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 ascertain a cohesive sound throughout your discography?
We purchase beats from a couple of completely different producers. We then select the beats which are 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 actually have a novel sound that I feel comes from our important rapper, Casanova Ace, my secondary, Greg Simmons, rapping voice, the standard, “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 also be influenced by the philosophical & storytelling lyrics we write to inform historical past & then emanate peace by moderation, really what we’re all about.
What sort of temper have been you hoping to create with the instrumentation and sound of this LIVE album?
The temper we have been attempting to create through the instrumentation all through our 19-track reside album, ‘Staunch Moderates Expertise Stay’, depends upon 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 wished 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 recently handed three-time Grammy-winning jazz pianist. We felt this needs to be a jazzy, cool observe, and in order that’s the way in which we made it. It turned out to be one in every of my favourite tracks on the album. Then to spherical out our 100-year historical past, we tribute Rolling Stone Journal. This needs to 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 following 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 deliver a component of classical to the observe all becoming a paradigm-shifting Bigfoot from essentially the most terrifying folklore character to the best being on the planet. One might 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 word how within the subsequent observe, ‘Baseball’, the beat sounds very very like the vibe, very chill recreation of Baseball, after which the following observe, ‘Soccer’, is something however a chill recreation, therefore the beat is far more rocking and in alignment with that of a theme track for a soccer group. Anybody studying this interview, have you ever ever heard a soccer group theme track similar to our Bigfoots Soccer: Bigfoot growls, Jeffery Skunk Baxter guitar leads, soccer performs, pomp and circumstance from inside the stadium, and all. The rationale for Bigfoots Soccer & Bigfoots Baseball being tracks inside our reside album is that that is our try to achieve American society for our mental motion‘s consideration by the 2 hottest sports activities within the U.S, soccer & baseball, in a enjoyable and playful method. Subsequently, the temper we try to create is dictated by the a part of our story we try to inform, fairly just like a soundtrack or rating in a film.
Have been you influenced by any specific track or style within the technique of crafting the lyrics and general message of ‘Rolling Stone (LIVE)’?
We have been actually influenced by the style of rock n roll in crafting the lyrics for ‘Rolling Stone’.
What did working with Shorty Mack deliver to the challenge?
Working with Shorty Mack delivered to our challenge a welcome and completely different rap sound, not solely to the challenge of our Stay Album but additionally to our registered trademarked track sequence and franchise, Staunch Moderates Information (SMN), three editions of it are on this reside 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 track. Once more, Skunk performs lead guitar.
Did you’ve a transparent imaginative and prescient for the Rolling Stone (LIVE)’ music video? How did you deliver this imaginative and prescient to life?
We shot some new pictures, used the content material that we had in our archives or licensed exterior pictures all that match the lyrics to the track. 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 the philosophy of moderation. We hope they inform their pals and the message spreads.
What position do you assume music performs in sparking social and political conversations at present? In your opinion, what makes leisure media a strong device 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 implies that we have now 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 method. We’ve been at this enterprise for simply over 5 years now. How efficient we’re is difficult to scientifically show; nonetheless, we have now heard by the grapevine that there’s important embracement of reasonable ideology in our society at present. What’s it, 80 or 90% of the nation all reasonable? In our opinion, leisure media might be a considerably highly effective device. Our bets are on that it’s or will likely be!
The place does ‘Rolling Stone (LIVE)’ match into the visible album and your different present initiatives?
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 method we accomplish that for 60 years, Sixties by the present day. It suits 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 a good time 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 Stay 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 initiatives, ‘Staunch Moderates Expertise Stay’ isn’t solely a reside album, it’s also a feature-length movie, at the moment competing nicely within the movie pageant circuit, having gained seven awards to date. We intend for this digital reside live performance to turn out to be a touring live performance, a play, and even an educational course supplied at many ranges of training. “Rolling Stone Stay” 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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