Interview: An Inside Look at R-ODD かなしい's Faded Dreams
https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=671978021/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=333333/artwork=small/transparent=true/
Hey R-ODD! I'm glad we were able to get a hold of you for an interview. You are an electronic musician and DJ from just outside of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. You have been working in quite a few genres under different aliases. Could you tell us about your musical journey thus far?
Well, My name is Rodrigo, 23, I'm from a city called Nova Iguaçu in Rio de Janeiro, I was born here and lived here my whole life. My dad gave me my first guitar when I was 12 and I got in a band at 16 that did last for 3 years. I've always been a music enthusiast, I listened to all genres possible in my teens, from the Japanese Visual Kei to the acclaimed American Post-Hardcore.
Now I've been producing electronic music for two years. I first started making songs under Gongoozler, which was basically an experiment. I released two vaporwave albuns (Agerasia and Ao -Via Microwave Records-) and a single called You're Hired + You're Fired. Then I wrote Sitoshna and Ted Bundy's Caprice was released later on. These songs might be still out there on the internet if you folks are wondering~~~
After a year or so, I made Σphemeral, I was still making tunes trying to dig for the sound I liked so I tried to improve my workflow a little bit, I wrote 6 unreleased songs and two "beats" (Nathalie and TJMHL, both are on my SoundCloud).
Now I'm playing under R-ODD, or R-ODD かなしい and I'm happy I could finally finish this album cause I went through the entire year doing my best to release it, I've got countless nights spent on this new project and I'm glad things did turn out pretty good <33
Not many producers have the opportunity to play venues such as yourself. How have you gone about being part of these events in your local area and what did you do to prepare?
People are still not fully aware of Vaporwave (or related genres) in Brazil, even though they like it, it's always an interesting experience for both people and DJ. So when I'm preparing a set I tend to be as flexible as possible with the choice of songs and as clear as possible about what vaporwave is in the first place, and that's why I can't play in any regular rave, the good thing is that I always got somebody to help me get in a lineup somewhere so I usually play at friends parties, house parties and clubs, my equipment is a laptop and a controller (Akai MPD32) and it's all I need, I also got a Novation XioSynth which I used in some compositions.
Does the local music scene in Brazil influence your sound in any way or are there other artists that influence you more? What are some people you are inspired by and look up to?
Yeah I like some MPB (Brazilian Popular Music) artists in Brazil such as Lenine, Paulinho Moska, Cartola and Cassiano but the experimental electronic music scene is kind of weak, at least for now. I'm heavily influenced by XXYYXX, Giraffage, Slow Magic and mainly, Holy Other, I would feel like a child if I met Holy Other someday lol
Lets talk about your new release! This is a hiphop, beats, and trap inspired album which you have been working on all year long. What are some essential things people should know about this release?
I've spent most of my time this year trying to express myself through my music, unfortunately I've gone through some (a lot of) relationship crisis which inspired me making this album, so It is like a grave of bad feelings that helped me to move on as everything feels like a dream today.
Could you also tell us a bit about your involvement with the DMT Tapes label? They have recently had a falling out of sorts so it would be fantastic if you could speak to that for those who aren't familiar with the situation. How did you personally decide to release with them?
I just read couple of days ago about this incident. DMT Tapes is a great label, both of the owners (Vito and Waterfront Dining) are soooo attentive, everything works perfectly and I couldn't be happier o/. I sent my demo to some vaporwave labels I knew and DMT Tapes responded to me the very next day and that was it, they're just awesome <3
Will you be releasing cassettes or is this purely a digital experience? What sort of following or fanbase do you hope this grasps?
Well, this release will be just digital, I'm still working on possibilities but that might take time, my main goal for now is to spread my fanbase with live performances and social media.
Do you have any plans for the future regarding shows, DJ sets, or other releases? What sort of achievements are you personally shooting for? Do you have your goals already set? What have you already accomplished that you had previously hoped for?
I will be playing this album and some unreleased songs at parties and clubs around here and I'm already working on a new EP for 2016. Hopefully I can drag a lot of people into this project and maybe inspire others, thats the whole plan hahah
Thanks for being with us R-ODD! Hope we'll hear from you again soon via NEONVICE!
Thank you so much for having me, I really appreciate it!
