Where are you currently based?
I am currently based in Auckland, New Zealand.
How did you first start playing music?
So I started playing music in High school when I started learning guitar with my best friend from then I continued to teach myself how to play whilst also writing terrible teen angst songs that had literally no substance to them at all haha, although my friend and I made this one song called C#ck Flavoured Lollipop one arvo and I gotta be real, it was a certified banger. Unfortunately no one will ever be able to hear it lol. Now I officially started producing when I was 22 my homie Hatch gave me a crack version of ableton live 8 and taught me the basics, and the rest is history.
What’s been happening recently and how has your Covid experience been so far?
Covid has actually been pretty good for me. Since the whole pandemic dropped I’ve had more time to focus on my music and write more songs with better production quality. It’s also given me alot more incentive to pursue and achieve the goals I had sidelined up until now. So yeah all in all 2020 Covid for me? Easy.
Your new single ‘I Can’t Even’ is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting?
So going into the making of this track I was bumping a lot of 80’s R&B and disco eg. Evelyn Champagne King/Billy Ocean/ George Benson etc. Thus I had that whole vibe in my head when I went looking for key samples and also in creating the drums.
How did you go about writing ‘I Can’t Even’?
For the lyrical side of the song I had just come to the end of a pretty overwhelming relationship, I won’t get too deep into details but let’s just say the whole thing was bad enough for me to write a song about it. I think the best thing about this track and honestly my favourite thing about most of the tracks that I love listening to is that, it’s heaviness is filtered through a bouncy groove that can really make you miss the darker theme if you’re not paying attention to the lyrics. Although I will say its as heavy as I’m making out to be but still haha.
Where and when did you record/produce and who did you work with?
So I originally produced, wrote and recorded the track in 2017 in my bedroom and ended up benching it for a few years until the start of this year when came I back to it and decided to completely rework the whole thing. Writing/Recording/Mixing was all me. But the mastering was done by Ben Feggans @ 301 he’s an absolute legend.
How did you approach the recording process?
The same way I do with almost every track, I usually lay down the verses first which can take anywhere from 5 mins to a whole day depending on how on point I am. Then I’ll lay down the hooks/choruses/adlibs either straight after or the next day.
What programs/equipment did you use?
My setup is super simple to be honest. For ‘I Can’t Even’ and basically all of my tracks and beats etc. I work in Ableton on my laptop. And I recorded the vocals using a Rodes NT2A condenser mic connected to a focusrite solo audio interface, and I had a pair of 5 ” JBL monitors for mixing.
Who are you listening to at the moment?
Well right now I’m bumping alot of D smoke’s ‘Black Habits’ album and Logic’s ‘No Pressure’ album and I’ve also had Pete & Bas in heavy rotation! If you’re a hiphop head and haven’t heard Lightwork Freestyle or Window Frame Cypher then you need to hand back your culture card… that’s all I’m saying.
What do you like to do away from music?
When I’m not making music, I like to Cook/Game/Binge anime/Youtube and eat said cooking. All the good stuff you know.
What’s planned for the remainder of 2020 going into 2021?
So for the backend of 2020 my plan is to keep writing and recording new music/music videos and hopefully get a couple super dope colabs finished, so that when 2021 makes it’s way around I’ll have a metric shit ton of content for all my fans and potential fans out there.
Favourite food and place to hangout?
Easy, Hong Ha IYKYK
And if I was still in Sydney I’d have to say anywhere around the city circle ie. Chinatown, Darling Harbour, Broadway etc.
https://www.facebook.com/BanMicah/
