Artist Interview: Srv-musicmaker

Hello readers, for this week's quick interview we have SRV-Musicmaker, an EDM artist, producer and blogger. 

MW: SRV, thank you so much for doing this

Srv-musicmaker: Hey Michael, it's a pleasure. Thank you for having me, I really appreciate it. 

MW: So, a lot of our readers are really into audio production, can you tell us a little bit about your setup?

Srv-musicmaker: Sure. I rely on FL Studio 20 as my primary DAW as it gives me all that I need, apart from its workflow and decent stock plugins. I rely on a handful of samples, software synths, romplers and FX plugins that are more oriented towards electronic music (EDM genres, electronica, sometimes experimental). The majority of what I use are free VSTs, along with a few tursty paid ones and FL stock plugins. I mix on a pair of Samson SR850s and check on various audio devices. 

MW: You've got an EP dropping on Nov 5, titled "Find a Way," how long has that been in production?

Srv-musicmaker: The idea originated last July and production has been in phases since then. 

MW: Where did the inspiration come from for the project?

Srv-musicmaker: The concept for Find a Way is actually more than a year old. It's an interesting journey for the composition actually. Find a Way has a dystopian vibe with a little bit of euphoria ushered in. It is a song of separation, longing for one's love, and 'finding a way' back to maybe build a relationship that was pretty great (but had ended in inexplainable confusion and sadness before). It is derived from my personal experience, and the Rules Man Rap Version is thematically same. 

I used to make random on-the-fly production session videos and post on my IG just for fun (hoping that a few would become potential song ideas). On July 19th, 2021, I dropped a video of me making an acid loop arpeggio with a breakbeat pattern. You can say the seeds for this EP was planted then. (Here's the video I'm talking about - https://www.instagram.com/p/CRg24f7gQ-m/) If you watch the end part, you'll see that the basic rhythm and synth pattern of the song were ready by the end of that video. 

Anyway, I wanted to work on it after the release of my trance number Can't Control in August last year. The problem was, I did not find a suitable vocalist to bring the vision to life, although a few tried. The project was shelved as I focused on other ones for the time being. In April 2022, I decided to give it another shot. This time, I wrote some lyrics and put my own experience as a rock singer into it. Got positive feedback from a few people too, so that was good. 

I thought that there's no way this song can have just one version. So, I put an advert out on the New Artist Spotlight (NAS) community's chat rooms to find a guitarist. Dustin Vandehey (also a fellow NAS community member) responded and I'm glad he did. I sent him my track without the synths and the arps, and he played some amazing guitar including a killer solo. 

At the same time, I reached out to rising rapper Rules Man (a Facebook friend and co-curator of playlists) about singing some rap bars. We did some brainstorming on the lyrics, I asked him to do a certain style of delivery, and he did an awesome job. 

I'm glad that the idea came to life. 

MW: Are you completely solo, or do you work with other talents?

Srv-musicmaker: I used to do solo tracks mostly before, but am now becoming a lot more open to working with others (singers and producers) It's all about whether our wavelengths and creative visions match adequately I guess for a collab to happen. 

MW: I'm curious about your writing outside of music, what do you like to cover in your blogging life?

Srv-musicmaker: Well, I'm a professional copywriter and content manager so there's a good bit of writing involved fairly regularly. On the music blogging side, I have not yet made much progress due to the lack of time. I do want to populate the blog section of my website with some good content in future though. 

MW: Are you playing shows live these days?

Srv-musicmaker: I think there has not been a performance aspect to my music career yet as most of it is just software synths and sample-based electronic. But never say never I guess, and we'll see (since I'm gonna do vocals on many of my future songs). 

MW: Outside of the "Find a Way" EP, do you have any projects in the works? Live shows, tours, or things like that?

Srv-musicmaker: Right now, I'm working on a new EP for the FIFA World Cup 2022 and it'll probably be multiple versions of a song (with collabs) so really psyched about it. I don't tour or perform but I do want to get some good exposure online to reach more listeners around the world. 

MW: Where can people find more about you?

Srv-musicmaker: I have an official website where I've written some words about my journey so far (srvmusicmaker.com) and I have a few interviews conducted by the New Artist Spotlight team on their YouTube channel and website. You can find all of those on this little landing page I've set up for your readers https://linktr.ee/Srv_musicmaker 

I also encourage people to reach out to me on my IG, Twitter or Facebook, as I'm always looking forward to getting feedback, helping to promote aspiring artists, and explore collaboration opportunities.

MW: This was great, thanks again!

Srv-musicmaker: Thanks again for giving me this opportunity, I really appreciate you giving a voice to independent artists who would otherwise be lost in the crowd. Keep up the great work Michael. Cheers!!