News, Musings, Advice Seeking March 30, 2010
Posted by A. WarRock in : Uncategorized , 6comments
I’ve been having a lot of conversations lately about what to do with my music, in terms of getting a bigger audience and possibly doing this as some semblance of a living. I’ve managed to cobble together a pretty good listenership full of really great, positive, awesome people. I started this site and the TrackLog as a way just to have a depository for musical ideas, a testing ground for bigger concepts (a lot of which are showing up on the album after hashing them out here). I never really thought people would be interested in actually listening to the audio sketchbook I set up for myself beyond my friends (to be honest, my close friends probably don’t listen or understand what I’m doing here, so screw them). So to those who’ve been here since the beginning, and everyone else who’s joined along the way, thank you.
I’ve been having some problems trying to classify my music lately. I realize there’s a whole nerdcore hip hop movement out there that my music sort of fits into, but I can’t really say that I listen to much of it, nor do I really identify myself as part of it. But then, I don’t really make traditional hip hop, even though much of my stuff patterns itself after mid to late 90s post-golden age underground style. So a lot of this stuff sort of exists in its own sphere, and it’s weird for me to try to explain why I think it’s appealing to people.
So there’s been a lot of talk about a live show, maybe some EPs to sell on iTunes leading up to the album, or even moving further beyond that and seeking some professional help in terms of getting the story of this site and the bigger singles like “Ira Glass” or “I Gotta Believe!” out there (though, if you ask me, my favorite song from this site is still “PBR”). So let me put this out there: if you have any personal/professional advice on how to turn this into a bigger thing, email me at adamwarrockmixtape(at)gmail.com. If you want to help out in a less formal way, show someone a song or two from this site this week.
As for the rest of you, let me say this. I have some pretty big ideas for songs and even events in the near future. Keep paying attention, and I promise it’ll at least be interesting.
In any case, I listen to this song (J-Live “Epilogue”) probably 3 or 4 times a day. It pretty much sums up what I think about making music. Enjoy, and have a good one:
WarRock TrackLog 35 – 91.5 March 28, 2010
Posted by A. WarRock in : Tracklog , 1 comment so far
I recorded this station ID song for 91.5′s Indie Queens show and my appearance on their radio show Sunday. I’ve wanted to rhyme to this beat for a while, seemed bombastic enough as my intro to terrestrial radio. Thanks again to Brad, Jamie, JoZ and Hilary. You guys rock.
Here’s the audio of the interview:
Show notes of the interview:
- Ruckus Roboticus
- War Rocket Ajax – podcast
- Charles Knox and my EP (link)
- Chris Sims and the ISB
- “Ira Glass” and “I Gotta Believe! (Scott Pilgrim Recap)”
Download the track (link)
Beat Used: Alex Goose “Rise” from Blueprint 3 Outtakes
What a Week(end)! March 26, 2010
Posted by A. WarRock in : Uncategorized , 1 comment so far
What a busy freakin’ week it’s been here at the dang ole’ website. First and foremost, I want to thank everyone who said nice things about the Scott Pilgrim song I did. Words can’t adequately express the honor I feel in getting to entertain people in any capacity; and knowing people enjoy the stuff I do here means a lot to me.
Thanks to Bryan Lee O’Malley, Edgar Wright, Matt Fraction, Comics Alliance, Newsarama, and everyone else that blogged, retweeted, facebooked, posted, whatever you did and got it out there. I made this song just in general happiness that Volume 6 was announced; I had NO earthly idea that this would be the week the trailer would post, that this little song would get this much attention. It’s pretty overwhelming, and I’m moved beyond belief. I personally can’t wait to see the damn movie, and the trailer is beyond awesome. I’ve watched it about 20 times today.
In other news, I am going to be appearing on terrestrial radio this weekend. Specifically, 91.5 WMHW, on the Indie Queens show. Not only are they going to play “Ira Glass,” I am going to call into the show and I recorded a little station ID rap song for the show as well. So tune in, 9-11PM (I believe Eastern time). So you can tune in, and maybe I can get the audio of the actual show to post up here later on, after I make an appearance and probably say something inappropriate. Thanks to Brad, Hilary, Josie, and Jamie. Can’t wait to make my live radio debut!
WarRock TrackLog 34 – Ellipsis Parentheses March 24, 2010
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Hey look! I wrote a new song! I kinda wrote this in a fever haze, the first verse was from another song that I was in the process of working on, the second verse was kind of thrown together as I recorded, and the chorus was a suggestion from good friend Niles from the great ATL hip hop group The Remnant, who have a fantastic single and video which you should check out here.
And to be quite honest, the “Tony Stark, y’all” ending came as a result of two things: (1) I’ve caught up with a lot of Fraction and Larocca’s Invincible Iron Man (which other than Chew, is probably my fave comic right now); and (2) I’ve been trying to come up with a reason to have a song using “Tiger Woods y’all” as the chorus, without it being trite and tired. It just turned into this.
Download the track (link)
Beat Used: Brother Ali “Original King”
TrackLog 33 – I Gotta Believe! (The Scott Pilgrim Recap) March 22, 2010
Posted by A. WarRock in : Tracklog , 20comments
With the announcement of the sixth and final volume of the fantastic comic Scott Pilgrim, I was rereading the series this weekend when this beat caught my ear. I wanted to do some sort of story rap over it, and I had the “I Gotta Believe!” quote in my head, and this sorta just came together as I paged through the volumes sitting on my dining table. I admit, the whole song may have been based around me just wanting to say “I never seen a vegan do nothing like this.” ::shrug::
That’s over FIVE minutes of rapping for you people. For free! The things I do! But seriously, if you haven’t ever read Scott Pilgrim, seriously. What is wrong with you? Don’t just listen to this song, go buy all five volumes and prepare to have your mind blown with awesomeness.
Thanks to Bryan Lee O’Malley and Oni Press for bringing Scott Pilgrim into my life.
p.s. – yes I know there’s cheated rhymes all over this thing. SORRY. SHEESH.
Download the track (link)
Beat Used: “Eyes Up” Slum Village
Updated Tracklog page March 22, 2010
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I updated the TrackLog page to now include links to each mp3 that I’ve posted up on this site, for easy access. Enjoy!
WarRock TrackLog 32 – Undercover Angel March 16, 2010
Posted by A. WarRock in : Tracklog , 1 comment so far![[large][AnimePaper]wallpapers_To-Heart_chichiri1907_19079](http://www.adamwarrock.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/largeAnimePaperwallpapers_To-Heart_chichiri1907_19079-300x244.jpg "[large][AnimePaper]wallpapers_To-Heart_chichiri1907_19079")
Another blast from the past, I wrote this song back in, whooo, 2003? As a birthday gift to my girlfriend at the time, who ironically, is still my girlfriend today. The story behind it was that my friend (who sings on the track) had written a song called “Angel Undercover,” which was based on the same girl as inspiration. So I flipped her chorus into a hip hop song and asked her to sing on the chorus.
I actually sort of hate the rap-love song, that every single rapper tries to do, and I never intended this to actually be for mass public consumption; but weirdly, over the years, it became one of the more popular songs I did in my recording career in college. What can ya do?
And for the record, I still do love her today as much as I loved her back then. She always makes me want to write more music. That’s about as high a compliment as I could ever give another person.
Download the track (link)
Beat Used: Mya f/ Jay-Z “Best of Me (remix)”
Dog Days March 12, 2010
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Hey look, it’s my new dog, Kebo! I’m busy writing 3 songs for the album as well as some stuff for a new EP to be released (hopefully) before the album comes out. I’m hoping to throw up a tracklog exclusive for the site, but for now, you’ll just have to enjoy the 30-some tracks already up here.
The album’s going great, by the way! So far, I think everyone’s going to be really impressed with what Ruckus and I are accomplishing. Maybe, if Ruckus is nice, I can preview some tracks soon.
