Interviews
Interview | Questions & Answers With Valerie Ghent
The talented singer-songwriter-producer Valerie Ghent just released an anthem for New York City. Undoubtedly, it’s one of her best songs you will find on the 11-track album ‘Velours’. So, we chatted about her beginnings with music, the motivations behind her new single, the video clip, and upcoming live shows…
1 – Who in your life introduced you to music?
My parents were both musicians and composers, so I grew up with music all around – classical, jazz and electronic music. There were always rehearsals in home and concerts to go to. My father also had a recording studio in our loft in SoHo and showed me how to use the tape machines at a pretty early age.
2 – Can you tell us a bit about your formal music training?
I was always drawn to the piano – there’s a photo of me reaching up for the piano keys at age 1! My parents started me on the cello when I was 5 but I just wanted to play the piano and sing melodies. I had few years of piano lessons, then joined a rock band in high school – making music ever since.
3 – What was the first track you worked on?
The first released track I worked on was David Bowie’s song “TVC-15”, recorded while I was in high school with a band called Dizzy and the Romilars. I sang the lead vocal and played synth, and we pressed up a flexi-disk. “TVC-15” was followed soon after by a 6-song EP we recorded at Media Sound Studios. Before that, in grade school, I recorded lots of songs on my father’s 4-track tape machines.
4 – Why did you decide to give your new single “New York City Streets” an upbeat melody?
Actually, I didn’t decide anything! New York City Streets ‘arrived’ and I went with it. In fact, the melody arrived before the lyrics. I believe songs tell us what melody they want to be, what chords & mood they want to have – we just have to listen to what these nascent songs are telling us and do our best to realize where they want to go.
5 – How long did it take you to film the music video at the streets? Was it a fun experience?
It took six days of shooting to make the New York City Streets video, five days in the spring/summer of 2016 and one day just before New Year’s Eve. It was a super fun experience, everywhere we went people were singing along! We had a shot list that was 2 pages long – it was really important to us to film in all 5 boroughs. And I wanted a mixture of the iconic parts of The Big Apple as well as places that have personal significance to me growing up and living in New York. I’m ever grateful to Fredy Mfuko of Mission 101 Media, Elisa Zazzera and my husband Tom Bisio for trekking around NYC with me and a camera. Can you guess how many locations are in the video?
6 – Who wrote the lyrics and who produced it?
I wrote the lyrics and produced New York City Streets. I actually finished the whole song before the lyrics “arrived”. At rehearsal, a friend asked, ‘why don’t you write a song about New York’? It was great to put what New York City means to me, and what I love about New York City, into lyrics.
As for production, my vision was for a live, vibrant sound. So we recorded live basic tracks (drums, bass, guitar, piano) at Systems Two with long-time music family Tinkr Barfield (bass) and Kevin Johnson (drums), the killer rhythm section I’ve played with for many years in Ashford & Simpson’s band, and guitarist Robin Macatangay, who played on my Day to Day Dream album, and me on piano and vocals. Then I added percussion with Bashiri Johnson, and backing vocals with long-time friends and renowned vocalists Alfa Anderson, Dennis Collins, Keith Fluitt and myself on backing vocals. Then added B3 organ – nothing like real Hammond B3 – and re-recorded the lead vocal myself at Ashford & Simpson’s studio. Finally, we recorded the horns in France and NYC with Marc Borlet-Hôte (trumpet) and Nicolas Baudino (saxes) in France and Steven Bernstein (trumpet), Paul Shapiro (sax) and Dan Levine (trombone) in New York.
The song was mixed by Jérôme Buigues in France, and mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound. it takes a lot of great people to make a record, I feel blessed to have so many talented friends who play and sing from their hearts, and gave their talents to this record – they all brought New York City Streets to life.
7 – How different is “New York City Streets” from other songs written about The Big Apple?
That’s a great question and I listened to a bunch of songs about NYC before answering. Of course Frank Sinatra’s “New York New York” is one of the quintessential songs about NYC. I actually reference it with the lyric: “This is a place where you’re gonna find out / If you can make it”.
The difference is Frank Sinatra is singing about someone coming to NYC who wants to make it, whereas my song is from the perspective of a native New Yorker who loves NYC and can’t imagine living anywhere else.
For me, one of the beautiful things about NYC is that someone can come here for a day and be a New Yorker. NYC is one of the few places in the world, maybe the only place in the world, where you can arrive, decide you are a New Yorker, and you ARE a New Yorker. For someone who still wants to come here, or who just got here yesterday, or who has been here for 20 years – you’re all New Yorkers. Our big, beautiful city is open and generous and we welcome all!
Some NYC songs are about coming to New York and making it here (whatever “making it” means to you) from Frank Sinatra’s classic to Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side”. Other songs are about particular parts of NY, like “Take The A Train” (Duke Ellington), “Tom’s Diner” (Suzanne Vega), “Rockaway Beach” (Ramones) and so many more. I think the closest maybe is Brenda Russell’s “Walking In New York” – which, although totally different, is a great song and great vibe!
I like to think “New York City Streets” is about the energy of New York, that driving force, why it’s the city that never sleeps, why people love to be here and come here, why people resonate with NYC all over the world. I wanted to share the New York City that I know and love and hope that comes across!
8 – I really enjoyed the laid-back funk vibe. Are you planning to release more songs with the same style in the future?
I’m so glad you’re enjoying our groove! Yes, we have lots more songs with that laid-back funk vibe – check out our album “Velours”, which features smooth soul, R+B, funk & ballads. Our new single “Feelin Alright” releases in March 2018 – another super live groove, upbeat, more killer horns & backing vocals. Can’t wait for you to hear it!
9 – Are you performing live soon?
Yes! I have two upcoming dates here in NYC at Ashford & Simpson’s Sugar Bar, on March 20 and 27, 2018. To celebrate the new single I’ll be the featured artist at Nick Ashford’s “Nuttin but the Blues”. And right after that, I have a tour in France, our first date is in Hyères in the South of France in April. Come groove with us!
Ashford & Simpson’s Sugar Bar, 254 West 72nd Street, NYC, 10024 reservations: 212.579.0222 sugarbarny.com
10 – Finally, What’s your favorite place in New York City? Why?
I love so many places in NYC. I love the West Village, where I grew up because it really is a Village. Although everything is more upscale than when I was growing up, the tree-lined streets and brownstones are pretty much the same. Villagers are friendly, the buildings are lower, there’s light, it’s really like village life in a smaller town, yet still in the heart of NYC. And I love the Hudson River. Biking along the river and singing to the sky has inspired almost all my songs and especially “New York City Streets”: “Head for the river, stare at the sky…I could go anywhere ‘cuz this city’s alive!”
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I had the opportunity to have a one-on-one conversation with VE/RA, an up-and-coming Techno musician, to talk about her recent popular single, “Love & Peace” in collaboration with The Rocketman. During the interview, she talks about the process of creating her unique and powerful sound, juggling her music career alongside other responsibilities, her aspirations as an artist in the long run, and various other topics.
1 — How did the idea of mixing elements of Rap and Techno come about in your new track “Love & Peace”?
The Rocketman and I, both being Techno artists, decided to create a track in our genre. However, we wanted to make it unique and distinct. Upon discovering a Rap vocal, we immediately started building music around it.
2 — What was your reaction to receiving support from industry heavyweights like Charlotte De Witte, Nicky Romero, and Maddix?
After finishing the track, we sent it to Charlotte de Witte. Over the weekend, while scrolling through my Instagram stories, I came across a post where she was playing “Love & Peace.” Overwhelmed with excitement, I immediately called The Rocketman. Getting support from Charlotte de Witte is a huge deal within the Techno scene. Soon after, Maddix also supported us multiple times, which was great since I’ve always enjoyed his productions. A little while later, I received a video of Nicky Romero playing our track on the main stage at EDC Mexico. It was surreal to see the huge audience react so positively to our track. In short, it was a very cool experience!
3 — Did you face any challenges in achieving the hard-hitting sound?
No, not really. The track was there within 5 hours. After finding the vocals, a hard-hitting kick, psy bass, acid line, and trance synth were built around it. The result was not overly complicated, as simplicity was key.
4 — What do you think sets “Love & Peace” apart from other Techno tracks?
“Love & Peace” is a highly accessible Techno track that appeals to a wide audience. While Nicky Romero and Avao are not necessarily Techno artists, they still play the genre. Additionally, the Rap vocal adds a unique touch to the whole sound.
5 — Can you share any details about your upcoming collaborations in 2023?
No, unfortunately, I can’t say anything about that this time.
6 — How do you balance your music production career with other commitments?
I still live at home with my parents, so my expenses are not that high. I do this on purpose, to put my full focus on my music career.
7 — What’s the most unforgettable experience you’ve had while performing on stage?
That was when I was playing at Dutchweek in Saalbach, Austria, on top of the mountain. My sister, father, and his girlfriend were with me. After finishing my performance, my father stood with tears in his eyes and said, “I’m so proud.” My sister also wrote me a message expressing her pride. The warmth and positive energy from both my family and fans always stay with me the longest.
8 — How has your music evolved since you first started producing?
I made a lot of strides in the field of producing. I took private lessons producing in Den Bosch, and took a lot of online courses, including those from Alex Stein, ANNA & Wehbba, Amazingblaze, and UMEK. I also took a course at the Herman Brood Academy and learned a lot from other producers.
9 — What are your long-term goals as an artist, and where do you see yourself in the future?
I would love to set up my own label and event. Besides that, I would love to travel the world and share my music with as many people as possible. There are too many events to list where I would love to play, but one of my biggest dreams is Tomorrowland, Awakenings, Ultra, Time Warp, EDC, and Soundstorm.
10 — Finally, is there something else you would like to share with your fans?
I want to thank my fans very much for all the support I have received. I get so much positive energy from them all the time. You can expect new tracks from me this year and I will be debuting at a lot of cool events. Keep an eye on my socials and hopefully, I will see you soon!
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©Jerry Sumit Suksawat
T@NE is a multi-talented artist who wears many hats – musician, saxophonist, composer, producer, rapper, vocalist, and director. His recent collaboration with Dronez resulted in an epic remix of a new track called “Autumn.”
In this interview, he shares his inspiration for the remix, how the collaboration with Dronez came about, what sets this remix apart from the original version, and much more…
1 — What inspired the decision to remix “Autumn”?
I felt the composition really lends itself to being remixed. I mean you can remix anything, so yeah it’s great to hear what someone else can do with the work. And, it’s a great way to collaborate with people and build each other’s brands.
2 — How did the collaboration with Dronez come about?
I was studying (and still studying) the genre Future Riddim and I was listening to a track Dronez released called “Quest;” I was thinking to myself, man Dronez is gonna rock a remix of “Autumn.” We should work together, let’s collaborate.
3 — What sets this remix apart from the original version?
One of the main things was to give Dronez the freedom to do whatever he wanted with the track. When discussing what to do, I said to Dronez, “go in and do your thing” and yeah he demolished it; Dronez absolutely rocked it.
4 — What kind of emotions do you hope to evoke in listeners through this remix?
You know, the beautiful thing about putting out work is that everybody can get something different out of it.
For me, it’s hey, just keep believing in yourself, keep believing in your dreams, and put in the hard work. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from my experiences it’s that not only do you have to be the hardest worker and smartest worker in the room, but you also have to be up working before everybody else. I try to set my alarm for 3:30 am/4:00 am because those extra hours of correct practice really add up in helping you to be prepared for when opportunities arise.
Whatever it is you do, your career, romantic relationships, or friendships, it’s about really trying to bring your A-game all the time, and that comes in the preparation and putting in the hard work. So yeah, keep working and always try and be a better version of yourself.
But, like I said what people get from our work, I really believe depends on the individual.
©Jerry Sumit Suksawat
5 — How did you go about selecting the beats and harmonies for “Autumn”?
For the original, I had been talking to my friend Be Steadwell about working on a song together, so I went to her place and we pretty much wrote the whole composition and lyrics in like three days, I remember working on a few chords when I got back to my place.
And for the remix, I sent Dronez some stems from the original; the vocals stems, guitar stems, keyboard stems and some synth and pad stems. Stems are exports of the individual tracks out of a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), that you can then import into your production/mixing session in another (same or different companies) DAW.
The vocals already had production on them (i.e. EQ, Compression, Reverb, Delay, Etc.) by my guy Johannes Raassina, and then Dronez added more of his own production to the vocals.
So yeah, once Dronez had the stems from the original, he used some of what Be and I composed, and then he came up with his own incredible composition.
6 — Can you elaborate on the concept that the lyrics convey?
Be Steadwell wrote the lyrics, I just remember her composing all these lyrics on the spot, I was thinking to myself this is incredible.
©Fishman Art 89
7 — The artwork looks very striking! What was the idea behind it?
Thank you, yeah the album artwork is by my guy Fishman Art 89, he’s amazing. Fishman has done a lot of our album covers, I love working with him.
This artwork is a variation of the original. The lady on the cover isn’t anyone in particular, that was just my idea that I had for the cover; usually, when I think of a song there’s also a visual that comes into my head that goes along with it. So I’ll sketch out the concept and send it to Fishman, then Fishman will send me a few of his sketches, and we’ll pick one and take it from there. But yeah, I really just let Fishman go in and do his thing.
8 — Do you have any plans for future collaborations?
I would love to collaborate with Dronez again, and whoever is down to collaborate. I love collaborating with people whether it’s for an original, remix, or anything else.
9 — Are you already working on your next release?
Yeah working on more music projects with my bandmates, and also working on my Nightwing script. I really believe I’m the guy to play Nightwing and direct the film. It’s coming along great, at the moment I have around 106 pages of script. I’m not gonna say too much about the script at the moment but I will say Batman/Bruce Wayne is in the screenplay and I’m writing those parts with Ben Affleck in mind. So yeah just working on that.
10 — How do you see your artistry evolving over the next 10 years?
Just taking it one day at a time, trying to make sure I put the correct hard work in and keep moving forward.
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Jordana Moon, who is a member of the musical duo Moon And Aries, talks about the new EP ‘Break The Matrix (Episode Three).’ This material draws inspiration from the idea of breaking away from the old world and building a new, healthier paradigm. Learn more via this exclusive interview.
1 — What was the inspiration behind the concept for your new EP, ‘Break the Matrix (Episode Three)’?
Hello! This is Jordana Moon speaking with you today. Thanks so much for your time and inquiry about our latest “Moon And Aries: Break The Matrix Episode 3”
That’s definitely a loaded question that leans into a loaded answer, but I’ll do my best to give the cliff notes. Tom (Aries ) and I have a deep fascination with how reality works in this realm or matrix. Concepts of laws of physics, the law of attraction, laws of nature… things like that. Exploring the illusion, the limitations, the potentials, the infinite perspectives of truth …the ultimate truth. Why we are here? Who are we now and where are we going. These are the questions we explore in the full trilogy of “Break The Matrix”. Basically, challenging and breaking free from the old World to help create a new, healthier, paradigm.
2 — How would you describe the creative process of this project?
Tom and I talk about the concept of each song for a few months before Tom begins his initial ideas for the composition. We flush out the idea, see how it’s resonating through our lives, and then Tom captures the essence of our thoughts and feelings and puts them into his incredible compositions. So, we talk about each song individually and explore the concept of the album in full, simultaneously. We sort of live the concepts during the making of each song. Then I write the lyrics once the composition is near to complete, and it unfolds from there.
3 — What was your favorite song to work on from the EP and why?
Illumination Society. Tom and I love this concept a lot. It’s like, the whole trilogy leads up to this song. It’s a song about winning! The instrumental is so dynamic and I loved writing the lyrics in sort of a rap song type of way! This song has become our calling card.
4 — Is there a formula to create such futuristic sounds?
Yes and no. I feel like if you are in a state of creative channeling, almost like meditation, you’ll become a very clear channel of what the World possibly needs to hear. Indie music has the potential to be at the very tip of the music industry because we don’t need to play by the same trending rules. So, we have creative freedom. But from the conception of a song to its release, is usually a 9-month period for us. So, we need to always be hanging in the future and bringing that into the now in order to be at the forefront of the industry. Like the musical Marty McFly!
But, on the flip side, we are just doing what comes naturally to us. Some people think our sound is very nostalgic! Some think it’s current. Some think it’s futuristic because of the Sci-Fi type of concept. Tom and I are just acting on impulse and intuition. Creating the music, we want to hear.
5 — Did you face any challenges while working on this material?
This project was actually pretty smooth. We just had finished writing a 9-song album and a 5-song EP and we worked out a lot of kinks with those songs. Sometimes my lyrics are not in full alignment with my emotions if that makes sense. So, I have to get all of me to surrender to the song so that my vocal performance is on par with Tom’s instrumentals and my lyrics. My voice has to really sell the song. And I’m not going to lie, sometimes it takes me 8 to 10hrs to record a song, especially if I need to transmit a deep level of vulnerability.
6 — How does ‘Break the Matrix (Episode Three)’ differ from your previous works?
It’s definitely the episode with the most energetic songs. All dance floor vibes, a little more playful, a little more fun.
7 — What is your message to your listeners with your latest release?
Honestly, we just try to create music that activates and puts people into a higher state as they listen. If you feel better during and after, that means the most to us. If you’ve had a few existential moments, even better 🙏🙌
8 — Can you talk about the music video for your recent single “From Another Dimension”?
The music video was created by our friend Lissete Real from Ecuador. She’s actually made around 10 of our videos, I believe. We love animation and simple videos that don’t overcomplicate the song’s meaning. This video highlights a lone astronaut who is both on land and in water. Now, it doesn’t exactly go into which planet he’s on, but water is consciousness and rebirth… so he’s on his existential journey of self-discovery, no matter which dimension he’s in. There are infinite versions of ourselves, and you could say there is a version of ourselves “watching and waiting” as we look upon the version of ourselves that is exploring and discovering.
9 — As a duo, how has your collaboration evolved throughout the years?
Tom and I have now known each other for 3 years! But have still not met in person! We are 9 hrs apart lol We will be meeting in person soon tho. And as we get to know each other better, our music becomes more cohesive. Even tho we clicked right off the bat, like anything, you grow and evolve and naturally get better if that’s what you desire. So now when we go to work on a song, our vision, and our truth is much more aligned.
10 — What can we expect from Moon And Aries in the upcoming months?
We will be re-releasing all 3 episodes as one full concept album. That will happen very soon! And after that, more music, and new concepts. We’ve got a lot we are working on right now. And we also have big plans (currently a secret) but that also revolve around meeting in person and performing live on stage together. So, stay tuned for those updates!! Thanks so much for chatting, it’s been a pleasure.