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Beefus B - No Surprise EP Interview.

Beefus B is a composer, musician, producer, experimentor and all round nice guy from New York.

His first release with Soa Music is his No Surprise EP, which is a beautiful melodic 3 track EP, which blend accoustic guitars with electronic beats and synths.



1. How’s it going and how’s things in NY?

Things are going well. New York is a great state. You have the big city and beautiful scenic places not too far away from it. Ocean beaches and mountains all within reach. Not bad!



2. Could you please tell us a little about No Surprise and the inspiration behind it?

Serenity really came about while messing around with a guitar synth rack I’ve been working for ableton live. Basically takes a guitar emulator which I play using ableton push 2 and combining it with multiple synth and fx racks. It started with a cool melodic progression which grew with layers of added tracks and it just gelled.

Both “ No surprise” and “ wrecked on an island were my attempts to write something more pop oriented. I like combining acoustic instruments with trap style drums. I’m a drummer first and foremost so rhythm definitely gets to work.
Both songs were sort of political in nature. Pointing out the greed and selfishness of corporations and politicians and the lack of compassion for the common folk. Wrecked was mainly about the devastation caused by the hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico where I have a lot of family. That hit home for me...



3. When did you first have an interest in music? What first made you think “I want to make music”.

I started playing drums when I was 7. My father was a amateur jazz drummer. I was the drummer for the NYHC hardcore band, The Abused in my early teens and played session work for a bit as well. I started writing and producing my own music around 2009 and really started focusing on electronic music around 2012. I’ve been involved with music pretty much my entire life.


4. What is the dumbest way you’ve been injured?

Once at a carnival I threw a dart at a balloon to win a prize and the dart bounced off the balloon and stuck me smack in the forehead.
I’ve injured myself stupidly so many times I could write a novel.



5. Where did your name come from?

My late best friend, Joey G, used to call me “ Beefus the Bruiser” back when we were teens. As a tribute to him I adopted the name “Beefus Bruiser” then shortened it to “ Beefus B”.



6. What equipment do you use and what’s your favourite piece of kit?

I use Ableton Live 10. I love using ableton push 2 for playing midi instruments and drums. I use Novation launchpad pro for scene launching and launchkey 49 for keyboards. Roland TD-20 for drumming. Apogee Mic for vocals and duet for audio interface. 27” iMac, Yamaha HS-8 monitors, Senheisser HD-600 headphones and Sony MDR 7506 headphones.
Plug ins I love to use are from sonic faction, izotope, music lab, native instruments, max for cats, korg, to name a few.


7. How would you describe you music in 3 words?

Groove, Feel, emotion.


8. What’s your most useless talent?

The ability to fall asleep anywhere.


9. What music do you listen to for your own pleasure?

I listen to absolutely everything. Classical, opera, pop, black metal, dub, blues, hip hop, world..... there’s amazing music everywhere. I love listening to undiscovered artists on SoundCloud. I’ve made great connections with many talented artists. Check out Sleepless collective.



10. Where do you find meaning in life?

Being in the present moment.
Music puts me in the now. Be here now. Enjoy living life as much as you can. Be well and happy.

Thanks for having me, Ben and Wayne.

Cheers!

Cheers Bryan.


No Suprise EP will be released on all good download sites on September 17th 2018.