“A Hero Dies Once” Official Music Video
Since last fall, I’ve been running around with the camera pretty heavy, shooting music videos for other artists. I’ve shot three music videos for Illogic, one for Supastition, and one for Shrapknel (Curley Castro & Prem Rock). After I shot all of those I decided to shoot one for myself, just to keep my blade sharp and continue to develop my videography skills. The song “A Hero Dies Once” has been mentioned by my fans as one of their favorite songs on my Two-Headed Monster album, so I decided to shoot a video for it. So here it is:
Six Years Sober
Last year, my fifth year sober, I didn’t get to write my yearly sobriety post on my sober date, May 15th. Oddly enough, it wasn’t deliberate at all–it was because I was extremely busy at the time. My latest album, King No Crown, had just been released and I was getting ready to head out on the road for a ten-week tour across the United States with Supastition and DJ Rare Groove. I remember telling myself to sit down and write it the week before, but it ended up being impossible to get enough time (and enough quiet) to sit down and write it.
Blueprint “Persevere” Official Music Video
Official Music Video for “Persevere” from my latest album King No Crown. Directed by GRMM for Visual House Media.
Blueprint “Respect the Architect” Music Video
Directed by my guy Varras Tower. Yall know what it is…
Pre-order Respect the Architect HERE
Blueprint presents “Fan Questions: Episode 4”
The fourth installment of the Fan Questions series. In this episode I answers questions about what made me good at other genres of music, whether I let people hear my lyrics ahead of time, what I thinks analog recording gear, and what caused inspired me to change my style.
Word is Blog
Blueprint presents “Fan Questions: Episode Two”
Time for the second weekly installment of my “Fan Questions” video series, where I answer the questions my fans send me. This episode covers the influence of beats vs lyrics, staying down to earth, and violence and ignorance in hip-hop.
Five Differences Between Reason and Ableton Live
Since switching my production from Reason 4.0 over to Ableton Live 8.0 a couple of months ago, I’ve been asked by quite a few people to explain the biggest differences are between the two programs. As one would expect, there are a lot of technical differences between the two programs–most of which would be too nerdy/technical to write about here–but I would like to speak about the differences between the two programs at a really high level. My concern is that getting too technical will turn it into something that only few people can understand, so this post will just speak about the pros and cons of each program.
I would also like to preface this by saying that I am not a master at either program. I’ve been using Reason for seven or eight years, but there were a lot of things I never learned or used in the program. I’ve only been using Ableton Live for two months, and clearly that is not enough time to master the program either.
That said, here we go.
Blueprint presents “Fan Questions: Episode 1”
Last friday, I got on facebook and twitter to asked my fans to ask me as many questions as possible for a videoblog I wanted to make. They were good sports and responded with a gang of good questions. The result is the first episode of Blueprint presents Fan Questions. This new series will be posted every Friday. If you asked a question at the beginning, tune in for your answers. If you haven’t joined in, hit up my Facebook or Twitter, or leave it in the comments here.
The Last Five Albums That I Bought: November 2013
Its been a while since I’ve done one of these posts. Not that I haven’t been picking up any new albums the past several months, I think it’s more that I haven’t had much time to sit down and write about them. But now that I’m getting back on top of my writing again, let’s do this!
5. Atoms For Peace “AMOK”
For those that don’t know, Atoms For Peace is actually a side project of Radiohead members Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich, Redhot Chilli Peppers basssist Flea, and a couple other cats from established bands. I’m a big Radiohead fan so picking this album up was pretty much inevitable.
Looking for Some Session Musicians
One of the early benefits of attempting to change my home production setup into a more mobile one is that it has made me question all parts of my creative process. I’ve realized that there are certain points in my process where the momentum I have in creating art comes to a standstill. In most instances, this is caused by a technical flaw in my workflow. A example of something like this would be not having enough midi inputs or cables to connect a drum machine that I really like. The fact that the drum machine isn’t connected all the time makes connecting it an inconvenience, and therefore reduces the likelihood I’ll use it.
I Don’t Want A Traditional Studio Anymore
There was a time, back when I was living in a small one bedroom apartment, that all I dreamt about was having more space (and time) to do music. Back then all I had was my MPC-2000, an 8-track recorder, a pair of studio monitors, and my record collection. It wasn’t much but I did a lot with it. The fact that I had to keep all that stuff in my bedroom meant that there was a limit to the gear and space I could dedicate to my musical endeavors. I had a decent vinyl collection in my living room, but it wasn’t anything too crazy because the space I was living in didn’t allow it.
With success came the ability to move into a larger space, which is the house I live in now. I realized that I finally had the room to expand my studio space into what I had always dreamed about, so I did. About three-quarters of my basement is dedicated to music in some way. One room in my basement (“the record room”) is dedicated entirely to records and is about 15-feet by 12-feet in size — larger than the entire bedroom I once did ALL of my music in and slept in. The second room, that I now do all my music in, is at least twice that size. The only room in my basement that isn’t dedicated to music in some way is my laundry room.
It’s Official, I’m Writing My Next Book
A couple of weeks ago on twitter, I made the statement that it’s easier for a performing artist to remember their bad shows than their good shows. I wasn’t suggesting that good shows are meaningless or unappreciated, my point was that we remember the bad shows more often because they provide a larger opportunity for learning and growth. In most instances, it’s hard to justify a reevaluation of your strategies when you’re being successful. But as soon as you fail, you start to question everything. In my opinion, the best performers aren’t the best because they have a talent others lack, they’re the best because they’ve all had bad experiences that made them take their level of preparation and performance up a notch.
Three Blueprint Albums and Two Signed Posters for $10
While it is true that I have a great number of fans who know me primarily as a vocalist, I’ve also realized that there are also many fans that don’t really know how serious I am on the beats. In addition to producing both of my solo albums, 1988 and Adventures in Counter-Culture, I’ve also produced three albums for my homie Illogic, as well as albums for my fellow Columbus artists Envelope and Zero Star. So, I’ve decided to run a special sale to bring people up to speed with some of my production where you can get my Chamber Music, Sign Language, and the Weightless Radio CDs for just $10. Plus, you get 11×17 posters for the Chamber Music & Sign Language albums.
That’s right, three albums and two signed posters for $10. CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE.
Thanks for the support yall.
Word is Blog
NOTE: ALL PACKAGES HAVE SOLD OUT. THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
Blueprint interviews Finnish instrumentalist MAW
I first got familiar with Maw several years ago when he popped up on the Weightless Recordings forums. He quickly became a regular poster and welcome contributor. Although his conduct was very mature, we soon found out that he was only a teenager at the time, which made him the youngest regular on our forum. Even more interestingly, we found out that he was from Finland and english was his second language. You never would have guessed it by the way he interacted with everybody.
Over time, Maw started getting into hip-hop production and posting his beats in our “show & tell” forum. His beats were decent at the beginning – especially for a young kid who didn’t even seem to have any equipment – but he seemed to get exponentially better every time he posted something. Eventually he was damn good. From there, I always kept my eye on him, and every year he gets better and better. It’s reached the point where I check out anything he releases and try to spread word about him as much as possible.
Is Blueprint coming to your city this Spring?
Check out his Deleted Scenes spring tour dates below. Join the Facebook event pages for your city now!
Tour Dates:
