New Music: LeVar Thomas and Caleb

So I have some updates on some previously mentioned artists. Maybe you've already given them a listen if you follow them..I've been pretty slow lately.

Caleb posted a new song on his facebook page called "Fifth Wall." It has a Bon Iver feel to it. The harmonies are beautiful and the range is ah-mazing. Go check it out on his page.

LeVar has a new song as well. It's called "Lovin' Alone." I think it's more mainstream and poppy compared to his other songs, but his vocals are on point like always. Download it right here.

Underdog Who Strives to Be Top Dog: Young Mix

Caleb first introduced me to Young Mix when I interviewed him and when I asked if anyone had suggestions on who to interview, Young Mix's name came up again. I decided what the hell. He's young, multi-talented, and has a second album coming out soon, let's see what this guy is all about. His real name is Martin Encinas and he's from the Bay area, but his performing name definitely suits this talented rapper/producer.

So here's a look into what he's all about. Straight up/ Unedited aim chat...trying to be bicoastal and efficient is great. (Notice the time...he was up mad early. Now that's dedication.)

11:24:05 AM Katie: Why do you go by young mix?

11:27:46 AM youngmix: It all started in middle school when I would go to a studio everyday after school and the engineer that would teach us how to use protools and the other studio equipment. So he would always ask us who wanted to go mix the music and I would always volunteer, I mean like always not letting anyone else do it...lol So he said a comment like "you're the lil mixer for the studio now." He said something like that with the word Mix and it stayed with me. There was different variations before it became Young Mix, but thats how I honestly got my name

11:29:15 AM Katie: nice. have you always done rap and hip hop or do you dabble in anything else?

11:30:29 AM youngmix: As an artist I have always done rap, in high school I did some percussion. But as an engineer I have experimented with other genres of music

11:31:20 AM Katie: what other genres?

11:34:02 AM youngmix: Well one of my good friend, also the other member of my group, decided to record an album where he sings with a guitar. So that was all new for me. It was more alternative and like folk...lol

11:34:39 AM Katie: so you have a group? can you tell me a little more about that?

11:35:25 AM youngmix: Well I started as a group of 3 back in middle school, but now it's just 2.. Caleb and I

11:36:49 AM Katie: ok. so do you like producing or rapping/performing more?

11:38:19 AM youngmix: They're both my passions...

11:39:55 AM Katie: what do you like writing most about? from your page it seems like san fran pride

11:40:54 AM youngmix: lol

11:44:11 AM youngmix: Well mos def my city, and most of the time I write about experiences I have had.. But I also been working on being more versatile with my music like I write stories through my songs, I try to make music that will catch the attention of other listeners outside of San Francisco/Bay Area

11:45:49 AM Katie: with that being said is there a certain san francisco/ bay area sound then? if so explain.

11:48:49 AM youngmix: I mos def think there was at a certain time period like during hyphy, but now (especially since I moved out of the Bay Area to L.A) people think it's still hyphy. But NOT EVERYTHING IN THE BAY IS HYPHY...lol In fact, San Francisco was never Hyphy

11:49:22 AM youngmix: Don't get me wrong, we did support hyphy and contributed to the movement

11:49:51 AM youngmix: But if you lived in San Francisco, it was not hyphy like it was in Oakland, it's place of origin

11:50:10 AM Katie: haha way to get defensive

11:50:45 AM Katie: ok so where do you get your influences in music since you're trying to reach out to everyone?

11:51:34 AM youngmix: Not defensive..lol but more of a heads up like there's a lot of good music coming out now here in the Bay Area that isn't hyphy...like the new Young Mix "The Underdog" Street Album...lol

11:52:50 AM youngmix: My influence comes from my city because I feel people don't really know how it is out here and Im trying to do the same thing Biggie, Jay-Z, NaS all did.. They let the whole world know how NY was

11:54:06 AM youngmix: Also music has been a big part of my life, my grandfather used to be an artist for a living in Mexico, so I always saw my dad with a guitar in his hand or my uncles playing music growing up. That is also a big influence growing up

11:56:47 AM Katie: so how does your new album showcase the bay area?

11:57:42 AM youngmix: I mean when I recorded, lets just say San Francisco/Bay Area was all I knew and seen so that is mos def reflected in the CD

11:59:39 AM Katie: so i'm not familiar with the bay area music scene, how big is it that you got Big Rich and San Quinn on your album?

12:03:10 PM youngmix: Well San Quinn is a legend out here in the Bay Area, he's from San Francisco and he has been rapping for years. He has received national attention at a few peaks in his career, and he was also in the book of Guinness World Records for his collaborations with other artists (this was of course before lil wayne did the same...lol)

12:05:56 PM youngmix: Big Rich is a more newer artist but still has been in the game for a while. I known Big Rich personally before he became this big because he also use to go to the studio I would go to and he was like a mentor to a lot of us. But Big Rich is making major power moves for the Bay Area. He was the 1st San Francisco artist to get his video on BET 106 & Park, he has videos on MTV Jams, etc etc. He is mos def getting a lot of attention nationwide and he has a new album dropping at the end of this month

12:06:58 PM youngmix: So with that being said, these two artist are big out here and well respected, so doing a song with them was a blessing because I was a fan before I was able to record with them

12:08:05 PM Katie: thats awesome

12:08:33 PM Katie: so what's your favorite track on your album? and why do you think people will like it?

12:10:31 PM youngmix: I don't have just one favorite track or else I don't feel I would have put the rest on the project...lol but the songs I enjoyed recording the most were "From Tha City" ft San Quinn & Big Rich.. and "The Dopeness" ft Caleb... but it was a fun album overall

12:11:16 PM Katie: i guess that's true. i really liked the dopeness too

12:11:25 PM youngmix: Thanks

12:12:06 PM Katie: oh so i was reading your notes on your page. it said you might get an internship with a record label...howd that turn out?

12:15:23 PM youngmix: I had an internship, but it didn't end up working out the way I wish it did. But even though I didn't have an internship anymore I still learned something about the Music Industry: you have to continue striving and working hard to get what you want on your own because you can't rely on people and this industry is quick to forget who you are

12:20:40 PM Katie: i feel like thats true for a lot of entertainment industries. But i'll wrap this up cuz its almost been an hour. so 2 questions. what's your ultimate goal? And what is your album "The Underdog: The streets Are Listening" going to add to my music collection?

12:26:30 PM youngmix: My ultimate goal as an artist is to spark someone else's interested in music like it was for me. To listen to my rhymes and you have to rewind it one more time because the delivery and/or metaphors were to complex to grasp at once, and making the listener be like "That's dope" or something...lol And cuz Im human I would also like to support myself financially through music as well. As a producer I would like to help create some of the best music and be known within the Music Industry. But my short term goal is to do this album with Caleb, as a group, it's gonna be dope..trust me...lol

12:30:30 PM youngmix: "The Underdog" Street Album is designed for the listener to get a picture.. What I mean is, I really felt/feel like the underdog, so every song is just an addition to the bigger picture. Im a fan of music and I enjoy listening to full albums from start to end, so that is what I tried to compose, an album one can listen to from start to end so they get the bigger picture. An this bigger picture consists of feelings and emotions of one being the underdog and working to overcome those struggles through a San Francisco state of mind...

12:30:47 PM youngmix: And thank you for having this interview with me, I appreciate it

12:31:07 PM youngmix: "The Underdog" available now on Amazon.com & iTunes

12:31:29 PM youngmix: Check me out on myspace.com/youngmix and follow me on twitter.com/youngmix

12:31:51 PM youngmix: and Young Mix & Caleb will be the next project to look forward to

So there ya have it. There's a lot of info I didn't ask, so hopefully you'll be intrigued to check him out and maybe you can ask him yourself. Help him get to his dreams people. Ohh and don't forget to show support on July 12th, or maybe earlier...follow him to make sure, and buy his music.

Thanks Young Mix!

Song of the Day: "Imaginary Ideal"

I decided I would pick the song that came up on shuffle for the song of the day and I'm very pleased. This song is by Caleb, student at SUNY Purchase. Enjoy it. My favorite part is around 2:17.

Drake @ Purchase

Drake is becoming big. Remember I told you about him in February.. haha. Anyway, he had a concert at SUNY Purchase last night and my friend Josh who was there (Caleb...who was also featured here) tweeted that  "Drake was whack." I looked up the concert on youtube and wasn't impressed either. I still love his songs, but he may need some work on his performing skills. I understand that you probably like hearing your fans sing your songs,but they didn't come and pay to hear themselves sing. Good performer or no? you tell me.

Great Guy, Great Music

I'm going to take this time out from writing an awful paper to write this nice little blog here.

So on my first ever post I said how I always find music in the most round about ways, while here's another story for ya.

So I went to NYC for Sasha's golden birthday and one night we went to her friend's friend's party. So I'm there having fun and then I realize everyone is smashed and there's this guy who looks like he's going to die, so Sasha and I decide to help him out while he's puking his brains out. Then I hear that there's this girl in the bathroom pretty mu

ch dead too and then this extremely tall guy with extremely fun hair comes walking out. It was Josh. So we bond over the fact that we're taking care of alcoholics and how I look like some girl that he knows....which I kinda do, but definitely not exactly.

But anywayzzzz we became facebook friends (that sounds so stupid..ehh oh well), I remembered he said he played the guitar and I only assumed that he could sing because it seemed like everyone at the party was a musical theater major....and then I saw he had a music myspace so I checked it out and was pretty much blown away. So I decided to whip out my journalistic skills and interview him for your pleasure of course.

Josh Eberhardt was born June 5, 1990 and grew up in San Francisco, which he says is "the best city ever. It's just not too big and not too tiny and it just has a good vibe, sparks creativity like a mofo." He goes by Caleb (his middle name) in all his music stuff, but he did introduce himself to me as Josh and later told me I could call him whatever I wanted...so I'm thinking he's pretty flexible with the whole name thing. On his myspace page he's labeled as a hip hop/folk/ indie artist but he writes more folk.  "I find myself writing my folk and performing that more, uurrrm, I dunno why really, a lot of venues here at purchase are small and I don't think they'd get to hype if i did my hip hip but, I like performing then just the same (the genres), I wish I could do more hip hop though, I wanna feel that rush that I see at like concerts and stuff, I haven't really had a chance to do my hip hop live,"he said. You can listen to some of his hip hop on his myspace. He's looking into working on more of it this summer, so look out for that. When he's not writing music, he's like any other busy student. He's a freshmen acting major at SUNY Purchase who tries to do as many performances that his schedule permits.  I asked him if he liked acting more since that's his major, but he answered with this statement:

Nooooo they're both my passions. I love them just the same, its just that I always said I'd study acting in school and pursue music on the side. My brother is really a strong force in trying to get my stuff heard, so he helps,calls me sometimes with opportunities to perform or record n stuff. I also applied to some schools for music....

Along with acting and singing, he can tap dance (which he wants to include in his music, but hasn't totally mastered yet), play the guitar, piano, and drums (and just to clarify...not trap drums, like djembe, n congas, n stuff). I'm pretty sure he's just really talented and a nice guy who is extremely passionate about what he does. He said, "I'm picky as hell with my sound so it could take a couple weeks, or almost a month...that's with my folk stuff though. My hip-hop prolly takes less than 2 days..I'm picky, really picky." But being picky is definitely not a bad thing. Watch his youtubes and you can tell that he is picky...i even asked if he took multiple shots and of course the answer was yes. Here are 3 out of his 7 clips (i think that's how many) for your entertainment. Warning: Sorry the layout gets a lil funky after the clips but I don't know how to change it.

I don't know if you took the time to read the comments or not, but people requested him to try out for the next American Idol and said he was the best cover of "Skinny Love"on youtube...so I know I'm not the only one enjoying his voice and music. I guess I should tell you a little bit more about his past because people like that kind of stuff. He started singing when he was around 3 years old, but his rapping and studio experience started in 7-8th grade. That's also when he really got into writing stuff. He starting playing guitar right before the summer of '05 but during the summer he broke his hand and couldn't practice his new talent.Everyone can thank his high school roommate for teaching him how to play the guitar. Yeah, that's right I said he had a roommate in high school. He went to Idyllwild Arts Academy, an arts boarding school in the mountains above palm springs. This is also where one of his musical influences(Trevor Hall) went, so isn't that just schweeet. His top 5...he'd probably change some of them now because who can really name only five, but anyway he said: Common, Trevor Hall, Bob Marley, Nas, and Stevie Wonder. His inspirations pop into his head sometimes, but sometimes he'll just hear a song and  immediately think of something. He said his song "Reverend" came from listening to Amos Lee's "Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight." He's also learned to write his shit in his phone so he doesn't forget it. That would suck if he had an awesome concept and then totally forgot it....So I should have a really nice transition right here, but my brain is starting to get a lil fried.haha sorry. But you can find his songs on myspace, like I said before, but he's also on Itunes. That's right...Itunes.You can buy his EP "Sun in December" for just $4.95.He said a lot of people are like "dude, wow you're official." He's trying to play it down, but I still think it's pretty cool. He said there's a website...tunecore.com...that's 20 bucks a year and it takes about a month and a half to get up there.He said they take about 1.90 or something like that for each purchase so that's not that bad. The comments/reviews are all really good too. He says, "I'm gracious as hell. It doesn't enlarge my head much, I try not to let anything do that, but yeah i'm very gracious, for the money spent and for the time spent to write the review,and of course their ears."So hopefully you guys can increase the number of ears for him. He says he wants to be somewhere between getting big in the industry and just making music. He said, "I definitely want it to be hear by a good amount of people. That'd be really nice, but honestly,if makin it big is not supposed to happen, I can live with that. I really would just enjoy makin my music, being in love, and living happily. I have the gift of music and thats enough, it's a blessing you know? the gift of art itself. its an outlet and thats just enough for me."There's so much more about him, but I'm gonna let you find out for yourself.So yeah there ya go. I'm done "suckin dick" as my friend would say. (if you don't get that phrase..it just means praising talent or something you like ..haha) Check him out. I'm not going to analyze his music like I try to do with others because I want you to check it out yourself. But try to appreciate the emotions and range in his voice along with the rawness of musical talent. If you didn't click on the link before..here's his myspace page...and then if you look for his Itunes type in Caleb and click on the first Caleb (rock) and his ep is "Sun in December."

In closing I'm going to leave with some more of his words. "lovvvveeeeeee. just to do so. Know what I mean? to anybody."