Beats Antique: This New Music NFT Tool Changes Music Production Forever
World music and electronic band finds freedom in making programmable music on the Async Music platform
Rare Digital Bird, Episode 9
Interview with Beats Antique about their new NFT programmable and customizable music piece, “Interchange” using Ethereum-based, Async Art’s new music platform, what it was like to use this “NFT tool” to create a music work with 27 different possibilities, and how it changed the way they create music on & OFF the platform. I also follow up with the results of Async’s 1st wave of musicians.
This world fusion and electronic band of musicians, David Satori and Sidecar Tommy, and belly dance fusion pioneer, Zoe Jakes share their 15 years of experimenting with different music genres, and what it’s like to be a part of a new music frontier in the blockchain space.
Follow Beats Antique
💚 WEBSITE https://www.beatsantique.com
💚 ASYNC ART https://async.art/music/master/0xb6da...
💚 FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/beatsantique/
💚 TWITTER https://twitter.com/beatsantique
💚 INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/beatsantique
Table of Contents
0:00:00 Coming Up!
0:03:06 What’s Async Art & Async Music?
0:04:20 What happened after the first ever launch of programmable music with the 1st wave of Async musicians?
0:06:26 Does limited access to the programmable music works make them more valuable?
0:06:52 Who is Beats Antique?
0:07:38 The importance of ecological sustainability to David Satori of Beats Antique
0:08:44 Interview begins
0:09:20 Tommy “Sidecar” Cappel, David Satori, and Zoe Jakes of Beats Antique introduce themselves and share at least 1 positive thing about each other
0:11:51 How Beats Antique came to be
0:12:23 How Tommy got into music
0:13:59 How marching bands influenced Beats Antique
0:14:35 How Zoe got into dance
0:15:48 How David Satori started in music
0:17:36 What inspires or inspired Beats Antique’s works
0:19:36 What type of risky art was happening in the Bay Area art and music scene that inspired Beats Antique?
0:23:51 What is Beats Antique’s thought and creative process when producing their music and performance art
0:24:45 David and Tommy delve into the creative process for their new programmable music piece, “Interchange”
0:27:01 Zoe’s creative process and how it influences and effects the music that David and Tommy produce
0:29:07 Why the name “Interchange?” What is “Interchange?” And how is it different from other music?
0:31:42 What type of freedom did the Async Music platform create for David and Tommy?
0:34:26 How their experience with Async Music positively effected their songwriting process and way of communicating with each other, both inside and outside of the NFT space
0:36:33 Tommy and David explain “Interchange’s stems, their variants and their corresponding visual elements
0:38:36 How long did it take to produce “Interchange”
0:39:15 How did Beats Antique solve the challenge of ‘mastering’ “Interchange?”
0:40:28 What does the Async Music platform imply for the future of tech, music and art?
0:42:30 How did Tommy and Zoe find out about blockchain?
0:44:23 How can artists capitalize on their art and music?
0:46:01 How David found out about blockchain?
0:49:00 David’s message to Beats Antique fans
0:49:57 How Beats Antique’s online chats reflect their own personalities 0:51:08 How the pandemic affected Beats Antique leading into creating “Interchange”
0:53:19 What would Tommy’s advice be to those entering the NFT music and art space and his metaphor for such a nascent space
0:57:48 Tommy message and question to Beats Antique’s fans
1:00:52 Beats Antique’s upcoming shows and projects
1:02:43 The new way in which Beats Antique will be releasing their “full album”
1:04:04 What Beats Antique does to keep up with tech, music and art
1:05:19 How and when Async and Beats Antique connected
1:07:23 How other artists in the space are inspiring Tommy
1:07:56 Where can people find Beats Antique?
1:08:18 How will “Interchange” be presented to the fans outside of the Async Musc platform
1:09:55 How Beats Antique built “Interchange” with the original 1s, 2s and 3s 1:12:58 Where to see “Interchange” and Async Music’s Limited Editions to record combinations of stems
You can read all this, or you can click HERE instead for Episode 9 of the “Rare Digital Bird” Series — with closed captioning!
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[00:02:13] What’s Rare Digital Bird?
Hey, peeps! What’s up? I’m Ann Marie Alanes, and this is Rare Digital Bird — a series about artists, their creations, and their experiences — both good and bad — using blockchain technology.
In Episode 8, I talked about a couple of platforms on blockchains people have been exploring outside of Ethereum, and some reasons why. Guide your cursor up here for the link to Episode 8. Now, let’s get back to the Ethereum blockchain and revisit Async Music and what’s happened since the first wave of Async musicians changed music history. Yes, music. Not just NFT music, but music history in general. These artists, namely Mighty33 and Connie Digital, RAC, Verdigris Ensemble, and HMLTD, dropped the world’s first ever customizable and programmable music creations through Async.art’s music platform.
[00:03:06] What’s Async Art & Async Music?
In case you haven’t seen Episode 7, which I think you should, here’s a quick rundown of what Async is. Async.art is a digital platform that allows you to make art that changes over time without knowing anything about coding. Changes are based on data like statistics and time. If you’re familiar with Photoshop, then you’ll get this next part. The artist provides menus of changes, or variants, and the collectors of these menus get to customize the art’s layers, changing the look of the overall piece. Late last month, Async launched Async Music. Music created on Async Music is composed of a single master track NFT and multiple stem NFTs, just like a programmable artwork. Stem NFTs are effectively the same as layer NFTs. They have the ability to change what the current master track both looks and sounds like. If you watched the beginning of this video, “Sidecar” Tommy and David Satori from Beats Antique do a good job of explaining the variants for each of the bass line, melody, and beats stems, which make up their new dynamic customizable song, “Interchange.” They’re part of the second wave of musicians dropping these leading-edge works on Async Music. Be sure to check them out on Async.art.
[00:04:20] What happened after the first ever launch of programmable music with the 1st wave of Async musicians?
So, what happened after the first even launch of programmable music with the first wave of musicians? The latest conversations on Twitter have been asking whether it’s about the money or about the art and music. Why can’t it be both? The music industry, as it is, is messy and corrupt as far as artist payments, royalties, rights distribution, and music licensing go. Like Duc said from HMLTD, you’re going to have to get exploited so much in order to make just a little amount of money. Record contracts are made to enslave you, just to make you work like crazy, so that people can make profit from your work, speaking from experience.
So, I’m happy to share that the first drop of programmable music was a slap in the face to those who would take advantage of working musicians. In other words, it was a success. At a total of 93 ETH (that’s just over $355,000, for those who don’t know that; one ETH equals one ETH), Metapurse, Veritas, and MaximoNx topped the Async Music collector list for Verdigris Ensemble’s “Betty’s Notebook.” RAC’s “Circular” is next at a total of 49 ETH, shared and owned by Lot 555, Metapurse, and an anonymous collector. Swifteagle.eth, MaximoNx, and one anonymous collector own and share control over the master and stems of HMLTD’s “Leaving” at 41.9 ETH. That sure beats the six cents that they earned for the year on Spotify a few years ago. And Mighty33 and Connie Digital’s “Token Jukebox” garnered 18 ETH, which is over $50,000 at the time of the sale.
Peeps, this is unprecedented in the music world to earn this much from one work. Maybe this will be a little encouraging for you if you’re an artist who’s considering exploring the crypto art and music world, or if you’re a blockchain dev interested in creating something better that artists will want to use. If that’s the case, then consider clicking on the Subscribe button and the notification bell.
[00:06:26] Does limited access to the programmable music works make them more valuable?
One thing to note is that the collectors of these works haven’t been very active in allowing the listening public to hear all possible combinations that these musicians worked so hard to present to the public. Is it because limited access to the work would make it more valuable? That’s my wild guess. It’s a reality I’m willing to accept if it means that musicians finally get to reap the rewards of their work, allowing them a tool to create more financial freedom for themselves.
[00:06:52] Who is Beats Antique?
Speaking of freedom, here’s a band that found freedom in the rules that the Async Music platform provided for them: Beats Antique. Beats Antique is not only an experimental world fusion electronic music group. They create a full experience with performance art and sets, thanks to one of the group’s founding members, Zoe Jakes, a notable pioneer in belly dance fusion. She’s not only the lead dancer of the group, but to enhance the unique type of belly dance fusion choreography that she’s known for, she actively co-creates and influences the composition of the music produced by the other members of the band, David Satori and Tommy “Sidecar” Cappel. It was through Zoe Jakes and music and entertainment legend Miles Copeland that Beats Antique formed back in 2007.
[00:07:38] The importance of ecological sustainability to David Satori of Beats Antique
Something important to note: David is a staunch supporter of sustainability. At 20 years of age, he put in the work to find out how to get his tour bus to run on recycled vegetable oil. He’s co-founder of Sustainable Living Roadshow, of which Beats Antique has been involved. According to the website, Sustainable Living Roadshow is a caravan of educators and entertainers who tour the country in a fleet of renewable fuel vehicles to empower communities and individuals to utilize sustainable living strategies for a healthier planet. With their recent foray into the Ethereum blockchain, working with Async, and with David even minting a couple of his visual artworks on both Foundation and Zora, it may seem ironic that they’d be involved. But to those who have dug deeper into what is actually happening in and around the NFT space as far as ecological sustainability, it’s no surprise that Beats Antique would want to integrate this ever-changing and improving technology into their lives in anticipation of the long-term benefits it will bring to the world.
[00:08:44] Interview begins
Zoe Jakes (ZJ): There we go. Hi!
Ann Marie Alanes (AMA): Hi!
ZJ: This is Luna.
AMA: Hi, Luna. Oh, my gosh. Look at you. You look so happy. Hey, Tommy. How are you?
Tommy “Sidecar” Cappel (TC): Good. How’s it going?
AMA: Doing well.
TC: Good to see you again.
David Satori (DS): Hey, guys. Yeah. I’m on this ranch in Utah. Here, I’ll show you guys a photo.
AMA: Wow. Really beautiful. David, I know that you were out there with Dirtwire?
DS: Yeah, with my other project. And we were out in the wilderness, so it’s hard to get reception, but we got it working now.
[00:09:20] Tommy “Sidecar” Cappel, David Satori, and Zoe Jakes of Beats Antique introduce themselves and share at least 1 positive thing about each other
AMA: How about you guys introduce each other, and while you’re doing that, say at least one positive thing about each other?
TC: I’m “Sidecar” Tommy, and I play drums, make beats, write songs, produce, and enjoy myself thoroughly in Beats Antique. And I get to collaborate with two amazing people: Zoe, who is an amazing friend and awesome dancer, and really funny, and does funny things on her phone after shows; and then also with David Satori, who is an awesome melodic maker, a dope guitar player, and a rad human being. And we just do our thing and have fun.
DS: Yeah. Hey, I’m David Satori. I’m with Beats Antique. Yeah. I play guitar, violin, banjo, melodic stuff, and produce music with Tommy and Zoe. And we’ve been doing this for almost 15 years. And yeah, Zoe is a huge inspiration with her powerful ability to channel through dance and speak through dance. Her rhythm is amazing. And her sense of composition has affected our music through dance, which is a really unique relationship. Tommy is the beat maker and producer and mad scientist of creating all sorts of different vibes and worlds that we get to create. And so, yeah.
ZJ: Well, I’m Zoe. I’m a dancer and do composition and help with arrangement. And I just am really grateful to be working with these two guys. And I think that both of them have incredibly unique ways of looking at music, and I think it’s really unusual and something you don’t find every day. And I think that it’s been really awesome to work with two people that are also really good at listening to the dance and the way that it changes the music. And I do think it’s a really unique and special relationship that the three of us have together. So I guess my compliment would be on just the trio and how I think the three of us have a really interesting voice when we work together. And it’s really unique, and there’s nothing like it.
[00:11:51] How Beats Antique came to be
AMA: So, Beats Antique actually started because of you, right, Zoe?
ZJ: Yeah. I was on tour with Bellydance Superstars, which is a terrible name for a bunch of great dancers. And the person who ran the whole shebang, Miles Copeland, had a world music label, and he needed music. And he was talking about it one night after a show, and I told him that I thought that I knew the right people, and I could put a group together, and we could make some music for his label. So, that’s how the whole thing started.
[00:12:23] How Tommy got into music
AMA: I think it would be interesting to actually go even further back in time, and if you guys could tell me a story of how you even got into music and dance in the first place.
TC: I’ve been into music my whole life. Both my parents were musicians, and they were both music teachers, and so I was exposed to music at a young age. And I just thought it was as easy as talking, as far as like “Go do that on the piano.” And it was super fun. And I was encouraged big time to just find my own voice in music. And that’s kind of what both of my parents would teach: aside from the technical stuff of music, jus the feeling of music and what it does for you, and what that would, in turn, do for others that are listening. And so, yeah, I started really early. I got into a band as soon as I could with my friends. And I played the talent shows when I was trying to show off in front of people and make people like me more. And it worked. And it was like a lot of fun. I had a lot of friends from different high schools, too, so I had a few different projects going on when I was young. I was in marching band. I was in symphonic band, and played music at my church, and did a lot of traveling with that as well. So, yeah. I grew up in the D.C. area, balancing between underground crazy music and classical music. So, that’s my background.
[00:13:59] How marching bands influenced Beats Antique
AMA: Zoe and…were you both on a marching band?
TC: Yeah, we both did Extra Action Marching Band together, and the Yard Dogs Road Show.
ZJ: Yeah. And those two bands definitely, I think, had a huge influence on the type of music that we were into. Obviously, with the marching band, we were influenced by Eastern European marching band music. It was something that we heard early on when we were doing our thing with the marching bands. And the Yard Dogs Road Show’s kind of propensity for being influenced by old Americana, I think, also had an element of inspiration for us, too.
[00:14:35] How Zoe got into dance
AMA: And how about you, Zoe? How did you get into dance?
ZJ: My mom put me into ballet when I was really young because my sister was in ballet and tap and all that stuff. And I did it for a long time, but I wasn’t that into it, and then actually left home. I was in college and I was doing the whole trying to be like mature and responsible. And I was going to university. I was paying my way through university, which is a lot easier in Canada. It’s much cheaper.
AMA: Good to know.
ZJ: Yeah. And so, I was doing university and had like three jobs, and it was just hitting anything really hard. Then I just went on a trip to the States with my boyfriend at the time. And I think I was 17, and I discovered the renaissance fair, which I saw a bunch of music and dance there, and I was like, “This is cool.” And I pretty much just didn’t sign up for the next semester and went down to the States and traveled around and kind of never left. I went to the States, found belly dance, and just kept doing it, and did odd jobs around so I could just keep dancing. So, that’s pretty much my backstory.
AMA: Got it.
[00:15:48] How David Satori started in music
AMA: How about you, David?
DS: Yeah. I grew up in Burlington, Vermont, heavily influenced by like the live jam East Coast funk music, and jam band, improvisational music sort of led by Phish. So I got to see Phish in their hometown. That’s where I was from. And so, they were a big inspiration when I was younger. Played in a band in high school, sort of discovered music with my brother. My family wasn’t a musical family. And then I got into music school. I was in a band, went straight to California, and studied world music and composition at California Institute of the Arts. And then my second year there, I went to Burning Man when I was 19. And that sort of between going to Cal Arts and Burning Man really opened my mind to all sorts of music, electronic music at that point. And that sort of electronic producing and [16:50] in these electronic programs. And moved up to the Bay, and then saw Extra Action Marching Band at Burning Man and all these other places, and found out that we had some mutual friends. I got introduced to Tommy, and me and Tommy jammed, and then saw Zoe perform. We were all sort of in the same scene in San Francisco. And then we just all met. Me and Zoe started dating, and the band started to form after that. And the Bay Area Burning Man scene had a lot to do with sort of crafting our sound and had a huge influence on that. The performance art scene, Yard Dogs, and Extra Action, and West Coast-based music, electronic music.
[00:17:36] What inspires or inspired Beats Antique’s works
AMA: I recall you saying that one of your inspirations was Phish. What else has inspired or is inspiring your work right now?
TC: I love listening to up-and-coming producers in electronic music and all other genres as well, but I really love the vast soundscapes that I’ve been hearing lately, and just the way that a different mind can interpret how to do something. I’ve been finding a lot of inspiration by literally random searches on Spotify for stuff, and just kind of seeing what my friends are pushing out there, and all that stuff. Obviously, rhythm is a big thing in my life, and so I listen to a lot of different kinds of music to sort of feel what people are dancing to. And that’s kind of how I go about it. But I love hip hop, downtempo, dub, and also world music, and stuff like that, so all sorts of stuff.
DS: Yeah. I think for me, experimental electronic music is a huge influence, together with traditional music from around the world. I’m drawn to traditional music from Africa and India. But I love sort of cutting-edge electronic music. Amon Tobin was an early influence on the band. I was just listening to this group last night called Forest Swords, which is another interesting group I’ve been listening to recently. So yeah, all of those.
ZJ: Currently being inspired definitely feels a lot different than what was inspiring me before. These days, I feel like all I hear is like Cocomelon, which is a kids’ TV show (“Coco, coco”) and kids’ lullabies and stuff.
[00:19:36] What type of risky art was happening in the Bay Area art and music scene that inspired Beats Antique?
ZJ: Honestly, my early inspirations was what was happening on a more underground level. The Bay Area music scene was pretty vibrant and kind of ridiculously amazing about 15–20 years ago. And there was innovative, unusual, creative, weird artists playing. It felt like every weekend, there was something incredible and mind-blowing. And there was also a lot of performance art. Extra Action Marching Band had a lot of performance art. The Yard Dogs Road Show. But a lot of bands had a lot of crazy performance art. For instance, I’m going to bring up someone that will probably crack Tommy up. Extreme Elvis is a foul artist, but absolutely mind-blowing. He’s an Elvis impersonator, and he was a real big guy, and his whole act was that he was, I would say, kind of like twisting the ’50s aesthetic of Elvis and making it in. His motto was “Every generation gets the Elvis it deserves.” He would drink and do all sorts of gross stuff I’m not really going to talk about. But it was disgusting. But he was brilliant. He was absolutely brilliant.
And the reason I’m bringing him up is because I felt like there was a lot of messy art happening that was taking a lot of risks. And that was a beautiful place to be because it’s a very fertile ground when you see all these artists taking risks on a level that it just opens it up. So I would say for me, it was the scene itself of the Bay Area 15–20 years ago, and everybody just doing, honestly, like the weirdest, wackiest art I’ve ever seen. And things that came out of it were Burning Man and a lot of the festivals, a lot of the artists that were coming out of that. And we’re like a more polished version of the absolute messy shit they were creating. And we all got to be a part of that, which was really special.
TC: I second that. Yeah. For me, I came from a more educational background on music, and I ended up going to Berklee College of Music and studying there. And then I went to New York, and then I came here. And it was like I got here and I was like, “Oh, sweet. There’s a better excuse to do fun stuff than studying music.” And so, that’s when I kind of bundled everything up I learned and tossed it behind my back for the future, and just checked out a bunch of crazy art and see, “How can we create something the next level each time?” And it was just super fun. I mean, I don’t think that there was any sort of… I mean, there was a ton of support is what I mean. You could tell somebody, “Hey, this is what I was thinking of doing,” and it could be literally the craziest thing ever, and somebody will be like, “Awesome. I’d love to check that out.” And so, it was just a fervent time of going just “Express, express, express.” And it was just super fun. I mean, that Extreme Elvis show that we did was amazing. We performed Black Sabbath’s “Black Sabbath,” the first album, with Extra Action Marching Band, and Extreme Elvis as Ozzy.
AMA: Wow. That sounds epic.
TC: Yeah, it’s one of my all-time favorites. But yeah, that sort of just describes kind of like, sort of some of the elements that sort of reaches to where we are today where we just like to have fun on stage. And for me, personally, seeing the things that I saw back in those days just really made me want to participate. It made me want to go see what they were going to do next, and try other things, and try to collaborate as much as possible. But really just get on stage, have fun, involve the audience as much as possible, and just have a good time and leave it on the stage.
[00:23:51] What is Beats Antique’s thought and creative process when producing their music and performance art
AMA: That would be a good bridge into your thought process and your creative process when creating your music, or even just the whole production.
TC: We really vibe off each other and play each other music and see what kind of sparks something, some energy, into one of the others. And we just bounce ideas off of each other. And they’re pretty vast, so we don’t have to reach very far because I think we all think differently. And so, when we each put our pieces into the mix, it just sort of comes out as this sort of diverse song. That’s like the overview of it. As far as the technical stuff, we use Ableton Live, and we record a bunch of stuff here at our studio, and we put that together and create the sonic landscape that we end up with.
[00:24:45] David and Tommy delve into the creative process for their new programmable music piece, “Interchange”
DS: For this collaboration, it was really special to have these variables to play with, so I think we were really inspired to explore different textures and different ways of… It was like a puzzle, so it was really cool how that spawned different music. And it went from just rhythmic bits to experimenting with different melodic stuff. Tommy came up with some beats, and then we explored with different versions of instrumentation on top. And each instrument always gives a different inspiration. And then starting to look at what the visuals were with that. So it was a really unique way of making music which we never have done before, and I thought that just sort of came together. The first time we fully collaborated in a while was COVID, so it was like a fresh start to making music. And in a way, we went back to our roots. We went back to this sort of more minimalist drums and minimal melodic elements, which was refreshing to get back to that.
TC: It’s really neat, too, because what we experienced was really cool. Basically, when you write a song together as a collaboration with people, many parts get thrown away, right? They just get lost out into the ether because you have to make something specific. You make these decisions. That’s what happens. In this project, it was really cool because we didn’t feel that pressure to make the final decision on everything. Because the way that it’s structured is that each part can go with another part. So, bass line from version one can replace bass line three. And it can go with each of the other parts of the song. So, in essence, we got to put out multiple songs at once without having to make the decision and let actually the listener make the decision as to what they want to hear, which I think is a really unique and interesting thing. I found it very refreshing, actually, to collaborate in that way.
AMA: I see we’re talking about “Interchange” right now, which is the project that you’re working on with Async. But before we get into that…
[00:27:01] Zoe’s creative process and how it influences and effects the music that David and Tommy produce
AMA: I’d love to hear from Zoe about your creative process when putting the production together.
ZJ: This particular project was mostly David and Tommy, so I wasn’t a huge part of this one. Really just the costuming and getting the dancers together. But if we’re talking like in general…
AMA: Yeah, in general.
ZJ: In general, the creative process is…it can be so different. And this is something that is really fascinating about Beats Antique is sometimes David or Tommy will be working on a track, and it will be just an idea that they’re working on. And I’ll take it into the studio, and I’ll work on it and play around with combinations and choreography. And then through that is where I have my feedback, and I’ll say, “Oh, I love it, and it would be really awesome if there was some more space,” or “It’s great, and I love that horn section,” or “Can you extend this section? Because it would be really nice to have a build there.” So, that’s, I would say, these days, the biggest part of my process and how I’ve been working with the Beats Antique music a lot.
TC: I’ll put a side note in there that as a music producer and a songwriter, it actually is really, really, really cool, because I’ve never worked with someone, until I worked with Zoe, that actually just literally embodied the music and then came up with ideas based on that movement. And so, for me… And it’s funny because we speak different languages, but we’re just saying the same things, right? So it’s like, “Oh, you want a hit,” like understanding what it is that kind of that movement is going to need next. It’s a never-ending communication. It’s super fun and different, and it’s challenging as well.
AMA: Yeah. I can totally relate to that as a dancer myself. And I think that’s so interesting how Zoe can add to that creative process. It’s really great.
[00:29:07] Why the name “Interchange?” What is “Interchange?” And how is it different from other music?
AMA: So, let’s go back to “Interchange.” You talked about creating these different parts to the song and making sure that they combine in a way that works together, keeping it simple, things like that. Can you tell me more about it? What is it, for people who don’t know what it is? How is it different from what you’ve done before? Why is it called “Interchange”?
DS: It’s called “Interchange” because we were really thinking about “What does this piece represent?” And “Interchange” is an NFT that is going to be debuting on the Async platform. Async is a platform that features NFTs, and it’s sort of already pushing the boundaries of NFTs, which are just sort of hitting the world right now. And you can actually interchange the bass, drums, and melodic elements of the song. There’s three different melodies, three different bass lines, and three different drum beats. And with correlating with them, there’s three different images. The melody has an image, the drums have an image, and the bass. So if you change one of them, you’ll get a different image. So it’s creating nine possible pieces of art. And so, that’s what we were thinking about: “How can we encapsulate the meaning of this piece while we’re interchanging all these pieces?” And so that was the idea of naming it “Interchange” because that’s what you’re actually doing with this Async NFT. And it was really cool to hear how different bass lines, and how bass line two with melody one sounds different, creates another piece of art. Interesting way to work, and it really sort of pushed our comfort level, because we never created like that. But yeah, we came up with some interesting stuff.
TC: Yeah. I mean, like David said, it was super interesting to see what actually came up, and what kind of things would work, and little funny things, like do we want it to all have the same breaks and stuff like that? And so, it’s just like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle, but the jigsaw puzzle can actually come together in a multitude of ways. So it’s funny. It was kind of a bizarre way of working, but it turned out to be really beautiful and really freeing. Yeah.
[00:31:42] What type of freedom did the Async Music platform create for David and Tommy?
AMA: Yeah. Can you get more into that freeing part? I know you touched on it a little bit how in the past, you probably had to decide on the way the final product would be. Can you talk more about that type of freedom that it gave you?
TC: Well, it’s kind of in two ways. In the simple way, it’s just that we didn’t have to make any…the amount of decisions that we had to make were actually less because there is more opportunity for decisions to be made. The interesting intricate part is that, I think, as a songwriter, it’s really hard to…you come up with something and you naturally respond musically to what you’re trying to get to, then the next person is like, “Oh.” But the person you’re collaborating with is like, “Well, I don’t really like that.” Or it’s not like “I don’t really like it.” It’s more like, “What about this? And what about this? And what about this?” In that, you find yourself sort of attached to certain things, or you gravitate towards certain things, and it can be difficult to let go of a creative idea. I mean, we’re all like children in a way, where we hold on to these things in unreasonable ways.
And so, the freeing that I’m speaking of specifically is the fact that, quite honestly, me and David didn’t have to have a huge discussion about whether we’re going to keep this one or that one. And to be honest, it actually led to that freedom, led to the next song that we started working on, actually us to be able to come up with even a new way of communicating about what the song needed and which direction it should go. And so, I think it’s a really healthy form of songwriting that I don’t think I’ve ever participated in before, because, like I said earlier, you’re constantly editing down to what it’s going to be and what it ends up being, and the audience doesn’t know that there is like a whole other world of this music that came down to this one thing. And so, it’s kind of exposing to me about how much judgment we have on each other that’s just naturally built in to the art of writing songs together and creating a cohesive unit out of more than just yourself. And so, it was freeing for me personally just to experience that as well. And I want to explore more of that.
[00:34:26] How their experience with Async Music positively effected their songwriting process and way of communicating with each other, both inside and outside of the NFT space
AMA: You created a song after doing this project, and you’re saying your experience with “Interchange” on the Async platform actually helped you to grow and affected or influenced how you were…
TC: Yeah.
AMA: …creating this next song. Oh, that’s so great. Yeah.
TC: Yeah, because specifically what happened was that I really wanted a part to be in a song, and David wanted a different part to be in the song. And what it did was it actually… I can only speak for myself, but it gave me the idea that “Wait. There’s way other possibilities out there. I’m sort of limiting this thing for its full expression to say it has to be this way,” right? But that’s the insight you get into when you’re sort of really jazzed on something, you’ve got an idea, but you want somebody else’s input, or you want to pull everyone in. And just like anything, someone’s opinion is going to be completely different, or maybe it’s aligned. What I mean is that when it came up to us being like “Which part is in it?” “This part.” “No, this part.” It’s like we actually just created a new part, both of us together, without… And it actually did much more for the song’s movement because it was completely different than the other part or the part previous. So, that’s all I mean. It’s a curious side effect.
DS: What I’m getting from what Tommy is saying is that within the constraints of the puzzle that this NFT is, like with the interchangeable parts, it created the rules and like a structure that we had to figure out how to work in. And by doing that, that allowed us sort of a creative flow that, when you don’t have rules, can be sort of like “Oh, I can do anything.” But there’s a freedom in the rules, which is sort of like the irony.
TC: I like that version, too. That sounds good.
AMA: Yeah.
TC: I approve.
[00:36:33] Tommy and David explain Interchange’s stems, their variants and their corresponding visual elements
AMA: Can you describe the stem and its variants a little more specifically? You said bass lines and melody. Are those the two?
TC: And beats. And then there’s the visual representation of those. So, the beats, we thought, would be a really great way to represent the different dancer images. So, if you change a beat between the first, second, or third one, the dancer image changes. And then, at the same time, if you change the melody, the border changes. And then, when you change the bass, it changes the background. One of the beats is like a four on the floor sort of with big toms, and then another one is like a simple beat but with tabla, and then the third one is more like hip hop and more intense-sounding. And then those bass lines are different as well. And then David can describe what he did differently on the melodies.
DS: Yeah. All the songs are on the same arrangement. So, like when you swap them out, it will go to the B section or the chorus at the same time, so the melody will change at the same time. I did three different instruments. I did like a bowed banjo kind of sound, which sounds like more of a violin sound. And then I did a plucked melody for one. And then a melodica, which is like a blow piano, for the others. They’re very different, but they all work because they’re on the same key, so you can swap them out. They give you very different moods. And then the bass lines, we experimented as far as different tones, like different synth variations, and yeah, just trying to get different tones along with different bass styles. So, yeah, it’s really cool to see how many different variations we could make that all work together. That was the trick.
[00:38:36] How long did it take to produce “Interchange”
AMA: How long did it take you guys to work on this?
TC: It felt kind of fast, right? It felt like three days or…
DS: A couple of weeks?
TC: Yes.
DS: I feel like we did like two weeks was where I felt like we really worked on it. Yeah. A couple days, two weeks.
TC: I don’t know.
AMA: That’s a large range.
TC: But I just have to clarify. My time is strange during the pandemic because I don’t have to be anywhere, so I don’t know how long it takes. A while.
[00:39:15] How did Beats Antique solve the challenge of ‘mastering’ “Interchange?”
AMA: So, I heard from the other artists who were doing projects on the Async Music platform that mastering was kind of weird for them. They had to fake master.
TC: Yeah.
AMA: Did you want to touch on that a little bit?
TC: I mean, it’s just a technical… It’s impossible to do because mastering is the process of taking everything and bunching it to one. And then that one, each thing that’s in there affects the way that these things sound, right? Not in a musical way. Really like in a mix way, in a loudness way, and stuff like that. So we basically couldn’t really figure out how to do it. So, as far as like do we put compression on everything, basically the ability to have any of the things play and have it so that it doesn’t peak out. And so, it was a trial and error of how we do that, and getting it as loud as possible without messing with it.
[00:40:28] What does the Async Music platform imply for the future of tech, music and art?
AMA: Did you guys want to talk about anything else about “Interchange”?
DS: Yeah. I’m excited about what this implies for the future of creation, for NFT art and interactive art. I think it’s really cool that each person can own an element of the song. There will be different owners and different people participating in creating new pieces of art. And this is just sort of scratching the surface of how visual art and music and the audience can start interacting with each other, and generating new pieces of works, which I think is going to be the future of a lot of art and a lot of the interaction on the internet. These people creating together and sharing ownership in art, and using smart contracts and NFTs to really account for all that, because artists are not the best businesspeople and the best accountants in giving rights and shares and money. So, if that can all be built into a system that we can all create with and people can get paid for, I think it’s really exciting. And I’m excited to see what new puzzles are going to start forming, like this puzzle that we were given with Async. What’s the next version of that? What are the variables that we can sound design and create? Or how does dance come into it, right? Because now we’re just working with images. How can Zoe get more involved with actual motion and actual moving? Where does that come in? And video. So, yeah, I’m really excited. I think it’s like a renaissance for digital art and interactivity.
AMA: Yes.
TC: Yeah, for sure.
ZJ: Just to what David was saying just about how it’s an opportunity for art to be presented, just the different elements being worked together, I think, will be really awesome. And I’m really looking forward to seeing how people are going to move forward with that, because it is a pretty amazing opportunity.
AMA: Yeah. It’s definitely a new medium to work with.
[00:42:30] How did Tommy and Zoe find out about blockchain?
AMA: So, we’re touching on NFTs, blockchain. So, how did you guys even get into the blockchain/NFT space?
TC: David started talking about blockchain like a long time ago, and it was driving us all crazy, and then we finally paid attention. And understanding Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, but really understanding what kind of possibilities that blockchain had for the future of all things, right? Because in that time, we have a lot of creative friends who were also coming up with new ideas and ways to do things differently. Like Zoe and David both said, it’s like that gives recognition to the artists for the things that they do. And so, I feel like we’ve always kind of tried new things. It kind of started back when we released our first EP together without any label representation. We did it on band camp, and we said, “Pay what you want. We just want your email address.” And I think that kind of harkens to what our future would be. So, when any sort of newfangled idea comes up, we’re sort of like, “Yeah, let’s try it. What is it? Let’s find out about it.” So, personally, I’ve been obsessing over it for the last few months, four or five months since I first started hearing it, just before the New Year. And I didn’t understand what it was. And through listening to conversations and checking things out and asking a lot of questions on Clubhouse and stuff, it’s like I kind of understood, like, “Oh, cool. It’s this opportunity to actually share ownership in a different way, and define ownership in a different way, too.” And that’s pretty cool.
[00:44:23] How can artists capitalize on their art and music?
ZJ: And also, with the rise of Spotify and Pandora, and taking away the artist’s ability to really make any money off of their art, maybe this will be something that can help kind of bring some more power back into the artist’s hands again.
TC: …speak on that, what Zoe just said, I find that, just in general, we all need to figure out, artists need to figure out, how to capitalize on the art that they make on their intellectual property. And I think we’re only given a few options, and those are the options that we sort of just stick to. And quite honestly, the technology has finally kind of moved towards letting artists experience what it’s like for other people to come up with ways for us to make money, because we need to understand it. And I think that it’s been very educational for us to sort of look in other places and look in other directions as opposed to the very strict, very systematic thing that is the music business. Now it’s ripping it apart and saying, “What is it?”
AMA: Yeah.
TC: And it pretty much is becoming “Well, what do you want it to be?”
AMA: Oh, yeah. That’s a great statement.
TC: I want to give access to people that maybe didn’t have access to things. And also, I want to make things that are special to people that do want to support art and do want to further an artist’s life.
[00:46:01] How David found out about blockchain?
AMA: Tommy, you said that David was the one who introduced you guys to blockchain and NFTs. So, David, how did you come across…?
ZJ: Sorry. Really quick, I have to run. I have another call. But I just want to say, thank you so much for having me here. I really appreciate you, and I’m super excited to see what happens with this.
AMA: I’m so glad you could make it. And I’m excited to see it as well.
ZJ: Yeah. Thanks for having me.
AMA: All right. Take care.
TC: Bye, Zoe.
ZJ: Take care. Bye!
AMA: Bye.
DS: I saw a documentary on Netflix. I’ve got to find out which one it was. But it was about cryptocurrencies. I think this was in 2014 or 2013. It was a long time ago, when Bitcoin was just coming out. It was actually around… It was a long time. It was like 2010 or 2011, when we were going through that big recession. And there was this documentary, and I started to hear about Bitcoin and alternatives, because I didn’t feel confident that our financial systems were going to make it through the next couple of decades, so something else has to be happening. And so, when I started to understand what Bitcoin was, and cryptocurrencies, I started to be like, “Oh, I see that this is the alternative. This is like where we can create a decentralized system that we can all keep accountability in.” And so, I understood the bigger idea, and then I got into Bitcoin before the 2015–2017 rush there. Yeah. 2017 was like the last big rush, so I’ve been in it.
And I believe it is like the technology of the future. I feel like we all will be moving to digital transactions. I do believe the internet is going to be changing. And I think Paypal and Venmo are all indications of that. And yeah, once I understood what an NFT was, it made perfect sense because that’s where we’re applying blockchain to actual other things besides a coin. It can be a lot more abstract for people. So, even though the NFTs are still abstract and hard to understand for people, I think it will become easier and easier to understand, especially when medical records start to be NFTs, and all these other things that we are trying to keep track of that we lose track of, that it’s going to help us to actually stay on top of our information and our content, and control it. So, I’m optimistic for it, and I think this is a big opportunity for artists to be more empowered and choose their own adventure on how they want to do this. There’s going to be so many ways in which this unravels. We’ll see what rises to the top, what practices.
AMA: Yeah, it’s a very hopeful technology.
[00:49:00] David’s message to Beats Antique fans
AMA: So, I know you have to go soon, so do you have any parting words for any of your Beats Antique fans before you leave?
DS: I would say Beats Antique is excited to be making new music, and we’re super excited to experiment with new ways of audience interactivity, which is what “Interchange” is experimenting with on the Async platform with this new NFT. And yeah, it’s an exciting time, and we’re ready to keep making this kind of art. And hopefully you guys enjoy it, too. So, please go check it out on Async. Check out “Interchange.”
AMA: Thank you, David. I appreciate you coming on. I know that you’re in the midst of traveling.
DS: Oh, yeah. No worries. I appreciate your time, and thanks for helping promote this.
AMA: You’re very welcome.
DS: Cool.
TC: See you soon, bud.
AMA: All right.
DS: Talk to you later, Tommy. See you later, Ann. Nice to meet you.
AMA: All right. Bye.
DS: Bye.
[00:49:57] How Beats Antique’s online chats reflect their own personalities
TC: It’s been really fun because during the pandemic, it’s like we all have to look at each other on video, and David is always like his phone is shaky and his internet connection sucks. I have the camera set up. It’s really nice.
AMA: Yeah, it’s very nice.
TC: And stuff like that. Zoe is like kids, like life. You know what I mean?
AMA: Life. Exactly.
TC: And it’s like those three things really show who we are just as regular people. I mean, life happens, right?
AMA: Yeah.
TC: I really do focus my time here at the studio, try to hone things. And David really just goes out into the world and sees things and experiences those types of things. And Zoe really just lives life and interprets life into dance and into her incredible world that she has created for herself through teaching and workshops and stuff. So, it’s kind of we’re sort of all doing our thing as per usual, especially during the pandemic.
[00:51:06] How the pandemic affected Beats Antique leading into creating “Interchange”
AMA: I’m glad you are. I mean, the pandemic can take a lot out of people.
TC: Yeah.
AMA: So the fact that you guys are all staying active and still being yourselves, I think it’s great.
TC: Yeah. Even though, I can only speak for myself, but the self has changed in this last year.
AMA: Yeah.
TC: For sure. And I think that it’s a different time. I feel it. I know it. And I actually am excited for it. I know it’s really hard, and I know that we’re going to have a lot of stuff come up because of it, but at the same time, I think it was really healthy for everyone to literally have to take a break even if you couldn’t, and even if that stress made you sick and made you feel bad. I mean, I went through some really tough times during this and really woke myself up to what some of the things are really going on for me. And so, I think opening it up to all these creative ideas are now sort of floating to the surface. They kind of do that naturally. And so, I’ve been wondering, like, “Okay, when are all these things that I’ve experienced through the pandemic going to float to the surface and actually come out to the people and stuff? When is that going to naturally happen?” That was what’s also cool about this song and this project in general is that it’s like this other thing that’s out of the norm. So we just went through it, did it, got it done, and it was like, “Oh, wow. That was really fun to do.” It wasn’t this laborious task of, like, creating this thing that everybody is just going to…all the stuff that goes behind making an album or whatever. It’s like cool. But in that time, we made three completely different songs that can turn into… I forget the number of combinations there are, but somebody in math could do three times three times three or something.
AMA: We’ll ask a mathematician.
[00:53:19] What would Tommy’s advice be to those entering the NFT music and art space and his metaphor for such a nascent space
AMA: So, I was going to say, taking all of that into account, everything you’ve learned, whether it was in producing “Interchange” or what 2020 did for everyone, what would your advice be for musicians thinking about doing what you guys are doing?
TC: Explore. The possibilities are literally endless. And I think it’s hard to get out of the rut of actually just normal music releasing and stuff. And this is a cool way to collaborate with people either that you’re used to collaborating with or that you’re not, and really explore what sort of options are there that you would leave there. I was trying to come up with a metaphor, but the only thing I could come up with is it’s like catering. You show up and there’s like a protein. There’s an option for it to be meat or vegetarian. But that’s protein. And then there’s a drink. And then there’s the thing. You get the pieces of what you like best. To me, that’s amazing. To be able to do that as an artist and a musician, to be able to say, “These are my three options” or “These are my 20 options” or whatever it is, that actually never happens in normal music that we make every day. It just doesn’t happen. So, I think it’s a great experience to sort of push the boundaries of what you would do if you had more options than the norm. Because trust me, you would do something kind of… Would you do something radical? Would you do something simple? I think for me, we kind of chose like a safe route a little bit. We didn’t go super extreme. But I think if we do another one, we’re going to go really extreme with it because I think we were being a little timid. But I think as artists do, once you get comfortable in a medium, you sort of maximize that medium, right? So I could see creating more tension within the parts into all this stuff. But that’s for the future.
But I think that’s what’s cool about it is that any artist who approaches this is going to 100% be completely different than any other artist that’s doing the same thing, because it’s not just coming up with one thing. It’s coming up with multiple things that all work together and collaborate together. And honestly, to sum that up into what my experience was, if we could do that with our lives, we would be great. If we could collaborate more and actually listen to each other and be like, “Here’s what I think,” and your voice doesn’t get silenced, it gets magnified, that’s amazing. And so, I see it as a metaphor, and I think of it as appropriate timing for us.
AMA: Wow. That’s a great way to look at it. Is there anything else you want to talk about? It could be in general.
TC: Well, I could talk for days. We could just sit here.
AMA: Are you a Gemini, Tommy?
TC: I’m a Scorpio.
AMA: Oh, okay. I was going to say.
TC: I think I’m like a 40 times Scorpio, too. Super Scorpio. It’s like so much Scorpio that it’s like I don’t even like myself. I’m like, “No. Stop it! You’re so intense. What’s your problem?” And then I’m like, “No, it’s okay. Just be yourself.” So, yeah, I can just… I haven’t talked to anybody in a few days. It’s been fun. It’s nice to take a break from socializing.
AMA: Yeah.
TC: But then, when I get the opportunity, it’s kind of like I have infinite time to just talk about whatever. What would you like to talk about?
[00:57:48] Tommy’s message and question to Beats Antique’s fans
AMA: I was going to say, I’d really like to hear what you’d like to say to your fans, or anything that you want to tell them. I know you guys haven’t had a live show in a while. If there’s anything you want to share.
TC: Yeah. I mean, it’s been a balance of missing the hell out of everyone and everything, and just kind of conjuring up more and more energy, and more and more energy, until we actually get to release it. I’m like excitingly nervous and scared and excited and just awestruck about what it’s going to feel like to go in front of a real crowd again. I mean, it’s crazy to even say that because I’ve always just been doing that. So, to our fans, we miss the hell out of you. We’ve been living our lives. You’ve been living yours. What did you learn? I want to know what you learned. I want to know all about it. And that’s the kinds of things that I find out on the road. So, we’ll see what happens. I have no expectations or no idea, which is also new because I generally like to come up with the goal, plan it, get it, do it, execute it, move on to the next thing, and do that same thing over and over again. And that’s kind of how I work. It’s how we get things done. But this doesn’t have any definitions. It doesn’t have any… How long is this going to last? Well, it’s going to affect us in our industry, in the music industry, for a very long time. And that’s for sure.
So, what I have to say to them is thank you for your patience with us. We thought we would be able to share more. We thought we would be able to do better. But we were just ourselves. And thank you for letting us be ourselves. That’s the best gift you can give someone is to allow them that luxury. And so, I feel like I’m caught up, and I feel like I’m ready to explode as much creativity as I can. I’ve been making music, for me, every day during this pandemic, so that I can get through my day and figure out what to do. And that has led to a lot of new music that’s on the horizon for Beats Antique, but for just kind of the world. I’m sort of like, “Just give it away.” I just want people to just take it. So, that’s kind of fun. I haven’t felt like this ever in my life before. So, I hope that everyone is also feeling a little bit of that, too, themselves. And then, when we get back together, we can kind of like see what comes next. That’s exciting to me.
AMA: Yeah.
[01:00:52] Beats Antique’s upcoming shows and projects
AMA: So, speaking of what comes next, things on the horizon, what other projects do you have coming up? Shows? Anything?
TC: We’re planning a show. We’ve got a social distanced show in Felton, which is just outside of Santa Cruz, in June. And then we’re headed to Colorado. We’re going to San Luis Obispo. We’re actually doing a Halloween show in Santa Cruz.
AMA: Oh, fun.
TC: At the Catalyst. And then we’re doing… I mean, we’re just hoping that all the dates that we have right now stay in place. That’s kind of why I’m not even… Usually, when we book a show, I remember exactly the date. I remember what show comes before and after, how it all works. At this point, we’ve had to postpone everything and do that so many times that I don’t even know. I don’t even know when we’re playing. I’m just kind of preparing for it and hoping that it actually comes. And when it does, I’m going to celebrate it. But yeah, we’re working on a bunch of new music. It’s been a little while since we’ve released an album. And we’ve released a couple of singles here and there throughout the last couple of years, but we’ve got a whole bunch of new music that we’re working on, and it’s really exciting. I am really stoked on it, actually. And we’re starting to craft our new shows that we’re going to be doing and putting together. So, everyone should be excited if I’m excited. And I’m excited. So, if me being excited excites you, then yeah. If it scares you, then I’m sorry.
[01:02:43] The new way in which Beats Antique will be releasing their “full album”
AMA: Is this a full album that you’re going to be putting out, or…?
TC: Yes, but we’re going to do it a little differently, like everything. We’re just going to release singles because, to us, an album is really an interesting journey. At the end of the day, it will be an album, but that journey is going to be song by song by song because we feel like an album, the first few songs get the most attention. And quite honestly, as an artist, I want every song to get attention.
AMA: That makes sense.
TC: So, selfishly, we’re going to give it out slow and let people hear this song and sort of take their time with it before the next one comes out. So we’ll see how long in between those, probably a month or six weeks or something. But it’s like being able to tell a unique story for that song is a luxury, and I can’t wait to try it.
AMA: I think that that seems very in line with the type of generation we have these days.
TC: Yeah. People are very quick.
AMA: Yeah.
TC: And to be honest, a lot of our fans are not like that. We have a wide range of fans of all different things.
[01:04:04] What Beats Antique does to keep up with tech, music and art
TC: But it’s like the music business is ever-changing. And these days, to kind of keep up with it, you’ve got to figure out what’s next. And this is what we’re trying to experiment with. Because if a bunch of people that I know, we all talk about music and what’s going on in the business stuff, if they’re like, “Huh. I’m really curious about this,” that means that I need to go and get it done.
AMA: Yeah.
TC: As fast as possible. And that’s how it works. That’s how we kind of grow, and that’s how we sort of think. And luckily, with these things, and especially with the Async thing, David was able to sort of be the guinea pig of understanding this world, and then kind of report back to us, like, “Hey, you all need to look at this thing.” And so, that’s how we found out about this. And I think as a band, it’s actually been hard to find things that we’re all like, “Yes. Yeah, let’s do that.” This was really simple because, like David said, it gave us structure for us to be infinitely creative.
AMA: Yeah.
TC: So, that was a hard yes from us.
[01:05:19] How and when Async and Beats Antique connected
AMA: When did you guys actually get in contact with Async?
TC: Our manager met somebody from Async. And all three of us were just wondering about all these things, looking at a bunch of things, talking to a bunch of friends, figuring stuff out, trying to figure out, “How can we participate in these new things, in these new conversations and stuff?” And so, through that, Max met some folks and we just had the conversation. They were like, “Yeah, let’s do it. Let’s try it. We’d love to have you on.” And so, we just took advantage of that moment and went for it.
AMA: Was that last year or early this year?
TC: This was like right around the New Year, I think. Yeah. I had seen a couple of things on the Async art side. I had seen some friends saying, “Hey, check out my art here,” and all that stuff. And I went to it. I’m like, “I can change the art? Wow. Cool. I can make my own background?” And so, as also a visual artist… All three of us are visual artists as well. And so, I’m curious to see how that’s going to develop. I know David has done a couple — NFTs, that is. And then kind of being really inspired by the Async thing, once that opens up to more artists, I really want to see what I can come up with on my own art. And so, I think it’s cool because it’s piqued my interest, which I think is hard to do sometimes because there’s ideas all over the place. There’s tons of them. And I know that certain things work. This is the first thing in a while that’s opened us up to seeing, “Oh, maybe something else can work, too.” So, whenever that happens, I’ll just go with it.
AMA: Yeah.
TC: Yeah.
AMA: Yeah. You got to stay up with the… I mean, things happen so fast.
[01:07:23] How other artists in the space are inspiring Tommy
TC: And I can’t wait to see what other people are doing. I literally was looking at some of the other artists, and I’m like, “I got to go see their stuff now.” I can’t wait to see it because I’m so curious. What did they do? Yeah. I’m a nerd like that. I love to figure out, “What led somebody to make decisions and stuff?” And so, I can’t wait. I’m looking forward to the whole thing.
AMA: Artists inspiring other artists. It’s awesome.
TC: Yeah. Bring it on.
[01:07:56] Where can people find Beats Antique?
AMA: So, where can people find Beats Antique? Where can they find your merch?
TC: Luckily, you can just look us up. It’s the easiest thing. I mean, the only other things that come up are like Beats Headphones, which is fine. But at least it’s music-related.
[01:08:18] How will “Interchange” be presented to the fans outside of the Async Music platform
AMA: Are you going to have “Interchange” on the website in some way, or…?
TC: I’m not sure what the plans are. I think that’s part of it. Usually, we would do a certain amount of things, right? But this is something different, so I don’t really know how we’re going to work it. I think in the next week or so, we’re going to be really focusing on that and seeing how to best show people what it is. So, if it’s possible to have it up there in the many different ways that it could be, then yeah. I don’t know. But I don’t really… Honestly, this is all new.
AMA: Yeah. It would be great if your fans could at least see maybe one or two combinations.
TC: Oh, yeah. We definitely want to show people, “Hey, this is this new idea, and this is what our sort of interpretations are of it.” It really comes down to finding a player to play it, you know?
AMA: Yeah.
TC: So, once we can figure that out, I think that would be fun to show the interactivity of it. But yeah, I mean, I want to definitely see…I’m curious to see what others decide the song sounds like. That’s when I’m like, “What do you like? What do you like?” So, that’ll be interesting to see. But I definitely…
[01:09:55] How Beats Antique built “Interchange” with the original 1s, 2s and 3s
TC: We have the three original versions, which would correlate number 1s were originally written with number 1s, number 2s were written with number 2s, and number 3s were written with number 3s. So, that’s kind of how we charted it out.
AMA: Okay. That’s interesting.
TC: Yeah. Who knows? I mean, I think, from what I’ve seen, there’s some people who are just like, “Here’s a bunch of audio that just goes together in different weird ways.” And maybe it’s way more vast changes and stuff like that. Ours is pretty like you might not know you were listening to the same song, but the vibe or the energy of it, the overall feel of it, is similar, but they just have little tweaks for maybe this over here or this over here. It just mixes it up. So, yeah, my favorite ones are the original 1s, the original 2s, the original 3s, because those are what we were like, “Okay, these all work together. Now let’s mute and highlight other ones and see how they all fit.”
AMA: Yeah. So you test them.
TC: I definitely tested each melody with each bass line, each bass line with each drum part, because those things are the important parts. If you choose a bass line that goes…it might be in a different style, but it has the same accent points. So it’s funny, but honestly, it’s kind of how our songs are anyway. There’s like we take this from this sort of influence over here, this influence over here, and we sort of meld it all into a salad. And I kind of feel like that’s what this does. So, I’ve listened to the song hundreds of times. Maybe I’ve listened to all the combinations. Maybe not. But I think there’s been certain times when I’m like, “I want to go totally extreme.” But that’s maybe for the next one.
AMA: Yeah.
TC: Like do one really heavy dub step and one really classical, and just really see what fun things can happen.
AMA: Yeah.
TC: But that’s the thing. I think because there’s options with that, I don’t feel bad doing some really hardcore thing that’s really loud, because they can choose to go that route or choose to go this other route. And so, I think that’s really special.
AMA: Yeah. Wow. So many opportunities for new things to happen.
TC: Yeah, for sure.
[01:12:58] Where to see “Interchange” and Async Music’s Limited Editions to record combinations of stems
AMA: Okay. So, outside of your website, hopefully, that we’ll see, it will be on Async.art as well.
TC: Yeah. And we’ll be posting about it on our Instagram and Twitter and stuff.
AMA: Yeah. And people will have a chance to actually record particular combinations that they like using the limited edition option that Async offers.
TC: Yeah.
AMA: So, that’ll be fun to see what people actually like, you know?
TC: Totally.
AMA: What they want to record.
TC: That’s why I’m looking forward to that.
AMA: Anything else? Any last words?
TC: Spread the love far and wide, and don’t accept anything else.
AMA: I like those words a lot.
TC: That’s what I want to hear.
AMA: Yeah.
TC: That’s what I want to say to everyone.
AMA: I feel like it’s a big hug. We all need a hug right now.
TC: Yeah. Big, long, and hopefully, with no mask on.
AMA: Yeah.
TC: And hopefully, with nothing but pure love. Lots of hugs. No more of your hugs. I mean, the other ones are cool, but like, you know, let’s try it.
AMA: Yeah. I can’t wait for a big bear hug from everyone.
TC: Yes.
AMA: That’ll be nice.
TC: For sure. All right.
AMA: All right. That is it. That is the show.
TC: Yeah.
AMA: End scene.
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