NAS 10 Questions with iconDARK

[Interview Number 25]

This time, we get to know iconDARK whose track "Kaiju Warning" is out now. His music is featured in the New Artist Spotlight Family of Playlists.

Link To New Artist Spotlight Playlists:

https://www.newartistspotlight.org/playlists

Okay, let’s get into the Ten questions for iconDARK!

𝟭. 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗯𝗯𝘆?

I live near Atlanta, GA, in a little town about 30 miles south of downtown Atlanta. You probably haven't heard of it. I live here and I've barely heard of it. So I just say "Atlanta" and people nod.

My hobbies are video games, horror movies, and audiobooks. I guess you can say I am a big consumer of entertainment.

𝟮. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰/𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

I've always been a creator... but it wasn't always music. I wrote novels, novellas and short stories (fantasy and horror with a touch of sci-fi) for years, but I got burnt out on that years ago. Hey, did you notice me not telling you what my pen name was or where you can find my novels? Then there was a dark period when I floundered, trying to find another creative outlet.

Then music happened.

Honestly, it just sort of "happened".

Let me go back a little bit... to childhood. I've always loved music and, while it was never my dream to be a famous musician or anything, I definitely gave music a solid try at many points in my life. Learning music theory was like trying to translate an alien language into ancient Egyptian while drunk. I had a guitar as a child but couldn't make the damn thing sound even remotely musical. I bought a rather expensive (for me) Casio keyboard as a young adult and found it impossible to get my hands to do different things simultaneously. I invested in a DAW, some books, and many, many sample packs and spent hours learning the mechanics of FruityLoops (which now goes by the more respectable name of "FL Studio") without an ounce of inspiration or creativity to actually put INTO the software. You can guess how that turned out.

And then, sometime in 2017.... "click."

Oh, THAT'S what a chord is! And there's different scales besides major and minor!? And these intervals between semitones or chords tend to evoke these certain emotions? Hey, I know what a semitone is now! Whoa, I know Kung-Fu! -not really, but you get the idea.

I can neither describe nor explain it with certainty, but it seems as if I wasn't ready to make music until I was.

𝟯. 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀?

Junkie XL - because of his cinematic-yet-still-electronic style.

The Prodigy - the ultimate fusion of rock and electronic.

Marilyn Manson - no comment.

I'm not saying I sound anything LIKE either of them, or even that I want to. There are just elements of their styles and careers that I can draw inspiration from.

𝟰. 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰?

Waaaaaay back in 2017. As I described above, I dabbled unsuccessfully many many times before then, but the muse didn't kick in until then.

𝟱. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆?

I want my music to appear in the movies and video games and podcasts and short films and everything else that like to consume.

I also want to gather enough of a supportive fanbase that I can make music full time.

Unsurprisingly, these are basically the same goals I had when I was a writer.

𝟲. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗲?

I don't actually perform. I don't have a live show or anything; I just sit in my studio and make music... anyone watching me do so would either be bored or horrified.

𝟳. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗴?

I listen to a lot of different types of music, from Kpop to Gangsta Rap, and I have had a lot of favorite songs. I think the one that has the most staying power is "Maggot Brain" by Funkadelic. The reasons are both artistic and personal.

My older brother and best friend died in 1994. He was murdered at work.

He loved music, he loved to party, and his favorite band was Parliament-Funkadelic. I liked them too, mostly because it was fun to see my brother so happy and energized, but also because the music was great!

Funkadelic, for those who don't know, is a funk/rock band that rose out of the James Brown era and included members of his band, including a young George Clinton (of "Atomic Dog" fame). There's a LOT of history that I won't go into because my brother tended to like the later, funkier, "dancier" stuff like "One Nation Under a Groove" and "Freak of the Week,"rather than the slower, older, and/or more political tracks.

After my brother's death I re-exposed myself to his favorite tunes and artists, even going into the back-catalog stuff that he might not have even heard. That's how I fell in love with "Maggot Brain."

"Maggot Brain" is an epic 10 minute guitar soundscape of a soul drowning in its own sadness. It is instrumental except for a spoken introduction and some sparse whispering.It is not rock. It is not funk. It is not a ballad. You cannot dance to it. It is pure grief and mourning on wax (or CD), and then it is acceptance and hope. It is not my brother's song. If he even knew it existed, he could have hated it for all I know. It is my song for reasons you can hopefully assemble from this rambling response.

As an artist, I aspire to create a work with that much emotional impact (with different emotions, hopefully) as this song has had to me.

𝟴. 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁?

At my wedding the preacher was asking us the "Do you..." questions and I didn't hear part of what he said and instead of just saying "I do", I said: ".....excuse me, what?"

𝟵. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁?

The first money I made from my creative efforts. This would be from writing, not music, but I have one for music as well.

I had my own website where I posted most of my novels and stories for free. This website PRE-DATED Paypal, if you can imagine that. So when Paypal came out with their donation buttons, I put one on the site and not long after somebody gave me some money! I thought it was the beginning of something awesome! It wasn't, but I didn't know that at the time so I was through the roof!

For music, it was an email from Paypal saying that someone had given me a dollar for "Unknown Compelling Force", one of my dark ambient tracks.

𝟭𝟬. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲?

I've always had a huge love, respect, and awe for turntablism, and my dream collab would probably be with some world-class, competition-winning turntablist. Two of my personal favorites are Vekked, and DJ Brace.

"Kaiju Warning" on Spotify

https://song.link/us/i/1532361886

and follow his socials

Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamicondark

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6d1V3auz4z3WMSNuX54gvR

Bandcamp: https://icondark.bandcamp.com/

You will not be disappointed!

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