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Issue №5● LIVE
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● New Release/R&B / Soul/Los Angeles, CA, USA

Koko Static

"We give a voice to joy, heartbreak, grief, and rage when everyday words are not enough."

Oct 30, 20264 min read
Koko Static

Koko Static · Los Angeles, CA, USA

● Editor's Note

Los Angeles veteran Koko Static, a Billboard-charting writer who now owns his masters outright, turns doubt and trust into a candid relationship song with 'I'm Catch'n On'.

This song is about relationships. How I love her with all my heart, believe in the good person that she is, assist her in anyway and every way I can, and trust that whatever she is telling me is the truth, no games. Then I start to think that I'm being manipulated and lied to. Tells me she did not say what I know for certain she said. Maybe she didn't remember. But it happens more than is acceptable. Not a deal breakers yet but, nobody like to feel like they are being played. It's bothering me to the point that I had to write a song about it. That's what we as music creators do. We Gives a voice to joy, heartbreak, grief, and rage when everyday words aren't enough.
● The Interview

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you before, and what makes it undeniably you?

My sound is hard for me to describe because I write in different genres. I don't try to write for genres. My music is rhythmic, colorful, groove oriented, and 95% organic R&B, pop, sophisticated funk, and jazzy.

Is there a sound, instrument, or texture you keep returning to, one that shows up even when you don't plan it?

Grand Piano is what I always start with. Since it is MIDI, I derive other parts from that piano. Like strings, and bass, vocal harmonies, etc.

How do you know when a song is finished, and have you ever gone back and changed something you thought was done?

They say 'An Artist Work Is Never Done.' So true. I was taught that Finished is better than perfect, because if I wait on perfect, I will never release new music. What is perfect? I don't want to release any trash so, I get it as close to perfect and call it FINISHED. I once heard one of my songs a few YEARS after being released played in a car next to me and I said to myself... Damn! We should have fixed that.

What do you do when creativity stops flowing? How do you get it back?

From time to time I may get stuck. Can't think. I take a holiday and work on my videos or promoting. As I'm matching images and videos to my song, I'll hear my next thing to work on. Or I will take a ride on my Harley up the California coast for an hour or two and free my mind. The next day I'm usually back in the saddle again. It doesn't take me long to miss the creativity, and I start flowing again.

What's a part of your personality that shows up in every song whether you intend it to or not?

My chord coloration. Some say I use jazzy chords. Not really jazzy but I grew up in band and orchestra and played with an eclectic group of artists. From The Beastie Boys, to Willie Bobo's Latin Jazz Band, to George Benson, to Steely Dan and more. A definite wide influence of music variety.

Have you ever almost quit? What made you stay?

No. Never thought about quitting. It won't let me.

What's something people would never guess about you just from listening to your music?

I love to cook, I'm a martial artist and ride a Harley Davidson motorcycle almost every day. It would be uncanny for someone to detect that from my music.

Who owns your music right now, masters, publishing, everything, and was that a conversation you knew to have, or one you learned the hard way?

One I learned the hard way, being signed to 3 different record labels. Now I own it all. Writer, Publisher, producer and owning my masters. Wow! The job just got more difficult.

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