Hustlevania Preview

Hustlevania is the dopest Halloween-flavored track and video since Thriller!!!

This is the perfect song for the Halloween season, and also a Bay Area classic for any dark and spooky night!

The video is a must-see, featuring zombie chicks, crazy action scenes, and everything you would want in a Halloween classic!

Another exciting aspect of this song, is that it is the jump-off single for Bay2Africa, a new charity using music to fund shipments of musical supplies and other aid to Africa!  Learn more about this at Bay2Africa.org

Features:  Rappin 4-Tay, Ad Kapone, BlacDaRippa, Marcus Weezy, and Lasro

Produced by: Freematik

Available On: Oct. 27th, 2012

Press Contact: Tom Freeman (freematik@gmail.com)

Bay2Africa has begun...

So last time I wrote in this blog, I had mentioned that I had decided to start a charity, and explained the basic idea.. well now I got it started (please check out the website), and so that is the topic of this month's blog.

Basically I had this idea for a number of reasons... one is that I met a musician in Africa, and we started a "internet pen pal" relationship, but when I wanted to collaborate on music, it has proven very difficult, and one of the reasons is lack of music gear.  I know a lot about music gear, I've been in the industry either selling equipment or more recently working for a manufacturer of recording gear, for well over ten years, and I've actually had some experience shipping music gear to Kenya years ago, so I figured... why not?

Also, I really felt I had to do something that wasn't about, and wasn't for, myself...  while I get plenty of joy out of starting this, it is really about me learning that the best thing I could do for myself, is to give more to others.  I am not "well off" by any means, but spending money to start this, with the intention of helping a lot of people, makes me feel rich in many ways.  

My idea is a charity, that uses music to fuel the shipment of donated music gear, to different locations in Africa, where we feel we can help bring joy to a community.  We will be soliciting song donations from artists, where the song will be sold as a download for any amount of charitable contribution (even a penny), and this plus fundraisers will fund the shipments.  Then we will also have donation drives, where musicians, artists, producers, etc. donate a piece of music gear they no longer need.  I will be reaching out to some Bay Area music "celebrities" to really get the message out and show people this is a big thing and is going to change people's lives.

There's a lot more to say about this, but please check out the website, and contact me if you want to know more!

I attached a pic of our first mixtape, which will be released in November!

It's Getting Hot in Here

As the summer heats up, my vocal booth has been staying hot, with a lot of young new talent coming thru, such as Lil Sav and Agent 216 from San Jose, and K.O. The Knockout Artist from Sunnyvale, as well as some "usuals" (you know who you are)... so it's been great to have my studio completely renovated, and am trying to finally catch up on all the work I am behind, having only had my studio back for a while, and of course the day job at UA leaves me working in the studio only on off-hours and weekends..

But no excuses or regrets, I love sound engineering, and software testing the products I use is a very interesting situation, so I am enjoying it for what it is, and trying to hustle as much as I can while I feel like it, I can imagine in 10 years moving to Maui and learning to surf will dominate my brain...

Anyways, the update:

-I'm very excited to announce, that I'm officially starting a charity!  It's called Bay2Africa, and the website is coming soon.  This will be a small operation, but with big goals, to bring music gear donated by artists and producers in the bay area, and send the gear to needy commuties and churches in Africa.  More details coming soon, but I'm very happy to be part of something so great!  If you want to be part of this, do not hesitate to contact me!

-I produced a local San Jose mixtape called Tank Battle, that is hosted by Victor Zaragoza, who I got to meet when he came over to do voiceover.  Then I got my homie DJ Destro, a badass scratch DJ, to liven up the mix.  I like this one, definitely worth downloading for free folkz!!!!  Get it HERE.

-Went to see some of the No Mercy Records artists perform at the Fiesta nightclub recently (I forgot what night) and it was good to see the songs I'd been working on performed live.  Also got to see some other dope local artists (we really liked this dude named Mister), then the Hoodstarz headlined at the end, it was a good time out, haha.

-I'm producing two mixtapes for the legendary Studio Pete, both of them slap hard.  One of them is a remaster of some really ancient Low Budget Records tracks, featuring some very oldschool performances of some rappers I really dig working with, so it's exciting for me to get my hands on these tracks.

DON'T FORGET TO DOWNLOAD TANK BATTLE!!!

And I said I was going to put a picture of my studio up, this is a "halfway done" shot, it's too late tonight to get a good shot, so next month I'll post a more updated pic!

What a Spring!

Man, spring was crazy for me, both as a freelance engineer, and as a Universal Audio software tester...  I mean I don't even know where to start, but here's an attempt:

-With Universal Audio, I worked on the ground-breaking Apollo product, doing hardware and software testing for that and the dock application.  The Apollo is an amazing product and deserves the attention it's received, and it was exciting to see the product develop and be part of that, although for me, working on the Ampex ATR-102 plugin as the sole in-house tester is still my favorite UA moment.

-I've set up a new studio in the condo I'm currently living in, for the purposes of testing UA software from home, tracking vocals, and doing some editing mixing, although my main rig is at a different location when it comes to mixing and mastering.  Eventually I would like a commercial location, but the vocal booth and leather couch fits perfectly in this room, so it will do!  I will post pics soon!

-While I wouldn't say I've had a ton of "success" as an artist, the album I did with an iPhone got some cool press attention and gave me a taste of the limelight that I haven't felt since I was in a band at 17, haha.  So of course I bought an iPad the first day, ready to do an album with that and get even more fame, right?  Well, I got it, and for a while, there just wasn't that many cool apps, and it was just.... kinda... boring....  but now here I am with an iPad 2 that I upgraded to, and I'm starting to "feel" it...  I know it's too late to be one of the first like I was with a phone, but I'm making some badass music with that thing, that's all I know, stay tuned for a SICK album, maybe sometime in the winter!

- I used to run my own small live sound company for a while, and it was a lot of fun, but doing live sound can be burnout work after a while, and I gave it up cold turkey many years ago.  But now I've been "flirting" with live sound, doing some gigs here and there, and I kind of like doing it, it's a rush, kind of like working in a kitchen during the busy hour...  but who knows where this is going?  I'm sure the first bad gig I have, I'm out!

-Besides all this, doing a lot of production work for local bay area artists, including a San Jose rap compilation, working with Sunnyvale-based artist K.O. the Knockout Artist, also did a track for No Mercy artist D-Boy, a couple mixtapes I'm producing, plus a lot of other behind the scenes activities, as always  =-P

This is the Year

It can sound like a cliche', but I really feel this is the year I put all of my musical experiences together, and turn it into bigger than the sum of its parts.  I wouldn't believe that if I hadn't put in enormous amounts of hard work to set the foundation.  I don't know exactly what it's going to be that blows up for me, it could be a video, it could be a song, it could be a shirt, or maybe I get to mix an amazing record, but I am sure it's going to happen soon.

So this is what I've been up to recently:

-Peluso 2247 LE:  Got this baddass mic shipped to me today.  Haven't used it yet, but I'm sure it's going to be a favorite right at first listen.

-Rappin 4 Tay:  I am working with Rappin 4 Tay, the Bay Area legend, to be a featured artist on some songs I am producing, which will be released under the No Mercy Records label.  I heard the first verse and it's fantastic... but the video... that's going to be crucial...

-Ad Kapone:  From Totally Insane/ T.I.E. will be at my studio to drop some verses as well.  Ad Kapone and Ten Dolla are may favorite rappers, besides maybe Tupac, growing up, so this is going to be a trip.

-Engineering Portfolio:  I put together a portfolio for my mixing and engineering services, so now if anyone wants to hear my work, I can send it out.  It's a big download (about 1.8Gb) but I can send a smaller mp3 download as well.  Hit me up for a download link!

Back to work!  I gotta hustle straight through February, but then I'm going straight to Maui for a week, than I'm taking another week off to contemplate some upcoming moves... then I'm coming back harder than ever straight through until Summer!

2012: Year of the Apollo

I have been trying to add a blog post once every month... and it's January 31st and I'm writing the January post!  That should give you an idea of how my first month went....  I'm ending the month exhausted, but excited for the future!

So what kept me so stressed out in January?

-Universal Audio Apollo:  The new UA flagship product, which I have been working on in one way or another, for years now (by way of development of the Satellite product, etc.) is finally announced!  I am excited to see what people think!   For everyone that is into music gear, this thing is a BIG DEAL, no matter how you look at it.

-T-Shirts!  I ordered a batch of T-shirts to support our San Jose Anthem...  the T-shirts have a built in QR code, so you can swipe your phone over it to download the song for free!  People love them, and they have been a hit in the streets!  Hit me up if you want them or want to see a pic, I'm selling them for $20 + FREE SHIPPING.  

-Compilation Album:  I decided to take a bunch of tracks I have with various artists, and add a couple more hot tracks, and put out a compilation album.  I'm excited about the lineup of rappers going to be on it!  Lots of bay area locals mixed with some legendary figures...

-Marketing:  Still pushing Blacmatik and my Mixtape... while I am typically an engineer and don't get involved in promotion, I've been enjoying being on the other side, helping the artists get the music out.  I've had some success marketing my own music in the past, and this experience is helping understand that part of the game a lot better than I did before...

So there you have it.  I definitely don't want to do any more months like this back to back, but in all honesty, February is looking even more scary... but then I go to Hawaii to start March, so I just have to keep a positive outlook and continue to hustle!