Check out and share our Ian Thompson of Rhebok Music, CGYT, and Plasmaskiff Industries Interview. This interview is part of our new Vlogger/Youtuber/Video Promoters in the Spotlight Series. As always: Share & Support!
Please introduce yourself real quick… What is it you do exactly? What´s your URL?
Hi everyone! My name is Ian Thompson. I'm one of the A&R's and Moderators at Rhebok Music. I'm also the co-founder of Creative Group Of Young Talents, commonly referred to as CGYT a media collective/company based in eastern Pennsylvania. We're currently undergoing a complete rebrand of the company and we'll have a new name among other things soon. I'm also the co-founder of one of CGYT's divisions Plasmaskiff Industries, which primarily focuses on nerd and geek culture. I also DJ under the alias Blitz Comet (anyone who watches Regular Show, you know that name) and I have a monthly mix series called Spidey X and also upload other mix series as well. You find can my videos on YouTube (just search Plasmaskiff Industries) and you can find my mixes on Mixcloud (just search Blitz Comet).
Rhebok Music originally began as Rhebok Promotions back in 2013 and was created by one of my comrades in CGYT, Brendan Zimmerli, who also produces his own electronic dance music under the name Zephyr. You can find his stuff on SoundCloud, Bandcamp, and most streaming services under the name "Zephyr Official Music". On his Bandcamp page, we have the rest of his social media accounts linked there. He started Rhebok to promote and help small bedroom producers like himself to build larger followings. Rhebok fell dormant a little while after that due to school and other personal things. In the summer of 2015 while we were recording his third album "Hearing Colors, Seeing Sounds", he began to mess around with the idea of reviving Rhebok and that idea soon became a reality in early 2016. He asked me and our other comrade in CGYT, John Miranda, to help him out with the revival of Rhebok and the maintenance of the channel. We soon re-branded Rhebok Promotions as Rhebok Music, made new social media pages for the division and on February 16, we re-launched Rhebok Promotions as Rhebok Music.
What kind of stuff do you cover mostly? And how do you typically discover and decide WHAT to cover?
We try to cover all types of electronic dance music. Various types of house, dubstep, trap, etc. We typically discover artists by searching through SoundCloud. We try to promote artists/producers/DJ's who have a relatively small following and small play counts on their tracks or remixes. Aside from just searching on SoundCloud, we've also had many artists contact us through our email or social media accounts about premiering their tracks on our channel. We try to put together a list of whatever songs we loved hearing from our daily searches and we'll make and release videos for them on our channel. Over time we've discovered some fantastic artists while doing Rhebok and last year we worked closely with the label First Class Music Records and helped promote the various artists who released their music through them.
Can you give our audience some tips on how to get on your radar ?
If you're an artist/producer/DJ, all you have to do is either email us at plasmaskiffindustries@gmail.com or DM us through our social media accounts. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, and SoundCloud under Rhebok Music. We'll usually get back to you that same day, although we do sometimes take unexpected hiatus due to our schedules. As I mentioned earlier, we're currently undergoing a complete rebrand of CGYT right now, but Rhebok will be back in full force this year while we undergo the rebrand. In the meanwhile, just send us your track or remix, we'll listen to it, and if we like it, we'll premiere it on our channel! Or if we stumble upon one of your tracks or remixes on SoundCloud and we like it, we'll just promote you out of nowhere!
[gravityforms action=”conditional” merge_tag=”Sure” condition=”is” value=”Sure”]
Are you a superfan of anyone? How did you become a superfan? Do you remember how you become a fan and what turned you into super fan? Have you ever thought about why you´re such a fan?
In terms of electronic dance music, I'd say Skrillex. I've been a huge fan of him since I was 12. John Miranda (one of my comrades in CGYT) introduced me to Skrillex (and by extension EDM) in 7th Grade. We were staying after school one day working on some homework and he got a MacBook out of the computer cart. We sat out in the hallway and started playing iTunes previews of remixes off of the More Monsters and Sprites EP. I remembered being so intrigued by the music. It was like nothing I'd ever heard before. I went home that night and listened to as much of his music as I possibly could and I've been a superfan since then. After that, I began branching out into various other genres of electronic music until over time it became my favorite music genre. I also love artists like deadmau5, Daft Punk, Armin van Buuren, Tiesto, Porter Robinson, Madeon, Kaskade, Adventure Club, Pegboard Nerds, Breathe Carolina, etc. Outside of EDM, I'm a huge fan of pop punk music. I'm a huge fan of bands like Blink-182, Green Day, Fall Out Boy, All Time Low, Paramore, Panic! At The Disco, Boys Like Girls, The All-American Rejects, State Champs, Knuckle Puck, Broadside, etc. I also love Reggae and Dancehall music as it's in my DNA. Both my parents hail from the Caribbean and growing up, no matter where we'd go, reggae and dancehall were always playing in the car. Bob Marley, I will forever be a super fan of. His music changed my life growing up. I can't describe the impact he's had on me. Other reggae and dancehall artist I like are Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Black Uhuru, Sizzla, Capleton, Buju Banton, Shaggy, Sean Paul, Wayne Wonder and all the Marley children of course.
[/gravityforms]
[gravityforms action=”conditional” merge_tag=”No” condition=”is” value=”Yes”]
What was the biggest mistake you made when you started making music and what would be the number one tip you could give to a newcomer musician?
[/gravityforms]
[gravityforms action=”conditional” merge_tag=”No” condition=”is” value=”Yes”]
How do you get gigs? Can you share any tips?
[/gravityforms]
[gravityforms action=”conditional” merge_tag=”Yes” condition=”is” value=”Yes”]
Do you have good promotion tips for other musicians?
Social media is how we got the word out about Rhebok's relaunch and it's how we continue to promote ourselves and the music of the artists we promote. You need to get yourself out there on social media. It's crucial these days to have a social media presence. It's probably the greatest marketing tool known to man. Look into sponsored posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Try submitting your music to promotional SoundCloud networks and promotional YouTube channels like ours. They can make a big difference and help you exponentially grow your audience. But make sure you watch the way you present yourself on those platforms. Just one mistake is all it will take for you to ruin your own image. It's the internet, and the internet forgets nothing. And also, make sure you build your social media presence off of your music. Sure, you could have a large social media following built on something else, but then you won't ever really know who's there for the music. And if the music's bad, you better believe your fanbase will trash it.
[/gravityforms]
[gravityforms action=”conditional” merge_tag=”Yes” condition=”is” value=”Yes”]
Do you have insights on how to grow your audience on soundcloud that you want to share with our audience?
Tag your tracks or remixes. It's an easy way for people to find you. Your tags are only as good as you make them though. The better your tags are, the more discoverable you are. Keep things simple and try to stick to one primary genre tag and adding mood and feel tags would be good as well. Just don't overdo it and make sure your tags are accurate to your music. I also highly recommend you submit your music to promotional SoundCloud networks. They can be of great service for helping you get your tracks or remixes across the site, and it also helps promotional YouTube channels like us find and help promote your music. Last but not least, instead of simply allowing free downloads of your music through SoundCloud itself, use download gates instead. Not only will it help you grow on SoundCloud, but it will also help you grow your social media presence. While making a gate, you can set the criteria on what you want fans to do before they download your music. Make sure you include your social media pages, your SoundCloud page, and have fans like and repost your music. Once you've done that, drop the gate link in "BUY" link and rename it "FREE DOWNLOAD". It's an effective way of getting the most out of promoting yourself on SoundCloud. Not only is it a music platform, it's a tool. If you use it correctly, you can use it to your advantage.
[/gravityforms]
[gravityforms action=”conditional” merge_tag=”No” condition=”is” value=”Yes”]
What has been your biggest challenge right now? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
[/gravityforms]
[gravityforms action=”conditional” merge_tag=”Yes” condition=”is” value=”Yes”]
How do you personally discover new music?
Primarily through SoundCloud, Bandcamp, and especially YouTube. I follow numerous artists and labels on all these platforms. I discover new music through Facebook music groups I'm apart of. It's a great way to find about smaller independent artists and bands.
[/gravityforms]
[gravityforms action=”conditional” merge_tag=”Yes” condition=”is” value=”Yes”]
Once you discovered new music, do you tell others about the new music/artist you discovered? If yes, how exactly?
“Absolutely. If there's something I find that I really like, I'll show it to my friends by either playing new music when we hangout out, having them check out new music on Rhebok when we upload, or throwing new music in a Spidey X mix. One thing of the best things about doing Rhebok is I'm not just introducing new artists to the world, I also get to introduce new music to my friends. Some of the crew over at CGYT discovered a lot of cool artists they're now fans of through Rhebok. They also discovered a lot other established artist and bands through the Spidey X mixes. Chris Salvaggio, a member of the CGYT crew discovered Tonight Alive through Spidey X. They're one of his favorite bands now. Sharing new music with others is one the best feelings in the world. If you've introduced your friends to new music and they like or even love it afterwards, you've done something right.
[/gravityforms]
[gravityforms action=”conditional” merge_tag=”” condition=”is” value=”Yes”]
What is your number one tip to improve your music production or songwriting skills?
[/gravityforms]
[gravityforms action=”conditional” merge_tag=”” condition=”is” value=”Yes”]
What is your best tip for those who struggle with finishing their tracks?
[/gravityforms]
[gravityforms action=”conditional” merge_tag=”Yes” condition=”is” value=”Yes”]
We meet again in one year. What has changed?
We've rebranded CGYT into something bigger and better. We've also grown Rhebok Music larger and expanded into other areas such as new additional channels focusing on specific genres and possibly even launching an internet radio station for Rhebok. But overall, a lot more premieres, a lot more artist promotions, and most importantly, a lot more fans exposed to new independent EDM artists.
[/gravityforms]
[gravityforms action=”conditional” merge_tag=”Yes” condition=”is” value=”Yes”]
[/gravityforms]
http://www.soundcloud.com/rhebokmusic
http://www.facebook.com/rhebokmusic
http://www.twitter.com/rhebokmusic
http://www.youtube.com/rhebokpromotions
[gravityforms action=”conditional” merge_tag=”” condition=”is” value=”Yes”]
Enter your questions to the artist in the facebook comment section below.
[/gravityforms]