Input Meets... Xavier Miller

Age

Younger than Kid Rock, Keith Urban, Rivers Cuomo of weazer, and Billy Joe from Green Day, older than Justin Bieber

Place of birth

New Haven Ct. same place Jim Morrison got maced and arrested for indecent exposure

Current residence ?


Los Angeles Ca which needs no introduction

What genre of music do you listen to mostly ?


  Mostly Rock, Country, Classic Rock, I do listen to all genres, from the early blues to some modern pop, you know I listen to a lot of different music


What was the first album you ever brought ?


Black Sabbath  "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" my father took it back because he said it was sac religious that's OK I love my father and of course I brought it again like we do ..great record...


First concert ?


It was KISS, with Ted Nugent opening up, that guy is a madman

Have you been to the UK ?


Yes, lay over I stayed at The St. Giles Hotel in London, played at the bar there, then walked around amazed at the old architecture, especially the churches, wow amazing, then took off to the old soviet union Uzbekistan, and rocked the casbah!


You performed your music for the troops stationed in the middle east, what was that like ?


Amazing, going from base to base in Afghanistan, I had the best security the U.S. army, great shows, great audience, it was very rewarding performing for them, they are the hero's, and it was a rough time for them, it was Christmas time.

Where do you perform in the states ?


I've performed all over the states, my favourite places to play though, are on the Sunset Strip, like The Viper Room, The Whiskey A Go Go, The Roxy, I also loved The Key Club, and Cat Club, both have closed down which is a scary trend. You know I perform a lot when I'm performing, right now I am focusing on making the new record..

Tell us about the new record

Well I'm recording it in Burbank California, co producing it with my friend Linous Bernal I have amazing talent on it, like my friend Kellii Scott playing drums who is a member of the band Failure, great band who is doing amazing. Also another great friend, blues legend Malcom Lukans plays organ and bass on keyboard, Malcom also played on all those great Roy Buccanon records, its going to be a great album everyone loves the songs..

Who are the greatest supporters of your music?

 Well my family , and so many friends, like everyone I just mentioned who's working on this record, and of coarse the fans, they are the ones who really keep you going, also Joe Steals who played guitar in Lizzy Borden's  Starwood, who I co produced the last album with "The Last Song On Radio" which you can get today on iTunes. Joe moved to Mexico and is producing  records over there, he also helps me with my website and some social media stuff, great guy...


What was the name of the first song you wrote, what was it about, and what inspired you to write it ?

It was called My First Girlfriend, it went, if you saw her you would go wild yeah yeah yeah yeah, I was like 7 years old, I didn't have a girlfriend, chased a lot of them around the playground though, I'm not sure what inspired me, I was already listening to my moms Beatles albums, so I'd have to say, The Beatles inspired me, hey they were from Liverpool!

Do you set targets for yourself to reach ?
  
I do set targets, I want to have four songs recorded and mastered by April, then I will set performing goals. I am also writing a song for a movie which I need to have ready to record by February, other than that, I just write when I feel it, and if I feel blocked, I will set aside a timed 30 minutes, to just write and not judge it, till something magical happens..


                                                      

Check out Xavier Millers Social Media Sites Here



Website : http://www.xaviermillerofficial.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xaviermillerofficial

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC57XMImf5vU1lFLVTzI6pPg/?sub_confirmation=1

Google+: +Xavier Miller

Twitter: @xaviermiller

Don't Forget to like, follow and subscribe for more interviews and videos of the best up and coming musicians from around the world!!

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Input Meets... Natalie Rogers Coming 2nd February

Input Meets... Ron Gunz

              We had the opportunity to speak with Ron and ask him a few questions. Here is what he had to say:

Age: 29
(I'll be 30 on March 22nd this year)

What Genre/s of music do you listen to?

 For the most part, a lot of Alternative, Hard Rock and Metal. Once in a while it'll strike me to listen to some classic Rock or Latin music. Whether it's something like Queen, Medadeth, Evergrey, Iron Maiden, Alter Bridge, Demon Hunter, Killswitch Engage or Santana, anything that gives me some punch for work, working out or even some reflective thinking, it will hit my earbuds!

First album you bought ?


I would have to go with the Nu Nation Project by Kirk Franklin. Funny how the first record I bought was a Gospel/Rap/R&B album but very much worth it as it was fun, diverse and had its reflective moments too.

First concert you went to ?

Creed live at Jones Beach 2009. It was the very first time I got to actually see a live concert, especially considering that Creed was the very first rock band I ever actually listened to, given that I came from a heavily rooted Gospel and Latin type of family.

What is the significance of the face paint that you ware in the pictures, why do you ware the paint and when did you start wearing it? 

Originally, the face paint was supposed to be for Halloween at my job! Then as I started to tinker with it, it got me thinking, "hey, I'm out there as is being this guitar player with green hair, how about I just go on ahead and slap some paint on too?". Even after Halloween went by, 

       The face paint I did was a cross between The Joker from the Batman comics and the 80's face paint that Sting from WCW used to put on. Sure enough, John 5 is another artist I listen to and he just so happens to mess around with face paint so no, I'm not part of The Devil's Rejects or living in a House of 1000 Corpses!

What was it like growing up in Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY?


It was like seeing a world change over and over! As a kid, I grew up at a time when you had drive-by robberies, people picking up prostitutes and people shooting up drugs or having sex in the stairwells in cooperative buildings and co-ops are not supposed to be anything like projects and were supposed to be safer and with security!

When the 90s came around, amidst all the things that went on with racial profiling, crime saw a serious cutting down. We were able to safely walk outside even at 2am and you didn't have to fear break-ins or let alone the kind of chaos that ensued in the 80s. 

Before I moved to Tampa in August 2013, the Williamsburg I knew began to change again. More affluent folks were migrating either from the midwest or from the Lower East Side of Manhattan and before you know it, there was extra police presence, more organic food shops (which was great) but then in the process you had more bars opening up left and right (just check out Grand St. near Bedford Ave. in Williamsburg and you'll see what I mean), small condo buildings built here and there but at the same time, rent was skyrocketing, people that lived over 20 years in Williamsburg are either scratching their way into paying rent or are forced to move outside of the state altogether, like myself.

As for the music scene, the 80s here were all about hip hop, the 90s saw even more of that here but you also had a lot of salsa and merengue playing in car radios, bachata if you were in a barber shop and from the late 90s and early 2000s you saw a hint of post-grunge come on. It is as though the whole hair metal, thrash and grunge scene totally skipped Williamsburg! Around 2003, reggaeton was everywhere and to this day, while the indie rock scene is growing there and you have somewhat of a good metal audience there, you still have events involving bachata, salsa and merengue artists. In the end, regardless of the gentrification, Williamsburg, at its core, has a strong Hispanic and Black community of which set it apart throughout my childhood.

Have you ever been to the UK?

Not yet although my wife has but I would love to visit someday!


Have you ever performed outside of the US if no tell us more about playing in the US and other places you have played there ! 


Unless you count playing classical guitar in front of my grandfather's house, I would say no. Haha!


Who peer pressured you into playing guitar and why ?


My uncle Rex. At the time, everyone was well into singing in church but suddenly he started learning guitar and I guess he saw that I could do more than just sing. Dear God I did not want to play guitar, I just wanted to focus on singing and lyric writing.


Are you glad that your uncle made you pick the guitar up?

I am more than glad he gave me the push! As a matter of fact, my only regret is that I didn't learn sooner. It didn't just end there either because by 2007, I also learned bass and then since 2009 up to now, I took an interest in learning to program drums and even a touch of synths and piano. I even now hold in my hand my uncle's one and only guitar, which is a discontinued 1985 Ibanez Axstar!


Where Was Your fist gig ? what was the experience like ? how old was you when you performed your first gig ?


 It was a spanish church in Red Hook called Jovenes Cristianos (Christian Youth). The place could pack at least 40-50 people. Very woodsy environment, acoustics were very dark but I liked it. I'm surprised that to this day, I didn't suffer stage fright given that I had hardly played guitar for two years but already playing live. It was fun as it led to me playing in other church events and led later on to public parks like McCarren Park and even performing at Riker's Island.

How frequently do you Gig/practice? what are some of the local venues on your circuit ?


 I have yet to do gigs here in Tampa as it has been almost 2 years of readjusting to an entirely different environment, let alone adjusting to being a husband, father while also working. As for local area that come to mind, the Boba Cafe, which they do live open mic and sometimes you got people from the USF school coming in with a band or two to chime in. You definitely have The Ritz in Ybor where you've had names like Black Label Society, In This Moment, Devil Wears Prada and even Amon Amarth play there, The Tampa Bay Times Forum which have had some bands play there sometimes like Skillet or Red and even something small like the Pegasus Lounge and even the famous Skipper's Smokehouse, where they'll have live bands play on (I believe) Wednesdays and Thursdays.

What is the name of the first song you wrote? what is it about? and what inspired you to write it?


 Back when I was with one of my first bands, Robbed N Restored, I had written Breakup. The song's always been about learning to break up with things that just weigh down on you. Of course, some would think it's yet another song about dumping an ex but in all actuality it was more towards depression that I would go through, anger, frustration and for some people this song would hit them close when it came to letting go of addiction, isolation, coping with loss and so forth.


Do you have family and friends who support you?


My parents have always been #1 on the list as they raised me and always showed support with anything i set myself to do -- whether it was through helping me through college, getting me a guitar, driving me to a gig or showing me how to change my first set of strings.


Do any of them play music and have you played in any bands ?


 My uncle Rex was in a church group years ago when he started learning guitar in a church group called La Cumbre. My brother played drums sometimes at church as a kid and my grandfather Paco played a lot of folksy, latin gospel on guitar.


What was it about A Knight's Tale that inspired you to start writing ?


 That scene where the knight didn't know how to profess his love, so he starts writing poetry. I had a crush on this girl in high school and it just so happened that this specific scene influenced me to start doing poetry, which eventually led to me writing lyrics for songs later and with guitar, learned to compose instrumentals.

Do you set yourself targets to reach musically? E.g play so many gigs a month or write/record so many songs a month?


 My first record in itself was a target. The mission in Where MY Voice Cannot Speak was to put an album out where I put my emotions and expression in, no matter how simple, via lead guitar. For my next record, Bacon Salsa, the goal is higher. There's going to be vocals, better drum programming  and more guitar work and the main target is overall better songwriting. I looked at what I did on the first record and now, with better resources at home, do more!

Your Book Vol. 1 came out in 2012. Have you started writing Vol. 2 and is it set for release soon?


 No Vol. 2 yet however I am in the process of writing a comedy action novel called The Ballad of DJ Brimmstone Firebutt! I promise it will be quite humorous. I'm also in process of transcribing my apocalyptic novel, "4", which is almost done in terms of writing. I want to say that Brimmstone may be out sometime 2016 or 2017 depending but I do aim to release 4 as early as late 2015 or mid-2016


You Write books, poems and songs out of the three what is your biggest passion and why?


Writing in itself is the biggest passion for me because without the ability to write, the poetry wouldn't happen, the songwriting wouldn't happen and even the books couldn't happen. Music became an extension and a means to an end.


Do you have a favourite song from your first album. if so why is It your favourite and what inspired you to write it?



 Silent Somber. I love my album but this one song, I put every ounce of my heart into that guitar and arrangement. The song puts in a nutshell the pain, suffering I felt when I lost my sister Bernice in 2008.

Where My Voice Cannot Speak is your debut album. is there any plans for a follow up ? if so when can we expect that ?
 Bacon Salsa! I'm aiming for late August this year but plans and things always wax and wane so I will humbly target early 2016!



Download Ron's music here - https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/where-my-voice-cannot-speak/id849135529

Check out Ron's social media

Website - http://rongunz.wix.com/home

Twitter - @RonGunz

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/RonGunzofficial

Google+ - +Ron Gunz

Myspace - https://myspace.com/rongunz

Sound Cloud - https://soundcloud.com/rongunz

Instagram - http://www.enjoygram.com/ron322gunz

Don't Forget to like, follow and subscribe for more interviews and videos of the best up and coming musicians from around the world!!

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Input Meets... Xavier Miller Coming 26th January

Input Meets... Memento

We had the opportunity to speak with Memento and ask him a few questions. Here is what he had to say:

Given name and alias name : 

My real name is Tim - but I decided to choose "Memento" as artist name. It was not assigned and I found it cool but it has nothing to do with the movie (some people think so:)

Age:20

Place of birth:

I was born in Hannover and moved to Stralsund when I was 5. It's a nice little town in the north of Germany.

Where you live currently:

I still live in Stralsund.

 What Genre/s of music do you listen to?

When I was a young boy I loved Numetal and Crossover - I was the biggest fan of Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit. That changed slowly in the late 2000's when I discovered Depeche Mode. Electronic music which I hated before got more and more interesting.
The biggest change was 2011, when I heared the new genre "Melodic Dubstep". It impressed me in several ways - the melodies, the beats, the deep basses and the atmosphere. It was and is perfect for me. I'm still open for different genres, like classic or some pop songs, but I live for Melodic Dubstep and Chillstep (the smoother and slower version of Melodic Dubstep).

What Genre/s of music do you don't listen to?


I usually don't like HipHop so much and German Folk Songs. But that's nothing compared to the bigroom tracks which are currently in the charts. It's not my world ;)

Which are your favourite artists?

My favourite artists are Blackmill, Phaeleh (pronounce "fella"), Moby, Depeche Mode, the old harder Linkin Park, Hans Zimmer and James Horner.

First album you bought ?

That's funny - my first album was a Hiphop-album, and I loved it. It was by "Fettes Brot" ("fat bread"), a famous German band and it's name was "An Tagen wie diesen" (Days like these). I was young, I loved the fat bass and it was "cool" to have it!

Have you ever been to the UK?

No, sadly not. But I would love to see the beautiful coasts and London!

 Have you ever performed live?

No, that's not possible for me, because I create my tracks on the computer. It wouldn't be such an exciting experience, when I go the stage, plug in my pc and press start while screaming "hands in the air" ;)
As long as I produce music in that way, I will never perform live. In that way I often take a look to my idol "Blackmill" which makes his music in that way too - and nevertheless he is successful with that.



When did you start making music?

Like so many people I had my first experiences with creating music in the age of 7 or 8 with playing "Music 2000" for the Playstation One.
Then with 14, I discovered the Music Maker by Magix and I loved the loops and the easy way to create cool tracks. I even uploaded these tracks on my old youtube channel, and they were all similar in their sound, thanks to the ~30 loops in the free version, haha.
The big turn was in the age of 17 in 2011 when I (as said before) discovered Blackmill and the Melodic Dubstep on YouTube. There was one young guy, two years older. His artist name was Sacred and he was new in that genre. He used "FL Studio" and his channel on YouTube was growing fast. His music was awesome for a newbie! That idea - "making music of that genre, free, without loops" - burned into my mind and I decided to learn how to use FL.
It's not as easy to use as some people think, but everyone can learn to handle it. You just need time, patience and interest. So I needed about 14 month of practicing. Only then I decided to upload my first test track on youtube. My channel was opened on the 29.01.2013 - and I was really scared. What will people think about that track? But the resonance was really good and so I decided to keep producing. Now it is a big part of my life and a great hobby!

Do you play any instrument?

The answer is...yes and no. When you mean real physical instruments, no! I started playing keyboard in my childhood in school but after a short time I lost sight of it.
On the other hand I "play" a virtual instrument, my DAW "FL Studio". Personally I see it not as a "real" instrument and I would love to learn playing piano in the future, but hey, I can create music in every way I want!

What is the name of your first song?

My first uploaded song was a test track to see how people think about my style. The great title of that track is "First try". My first full track was released only two days later, I just needed 2 hours to create it! It's name was "Forest" and it sounds disastrous and repetetive. You want to hurt your ears? ;) Sorry, it is deleted due to copyright issues (I used a copyrighted picture).

Do you have family and friends who support you?


My family, friends and community are my main supporters. Long time I was very unsure with my music. I had good resonance but I needed some time to tell my family and friends about my hobby. They were really enthusiastic and that helped me a lot! It's a great way to gain "energy" for producing new songs.
Another great fact is that I got to know a lot of other musicians in the nice chillstep community. The support, help, the collaborations and the critics of course are so important for any musician! I'm very happy how it turned out and that I even met new people just for chatting.

Do any of them play music and have you played in any bands ect. with friends?

Some friends play instruments like guitar in a band, but nobody in my family plays an instrument. I'm not "playing" in a band because I think it's too early for that.

What is the name of your first song?

My first uploaded song was a test track to see how people think about my style. The great title of that track is "First try". My first full track was released only two days later, I just needed 2 hours to create it! It's name was "Forest" and it sounds disastrous and repetetive. You want to hurt your ears? ;) Sorry, it is deleted due to copyright issues (I used a copyrighted picture).

Do you set yourself targets to reach musically? E.g play so many gigs a month or write/record so many songs a month?

I have a lot of targets. There is the music - I want to improve my mixing and mastering as far as possible. In my dreams my future tracks sound like Phaeleh's tracks. His sound quality is incredible!
Then there is my channel. Of course I want to keep growing and to reach more people. I'm not that guy who says "I need 1000 subscribers!" but my channel will probably reach that number in the future, and of course that makes me incredible happy! I never expected more then 10 people who listen to my music and now I have over 700. For me it's so surreal!
Finally I have a big dream - to become featured at the biggest youtube promo-channel for electronic music "Suicidesheep". That would be an honor. Or to make a collaboration with Blackmill! Or or or..

Memento's music is available here:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/mementodubstep

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Memento-
Music/412070538885562?fref=ts

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/memento-dubstep

Dont Forget to like, follow and subscribe for more interviews and videos of the best up and coming musicians from around the world!!

Facebook - www.facebook.com/pages/Input-Music-Network/274840709390700

Twitter - @IMNPro

Google + - plus.google.com/u/0/112971605674543598081/posts

Youtube - www.youtube.com/user/InputMusicNetwork

Blogger - http://inputmusicnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/



Input Meets... Ron Gunz  Coming Monday 19th January 

Displaying Memento Interview WORD.doc.

Input Meets.... Coming soon

Our new weekly Interview segment starting this Monday 12th January With Memento Dubstep  followed by

Ron Gunz 19th January

Xavier Miller  26th January


Natalie Rogers 2nd February


Tommaso Lotti  9th February

+ more to come



if you are a musician and would like to be featured in a interview get in touch with us at - inputmusicnetwork@gmail.com