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An Interview With Slackerman
A spanking new full length album from Slackerman blends fusion pop and guitars in various styles together to create a refreshing and breathable record that pushes the envelope in terms of genre bending and making music without boundaries.
The Beautiful Impossible: Music From The Sweet Sonics album is an opus of sorts and comes through with smooth jazz undertones and a colorful array of sounds and styles all based on guitar performances that tell stories.
The record is comprised of some vibrant textures and instrumentation like pianos, digital beats, and musical swells and sways that can wash you away at any given time.
This is a record that plays out like a musical diary and takes you through different feelings and a beautiful soundscape of tonality that, for the most part, can really relax you.
You can hear 90's percussion beats, and layers of guitar lines, pitch harmonics, and all kinds of progressive changes.
With such a moving and lush album, we wanted to sit down with Slackerman to find out how this all came about.
TSWS: Okay so let's start with the The Beautiful Impossible: Music From The Sweet Sonics album. This record is a wonderful soundscape of textures and tones in a very guitar driven form. Where did this record come from?
Guidomaria:
It's my first attempt to record an album, a collection of everything I picked up from my years of guitar-playing. That being said, I never had a formal music education. I guess you could say, it's just me expressing abstract concepts and ideas and turning it into music.
Slackerman:
I have always been a fan of Guidomaria's guitar playing. I always have a tendency to make goofy stuff, I guess that's just who I am. When Guidomaria told me he had written some songs, I thought it was a great opportunity for me to steer directions a bit. I have always wanted to make a record like this. This is also an introduction to a band that we have dreamt of forming for years.
TSWS: I'm certainly hearing some great rock and pop styles in here. Who are your biggest musical influences?
Guidomaria:
Smooth Jazz Recordings, early Acoustic Alchemy, Earl Klugh, Russ Freeman and Rippingtons.
Slackerman:
I love Lemonjelly, Nightmares on Wax, Gorillaz and White Zombie. But for this album, I have to set the latter two aside and experiment on referencing Toe and Chinese Football.
TSWS: Are you playing all the guitars and creating the beats as well?
Guidomaria:
Yes. I wrote and performed all the guitar parts.
Slackerman:
I did all the mixing and production (beats). I even wrote the basslines. I guess you could say, this is what would happen if Guidomaria had a band composed of him and 4 other Slackermen.
TSWS: How did all of this start for you?
Guidomaria:
I've always wanted to make an album. Me and Slackerman always fancied writing music. When I listen to other people's music, especially when it connects on a personal level, it inspires me to create my own.
Slackerman:
Same thing with Guidomaria. I've always wanted to write a music album. I did write a couple before this. For me it started off as taking advantage of the free time I have while looking for my next job opportunity. Making music is one of those things that I know I always love to do.
TSWS: What's next for you as an artist? Anything new in the world even now?
Guidomaria:
I'm not forcing anything to happen right now. But there's still so much inside of me that wants to come out. I've been listening more to other genres these days. it's fascinating! My music appreciation has widened a bit more.
Slackerman:
It almost never ends for me. I have a few more songs written for a potential EP. Some collabs here and there. But these things also take time to build. We've also been toying on the idea of making music videos for some songs from the album.
TSWS: What are you doing when you're NOT working on music?
Guidomaria:
We're both visual artists, graphic designers by profession. I'm thinking of going back into painting soon. I see a strong connection between my art and my music.
Slackerman:
I've been working on more comic panels for my Instagram. I'm publishing them on a few other websites too. I'm hoping to get some real animation done, and I have been studying and doing a lot of experimenting on Digital Marketing. I also play a lot of basketball.
TSWS: Who are you listening to right now?
Guidomaria:
I've been re-discovering a lot of 80's music, especially synth-driven songs.
Slackerman:
Mostly Indie music. I have been listening to Anna Luther's "Heavy" a lot, and the production of this album also made me re-listen to Chinese Football. Those guys have great riffs.
TSWS: This album feels like a big undertaking.. Any advice you would have for other up and coming artists out there?
Guidomaria:
Just make it and drop it. I've heard a lot of artists trying to wait for that certain magic moment, and it hinders you from actually finishing what you want to accomplish. I mean, there's always room for improvement, never worry about not getting it right the first time.
Slackerman:
Agreed. Sometimes the only thing you have to do is to actually do it. Don't overthink it. Don't be afraid of scrutiny or criticism. Have faith in your own work. What you do should always be unique to you. And if you feel that you don't have enough to say, you just need to go out more and experience life to gather wisdom so you can actually write and say something.
TSWS: Now that things are slowly but surely getting a bit better, will you be focusing on any live performances?
Guidomaria:
I would love to. We're a duo and we need more players to be able to produce the sound that we made.
Slackerman:
We are not ruling out the possibility of that happening. It all depends really. There's always the dream of performing our songs live. It is something that we both miss a lot.
TSWS: What sort of things inspire you to write?
Guidomaria:
Anything. Right now it's about the psychology of human interaction. Relationships, interacting with inanimate objects, and coping with a vast landscape of emotions.
Slackerman:
For me it's always visuals in my head. When I see or watch something, I always ask the questions: "How would this sound like? How can I describe this in words? What's the best way to interpret this?" I always try to make meaningful connections with those three.
TSWS: Before we go, what would you like to say to fans of the music?
Guidomaria:
Close your eyes and let the music take you where you want to go.
Slackerman:
Always look up. Always look forward to Another Day.