We’ve been writing about Staunch Moderates since 2021, and now, we’ve lastly had the chance to trace down this very busy musical, social, cultural, and political phenomenon, and discover out what makes them tick.
How do you method mixing as much as eight completely different genres in your music? Is it tough to determine a cohesive sound throughout your discography?
We purchase beats from a number of completely different producers. We then select the beats which might be becoming to the vibe of every observe we’re producing. I don’t essentially know that we preserve a cohesive sound all through our tracks & albums. Then once more, we, “DJ Staunch & the Bigfoots”, do definitely have a novel sound that I believe comes from our principal rapper, Casanova Ace, my secondary, Greg Simmons, rapping voice, the everyday, “on the low down” jazz, R&B & then “not a lot on the low down” rock beats we use to counter our sound. All of the above can be influenced by the philosophical & storytelling lyrics we write to inform historical past & then emanate peace by way of moderation, really what we’re all about.
What sort of temper had been you hoping to create with the instrumentation and sound of this LIVE album?
The temper we had been attempting to create by way of the instrumentation all through our 19-track dwell album, ‘Staunch Moderates Expertise Reside’, is determined by every observe, for which we’re telling our 19-track story. For instance, we open with ‘Frank & the Rat Pack’, to start out telling our three-track century of popular culture music historical past. We needed to open with a popping jazzy observe to inform the Frank & the Rat Pack story and did. The second observe is a Ramsey Lewis tribute observe to the only in the near past handed three-time Grammy-winning jazz pianist. We felt this must be a jazzy, cool observe, and in order that’s the best way we made it. It turned out to be considered one of my favourite tracks on the album. Then to spherical out our 100-year historical past, we tribute Rolling Stone Journal. This must be a rock n roll observe, and it’s. We picked a beat that to me is paying homage to the sound of the Rolling Stones. The subsequent observe within the album is a tribute to our bigfoot mascot, “Staunch”. Right here we selected an R&B beat that catered to mystical Bigfoot steps, the place we layered the strings to carry a component of classical to the observe all becoming a paradigm-shifting Bigfoot from essentially the most terrifying folklore character to the good being on the planet. One may say that is an analogy to the paradigm-shifting intention coming from our Staunch Moderates mental motion to maneuver from all of the partisanship, vitriol, and hate our society is experiencing right into a extra peaceable and loving society. Please observe how within the subsequent observe, ‘Baseball’, the beat sounds very very similar to the vibe, very chill sport of Baseball, after which the following observe, ‘Soccer’, is something however a chill sport, therefore the beat is way more rocking and in alignment with that of a theme tune for a soccer crew. Anybody studying this interview, have you ever ever heard a soccer crew theme tune corresponding to our Bigfoots Soccer: Bigfoot growls, Jeffery Skunk Baxter guitar leads, soccer performs, pomp and circumstance from throughout the stadium, and all. The rationale for Bigfoots Soccer & Bigfoots Baseball being tracks inside our dwell album is that that is our try to succeed in American society for our mental motion‘s consideration by way of the 2 hottest sports activities within the U.S, soccer & baseball, in a enjoyable and playful means. Due to this fact, the temper we are attempting to create is dictated by the a part of our story we are attempting to inform, fairly much like a soundtrack or rating in a film.
Have been you influenced by any specific tune or style within the means of crafting the lyrics and general message of ‘Rolling Stone (LIVE)’?
We had been definitely influenced by the style of rock n roll in crafting the lyrics for ‘Rolling Stone’.
What did working with Shorty Mack carry to the mission?
Working with Shorty Mack dropped at our mission a welcome and completely different rap sound, not solely to the mission of our Reside Album but in addition to our registered trademarked tune collection and franchise, Staunch Moderates Information (SMN), three editions of it are on this dwell album, and the fourth one is at the moment in manufacturing. Shorty Mack wrote and raps with me in a duet in SMN2. It’s like two information anchors going forwards and backwards telling the information, however in a rap tune. Once more, Skunk performs lead guitar.
Did you have got a transparent imaginative and prescient for the Rolling Stone (LIVE)’ music video? How did you carry this imaginative and prescient to life?
We shot some new photos, used the content material that we had in our archives or licensed outdoors photos all that match the lyrics to the tune. The imaginative and prescient was decided by the lyrics.
What do you hope viewers take away from the visible expertise that they could miss in simply listening?
Past the hope that viewers members are entertained by the celebration of the historical past we audio/visually inform within the observe, we additionally hope they’re entertained by our Bigfoot DJ Staunch® performing and that they then look extra into this Bigfoot who is also the mascot of our mental motion, Staunch Moderates®, all about addressing the Divide and striving for nationwide & world peace by way of the philosophy of moderation. We hope they inform their mates and the message spreads.
What function do you assume music performs in sparking social and political conversations right now? In your opinion, what makes leisure media a strong software for change?
Let me begin by stating that the present inhabitants within the U.S. is 340,000,000. We’ve got had over 200,000,000, 30-second minimal, views and streams of our content material. That signifies that we’ve roughly reached 2/3 of the nation with our songs and beliefs to plant the seeds for “sparking social and political dialog”. I’ll take this a step additional, we hope to encourage good habits in a cool & entertaining means. We’ve been at this enterprise for simply over 5 years now. How efficient we’re is difficult to scientifically show; nevertheless, we’ve heard by way of the grapevine that there’s important embracement of reasonable ideology in our society right now. What’s it, 80 or 90% of the nation all reasonable? In our opinion, leisure media might be a considerably highly effective software. Our bets are on that it’s or shall be!
The place does ‘Rolling Stone (LIVE)’ match into the visible album and your different present tasks?
Our band, DJ Staunch & the Bigfoots, one of many issues we’re into is entertainingly telling popular culture music historical past, and ‘Rolling Stone (LIVE)’ is a means we accomplish that for 60 years, Sixties by way of the present day. It matches into our album because the third observe, simply after ‘Frank & the Rat Pack’, & ‘Ramsey Lewis’, which tells a 40-year American popular culture music historical past earlier than ‘Rolling Stone’. All collectively it is a hundred years of American popular culture music historical past to honor & 100 yr have fun President Woodrow Wilson’s 1919 creation of the League of Nations, at the moment The United Nations, to open our 19-track ‘Staunch Moderates Expertise Reside Album’. This three-track centennial historical past opening of our live performance additionally introduces our fourth observe, ‘Socrates Café’, which is a desk of contents & storytelling of our Staunch Moderates Mental Motion for Peace, 2020, first yr in operation.
For different present tasks, ‘Staunch Moderates Expertise Reside’ will not be solely a dwell album, additionally it is a feature-length movie, at the moment competing properly within the movie pageant circuit, having received seven awards up to now. We intend for this digital dwell live performance to grow to be a touring live performance, a play, and even an instructional course provided at many ranges of schooling. “Rolling Stone Reside” is an integral a part of the story!
Watch the music video for his or her newest launch, ‘Rolling Stone’ beneath, and discover out extra about Staunch Moderates and their music on-line on their official web site, YouTube, Fb, and Instagram.
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