Now, you said you live above a venue.

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Do you have other neighbors or is it just the venue below you and you're sitting up on top of it?

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Yeah, it's just the venue below us. We're on top. And I have a lot of sound equipment here.

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So when it comes nights to jamming, I usually try

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to do two jams a month where I bring

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in different artists and just like you know just mess around like see

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whatever happens which has been really great too to

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like get to meet a lot of different people in the scene and just like having that

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space and you know having people in for

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that is just honestly like the coolest thing to do yeah but

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uh yeah a lot of times we're pretty loud and they're

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pretty loud and our our bedroom and

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our living room are like on top of it so

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we have a third floor and that's where that is so it's pretty you got

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like a whole barrier it's never too bad sometimes you'll have

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some djs come through with like and bring like you know

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more subs or whatever right and you could feel it in like the whole house it's

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crazy but yeah it's it's like getting your back massaged when you're sleeping

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so it's not bad man it's not bad cool very cool so you're doing this recording

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by yourself so what kind of.

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For the people out there that are interested in, like, the recording aspect

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of it, like, what are you using for, like, your DAW and your interfaces and stuff like that?

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Is it all in one, or is it, like, outboard stuff? What kind of,

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what are you doing with that stuff?

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Yeah, so I have, I just have, like, a big Scarlett, like, the Focusrite, the 18-input one.

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Okay. Just, like, the massive box. and so I

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use that for pretty much all my drumming and then I do have like

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how to look a universal audio just like a volt I just use that on the separate

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side of the space so I don't have to like unplug anything and I'll just if I'm

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doing like quick vocal touch-ups or if I'm just like single micing something

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I'll use that because that's like where I have my desk and stuff and then.

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Yeah and then I also have reel-to-reel as well

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and I haven't really got no ton of chances to to

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mess with that yet but eventually what i'm

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going to do is i think like pre-mastering once i

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have my mixes i'll run it through there kind of catch

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some some of the you know tube warmth that you get off

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of it and stuff because it's just a four track it's not

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anything crazy but it's enough to run your stereo mixes

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through and kind of add that bit extra or

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even just do it on an instrumental basis like if i have a

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guitar and i want it to get really trippy put it through there

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and then just kind of like casually grab the tape as it

208
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comes through to kind of like wobble and slow it a little bit right yeah

209
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i've been really busy and i have i

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probably have like another 10 12 songs

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recorded right now and i plan on releasing an

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ep at the end of december oh okay cool

213
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which is gonna be cool and that one's gonna be a bit different because i'm gonna

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try to so the first album was all just me by myself on everything but i'm trying

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to get a bunch of different features from the city of milwaukee on that ep which

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is gonna be cool because like my friend wave chapelle is gonna be on it i have

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a couple of other artists that i've been working with too,

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and then i'd love to get like another rapper on it or like

219
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r&b singer or something and i got a few friends that i've definitely

220
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had in mind but yeah just kind of feel it out you know yeah definitely so let's

221
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kind of go back to the one that you just released in april and kind of talk

222
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about some of the songs on there are there some songs that you'd like the listeners.

223
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To kind of to hear on the podcast so they can go and check it out on band camp

224
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or other streaming sites? Yeah, for sure, man.

225
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It's, it's kind of a, it's, it's like a concept album too. So the whole thing

226
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like front to back kind of tells a story and it really goes through the motions.

227
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So to like name out one specific song I think would be a little, a little crazy.

228
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I know the most popular songs off that album are like Seaside and Portland.

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Music.

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So i feel like that's kind of like a good little surface level place to

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get into with it okay but the album like front to

232
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back it's only eight songs and it's like 36 minutes or

233
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something like that so it's pretty easy to get through it's really digestible

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the music on it is i wanted to make sure that it would be something that has

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a lot of moments where like the ear candy kind of hits you you know and you

236
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got good hooks good overall feel i feel like in my playing i i kind In my writing,

237
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I feel like I emphasize a lot of minor seven chords and stuff,

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so it really gives you that classic alternative indie sound.

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But then it's pretty imaginative and really jumps across a lot of different

240
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cultures as far as music's concerned, whether it be more of an Eastern sound

241
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or adding more of a Latin feel on something.

242
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And then all of the rhythm section stuff is super funky, so it's really easy

243
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to get into. Yeah, so you call this basically a journey album.

244
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So what is the journey that this album is supposed to take the listener through?

245
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Oh man, I think I just wanted it to resonate with any kind of like feeling of coming of age,

246
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you know, and really just kind of when everything kind of starts clicking as

247
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you know, we're adults and our brains kind of start forming a little bit more.

248
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I wanted to kind of go over that and the things that we grieve with,

249
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but also the things that we can be excited about too.

250
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And that's kind of the place that I was in when I wrote and recorded all of it.

251
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And yeah and i feel like it definitely can

252
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be or you could just put it on when you got some homies over and you're

253
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hanging out you know and it's it's just easy listening so excellent excellent

254
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so i'll put a few of those on there is there

255
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any ones that you really want me to put on the podcast or should i just

256
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randomly pick a few yeah i feel

257
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like seaside portland those two are pretty cool okay

258
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definitely usually i feel like those kind of get a lot of

259
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play soul mill is really cool too it's an instrumental it's

260
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the opener for the album too but it yeah that

261
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one's just really interesting it's got a lot of like phrygian scale usage but

262
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it's pretty light and it really sticks to kind of more like funky kind of minor

263
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like pentatonic box kind of feel stuff too from like a bass perspective right

264
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it's really nice and easy going.

265
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Music.

266
00:22:21.205 --> 00:22:25.505
Producers and beatmakers of Milwaukee, it is time for the 2024 Big Beat MKE

267
00:22:25.505 --> 00:22:29.505
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268
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269
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271
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prizes from some great sponsors.

272
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Don't forget that you can submit your beats today at breakingandentering.net through March 31st.

273
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Yeah phrygian's kind of known as like the happy major sound

274
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because it's got that raised fourth in it so it's it's

275
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a very cool scale can be used over a lot of

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different things and a lot of great songs in the over the

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years have over the decades have been using that that that mode

278
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a lot so very cool yeah yeah it's cool it's definitely one

279
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of my favorites especially with like being a

280
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little bit more of a psychedelic artist too you know it really gives it that like

281
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kind of gypsy spanishy middle eastern

282
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feel to it too so what would be like some

283
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influences of yours that would be in

284
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that kind of genre that other that the listeners

285
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would be kind of understanding where that's coming from

286
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yeah i feel like from a modern perspective i'd say like krungbin i would say

287
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like peach pit the band crumb and then i have a lot of like kind of old school

288
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funky feels in it too so i think like funkadelic even like a little herbie hancock

289
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like like Headhunters album, you know? Right, right, right.

290
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And I would say like a little bit of Jimi Hendrix. It definitely,

291
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it's some of the tonalities are like throwback feel stuff for sure.

292
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But it's like hard to beat the 60s and 70s out of you when it's like so imprinted

293
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in your brain, you know? Right, right, right.

294
00:24:06.065 --> 00:24:10.585
So if I remember right, you said you're like in your mid 20s now and you started when you were 11.

295
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So that was like early 2000-ish, I would think.

296
00:24:15.805 --> 00:24:20.305
Is that, am I thinking that right? Yeah, for sure. I started playing in 2006.

297
00:24:20.685 --> 00:24:24.105
I'm 29. Yeah. Okay. So, yeah. So 2006.

298
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So when you were 11, what would be like some of the music that was influenced

299
00:24:28.845 --> 00:24:30.485
you at that young of an age?

300
00:24:30.765 --> 00:24:34.745
Oh, man, it was just Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles and Led Zeppelin and...

301
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Black sabbath you know kind of all of that stuff in

302
00:24:38.758 --> 00:24:41.578
general that was i remember hearing that music and

303
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just being like this is insane and then eventually once i

304
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got an acoustic and i was like 13 14

305
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i really became obsessed with nirvana i feel like everybody has to go through

306
00:24:51.558 --> 00:24:57.218
a nirvana phase and that was my nirvana phase and i i loved learning all their

307
00:24:57.218 --> 00:25:02.298
music because it was simple enough for me to play it and say with it yeah that

308
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that kind of where it was where it was at And then eventually as I got older,

309
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my taste kind of expanded out from there.

310
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And I really started listening to a lot of like jazz and funk and fusion and

311
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stuff like that. And a lot of different, like there's still all these elements

312
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of like psychedelia, but it wasn't as like prominent in it. Gotcha.

313
00:25:21.558 --> 00:25:23.438
Yeah, definitely all that stuff.

314
00:25:23.598 --> 00:25:27.358
And then a lot of like West Coast indie stuff I really started getting down

315
00:25:27.358 --> 00:25:28.918
on probably about 10 years ago.

316
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And I feel like I really haven't ever lost that. So wonderful. Wonderful.

317
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It's great to hear about musicians that start somewhere and they expand out

318
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and just try to search out everything that they can that really helps them become

319
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a better musician. For sure. Yeah. Yeah.

320
00:25:45.698 --> 00:25:51.258
As I'm getting closer to the end here with these questions, one of them is a work-life balance.

321
00:25:51.438 --> 00:25:56.258
So we haven't really talked much about what else you do. Are you doing music full-time?

322
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Do you have a side job or a day job that kind of conflicts with you making making

323
00:26:01.738 --> 00:26:03.018
music? How does that work for you?

324
00:26:03.278 --> 00:26:08.298
Yeah, I actually just left my full-time job a couple of weeks ago to really

325
00:26:08.298 --> 00:26:10.378
launch into this music thing full-time.

326
00:26:10.538 --> 00:26:16.558
And yeah, it was really hard to record and just play a lot of gigs too.

327
00:26:16.658 --> 00:26:17.718
I think over the summer, I probably

328
00:26:17.718 --> 00:26:22.798
played maybe like 30 some gigs with a full-time job and that was a ton.

329
00:26:23.018 --> 00:26:28.938
So yeah, I'm definitely kind of glad I'm making this decision right now.

330
00:26:29.058 --> 00:26:31.918
I'm not broke yet, so I feel like I'm still glad.

331
00:26:32.558 --> 00:26:35.738
But once that hits, I think then I'll be a little bit scared.

332
00:26:35.818 --> 00:26:39.378
But I just wanted to take a couple of months and really dive into it,

333
00:26:39.418 --> 00:26:43.998
work on content and kind of just see what I can do as far as getting the word

334
00:26:43.998 --> 00:26:46.138
out there on what I'm doing and stuff.

335
00:26:46.458 --> 00:26:49.398
And yeah, so the balance is really hard for

336
00:26:49.398 --> 00:26:53.218
sure i think having full-time job

337
00:26:53.218 --> 00:26:56.038
too and you know the demands that come with

338
00:26:56.038 --> 00:27:00.738
a full-time job it's really hard to balance those things out so but yeah definitely

339
00:27:00.738 --> 00:27:06.038
eventually it caught up to me so but yeah definitely just trying to look at

340
00:27:06.038 --> 00:27:11.418
music full-time and see what i can make of it you know and right exactly not

341
00:27:11.418 --> 00:27:15.738
30 yet so i feel like this is a good decision i still have six months until I'm 30.

342
00:27:15.898 --> 00:27:19.858
So this is kind of my mess around era right now. So, right.

343
00:27:20.684 --> 00:27:24.224
Now, in the past, I've interviewed Emily White. I don't know if you know who

344
00:27:24.224 --> 00:27:25.864
that is. Yeah, she's amazing.

345
00:27:26.144 --> 00:27:30.924
Yeah. So, and she's got that great resource, the how to build a sustainable

346
00:27:30.924 --> 00:27:32.904
music career, collect all revenue streams.

347
00:27:33.324 --> 00:27:36.564
Have you, have you dived into any of that and tried to? Absolutely.

348
00:27:36.624 --> 00:27:39.564
Yeah. Yeah. My, my girlfriend was the one that my girlfriend,

349
00:27:39.624 --> 00:27:40.864
Nora turned me onto that book.

350
00:27:41.244 --> 00:27:44.284
And my girlfriend, Nora is a much better reader than I am.

351
00:27:44.384 --> 00:27:48.244
So that's pretty tight because she made all of these notes on how to do all

352
00:27:48.244 --> 00:27:49.424
these different things. And

353
00:27:49.424 --> 00:27:52.964
that was, it really came in handy when it was time to launch this project.

354
00:27:53.404 --> 00:27:56.724
So shout out to Emily white, man. I mean, she's got in. Yeah.

355
00:27:56.804 --> 00:28:00.224
She knows what she's doing, man. And you can read through it a million times,

356
00:28:00.244 --> 00:28:01.684
that book and listen to her podcast.

357
00:28:01.764 --> 00:28:05.424
And it's just the amount of knowledge that you can absorb. It's just crazy.

358
00:28:05.524 --> 00:28:09.144
And yeah, big props to her, man. She seems like an awesome person too.

359
00:28:09.284 --> 00:28:12.904
And I know a lot of people that I know in the scene of nothing but amazing things

360
00:28:12.904 --> 00:28:14.164
to say about her. So yeah.

361
00:28:14.524 --> 00:28:18.684
Yeah. It's, it's, it's great to have. And then she's from Wisconsin as well. So it's just great.

362
00:28:18.744 --> 00:28:23.384
All these great Wisconsinites are doing all these great things for the local scene and beyond.

363
00:28:23.584 --> 00:28:25.604
So awesome. Very awesome. Hell yeah.

364
00:28:26.064 --> 00:28:33.444
The next thing is a gig that you have performed at or seen that has made a big impression on you.

365
00:28:33.964 --> 00:28:43.164
Oh, man. As far as gigs I've seen, I feel like every gig I go to, I'm just always in awe.

366
00:28:44.224 --> 00:28:48.964
Especially bigger names, but even locally, man, it's cool to see people on their grind.

367
00:28:49.564 --> 00:28:54.524
I think my favorite artist to see in the Milwaukee area is Classic.

368
00:28:54.804 --> 00:28:57.404
He's a really good friend of mine, too, so I'm not just being biased.

369
00:28:57.404 --> 00:29:02.564
But I wholeheartedly think he's the most talented guy I've ever gotten to see do anything.

370
00:29:02.784 --> 00:29:07.244
So he's amazing. If you haven't seen him live or had a chance to talk to him

371
00:29:07.244 --> 00:29:08.504
or anything, let me know.

372
00:29:08.544 --> 00:29:12.784
I'd love to link you guys up because he's the reason why he's won like every

373
00:29:12.784 --> 00:29:13.944
award in the city of Milwaukee.

374
00:29:14.084 --> 00:29:16.344
As far as music goes, he's just amazing.

375
00:29:16.684 --> 00:29:20.684
And he's easily one of the most kindhearted and just awesome people to,

376
00:29:20.784 --> 00:29:22.364
you know, like having your circle too.

377
00:29:22.484 --> 00:29:26.584
So very cool. yeah definitely and then as far as shows i've played that have

378
00:29:26.584 --> 00:29:27.904
made a lot a big impression.

379
00:29:29.461 --> 00:29:33.641
Yeah, I'm not really sure. I mean, I've really enjoyed every show that we've

380
00:29:33.641 --> 00:29:36.881
played as a full band and that I've done as like a loop artist too.

381
00:29:37.501 --> 00:29:40.841
But yeah, I don't know. I mean, we just played at Oak Brewing last night.

382
00:29:40.901 --> 00:29:42.241
It's our second time playing there.

383
00:29:43.161 --> 00:29:47.581
That's an amazing venue. I love seeing what they've done with their stage setup

384
00:29:47.581 --> 00:29:50.241
and like their sound dampening as well as like the lights.

385
00:29:50.781 --> 00:29:54.441
They've really put a lot into that place. And I feel like, yeah,

386
00:29:54.501 --> 00:29:56.621
it's probably one of the best stages to play around.

387
00:29:56.881 --> 00:30:00.781
So and where's that? That's in Milwaukee, right? It's in West Allis.

388
00:30:00.801 --> 00:30:03.281
Oh, West Allis. Okay. Yeah. Just 20 minutes away.

389
00:30:03.521 --> 00:30:07.201
Yeah, there you go. Everything's 20 minutes away from Milwaukee, right? Yeah, totally.

390
00:30:08.521 --> 00:30:12.681
And if you had a time machine, you could go back and talk to your younger self,

391
00:30:12.761 --> 00:30:14.301
any advice you'd give yourself.

392
00:30:15.221 --> 00:30:19.481
Yeah, man. I would just tell myself to keep messing up because the more you

393
00:30:19.481 --> 00:30:21.381
mess up, the better of a musician you become.

394
00:30:21.701 --> 00:30:25.041
And yeah, you just got to mess up, man. You just got to keep messing up and

395
00:30:25.041 --> 00:30:28.361
don't take it personally, just get it over with.

396
00:30:28.501 --> 00:30:34.061
And as you continue to work on all of these things, like you eventually just get a lot better.

397
00:30:34.081 --> 00:30:37.001
So just keep messing up and, you know, keep your chin up through it.

398
00:30:37.681 --> 00:30:41.601
Absolutely. Yeah, that's great advice because, you know, I tell my students,

399
00:30:41.641 --> 00:30:46.361
I'm a band director at the high school and I tell them failure is just stepping stones to success.

400
00:30:47.241 --> 00:30:51.141
Eventually it's going to click and eventually you're going to become better

401
00:30:51.141 --> 00:30:52.121
at what you're working at.

402
00:30:52.867 --> 00:30:56.547
Yeah, totally. No, I couldn't agree with that more. I think even if you're self-taught

403
00:30:56.547 --> 00:31:01.867
or if you're taught at a higher level, you got to get your 10,000 hours in there

404
00:31:01.867 --> 00:31:04.067
before you can really just start crushing stuff.

405
00:31:04.407 --> 00:31:08.487
And yeah, you just got to keep messing up, man, because that's what makes all the difference.

406
00:31:08.927 --> 00:31:12.947
Exactly. Exactly. Is there anything that you want the listeners to know before I let you go?

407
00:31:13.627 --> 00:31:19.307
Follow me on Instagram at Dak Dubois. It's just D-A-K-D-U-B-O-I-S.

408
00:31:19.307 --> 00:31:26.707
So yeah that's pretty much it i know yeah i plan on doing a tour here in a few months probably.

409
00:31:27.547 --> 00:31:30.307
Yeah and wherever whatever city you're at you know check out

410
00:31:30.307 --> 00:31:33.827
the music and check out instagram because i'm really good at making sure that

411
00:31:33.827 --> 00:31:37.607
i stay up on content you can kind of get a little bit more feel for what the

412
00:31:37.607 --> 00:31:42.107
live shows are like and they're definitely crazy i just want to make sure everybody

413
00:31:42.107 --> 00:31:48.507
has an incredible night anytime they come out and see us so yeah excellent and

414
00:31:48.507 --> 00:31:49.647
And I'll put all the links down.

415
00:31:49.727 --> 00:31:53.267
I'll put your link tree down in the details of the show so people can just click

416
00:31:53.267 --> 00:31:57.107
on that and go right to all your social media and your website.

417
00:31:57.307 --> 00:32:00.207
So, Doc, thank you so much for being on the Wisconsin Music Podcast.

418
00:32:00.387 --> 00:32:03.207
It's been great talking to you, learning about all your music stuff.

419
00:32:03.367 --> 00:32:04.927
And just thanks so much for being on.

420
00:32:05.247 --> 00:32:07.587
Yeah, thanks for having me, man. I really appreciate it, too.

421
00:32:08.007 --> 00:32:11.407
Well, thanks again for tuning in to another episode of the Wisconsin Music Podcast.

422
00:32:11.947 --> 00:32:15.587
Once again, I'm Zach Fell, your host and creator of the Wisconsin Music Podcast,

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00:32:15.727 --> 00:32:18.787
where I love to amplify the great sounds coming out

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00:32:18.787 --> 00:32:22.407
of the wisconsin state we have great talent here great

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00:32:22.407 --> 00:32:27.847
support great listeners thanks to fox city's indie radio for syndicating this

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00:32:27.847 --> 00:32:31.767
on wednesdays and sundays along with their other great programmers so make sure

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00:32:31.767 --> 00:32:37.127
you check out the fox city's indie radio thanks to dr for being on this week's

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show check him out all links are in the episode descriptions he has two.

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Music.

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For more information. If you are enjoying these episodes, please consider donating

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Donations help pay for the website and putting the podcast up on streaming services

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Music.

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https://linktr.ee/dakdubois

EPISODE 138

Embark on a rhythmic journey with Milwaukee's own Dak Dubois on this latest episode of the Wisconsin Music Podcast, hosted by Zach Felt. Known for his eclectic mix of indie pop, 70s funk, soul, and snippets of 60s and 70s psychedelia, Dubois has been creating exciting ripples in the music scene.

In this illuminating podcast episode, delve deep into the musical world of Dubois as he shares the stories behind his acclaimed self-titled album and dynamic performances with 'Doc Dubois and Company'. Gain insights into his creative process, musical roots, on-stage energy and the magic that unfolds with each performance.

Uncover the man behind popular anthems like 'Seaside' and 'Portland'. From harmonious soundscapes to Dak's shift to focusing full time on music, explore everything from his multicultural musical influences to the pivotal role of books in shaping his career. This episode promises a melodious adventure through the upbeat world of Dak Dubois that you simply can't afford to skip.

Landscape through the retro-modern universe of tunes Dak Dubois crafts, colored with classic rock and roll inspirations from The Beatles and Led Zeppelin and a psychedelic zest inspired by The Grateful Dead. Gain a unique perspective on Dak's journey, gigging experiences, industry transformations over the years and inspiring words for emerging artists.

Immerse yourself in the enlightening world of Dak Dubois, an inspiring figure in music balancing life's nuances while striking an engaging note with listeners. Join this melodious sporting adventure with Dak by tuning in to the Wisconsin Music Podcast and following him @DakDubois on Instagram for the latest updates on his musical journey.

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Transcript:

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Music.

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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of the Wisconsin Music Podcast.

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I'm your host, Zach Felt, and today we have a special treat for you,

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for all you music enthusiasts out there.

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And before I continue, hopefully I will say your name correctly. Is it Dak Dubois?

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Dak Dubois. Dak Dubois. Okay. Dubois, yeah.

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Just like Marge Simpson's last name. Sure, yeah. Okay.

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Our guest on the show today is none other than Dak Dubois, The Milwaukee-based

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artist who's been making waves with his unique blend of modern indie pop,

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70s funk and soul, and a touch of 60s and 70s psychedella.

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His self-titled album, a testament to his multifaceted talents,

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was entirely crafted in the comfort

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of his own apartment-turned-studio and was released in April of 23.

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What makes Doc truly exceptional is his live performances. He's not alone on stage.

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He's joined by a rotating cast of talented local musicians, collectively known

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as Doc Dubois and Company.

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Their shows are a fusion of funk-driven, jammy vibes and captivating crowd engagement,

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promising an unforgettable experience.

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One of his standout singles, Portland, even premiered on Radio Milwaukee,

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and his album has been lauded as an imaginative, colorful exercise by Milwaukee breaking and entering.

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If you're eager to dive into his world of music, you'll be delighted to know

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that his latest album is available on all major streaming platforms.

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So stay tuned as we dive into a conversation exploring the intricate stories

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behind his music, the vibrant energy he brings to the stage.

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This is an episode you won't want to miss, so let's jump right in and discover

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the magic of Doc Dubois. So welcome to the Wisconsin Music Podcast.

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Cool. Thanks for having me, man. Cool. Cool. So let's get the listeners a little

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bit more in depth about your music origin story.

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How did you get started in the music and how did you land where you are today?

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Yeah, for sure. So, I mean, I started learning guitar when I was like 11 years old.

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I really enjoyed the sound of like the 60s and the 70s and a lot of different

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like kind of alternative and indie sounds too.

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29 years old. So at the time, like early Arctic Monkeys, Strokes,

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Flaming Lips, stuff like that. A lot of that really got me into music.

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I started learning guitar at like 11, played a lot, you know,

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throughout my teenage years.

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I had a stepdad who was a drummer and he would bring me out to

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all of these open jams and so i started

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playing with a bunch of like blues guys and stuff once i

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was about 16 and interesting to start playing in

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bars at that age too but yeah you know over

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the years i just kind of crafted more and more of

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myself as a musician and figured out how

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to sing better and play all the other instruments too

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and but yeah still guitar is kind of like my main love

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but yeah i love getting to do everything thing and kind of write it all out

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so wonderful wonderful so you said and other instruments so what other instruments

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do you play besides guitar yeah so i play i play drums i play keys i play bass

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pretty much anything that has strings on it i feel like i can kind of get down pretty quickly.

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So like mandolin ukulele kind of

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stuff like that a little banjo but yeah yeah

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pretty much anything thing with strings i'll try ripping so cool

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very cool have you ever tried like the non-fretted instruments

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like violin cello and in the such no no

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i don't think i came from that uh that level of prestige as

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a child so no i haven't tried but i

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understand they're just tuned differently they're tuned in fourths instead

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of fifths so right right i feel like that'd be pretty easy

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i play slide guitar so kind of used to not using frets

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with that so cool cool very cool and have

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you implemented let it slide into any of your songs i actually

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haven't no i've done it a couple of

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times with live i know last night we had a show at

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oak and at one point i grabbed one

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of my drummer's drumsticks and started playing slide guitar with that so that

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was pretty cool it's just on my sg too and i have an sg that's awesome for playing

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it sucks for slide but it somehow sounded okay last night so i haven't really

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heard anybody using a wooden drumstick for for a slide.

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Must be an interesting setup it was the first time i

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ever tried it so yeah we had a two-hour set we had

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to stretch it out and gotcha you know i looked at the boys i

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was like we're gonna get weird you know so we got weird people

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like it when we get weird so yeah right i was gonna say i bet the

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audience was enjoying it i bet for sure yeah definitely cool

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so how long has this has this group

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been kind of like together i know it's mostly you when you have this rotating

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set set of musicians but as this entity how

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long has this been going on just six months so i launched the album six months

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ago and that was kind of my first time doing this before that i was kind of

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a journeyman like guitarist i would just play guitar in a lot of different bands

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whether you know kind of a lot of across a lot of different genres but i moved

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down to milwaukee from the fox cities back.

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About a year a little over a year ago and started working

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on this album and knew that i kind of of wanted to like squeak out

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in this scene down here and and just try

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something new with it so really glad i did it's been really successful

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so far and people have taken taken it really nicely so

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excellent so kind of one of my questions is talking

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about the local scene so it seems like you're getting a positive reaction from

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the scene which is great what are some other positives that you've been kind

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of noticing about the local scene for you oh man i got so many homies in the

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scene And it's been crazy to just really be in a new place and get to meet all of them.

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Yeah. I've gotten to collaborate with quite a few different artists and I think

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getting to do recording stuff is great too, but I just love how diverse the scene is.

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Honestly, there's so many talented people from so many different like genres

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and sub genres that I think it makes, it makes it such an intricate scene in Milwaukee here.

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And I love getting to see it, man. man. There's just so much talent and people

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are just incredible songwriters and players in general. Yeah.

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It's a lot of great talent out there in the Milwaukee and outing areas,

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all the way throughout Wisconsin. There's just a lot of great musicians out here.

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What are some of the struggles that you've kind of seen in the local scene,

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though, that maybe needs help to help it make it stronger? Yeah.

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I don't know. I guess I haven't really experienced a lot of struggles necessarily. necessarily.

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I feel like selling merch is kind of hard, but I feel like that's kind of,

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everybody has that right situation.

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I also know that we're like in an interesting financial situation as far as

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like the world's concerned right now.

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So I'm not going to be like luring that over anybody's head. No.

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Yeah. I don't know. I feel like everybody's really cool and it doesn't feel

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grossly competitive or anything like that. Like.

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Yeah i don't know i guess i think i

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wish that the hip-hop and r b scene had a little

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bit more support from some of the some of the faces that

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i kind of see in the circles that i play in and stuff yeah because i love getting

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to play across you know different scenes and work with other people and i mean

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they definitely have a lot of support but i feel like it's there's just so much

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untapped talent there that i wish that we could almost support those people

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a little bit better but but that's honestly my only gripe.

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I mean, we're supposed to be a melting pot of everything, right?

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Yeah, totally, man. Right, exactly.

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Now, talking a little bit about this new album that came out in April,

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we're at the end of October with this recording of this interview,

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so it's been, like you said, about six months.

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So why don't we talk to the listeners

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through the journey of creating this project. How did you get started?

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How did you put the things together, like your recording equipment and things of that nature?

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Year how did it go being in an apartment is the drums

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you said you're a drummer so are these live drums or are

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these program drums can i talk about all the details of this album yeah definitely

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man yeah so in i have a studio in our apartment here and yeah i just sound dampened

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a ton of it you know just added a ton of foam and stuff but i live track i live

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tracked all the drumming usually i'll I'll do like an eight mic setup on the kit.

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I'll do like a mono overhead. I'll individually mic up the hi-hat and like the ride cymbal.

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So pretty much just the crash is coming through on the overhead as well as like

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the overall blend of all the drums.

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I just single mic the kick, double mic the snare, one on top, one on bottom.

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Tom's individually. And that's kind of like the general thing.

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I think having your mic placement's the best way to go because you don't want

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things to be out of phase or to like not come through sounding right. Right, right.

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So that kind of took me a little while to figure that out because this is like

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my first time really like recording to this capacity. So.

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I just had to keep messing stuff up. Even on that album, when I listened to

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it, I'm like, yeah, definitely, I've been doing things differently since I recorded that album.

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But yeah, I feel like I started recording it because I had played in a lot of

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other bands, and I was like, I think I could do this all by myself,

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and I wanted to take that on as a little bit of an experience thing,

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and I'm really glad I did because it really taught me.

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I think it made me a lot better of a guitarist in general, getting to really

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look at every single instrument and what it does to add to like the general sound of something.

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And I think that, you know, the end result is always what's the most important thing. Right.

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That being said, we live above like a venue too.

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So yeah, I got to really learn a lot about noise gates.

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And I also learned a lot about retracking. So yeah.

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And then there's a church across the street that's very old

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and it just it rings bells like hell man yeah

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crazy yeah so did you sample

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any of that and put it in your songs i actually didn't know

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i had a friend that i was playing and i had him as a rhythm

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guitarist for like a few shows and every time he'd come over to like jam and

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stuff he'd always be like oh dude the bell's going off i gotta go record this

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and he'd like run outside and record it and he actually used it in one of his

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songs and i thought that that was really interesting so very cool yeah he was

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more nerdy about it than i was i was just i I always see it as a nuisance.

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I'm like, I don't need that bell, you know? So the only bell I want is off of a ride.

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Yeah, I hear you. I hear you. Now, you said you live above a venue.

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Do you have other neighbors or is it just the venue below you and you're sitting up on top of it?

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Yeah, it's just the venue below us. We're on top. And I have a lot of sound equipment here.

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So when it comes nights to jamming, I usually try

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to do two jams a month where I bring

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in different artists and just like you know just mess around like see

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whatever happens which has been really great too to

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like get to meet a lot of different people in the scene and just like having that

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space and you know having people in for

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that is just honestly like the coolest thing to do yeah but

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uh yeah a lot of times we're pretty loud and they're

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pretty loud and our our bedroom and

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our living room are like on top of it so

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we have a third floor and that's where that is so it's pretty you got

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like a whole barrier it's never too bad sometimes you'll have

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some djs come through with like and bring like you know

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more subs or whatever right and you could feel it in like the whole house it's

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crazy but yeah it's it's like getting your back massaged when you're sleeping

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so it's not bad man it's not bad cool very cool so you're doing this recording

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by yourself so what kind of.

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For the people out there that are interested in, like, the recording aspect

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of it, like, what are you using for, like, your DAW and your interfaces and stuff like that?

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Is it all in one, or is it, like, outboard stuff? What kind of,

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what are you doing with that stuff?

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Yeah, so I have, I just have, like, a big Scarlett, like, the Focusrite, the 18-input one.

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Okay. Just, like, the massive box. and so I

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use that for pretty much all my drumming and then I do have like

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how to look a universal audio just like a volt I just use that on the separate

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side of the space so I don't have to like unplug anything and I'll just if I'm

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doing like quick vocal touch-ups or if I'm just like single micing something

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I'll use that because that's like where I have my desk and stuff and then.

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Yeah and then I also have reel-to-reel as well

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and I haven't really got no ton of chances to to

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mess with that yet but eventually what i'm

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going to do is i think like pre-mastering once i

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have my mixes i'll run it through there kind of catch

201
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some some of the you know tube warmth that you get off

202
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of it and stuff because it's just a four track it's not

203
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anything crazy but it's enough to run your stereo mixes

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through and kind of add that bit extra or

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even just do it on an instrumental basis like if i have a

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guitar and i want it to get really trippy put it through there

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and then just kind of like casually grab the tape as it

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comes through to kind of like wobble and slow it a little bit right yeah

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i've been really busy and i have i

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probably have like another 10 12 songs

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recorded right now and i plan on releasing an

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ep at the end of december oh okay cool

213
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which is gonna be cool and that one's gonna be a bit different because i'm gonna

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try to so the first album was all just me by myself on everything but i'm trying

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to get a bunch of different features from the city of milwaukee on that ep which

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is gonna be cool because like my friend wave chapelle is gonna be on it i have

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a couple of other artists that i've been working with too,

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and then i'd love to get like another rapper on it or like

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r&b singer or something and i got a few friends that i've definitely

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had in mind but yeah just kind of feel it out you know yeah definitely so let's

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kind of go back to the one that you just released in april and kind of talk

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about some of the songs on there are there some songs that you'd like the listeners.

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To kind of to hear on the podcast so they can go and check it out on band camp

224
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or other streaming sites? Yeah, for sure, man.

225
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It's, it's kind of a, it's, it's like a concept album too. So the whole thing

226
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like front to back kind of tells a story and it really goes through the motions.

227
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So to like name out one specific song I think would be a little, a little crazy.

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I know the most popular songs off that album are like Seaside and Portland.

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Music.

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So i feel like that's kind of like a good little surface level place to

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get into with it okay but the album like front to

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back it's only eight songs and it's like 36 minutes or

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something like that so it's pretty easy to get through it's really digestible

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the music on it is i wanted to make sure that it would be something that has

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a lot of moments where like the ear candy kind of hits you you know and you

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got good hooks good overall feel i feel like in my playing i i kind In my writing,

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I feel like I emphasize a lot of minor seven chords and stuff,

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so it really gives you that classic alternative indie sound.

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But then it's pretty imaginative and really jumps across a lot of different

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cultures as far as music's concerned, whether it be more of an Eastern sound

241
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or adding more of a Latin feel on something.

242
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And then all of the rhythm section stuff is super funky, so it's really easy

243
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to get into. Yeah, so you call this basically a journey album.

244
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So what is the journey that this album is supposed to take the listener through?

245
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Oh man, I think I just wanted it to resonate with any kind of like feeling of coming of age,

246
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you know, and really just kind of when everything kind of starts clicking as

247
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you know, we're adults and our brains kind of start forming a little bit more.

248
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I wanted to kind of go over that and the things that we grieve with,

249
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but also the things that we can be excited about too.

250
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And that's kind of the place that I was in when I wrote and recorded all of it.

251
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And yeah and i feel like it definitely can

252
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be or you could just put it on when you got some homies over and you're

253
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hanging out you know and it's it's just easy listening so excellent excellent

254
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so i'll put a few of those on there is there

255
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any ones that you really want me to put on the podcast or should i just

256
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randomly pick a few yeah i feel

257
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like seaside portland those two are pretty cool okay

258
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definitely usually i feel like those kind of get a lot of

259
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play soul mill is really cool too it's an instrumental it's

260
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the opener for the album too but it yeah that

261
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one's just really interesting it's got a lot of like phrygian scale usage but

262
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it's pretty light and it really sticks to kind of more like funky kind of minor

263
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like pentatonic box kind of feel stuff too from like a bass perspective right

264
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it's really nice and easy going.

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Music.

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Producers and beatmakers of Milwaukee, it is time for the 2024 Big Beat MKE

267
00:22:25.505 --> 00:22:29.505
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268
00:22:29.505 --> 00:22:33.865
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269
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270
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271
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272
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Yeah phrygian's kind of known as like the happy major sound

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because it's got that raised fourth in it so it's it's

275
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a very cool scale can be used over a lot of

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different things and a lot of great songs in the over the

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years have over the decades have been using that that that mode

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a lot so very cool yeah yeah it's cool it's definitely one

279
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of my favorites especially with like being a

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little bit more of a psychedelic artist too you know it really gives it that like

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kind of gypsy spanishy middle eastern

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feel to it too so what would be like some

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influences of yours that would be in

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that kind of genre that other that the listeners

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would be kind of understanding where that's coming from

286
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yeah i feel like from a modern perspective i'd say like krungbin i would say

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like peach pit the band crumb and then i have a lot of like kind of old school

288
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funky feels in it too so i think like funkadelic even like a little herbie hancock

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like like Headhunters album, you know? Right, right, right.

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And I would say like a little bit of Jimi Hendrix. It definitely,

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it's some of the tonalities are like throwback feel stuff for sure.

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But it's like hard to beat the 60s and 70s out of you when it's like so imprinted

293
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in your brain, you know? Right, right, right.

294
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So if I remember right, you said you're like in your mid 20s now and you started when you were 11.

295
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So that was like early 2000-ish, I would think.

296
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Is that, am I thinking that right? Yeah, for sure. I started playing in 2006.

297
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I'm 29. Yeah. Okay. So, yeah. So 2006.

298
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So when you were 11, what would be like some of the music that was influenced

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you at that young of an age?

300
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Oh, man, it was just Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles and Led Zeppelin and...

301
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Black sabbath you know kind of all of that stuff in

302
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general that was i remember hearing that music and

303
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just being like this is insane and then eventually once i

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got an acoustic and i was like 13 14

305
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i really became obsessed with nirvana i feel like everybody has to go through

306
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a nirvana phase and that was my nirvana phase and i i loved learning all their

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music because it was simple enough for me to play it and say with it yeah that

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that kind of where it was where it was at And then eventually as I got older,

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my taste kind of expanded out from there.

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And I really started listening to a lot of like jazz and funk and fusion and

311
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stuff like that. And a lot of different, like there's still all these elements

312
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of like psychedelia, but it wasn't as like prominent in it. Gotcha.

313
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Yeah, definitely all that stuff.

314
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And then a lot of like West Coast indie stuff I really started getting down

315
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on probably about 10 years ago.

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And I feel like I really haven't ever lost that. So wonderful. Wonderful.

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It's great to hear about musicians that start somewhere and they expand out

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and just try to search out everything that they can that really helps them become

319
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a better musician. For sure. Yeah. Yeah.

320
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As I'm getting closer to the end here with these questions, one of them is a work-life balance.

321
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So we haven't really talked much about what else you do. Are you doing music full-time?

322
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Do you have a side job or a day job that kind of conflicts with you making making

323
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music? How does that work for you?

324
00:26:03.278 --> 00:26:08.298
Yeah, I actually just left my full-time job a couple of weeks ago to really

325
00:26:08.298 --> 00:26:10.378
launch into this music thing full-time.

326
00:26:10.538 --> 00:26:16.558
And yeah, it was really hard to record and just play a lot of gigs too.

327
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I think over the summer, I probably

328
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played maybe like 30 some gigs with a full-time job and that was a ton.

329
00:26:23.018 --> 00:26:28.938
So yeah, I'm definitely kind of glad I'm making this decision right now.

330
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I'm not broke yet, so I feel like I'm still glad.

331
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But once that hits, I think then I'll be a little bit scared.

332
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But I just wanted to take a couple of months and really dive into it,

333
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work on content and kind of just see what I can do as far as getting the word

334
00:26:43.998 --> 00:26:46.138
out there on what I'm doing and stuff.

335
00:26:46.458 --> 00:26:49.398
And yeah, so the balance is really hard for

336
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sure i think having full-time job

337
00:26:53.218 --> 00:26:56.038
too and you know the demands that come with

338
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a full-time job it's really hard to balance those things out so but yeah definitely

339
00:27:00.738 --> 00:27:06.038
eventually it caught up to me so but yeah definitely just trying to look at

340
00:27:06.038 --> 00:27:11.418
music full-time and see what i can make of it you know and right exactly not

341
00:27:11.418 --> 00:27:15.738
30 yet so i feel like this is a good decision i still have six months until I'm 30.

342
00:27:15.898 --> 00:27:19.858
So this is kind of my mess around era right now. So, right.

343
00:27:20.684 --> 00:27:24.224
Now, in the past, I've interviewed Emily White. I don't know if you know who

344
00:27:24.224 --> 00:27:25.864
that is. Yeah, she's amazing.

345
00:27:26.144 --> 00:27:30.924
Yeah. So, and she's got that great resource, the how to build a sustainable

346
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music career, collect all revenue streams.

347
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Have you, have you dived into any of that and tried to? Absolutely.

348
00:27:36.624 --> 00:27:39.564
Yeah. Yeah. My, my girlfriend was the one that my girlfriend,

349
00:27:39.624 --> 00:27:40.864
Nora turned me onto that book.

350
00:27:41.244 --> 00:27:44.284
And my girlfriend, Nora is a much better reader than I am.

351
00:27:44.384 --> 00:27:48.244
So that's pretty tight because she made all of these notes on how to do all

352
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these different things. And

353
00:27:49.424 --> 00:27:52.964
that was, it really came in handy when it was time to launch this project.

354
00:27:53.404 --> 00:27:56.724
So shout out to Emily white, man. I mean, she's got in. Yeah.

355
00:27:56.804 --> 00:28:00.224
She knows what she's doing, man. And you can read through it a million times,

356
00:28:00.244 --> 00:28:01.684
that book and listen to her podcast.

357
00:28:01.764 --> 00:28:05.424
And it's just the amount of knowledge that you can absorb. It's just crazy.

358
00:28:05.524 --> 00:28:09.144
And yeah, big props to her, man. She seems like an awesome person too.

359
00:28:09.284 --> 00:28:12.904
And I know a lot of people that I know in the scene of nothing but amazing things

360
00:28:12.904 --> 00:28:14.164
to say about her. So yeah.

361
00:28:14.524 --> 00:28:18.684
Yeah. It's, it's, it's great to have. And then she's from Wisconsin as well. So it's just great.

362
00:28:18.744 --> 00:28:23.384
All these great Wisconsinites are doing all these great things for the local scene and beyond.

363
00:28:23.584 --> 00:28:25.604
So awesome. Very awesome. Hell yeah.

364
00:28:26.064 --> 00:28:33.444
The next thing is a gig that you have performed at or seen that has made a big impression on you.

365
00:28:33.964 --> 00:28:43.164
Oh, man. As far as gigs I've seen, I feel like every gig I go to, I'm just always in awe.

366
00:28:44.224 --> 00:28:48.964
Especially bigger names, but even locally, man, it's cool to see people on their grind.

367
00:28:49.564 --> 00:28:54.524
I think my favorite artist to see in the Milwaukee area is Classic.

368
00:28:54.804 --> 00:28:57.404
He's a really good friend of mine, too, so I'm not just being biased.

369
00:28:57.404 --> 00:29:02.564
But I wholeheartedly think he's the most talented guy I've ever gotten to see do anything.

370
00:29:02.784 --> 00:29:07.244
So he's amazing. If you haven't seen him live or had a chance to talk to him

371
00:29:07.244 --> 00:29:08.504
or anything, let me know.

372
00:29:08.544 --> 00:29:12.784
I'd love to link you guys up because he's the reason why he's won like every

373
00:29:12.784 --> 00:29:13.944
award in the city of Milwaukee.

374
00:29:14.084 --> 00:29:16.344
As far as music goes, he's just amazing.

375
00:29:16.684 --> 00:29:20.684
And he's easily one of the most kindhearted and just awesome people to,

376
00:29:20.784 --> 00:29:22.364
you know, like having your circle too.

377
00:29:22.484 --> 00:29:26.584
So very cool. yeah definitely and then as far as shows i've played that have

378
00:29:26.584 --> 00:29:27.904
made a lot a big impression.

379
00:29:29.461 --> 00:29:33.641
Yeah, I'm not really sure. I mean, I've really enjoyed every show that we've

380
00:29:33.641 --> 00:29:36.881
played as a full band and that I've done as like a loop artist too.

381
00:29:37.501 --> 00:29:40.841
But yeah, I don't know. I mean, we just played at Oak Brewing last night.

382
00:29:40.901 --> 00:29:42.241
It's our second time playing there.

383
00:29:43.161 --> 00:29:47.581
That's an amazing venue. I love seeing what they've done with their stage setup

384
00:29:47.581 --> 00:29:50.241
and like their sound dampening as well as like the lights.

385
00:29:50.781 --> 00:29:54.441
They've really put a lot into that place. And I feel like, yeah,

386
00:29:54.501 --> 00:29:56.621
it's probably one of the best stages to play around.

387
00:29:56.881 --> 00:30:00.781
So and where's that? That's in Milwaukee, right? It's in West Allis.

388
00:30:00.801 --> 00:30:03.281
Oh, West Allis. Okay. Yeah. Just 20 minutes away.

389
00:30:03.521 --> 00:30:07.201
Yeah, there you go. Everything's 20 minutes away from Milwaukee, right? Yeah, totally.

390
00:30:08.521 --> 00:30:12.681
And if you had a time machine, you could go back and talk to your younger self,

391
00:30:12.761 --> 00:30:14.301
any advice you'd give yourself.

392
00:30:15.221 --> 00:30:19.481
Yeah, man. I would just tell myself to keep messing up because the more you

393
00:30:19.481 --> 00:30:21.381
mess up, the better of a musician you become.

394
00:30:21.701 --> 00:30:25.041
And yeah, you just got to mess up, man. You just got to keep messing up and

395
00:30:25.041 --> 00:30:28.361
don't take it personally, just get it over with.

396
00:30:28.501 --> 00:30:34.061
And as you continue to work on all of these things, like you eventually just get a lot better.

397
00:30:34.081 --> 00:30:37.001
So just keep messing up and, you know, keep your chin up through it.

398
00:30:37.681 --> 00:30:41.601
Absolutely. Yeah, that's great advice because, you know, I tell my students,

399
00:30:41.641 --> 00:30:46.361
I'm a band director at the high school and I tell them failure is just stepping stones to success.

400
00:30:47.241 --> 00:30:51.141
Eventually it's going to click and eventually you're going to become better

401
00:30:51.141 --> 00:30:52.121
at what you're working at.

402
00:30:52.867 --> 00:30:56.547
Yeah, totally. No, I couldn't agree with that more. I think even if you're self-taught

403
00:30:56.547 --> 00:31:01.867
or if you're taught at a higher level, you got to get your 10,000 hours in there

404
00:31:01.867 --> 00:31:04.067
before you can really just start crushing stuff.

405
00:31:04.407 --> 00:31:08.487
And yeah, you just got to keep messing up, man, because that's what makes all the difference.

406
00:31:08.927 --> 00:31:12.947
Exactly. Exactly. Is there anything that you want the listeners to know before I let you go?

407
00:31:13.627 --> 00:31:19.307
Follow me on Instagram at Dak Dubois. It's just D-A-K-D-U-B-O-I-S.

408
00:31:19.307 --> 00:31:26.707
So yeah that's pretty much it i know yeah i plan on doing a tour here in a few months probably.

409
00:31:27.547 --> 00:31:30.307
Yeah and wherever whatever city you're at you know check out

410
00:31:30.307 --> 00:31:33.827
the music and check out instagram because i'm really good at making sure that

411
00:31:33.827 --> 00:31:37.607
i stay up on content you can kind of get a little bit more feel for what the

412
00:31:37.607 --> 00:31:42.107
live shows are like and they're definitely crazy i just want to make sure everybody

413
00:31:42.107 --> 00:31:48.507
has an incredible night anytime they come out and see us so yeah excellent and

414
00:31:48.507 --> 00:31:49.647
And I'll put all the links down.

415
00:31:49.727 --> 00:31:53.267
I'll put your link tree down in the details of the show so people can just click

416
00:31:53.267 --> 00:31:57.107
on that and go right to all your social media and your website.

417
00:31:57.307 --> 00:32:00.207
So, Doc, thank you so much for being on the Wisconsin Music Podcast.

418
00:32:00.387 --> 00:32:03.207
It's been great talking to you, learning about all your music stuff.

419
00:32:03.367 --> 00:32:04.927
And just thanks so much for being on.

420
00:32:05.247 --> 00:32:07.587
Yeah, thanks for having me, man. I really appreciate it, too.

421
00:32:08.007 --> 00:32:11.407
Well, thanks again for tuning in to another episode of the Wisconsin Music Podcast.

422
00:32:11.947 --> 00:32:15.587
Once again, I'm Zach Fell, your host and creator of the Wisconsin Music Podcast,

423
00:32:15.727 --> 00:32:18.787
where I love to amplify the great sounds coming out

424
00:32:18.787 --> 00:32:22.407
of the wisconsin state we have great talent here great

425
00:32:22.407 --> 00:32:27.847
support great listeners thanks to fox city's indie radio for syndicating this

426
00:32:27.847 --> 00:32:31.767
on wednesdays and sundays along with their other great programmers so make sure

427
00:32:31.767 --> 00:32:37.127
you check out the fox city's indie radio thanks to dr for being on this week's

428
00:32:37.127 --> 00:32:41.567
show check him out all links are in the episode descriptions he has two.

429
00:32:41.680 --> 00:33:06.320
Music.

430
00:33:06.452 --> 00:33:10.312
For more information. If you are enjoying these episodes, please consider donating

431
00:33:10.312 --> 00:33:11.752
to the Wisconsin Music Podcast.

432
00:33:12.292 --> 00:33:16.512
Donations help pay for the website and putting the podcast up on streaming services

433
00:33:16.512 --> 00:33:21.092
and also getting our name out there to all Wisconsinites and others that are

434
00:33:21.092 --> 00:33:23.492
interested in our great music here in Wisconsin.

435
00:33:23.760 --> 00:33:29.360
Music.

436
00:33:24.052 --> 00:33:27.912
Donations are secured through PayPal and Stripe. All you have to do is go to

437
00:33:27.912 --> 00:33:30.792
the website and click on Donate to WMP.

438
00:33:31.552 --> 00:33:35.632
You can also head over to our Instagram and Facebook pages and like us there.

439
00:33:35.632 --> 00:33:41.072
There leave some comments also go to the podcast review section of your podcast.

440
00:33:37.520 --> 00:33:45.840
Music.

441
00:33:41.072 --> 00:33:45.072
Player and leave a five-star review would be great you could also head over

442
00:33:45.072 --> 00:33:49.292
to youtube and watch the interviews and leave comments there as well have a

443
00:33:49.292 --> 00:33:51.072
great week everybody and we'll see you next time.

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