From performing on imaginary stages during recess in the third grade, to becoming a multi-instrumentalist with a full-length album by the ninth grade, and now a up-n-comer to keep your eye. He’s got over 250 gigs under his belt, writes his own music, and just recently released his second EP, titled “Take You Away”.

Fanvasion caught up with Skyler on a rare day off to get to know him a little better and now you can too. Read our interview below, watch the video and if you haven’t already give Skyler a listen.

Can you tell me a little bit about your musical upbringing and how it got you this point?
Sure, um well my parents introduced me to The Beatles when I was about three years old, and I just fell in love with music. All throughout elementary school I was constantly trying to form bands because I wanted to start the next Beatles, starting in Kindergarten. I remember in third grade I actually had auditions for a boy band. I would get guys from all around my school to come and audition, they would have to sing and dance.

Were a boy band fan?
Yeah, and this was back when ‘N Sync were really popular and Backstreet Boys were really popular, so I wanted to do something like that. Around that same time was when I started writing music and I started playing drums. Then I eventually learned how to play guitar, bass, piano and I just sort of went from there and started doing everything.

You’ve been writing and recording for years, what’s your process for writing music? Are any of your songs based off personal experiences … or something you would like to happen?
Yeah, a lot of the songs are from personal experiences; especially on the first CD, Long Gone. Most of those are all from personal experiences that really happened and I wanted to sort of tell stories and express that those feelings I was feeling at the time, because I knew a lot of people could relate to them. With this new CD a lot of the songs are more ideas that I had; that I talked to my song writing partners about, maybe that they had … um, rather than necessarily actual events.

So you grew up listening to The Beatles and you’re a Backstreet Boys fan. Who are some of your other musical influences and how do they affect your sound?
Um, well around probably by sophomore or junior year of high school I really, really started to become influenced by Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and John Mellencamp. So then that really started to influence my sound and probably around my senior year in high school is when I started transitioning and started listening to Country music for the first time. People like Taylor Swift and Keith Urban have become huge influences in my sound.

Well, people have called you “the male Taylor Swift”.
Yeah they have, and that’s great I love it.

Like I said, you’ve been compared to Taylor Swift. But, how would you describe your music for those that haven’t heard it?
Uh well it’s a mixture between Country, Pop, and Rock music. I always just called it rock-n-roll, but people really seem to latch onto the country/rock or pop/country aspect of it.

Tell me about your single “Take You Away”!

“Take You Away” is the first single off of the new CD called Take You Away. And it’s a story about uh – you know – from the singers point of view, there’s this girl who he’s just enamored in… enamored of… enamored by…enamored something. [Laughs] I’ll have to check in the English dictionary for the correct saying of that. Um, who he’s just infatuated with, but he realized that she has no idea who he is. He just sees her, ah – going through the motions, and not ah – being with guys who he feels…um – like he could – ah.. really give her something that they aren’t, and really treat her right. Then so, the whole idea is ‘I’ll take you away from all that’. I will give you everything that you deserve.

Kind of an anthem for a lot of people out there.
Well uh, that’s what I hope – that’s what I hope for.

You have a band that plays with you called Band of Thieves. Where did that stem from?
Yeah, uh – The Band of Thieves, they actually for the longest time didn’t have a band name. So that just really confused everybody, everyone was like ‘so is the band called Skyler?’, ‘are you called Skyler?’ what’s going on. So we finally had to come up with a band name, and we’re all huge fans of Taylor Swift and when her new record came out one of the favorite song of all of ours was the very last track on it, called “Long Live”. And there’s this one line in it that says “a band of thieves in ripped up jeans got to rule the world”, and so we were talking about that and one of them said ‘oh, a band of thieves’ – Skyler and the Band of Thieves…and it just stuck.

You’ve been touring a lot since last year, what was your most memorable performance so far?
Probably our most memorable performance was at Higher Ground in Burlington, VT. We arrived just before – actually not…just as a blizzard was hitting South Burlington. And we loaded in, in the snow storm and you know just kept our fingers crossed people would show up because we had never played in Vermont before. Um, and – you know God love them, our fans showed up and filled the room… in a blizzard; our first time in Vermont, so that was a real treat.

Who would be a ‘dream come true’ artist you’d like to work with?
Um, well most of my favorite artists are unfortunately either really old or dead. [Laughs] But uh right now, I’d love to work with Taylor Swift. She really seems to be on top of her game, and I want to work with somebody who – you know is really hitting their stride.

Your single, “Take You Away” – that we were just talking about – was just released this past month. Are there plans for a full-length record in the works?
Uh, well this is our second EP, so second half length album. Ah I mean we could potentially put both of them together and release it as one CD, but I’d hate doing that. It just seems so cheap. So, I would love to record a full-length album of all new material, but the time has to be right. So, who knows – maybe a year from now we’ll be talking about my full-length record.

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day off to talk with me about your music.
Well, it was my pleasure thank you for having me.

For more videos from our interview, visit our YouTube Channel.

FOR MORE ON SKYLER CHECK OUT:
· Official Site
· Follow Skyler on Twitter
· YouTube | Facebook

Check out our SKYLER “Take You Away” contest and ENTER NOW!

photos: Tony Luong

It’s been ten years since we last saw Greg Raposo — at that time Greg was touring the country with the boy band, Dream Street; which he had been a member of for nearly three years. Since then, Greg has released a solo record, played in several bands, and performed countless shows to a slew of new fans, and dedicated followers from his “DS days”.

These days Greg wants to use his musical talent and lend his voice to give back to the community, and those less fortunate. When we caught up with Greg backstage at the “Four Years. Go” benefit in New Jersey, he talked about his musical journey from Dream Street, to the music close to his heart, and what he’s into now.

Well, obviously it’s been a long time since we’ve seen you!
It has been! It’s so good to see you guys again.

How has your musical style changed since the "Dream Street" days?
Well, since Dream Street days, a big thing would be the fact that I didn’t write Dream Street music, I just sang it. I then started to write my own music, so that in itself is going to be a pretty big change. But then as my own music, because I’ve already been doing my own thing for a little while now, that’s changed a lot through the different people that I work with. You know, just whoever you’re co-writing with is a pretty big influence on the song, and I’ve been co-writing with a lot of different people throughout the years. I’ve had a lot of different band names even throughout the years, so you know it depends on the team that you’re working with and that’s definitely been a big part of how I’ve progressed throughout the years.

You put out a solo album after Dream Street ended, and you were with bands, but you’re doing solo again. Do you have plans for another album?
Right- yeah, I mean I’m recording stuff on my own, you know I’ve got a little studio and I’ve just kinda… in all honesty, everything that I do now, forward, is honestly being done because I truly…it’s just who I am. I’m just doing it because, you know like a swimmer swims, a songwriter writes songs, and a singer sings. So, I’m always going to sing, I’m always going to write songs, in all honesty everything… I’ve actually reached a point, a great place to be where I’ve really let everything go essentially and really now it’s just about, you know when I’m in my car and I want to listen to music, probably eighty percent of the time I’ll listen to stuff that I’ve done on my own just because it’s what I enjoy. It’s what I like, so a lot of times I’m writing because I want an album to listen to for myself. A lot of the music that I’m writing now, a lot of the stuff that I’m doing, is with that intention. [watch the video]

So, you’re doing other things but you just can’t shut off that part of you that wants to play music.
Right, exactly! Exactly, it’s just no matter what I do business-wise or career-wise…

Will you always come back to that?
No, it’s not that but no matter what I do, it doesn’t change that I’m still ‘Greg Raposo, the musician’ inside and that I’ll always be.

Once a musician, always a musician.
Yeah! It’ll always be…it’ll always be there.

Do you still keep in touch with Frankie [Galasso], Jesse [McCartney], Chris [Trousdale], and Matt [Ballinger]?
Of course! Yeah.

Matt actually messaged me the other day about his band [Open Till Midnight], would you ever want to work with them?
Yeah, I’ve done a few shows with them.

Your fans have grown up with you, technically we were all around the same age at the same time. It was prominent teen years, what was your favorite memory from that whole experience?
The most memorable thing? I’d have to say of the Dream Street thing, one of the most memorable things – because there were so many – would have to be the last Aaron Carter tour that we did. It was an arena tour where every night we’re playing for a minimum of six thousand people up to fifteen or twenty thousand people. I think, for us, that was a very…probably the pinnacle of where we were at. We kind of broke apart right after that, but that was a great experience. [watch the video]

I always liked going to those shows, it was such a hang out.
Me too!

You just went, hung out, and watched the show; we went to one of the Aaron shows too.
Oh yeah!

So, what are performing tonight?
Well, I have a couple of throwbacks, I’ll have a couple covers for the fun of it, and then I have a special guest to come out on stage with me. I’ve also got some new music that I’ve never ever played before. [Editors note: Greg was mum on the covers and special guest, but it turned out to be none other than his younger sister Nicole who he performed Black Eyed Peas "I Gotta Feeling" and Cee-Lo Green's "Forget You" with!]

You said that you listen to some of your own music still, what are some of the other bands or artists that you’re into?
I’m into a lot of different stuff, honestly. You know- everything from Story of the Year to Train to John Mayer. Recently I’ve been listening to Rascal Flatts.

Oh, Rascal Flatts…
Yeah, awesome-awesome, love it!

We saw them live.
Me too, yeah- a couple of times. So yeah, I don’t discriminate really.

So, what’s up after this? Are you going to playing more shows here and there?
You know, honestly, I think that musically a big thing that I’m focused on is sharing my music in a more charitable way.

Is that why you got involved with this show tonight?
Yeah! Everything that I’m doing has been really for a purpose.

I remember you use to do this with Kids 4 Kids, for Muscular Dystrophy. You’ve always done that, I wasn’t surprised to hear you were involved with this show.
Yeah, yeah! I’m not trying to make this crazy career out of being an artist anymore. I’m really just…I work in real estate, which is what I do. That’s where I have my career, that’s where I do business, and then like we were saying before I’ll always be this songwriter, I’ll always be this performer, this musician and I love it! If I can use that to help make a difference, make a change, and so some good things with it then how could I not? I’ve been given this gift and I think that the least I can do is use it.

FOR MORE ON GREG CHECK OUT:
· ReverbNation
· Follow Greg on Twitter
· Four Years. Go.

For more videos from our interview, visit our YouTube Channel.
 

photos of Greg: by Chanelle Justice – © 2011 Fanvasion. All Rights Reserved.

Jared, Wesley, Asher, Nathaniel, and Nicky T. of V Factory checked back in with FV to talk about their new album and answer your questions (some pretty hilarious)! Asher also filled us in a bit about his brand new movie, FAME, which hits theaters September 25th.

[L-R: Jared Murillo, Wesley Quinn, Asher Book, Nathaniel Flatt & Nicky Teti]

WATCH our interview with V Factory below, keep a look out for photos in the gallery.

FOR MORE ON V FACTORY CHECK OUT:
· Official Site
· MySpace
· YouTube

Inside the August/September 2009
Online Issue

When news broke in April 2009 that NLT had officially split up, it wasn’t too long after we heard about the departure of members from Menudo — but no more than a month later fans worries were put at ease when Johnny Wright launched the new band ONE CALL featuring former Menudo members José Bordonada Collazo and Christopher Moy, along with Justin Thorne of NLT and newcomer Anthony ‘AG’ Gamlieli.

One Call has all the elements you love in a music group – great voices, smooth dance moves, catchy songs, and four heartthrob worthy boys. We caught up with Justin, Jose B., Chris, and AG on the day of their first live show at the NJ QuickChek Festival of Ballooning where they blew us away on stage! Psst: We think their song "Turn It Up" has radio hit potential.

[L-R: José Bordonada Collazo, Justin Thorne, AG Gamlieli & Christopher Moy]

WATCH our interview with One Call below, keep a look out for photos in the gallery.

FOR MORE ON ONE CALL CHECK OUT:
· Official Site
· MySpace
· YouTube

Inside the August/September 2009
Online Issue

We were the first magazine to interview the LA based Varsity FanClub and we caught up with them again this summer to talk about what they’ve been up to since our last chat, their new music, and the fresh face to the ‘Club’ — T.C. Carter. Sadly, Thomas Fiss left the group in June 2009. Check out our conversation with Jayk Purdy, Drew Ryan Scott, and T.C. — we think you’ll kinda love it.

[L-R: Bobby Edner, T.C. Carter, Jayk Purdy, Drew Ryan Scott & David Lei Brandt]

Hey guys! How have you been?
Drew: Hey!
Jayk: Hey! Uh, it’s been fun … a little bit of a roller coaster ride as of late, just because Tom left and T.C. replaced him. So, it’s been a nice little rollercoaster ride for the past couple of weeks.

Yeah, it’s been a minute since we’ve gotten to catch up!
Jayk: It’s been a long time.

Well what’s been going on this last year for you?
Jayk: Go for it Drew!
Drew: No, I thought I’d let you take this one.
Jayk: No, no it’s you.
T.C.: [Laughs]
Drew: Well, we recorded a brand new album … we’ve done some shows. You can visit Cinsay.com, and search Varsity FanClub you can check out some of the latest stuff on us. It’s a new website, and they have patents on internet technology that no other website has; like you can click on videos of us, and then buy what we’re wearing. So, it’s kind of cool … we launched our merchandise, finally. We’re working our tour coming up here in a couple months, actually less than a couple months. Just recording the new album, because the first album … we just scrapped the entire first album. So, we’re doing an entire new album.

Oh yeah? I was going to ask you, with the departure of Thomas [Fiss] if you would be going back in to re-record.
Jayk: No, it’s not so much about Thomas it’s just we were re-recording a lot of the new songs. Just because a lot of the songs had been leaked, we left Capitol and we couldn’t take those songs with us. It has nothing to do with Tom, we’re actually going to leave a few of those songs the he sings in up on our MySpace page. So, it has nothing to do with Tom and the recording process.

Well, the whole thing with Thomas leaving was that as sudden for you guys as it was for all of the fans?
Jayk: No, Tom kind of always tried his … it wasn’t his true calling, you know being in this type of band. He’s always loved to play guitar, he’s very chill, from San Diego; so he kind of has that laid back personality. This kind of experience is a little … a little … crazy I guess. He wasn’t expecting it to be so, so nutty.

So, you guys kind of saw it as inevitable … that it was going to happen?
Drew: Yeah, we saw it coming for a minute there.
Jayk: Lately it had kind of been more apparent and stuff, and we were trying to kind of brace ourselves for what was about to happen; and it did. It’s all good; we’re all on really good terms. Everyone’s got to do what they’ve got to do so…
Drew: Yeah, and he moved out and gave me his refrigerator.
Jayk: So, that’s always a positive … a refrigerator. He left him his fridge. [Laughs] But, no honestly he had to make a choice you know, and I’m glad he was honest about it so we could all move forth.

So, T.C. you’re new to the club, what was it like for you coming into this group that had already been established for over a year with a pretty dedicated fan-base?
T.C.: I’m actually … it’s great right now. It was a little weird at first because I was thinking that I had to live up to what they [the fans] knew as Varsity FanClub. I had to step into an already established band, but I think after my
first performance the other night the fans are a little more adjusted to Thomas not being there and seeing a new face. It’s good right now; I have a couple more dances to learn and get down but I think then I’ll be set. [Laughs]
Jayk: It also really helped that we’ve been hanging out for a few months now. So, it wasn’t like that awkward ‘we’re getting a new member, we have to go audition this person’ – it wasn’t anything like that. It was honestly like T.C. was our little angel that came out of nowhere, he did great.

Yeah, how did you guys actually meet?
Jayk: A friend of ours, mutual friend his name is Ben, we were actually playing basketball at the house one day and we needed an extra guy so he brought T.C.. Then we all clicked really well, started playing basketball every couple days a week and T.C. was there, we then found out that he danced and that he sang. It was kind of just … I don’t know, honestly all of us kind of had a feeling that he was … something was going to happen, I don’t know. Wither he joined the band or we just all kind of had a feeling that he was going to do something with us.

All the pieces just kind of fell into place.
Jayk: Yeah. [Laughs]
T.C.: Basically.

Now T.C. how long have you been singing and dancing?
T.C.: I’ve been singing and dancing for about eight or nine years now. I started when I was in fourth grade, and I’m almost in eleventh now. So yeah, I’ve been doing that a long time and I use to be a real theatre geek, I was in a lot of theatre productions and stuff like that. I started off dancing, I use to be in dance competitions and then I got into singing and acting. I moved out here for everything, but more of acting, and then I got into dance lessons out here more. Because I didn’t have a … I use to go to dance every day of the week basically in Georgia, where I’m from. So yeah, I’ve been doing this sort of thing for awhile now and it’s great to finally turn it into a business sort of thing, to do what I love to do as a career.

Ever thing you would end up in a “boy band”?
T.C.: I didn’t actually. [Laughs] I grew up listening to like ‘N Sync and stuff, I remember them. It’s crazy, at first when I found out I was going to be in Varsity and stuff it didn’t seem real at first. It seemed like a dream, and now it’s awesome; I’m loving every minute of it.

You said the show you did the other night was your first show? What was your favorite song to perform?
T.C.: Um, I think…
Jayk: ”Looking for Love”.
T.C.: Yeah. [Laughs] That was my favorite.

What about you guys? Drew, Jayk … after the shows you’ve been doing and with that live fan interaction what song is just the best to perform?
Jayk: Well, we re-vamped the “Love In the Club” song, so we have a few surprises in it where we … the whole day we all go buy a disposable camera. One of those cheap little three dollar disposable cameras, and we take pictures the whole day leading up to the show. Then there’s a part in the second verse where it says ‘Let me take your picture’, and the music stops … we pick up these disposable cameras with one picture left. We take a picture of ourselves on stage and throw it out to fans and whoever catches it gets to see what we did throughout that whole day when they go to develop them. So, it’s a cool like little surprise.

That is quite possibly the coolest thing someone has ever told me about during a show.
Drew: Really? That’s awesome.
T.C.: [Laughs]
Jayk: I mean we want to include fans on everything and we want them to see what we go through leading up, what we do, our little routines …little rituals. Now they can see it, whoever caT.C.hes the camera – the lucky camera.

So that’s one of your rituals, how about anything else? Is there maybe like a Varsity chant before you hit the stage?
Jayk: Drew…
Drew: We go ‘Varsity…Varsity…whoo’. [Laughs] No we wouldn’t do that, but we have this thing where we all do peace signs and we make like a big star with each other’s fingers. Then we all say a quote, using other people’s voice and say ‘1..2..3..VFC’ – and that’s that.

Now the last time we spoke with you guys you were just Varsity, since then you’ve added the FanClub. I’m sure you’ve answered the question a lot – but for those who don’t know, like myself, can you tell us why the name change?
Jayk: Well there was a band in Tennessee called ‘The Varsities’, so Capitol just decided to change it just because we didn’t want the confusion with that band and us. Plus, when you Google it the word ‘varsity’, like varsity cheerleading comes up; like so many things, you had to type in ‘varsity boy band’. So, we added the FanClub to make it easier for people to search us.

Yeah, I remember your MySpace url was ‘varsityfanclub’, right?
Jayk: Yeah, yeah our publicist saw it and was like ‘Well why not just that?’. We hated it at first to be honest, we hated it, but now it’s kind of cool now.
Drew: We did our first interview with it, and we go ‘Hi we’re Varsity [whispers] FanClub’. We like whispered it, it was funny. [Laughs]
Jayk: We hated it. But we’re cool with it, we love it now. It doesn’t make sense at all but whatever. [Laughs]

I know you are all multi-talented, so in addition to performing you also write music, especially you Drew. Have you been writing any songs you’ll be releasing, the fans don’t know about yet that you can tell u?
Jayk: Tons, go for it Drew.
T.C.: Yeah, go ahead.
Drew: Yes, there’s a lot of songs actually. There’s a bunch of cool new songs and we’re keeping obviously like the Pop sound, but we’re trying to make it a little more fun, little clubby so you can dance a lot more.
Jayk: The record pretty much could be done in a week to be honest.

So, did you guys write or co-write any?
Drew: Yeah, yeah … honestly all of them.
Jayk: We’re going to be trying to get in the studio again with RedOne, who obviously did Lady Gaga and he did our “Zero”.

Will you guys be doing any new shows soon, maybe on the east coast?
Drew: Yes, and we will definitely be on the east coast. We’re setting up everything right now; we’re also doing the called ‘Band House’ where you can watch us 24-7 on camera – cinsay.com/varsityfanclub. That’s what we were focusing on, then we had the member change, trying to get the tour set … kind of changed everything on timing but it’s all good.
Jayk: We also have a new photo shoot to get done, re-decorating the whole MySpace so make sure you check that it’s going to be pretty sweet.
Drew: We have to teach T.C. everything we already know plus all the new stuff.
Jayk: Our stage show is gonna be nuts.
T.C.: There’s finally a song that I get to teach you guys. [Laughs]
Jayk: He’s teaching us an intro dance that we’re doing. It’s gonna be pretty crazy.

Any idea what the next single is going to be?
Drew: Actually no, it was going to be “Zero” but that’s not it anymore because we’re doing all new stuff so we haven’t decided yet.
Jayk: Yeah, Capitol own the rights to “Zero” and we put it on the radio and it was actually like top 10 on satellite radio but then they had to take it down. It’s all good though, all good we have to thin positive.

So, the whole album is new then?
Jayk: Everything is new.

Well, that’s still exciting all new music.
Jayk: We like to call it … it’s gonna be our second first album.
Drew: Yeah we’ll call it Varsity FanClub 1.2.

Well, it was great talking with you guys again and hopefully we’ll see you soon.
Drew: Great talking to you too.
Jayk: Okay cool.
T.C.: Thanks!

FOR MORE ON VARSITY FANCLUB CHECK OUT:
· Official Site
· MySpace
· YouTube

Inside the August/September 2009
Online Issue

What do you get when you mix a little pop, some R&B, and fresh melodies? West coast boy band, SKYLINE!

Vartan Antonyan, Ryan Bradley, Erick Uphoff, Crespatrick De Los Reyes, and Shad Sager make up this cool group from Cali who have been hitting the LA scene this year and working on their debut album. We caught up with the guys this summer as they dished about their musical inspirations, opening for Colby O’Donis, their first single "Not The Only One", and much more.

[L-R: Erick Uphoff, Ryan Bradley, Shad Sager, Vartan Antonyan, & Crespatrick De Los Reyes]

Hey, well first off how are you all doing?
We’re doing great!

Why don’t you guys start off by telling me a bit about yourselves and how you got together as a group.
Vartan: I have basically been in the audition circuit for awhile, always auditioning for a lot of groups. I was just never making it to that final round, you know. So, I put some ads up wanting to see who was around and some cat from Chicago writes to me, who happens to be Ryan, and he’s like ‘I’m coming down to town this weekend. I definitely want to meet up with you and see what’s going on’. We met and there was a great vibe became friends automatically and three months later he ended up moving to LA. Through friends we met Crespatrick and Erick, and we got together at like the Cheesecake Factory, had dinner – which was really cool. Then I was driving down Hollywood Blvd. thinking we need a fifth guy, somebody with just an amazing voice and I see Shad just walking down the street. I kind of knew him because we had done musical theatre together back in high school.

So, I roll my window down … mind you it’s a car window, not a roll down window. [Laughs] Then I yell out ‘Shad what’s going on its V. You want to be in a group?’ and he’s like ‘Yeah’. The next day we met up and it was just kind of like history.

Well, that’s good how it all worked out then, pieces just falling together perfectly.
Vartan: Right.

Why the name Skyline? Who came up with it?
Ryan: What’s kind of funny is we all actually had a list of just different random names we were coming up with that could possibly be for the group. Ironically, Skyline just happened to be the only one that myself and C had both actually had without speaking prior to that. So, we kind of thought about that we’re like … ‘Skyline, hmm’. We all liked the name, figured you know what could that mean, so we put the meaning behind the name, and to us it just means the top. You know, ‘the top’, because when you look up you can’t see anything above the skyline. That’s the furthest point that you can reach or obtain, so to us that just means being superior, being on the top and that’s exactly where we believe that we’re headed … straight to the top.
Shad: To add to that it also worked out really interesting that we’re all from a different and unique skyline ourselves, in our hometowns and stuff.

Oh really, so you’re all from different places?
Shad: I’m from Seattle.
Erick: I’m originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Vartan: Born and raised in LA baby!
Ryan: As Vartan said earlier, I’m from Chicago.
Crespatrick: And I am from Washington, D.C.

You guys really are from all over.
Ryan: Oh yeah, everywhere. [Laughs]

Who would you say are some of your musical influences … either individually or as a group?
Crespatrick: Well, we have a lot of inspirations; it ranges from a lot of groups like Boyz II Men and Michael Jackson .. ‘N Sync. We even go back to further groups like Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, Dion & The Belmonts; a lot of classic groups with a lot of harmony, old school harmonies – a lot of that. That’s where we get inspiration from.

Frankie Valli and the Four Season, that’s good. I grew up listening them, Michael Jackson, The Temptations too. But, Frankie Valli that’s pretty random, I don’t think I remember anyone mentioning them before.
All: [Laugh]Yeah!
Crespatrick: Well, I love Frankie Valli.

How would you describe the Skyline sound?
Erick: Our sound is pretty unique actually. We kind of add little flavors, because there are five of us and we each have a different background vocally. So, when we come together our sound doesn’t really fit into like Pop, R&B or anything like that. It’s kind of a melting pot of all these different sounds. We have a little bit of Rock, little of Pop, little Hip Hop, R&B … just kind of all put together. Even some musical theatre, so it’s kind of tough to put us in a label. We just like to make good music, it doesn’t really matter what our style is.

You know you bring up a good point, the melting pot I think goes for all music out right now. You can’t really classify anyone into one genre these days. But also, you’ve mentioned you get inspiration from groups like Boyz II Men. So, how do you feel about the term boy band?
Erick: I think ‘boy band’, is a term loosely used to generalize the ‘N Sync’s and Backstreet Boys that came out in 2000 era when Pop music really kind of made a huge stand. You know you had Britney Spears and all these people that were kind of in the limelight with this Pop music sound. I think ‘boy band’ was definitely something they did, I mean there were other boy bands like Boyz II Men and even The Beatles, before that The Monkees … just boys that got together. But, we kind of … I mean we kind of like the term ‘boy band’, we respect it; at the same time we’re more than that because we’re a group. We’re not just boys, we’re men – we can cross all genres and age groups. A lot of people think boy bands are … they put them in a pocket and say ‘okay, this is a boy band’, but we’re more than that.

I think, it’s cool we pay homage to it, but we’re definitely a little deeper than ‘boy band’.

Well you mention Backstreet Boys and Boyz II Men, when they both came out they were well into their twenties … essentially a ‘man band’. Even ‘N Sync, most of them were older than the ‘boy bands’ that are out now. Plus, I’ve always looked at Backstreet Boys as more R&B then Pop music.
Vartan: Right. To me the ‘boy band’ thing is definitely a legendary term; it just signifies pandemonium and phenomenon to me, because every ‘boy band’ that has come out has influenced music so much. But, Skyline is different because we try not to get put into the pocket of bubblegum or really nailed down to one demographic. Where we will all share the same influences, like we love and respect Boyz II Men, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, and Frankie Valli … we do all come from separate vocal, dance, and just lifestyles. Different backgrounds that when we come together it kind of transcends that pocketing of a specific genre of music that is demographically for one sort of person. We feel like our music can reach out to so many more.

So, while you are a band of boys, you just feel you basically have a bit more of your own flavor?
All: Yeah.
Shad: Yeah, we’re really a group of guys with different talents and flavors. We have a member that can rap and if you listen to how we sing and what we put into it, it is different than what you would consider to be a typical ‘boy band’.

But, you aren’t offended by the term then?
Shad: Not at all.
All: No, no.
Vartan: To be even categorized and compared to ‘N Sync, Backstreet Boys and even The Beatles … it’s amazing to us. Because they moved so many people with their music, touched so many lives and at the end of the day that’s what is important to us. Now that we have gained a little bit of success and we see our music touching people’s lives, people can call us whatever they want … we know what we’re doing is right and true to our hearts. So, that’s all that matters at the end of the day.

Okay, well you just recently opened up for songster Colby O’Donis. What was that like for you?
Ryan: That was actually I’d say a mind blowing experience for all of us. We all loved being on stage, we had a lot of people that came out to support us in our first full actual concert that we did. We were all a little nervous just like everyone usually is, just like you should be before you go on for a big show. If you’re not nervous you’re doing something wrong. [Laughs] That’s what we always say, our manager tells us that and we definitely agree with that. But the show itself was definitely incredible. I think the biggest thing we take away from what we do is just the effect we have on all our fans. Just looking at all their faces, seeing how we touched their lives … it’s an amazing feeling for us. It makes us love to get up every day and do what we do; we’re so blessed to be able to do this.

That’s what it’s all about. Did you get to meet or hang out with Colby?
Erick: Yeah, we got to meet him afterwards and watch him perform. He’s an amazingly talented cat so; even to just share the stage with him was a true honor. He’s very cool, very nice to us and really impressed with what we did too. So, it was very cool to join him – just a night of celebration for all of us.

It would be cool to see maybe a little duet between you guys. I could see that, and he is just crazy on that guitar.
Erick: For sure.
Vartan: We’ll see what happens. You never know!

Your first single is “Not the Only One”, currently on iTunes; can you tell us the story behind the track?
Crespatrick: The song is a heartbreak song, definitely something a lot of people can relate to. Pretty much everyone goes through heartbreaking hard times in different relationships in their lives. It’s something in the song that we realize everyone does go through, because you see it on a daily basis. Some of the tag lines on there … ‘we’re not special, ‘cause we’re not the only ones that go through this’. It’s kind of like a sad realization in the end that we’re not the only ones that go through this. It was a song given to us by one of my best friends who’s an amazing writer and we just really connected with it. We just put our heart and soul into it.

Well, it sounds really good. I like it.
Vartan: Have you bought it on iTunes yet? [Laughs] If not, you need to go get it.

It’s definitely like a different first single, not a very uppity Pop kind of sound. I like it.
Vartan: We do have a lot of upbeat stuff, but we’re really proud of that song because we really put our hearts and souls into it. We don’t put anything out until we feel like Skyline is on that song, we don’t just take it and are like ‘okay, here it is’. We lived with that song for six months, helped arrange it, pick out the parts … it’s just a beautiful process. That song just means so much to us, and we’re very proud that we can actually sing on that record. You know you think ‘boy band’ and you typically think first record ‘auto tune’ and really crappy dancing. But we just wanted to come out and show people that we can sing and we have talent.
Erick: The other cool thing about “Not the Only One” that a lot of people may not know, it was originally written as an a cappella song. Five part a cappella harmony, and then we took it to and amazingly talented producer, Wes Quave, who’s also a friend of ours. He took what we had done a cappella and then kind of produced it and made it into the track that you can now buy on iTunes. So, it really does have all five of our voices, and five part harmony even singing background vocals that aren’t even words … do’s and da’s, that kind of fill out the song along with the instrumentation. Kind of a cool new wave thing that not many people are doing.
Crespatrick: Another thing about that song, the influences like Frankie Valli and Dion & The Belmonts, which is those straight ooh’s and ahh’s in the background as well as the front man singing and then switch it up. So, you can kind of see that influence on that song. My friend, he shares a lot of the same influences that we do. So, it was great to work with him.
Ryan: We love the song; the song for us I must say is a great first impression, because that’s really what it’s all about. You know when you step on to the scene, you’re up and coming, you’re new, you’re fresh out there. It’s all about your first impression, that’s what people take from you, and that’s what is going to live with you for the rest of your career. So, we really didn’t want to be that group that comes out and falls into just that ‘boy band’ category, we want people to know that when we come onto the scene we’re bringing realness to the industry, bringing realness in our music. All of our music is totally relatable; we want people to be able to relate to it. Anything they’re struggling with or going through, we want them to be able to turn on our music to help them overcome whatever it may be. That’s what we really wanted to do with our first impression, just let people know that we’re definitely real about what we do.

Are you guys working on a full album right now?
Vartan: We recorded four or five songs so far, and every song in the 30 minute set that we perform is different. They all have a different vibe. One is beautiful ballad with piano and violin, there’s one amazingly up-tempo/club banger, and one that kind of has an a cappella feel to it. So, we just try to make sure everything is diverse because we don’t want to ever make music that’s going to sound like one song is the whole album, and you’ve kind of rewind through it.

Yeah, that album where you can play it straight through without skipping any tracks.
Vartan: Yes, because we are so diverse and in what we love so we want to represent from every angle. Of course it’s going to fall under one umbrella, but we want that to branch out and have different spices and different flavors from all forms of music.
Erick: Right now, we’re just trying to make as much good music as possible. We’re not necessarily working towards building an album; we’re just working to continue to make good music. Eventually if an album comes out of that right now that’s great, but that’s not our main focus. Our main focus is to get our name out there and start performing, just get a following … get the word out.

We heard you were recently chosen to be in the Cricket Wireless commercial ad. How did that come about and when will we get to see it?
Erick: We shot it maybe a couple of months ago; it’s apparently airing some places already. It’s kind of spotty, it’s not a national commercial … it’s a regional one. But, it’s going to play in different cities around the country, wherever Cricket Wireless is mainly distributed. It was a blast to work on that project. I was with this dance agent, and they approached me with ‘Hey you’re in this boy band, could we represent them commercially’. They had this audition, and it was our first time auditioning for anything – we went out and put together our version of Aretha Franklin’s “Respect”. That was the Cricket Wireless campaign … ‘respect’, and that was something we were all very in tune with as well. We put together our own a cappella version of that with some dance moves, took it to the first audition and ended up booking it and the rest is history. It was just an awesome experience to be on set, with a bunch of other talented musicians there as well. I’m not really sure how long the campaign is going to run, but I think you can definitely find it somewhere online.

Do you guys have any shows coming up soon? Maybe headed over to the east coast?
Shad: Um, we aren’t making it out to the east coast just yet, but we do have a show coming up on the 13th [June] at the Key Club. It’s more of a intimate setting, not so much dancing; more of us just singing our songs and just trying to really get feedback from the crowd.

Before we go what would you like the readers of Fanvasion to know about Skyline?
Vartan: I would say the most important thing about Skyline is … we might be a ‘boy band’, but I feel like we are so different in how we’ve even been assembled that I feel like it puts us in a different category. Because we weren’t put together by a big time manager or like a big time producer; we’re all friends, we put this together ourselves. We began building our empire by just being together, building chemistry and connection; then we found amazing people like our manager and all the songwriters and producers who joined our team. It’s been a blessing and I feel like … you know, you see people like Danity Kane break up and people question their bond and their genuineness. But with us I really consider these four guys my brothers, we like to hang out together, do everything together and I feel like beyond the songs and talent that’s the key to success and longevity … is really liking each other. [Laughs]
Erick: Just to add to what V is saying, we wear these Skyline dog tags around our necks with our names on them to kind of symbolize our bond together and our fight that we’re going to take on everything as a group. This is kind of our journey, but we want everyone to know this is real. That it’s a 100% genuine and that we love so much what we do.

So, you guys move as a unit … a family.
Crespatrick: Of course.
Erick: Amen.

Well, it’s a blast to talk with you guys tonight.
Vartan: Oh, you’re amazing.
Ryan: Thank you! Take care.
Crespatrick: We appreciate it very much.

FOR MORE ON SKYLINE CHECK OUT:
· Official Site
· MySpace
· YouTube

Inside the August/September 2009
Online Issue

Hi Kim! How are you?
Hi Courtney, I’m good.

How did you get involved with pursuing a career in music?
Yeah, I’ve been singing since I would say about nine or ten years old. I put my first single out in 2000 on the Dawson’s Creek soundtrack, called “Letting Go” and it was on Columbia Records. It’s been a long journey, I’ve been on several labels and finally with “Feel Your Love” having my first Top 40 hit.

Yeah, you mentioned Dawson’s Creek, that’s actually when I first became familiar with you.
Oh really?

Yes I was an avid fan of the show and the music. One thing I’ve noticed with Dawson’s Creek and shows like The OC, One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl they are pretty much an outlet for introducing new artists.
Absolutely.

What was it like for you at the time when your song was on the show?
Oh it was amazing. It happened so quickly when I got signed that you kind of don’t realize the impact. I guess I didn’t know how big it was, because now I feel like I’m working harder, harder now than I ever did. I guess being on a major label had its perks, but it lost its shuffle so.

Well I still think it was one of the best songs that played on Dawson’s Creek.
Oh thank you! It’s so funny; when people connect the dots … I have people that like live for that song. I’ve had fans or girls like crying that it helped with their relationship or whatever, but it’s pretty amazing the power of it.

Oh yeah those that say ‘oh it’s my break up song’.
Yeah, yes I know it’s crazy.

So between then and now how have things been going for you? We know you’ve gone between labels.
Releasing singles … I mean I’ve done many other things with that nine year span there. I’ve definitely had other dance singles on the charts. You know, been plugging away doing several other things, recorded and toured in Europe, Epic Records … had a couple of singles released there. So, like I said I’ve been in the game a long time, but just finally getting some more recognition … mainstream recognition.

Yeah, when I first heard your new song on the radio, they said “Kim Sozzi” … and I was thinking ‘wait I know her’.
Aww, I know I’ve been around. I’m telling you I’ve been around a long time. So I have fans from like you said Dawson’s Creek, Germany, from the dance world, you know all over. Hopefully they all just keep supporting me and helping me continue to build a fanbase.

You know “Letting Go” is so different from “Feel Your Love” so how would you say your sound has really changed?
My whole philosophy on life is you have to stay current, stick with the times. You know the world is different than it was nine years ago; music is different. How I am as a person is different … just everything is different. I don’t want to say stop doing what I was doing ten years ago, I love dance music.

“Just One Day” has been in the making for a bit and you just released it this summer. How does it feel to finally have it out there?
I am so happy, I am ecstatic. When I signed to Ultra Records I had three singles and then they called for an album; “Feel Your Love” is actually the first single off the album. Yeah, it’s been like since 2006 but finally my first debut … it’s great. There’s definitely some very personal songs on the album.

What’s your most personal?
I mean it doesn’t really … now that I’m in a much better place … “Secret Love” was like a very torturous song for me, something that I wrote. That one and what else … I mean I love the album or I wouldn’t have put all the songs on there. It’s really good, being really well received; the fans are loving it, great feedback so I can’t really complain.

And “Feel Your Love” has just been kicking butt on the radio.
I know! Yeah, it’s like a top 10, top 5 record in New York, my hometown. There’s nothing better than like your friends and family, everyone hearing it in the car, at the gym … wherever. It’s just like the best thing ever.

How do you follow that up? I mean do you have any plans for next single? Feeling the pressure?
Yeah, mhmm yeah … it’s funny because a couple of station had already added “Kiss Me Back”, which is number two on the album, and it’s doing well feedback has been really good. Then another station here in New York, a big station, has added “Secret Love” so I guess we’ll see what happens. They’re playing “Secret Love” already, they love it and I really have no control over what stations play. I mean there are other stations that have added “Open Up Your Heart”, I guess once you have an album out program directors can kind of do whatever they want. So, we’ll see what happens, I’m just happy that the album is selling well and that you can get it on iTunes.

Cascada did a remix to your song “Break Up”, and recently performed on the roster at KTU’s Beatstock with you. Any chance of you both collaborating again in the future?
You know what, I don’t know. I don’t want to feel like now we’re competition because back then we weren’t. I was happy that they wanted to collaborate a couple of years ago, but I really don’t know. I mean I’m friends with everybody, the two producers and with Natalie; it just hasn’t been talked about lately. I love Cascada don’t get me wrong but I’d love to work with David Guetta, yeah that would be like my next … Id’ have to stalk him or something.

That’s what’s so great about Twitter … you can. [Laughs]
I know! [Laughs] I have some of my own stalkers yeah.

And it’s legal.
It’s crazy, it’s crazy. [Laughs] But yeah that’s kind of who I’m hoping to collaborate with next.

Speaking of Beatstock, we heard there was over 20,000 people at both shows. How do you prepare yourself to perform in front of that big of a crowd?
Yeah, it was incredible! It’s funny because at the second night at Jones Beach my mic cut out, and I knew something was messing up but I didn’t know that I had shut out. What’s crazy is I just plugged along kept doing my thing because you never want to show the crowd that there’s a problem. I actually got a write up in the New York Times, the whole entire KTU event actually got a write up, but the whole opening paragraph was about how the sound went out and how well I handled it. How dance artists can really sing, and it was just a great article for people in my genre.

It’s funny you mention that because I was recently talking with someone about how with a lot of dance songs it’s hard to sing along because some tracks are basically remixed to give it that club sound. Makes you wonder how those are performed live, but dance artists do really sing.
Oh you mean the delay and stuff as far as production? I hear what you’re saying, but you can always find a way. That’s why the live version is sometimes different than the radio versions you know … make it work.

I was hoping to make it out to Beatstock, but unfortunately couldn’t.
It was really a good show. I think it was even sold out, I know it was at Jones Beach. I got to say they did a really, really spectacular job. Everything was really A+.

Any new shows you’ve got coming up?
Umm, I was just in Rochester which was a lot of fun doing a concert for PX Live. I know I have thing coming up, my manager is actually out of town for three days where gonna do a catch up once she gets back. But, I’ll be working the record selling the album.

Awesome, well thank you so much. I had a lot of fun speaking with you.
Thank you for doing the interview!

FOR MORE ON KIM CHECK OUT:
· Official Site
· Official MySpace
· Official Twitter

"FEEL YOUR LOVE"

AVAILABLE NOW ON ITUNES!

Read on and get to know Sissy Wish…

You know I’d love to learn some about you. When did you get your start in music?
Alright, I kind of started when I was about six years old. Everything was because of feeling good, because my parents really wanted me to do something that had to do with music. So, they told to give me a clarinet and play in a school band. I realized that as long as with melodies out of it, I wanted to do it for like ten years or something. They allowed me to play piano at the same time so I have a lot to do with music. But, I didn’t make any songs until I was maybe sixteen years old.

Oh wow, you started pretty young.
Well my taste wasn’t … that was kind of low before I was sixteen years old. [Laughs] I bought my first album when I was like fifteen, and my brother he ran after me with a knife because he was so ticked off it was Ace of Base. So, he forced me to have research on different kinds of music. I felt threatened I had to do it and then I realized afterwards that it was a good idea.

How did you come up with the name Sissy Wish?
Uh, that was a long long time ago, so I didn’t have any choice when I was like twenty-three. I really wanted to change that name, but I realized why would I do that when I already have had it for like five years or something. The reason why, maybe because I was reading a lot of Astrid Lindgren at that time. You know that book writer? It’s a boy that she wrote about a lot, it’s called ‘Per Pusling’. Maybe there’s something on the net in American, I don’t know what it’s called in American. But, Per Pusling he is like the character I wanted to be like. I think like the girlish version of Per Pusling, is kind of what I came up with Sissy Wish. It’s like a similar thing to Per Pusling, except for that he is boy and I am girl.

How would you describe your music to someone who hasn’t heard it yet?
I think that the music I’m making now has nothing to do with like my musical skills. I really want to use its time on finding the right sound and have fun with the sounds. Mix them together and not be afraid of having too much on the songs, and when it’s too much just to take away. Like that stuff that’s not the most important. So, I really use lots of time with researching on everything I find in a room and I don’t care about if it’s on piano or full or a chair. I think compared to the others that I have released in Norway, it’s more fun.

Your album Beauties Never Die will be released early this fall; it’s your third album and has actually been out for sometime overseas. Can you tell me a little bit about the record?
Yeah, I have been sitting in my studio working for like one and a half years, before I went to the studio working with a producer. So I had a lot of demonstration stuff that we had when I went to my producer and started working with it. At the same time I was also having help from my band, at that time … that I haven’t anymore because now I’m like playing this like duo. So, um we were like maybe five people in the studio trying to work out the demonstrations that I’d done in my own studio. Then we changed some digital sounds with bird sounds, just not to make it too flat and cold. To warm everything up just a little bit with the earth instruments. As I said, I don’t have that much musical skills that I wanted to make this album the best way. So, I had to have some help from my friends and my backing band to play the stuff that I wanted to have on the album that was already played in a sense on keyboard.

It’s a very easy listening album, really mellow. Would you say it’s much different  from  your first two albums, You May Breathe… and Tuning In?
No, I think that the only … that the most important thing that you can see the difference is my self-confidence. I’ve always tried to make melody first before the lyrics, and it has always been a first priority to work on the melodies to get it like perfect when I start to record it. That’s why its so many hundred years on one song at a time. [Laughs] Usually I try to make one chorus and then after two days I’ll have to check if it’s like as good as it was. Then maybe change the whole chorus again because the verse was maybe not so good with it. Everything is like that, that’s how I work. I can’t work with anyone I have to work alone at first.

Where do you get your songwriting inspiration from? What inspires you?
It’s like everything, especially even being walking around. It’s got nothing to do with music I think, where I get my inspiration from … just daily life.

And Beauties Never Die is actually named after a track on the record, what’s the song about?
I don’t know really because … you can tell kind of … and it’s really important for me that people can write my stuff and make their own opinions. It’s like you have your downs and you have your ups, it has nothing to do with how you look; it’s the way you act … the way you decided to do stuff.

Is it more like you inner beauty never dies?
Well, it’s not about me really, it’s about everyone. It’s a word that I can’t figure out what’s in English. But, when in the end you get use to the rejection everywhere, people are always after you because its too much selfishness everywhere. As long as you take your own decisions, you will in the end feel like it’s worth doing that and not go other ways like change your opinions. Because you care to do your own things, not because the other opinions are stronger than you.

You’ll be touring a bit later on in the year but I heard you’ll be playing the annual Modern Sky Festival in Beijing, that’s so exciting! Will this be your first time in China?
Oh yeah, yeah that will be really interesting. I wonder how they will look at me when they see how tall I am compared to them. They will be really terrified I think. [Laughs]

Are there any US tour plans in the works?
Yeah! That’s why we’re here because I think it’s really important to do something before the album will be released. It’s really important to also come back after the release, to show the songs live, if people come maybe more will listen to it in September. But maybe we will help more people to find out about the music if we come here and promote.

Well, thank you so much for chatting with me. We definitely look forward to seeing you live soon.
Yeah, I hope I see you soon, thank you.

FOR MORE ON SISSY WISH CHECK OUT:
· Official Site
· Official MySpace

"BEAUTIES NEVER DIE"

BUY IT NOW ON ITUNES!

photos: Stian Anderson

Hi Susan, how are you?!
Wonderful, thanks.

So, can you tell us a bit about how you got into performing?
I’ve always had the desire to perform since I was 3 years old, everything else happened from there.

Which musical artist would you say have inspired you?
So many I can’t name them all, I love Mariah, Whitney, Elvis!, Michael, Celine. They are all very successful and talented.

Is there a certain process you go through in choosing the music you record?
I like to think how this will effect people, is it positive, can people relate to it?

For someone who has never heard of you before how would you describe your music?
Emotion, fun, passionate.

What’s the one CD you would never be able to live without and why?
Well I have one of the biggest cd collections, so narrowing that down is close to impossible. I love Christian music, I can’t live without God and worship.

Do you write your own music, and if so what’s the process you go through when writing a song?
I write and I work with songwriters. I just write from personal experiences.

What’s your favorite performance yet?
That will be when I perform in front of a sold out coliseum. Hehe, hasn’t happened yet!

Do you have any exciting plans coming up? New shows, single?
Yes! I don’t have any dates yet.

Is there anything you’d like to say to the people who may be reading this?
Thanks, and check out my site!! Lots of Love!!!

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer our questions. Good luck with everything!
Thank you so much, and I appreciate the interview. Take care!!

For those who haven’t heard of you can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m O-Solo…the Last Level of Rap (aka Kid chorus). I’m 23 years old from Irvington, New Jersey (Newark). Just prepare yourself for the Last Level.

Why did you pick the stage name O-Solo?
When my brother was in jail and my cousin was away, I went around and battle people on the streets. I used to battle 9 people at a time…I came out the winner in all those battles and my best-friend, Houlihan gave me that name after he saw me come out of the battles solo, by myself…O-Solo.

When did you first realize you wanted to pursue rapping as a career?
I become interested in music ever since I was 7 years old, singing in church. I was the lead singer in Jesus is Coming Baptist Church on Springfield Avenue in Newark. I had a really high pitched voice back then but as my voice deepened, I began to rap. I had an opportunity to attend a seminar for rappers and met Scarface. He offered me a record deal but I was signed at the time. I appeared on BET’s 106 & Park Freestyle Friday and was four times champion.

You recently opened up for Julez Santana, what was that experience like for you?
It was nice performing with Julez Santana. The Cheetah night club is a very nice spot. I did my thang and represented.

Is there any song of yours that really holds an importance to you?
“Why would a Brother Talk” and “Alright Now Big Baby”. All my songs are inspired by my life and experiences.

Who are some artist that you would like to collaborate with in the future?
Jay-Z, Jesse Powell and Eminem.

Who would you say is the biggest influence in your life and why?
My mom and my aunt had the biggest influence on my life. My aunt brought my family back together after we were all placed in different foster and orphanage homes. I know where my brothers and sisters are today and I can’t thank my aunt enough for that.

Do you have any plans for an album in the future?
Yes, I’m working on it now. So far I have worked with The Track Boyz they are the guys who produced "Air Force Ones" for Nelly, I also have worked with Spike & Jamal they produced Monica, #1 hit "So Gone". Also Eddie F, and Fantom who did "Magic Stick" for Lil’ Kim and 50 cent. So many talented producers. Right now I am in negotiations with Def Jam.

Where do you see yourself with your career in the next 5 years?
In five years, I hope to move further in my music career. I would love to make my own beats someday. I am learning the board as we speak.

What message would you like to send out through your music?
Love, peace and happiness.