Read the Re:Frase Interview below and share it on social media.
Please tell our readers who you are and what you do?
My name is Fraser Turnbull, also known as Re:Frase, and I am a 20-year-old Cape Town-based Music Producer just chasing a dream. I first became interested in the Music Industry at the age of 8 When I began learning to play piano, however, traditional "Music Lessons" weren't really my forte and I began to move towards the Improvisation and Composition side of things. I never really fitted in at school and friends weren't easy to come by, so during break/recess, I would lock myself away and just play the piano. There was something about being able to express myself through music without judgment, that was thoroughly enjoyable. As I got better I began to look at the possibility of making this a permanent thing in my life, and it was at this point that I discovered that Music Production was the way to go.
I continued playing piano and have since incorporated it into my productions as it is an easy way for me to get a melody or riff down. It took me about 4 years of just playing the piano before I even went near a DAW, and it wasn't until the fifth grade that I was exposed to the wonders and endless possibilities that DAW's hold. It started off with a project in my Music Class in which we had to compose a faux "Radio Show" using Loops, Effects, and recordings – I thoroughly enjoyed the project and began messing around with Garageband at home!
At the age of 13, I managed to get my hands on a copy of FL Studio which was when I really began to engage myself with making music. I composed short little 1-minute songs and snippets of potential melodies which I would present to friends and family for their opinions and to my surprise, they were well received. However, it still took me 4 years of experimenting with FL Studio before I was confident enough to post a song on any form of Networking Platform – the Platform of my choosing: Soundcloud. So eventually after all this time, I released my first production called Vamelions:
https://soundcloud.com/refrase/vamelions
Soon after releasing Vamelions, some of my friends began switching to Ableton Live 9 – so what did I do? I did the same!
It took a while to get used to the new software but I soon began to realize how much better the software was (at least in my opinion) and how much more capable Ableton was even just with the stock package. Slowly over a period of about a year, I began to become more and more confident with my music and began expanding my horizons in terms of Styles and sounds, combining elements of familiar genres with that of genres I wouldn't have dared to touch in the past. As a result, I composed a piece called "My House, My Rules" which combined elements of Deep House and Jazz – the name is a tribute to the fact that it's my song "My House" therefore I can do what I want with it "My Rules"! Unfortunately, I lost the project file and never managed to finalize the piece, but I had enough exported to be able to upload the basic track.
https://soundcloud.com/refrase/my-house-my-rules
Slowly, I began to build up a good portfolio of music with my Soundcloud Page which has served as a good reference point to myself reminding me and anyone else that no one begins as a professional, it takes years and years of work to improve yourself. My persistence paid off and finally, I got my lucky break – I entered one of my songs called "Tropics" into a competition focussing on upcoming creatives in Cape Town. To my surprise, I actually won the competition which led to a radio interview on GoodHopeFM debuting some of my latest music to the whole of Cape Town! This was when I really took advantage of this amazing opportunity and began churning out music as a result. The winning piece is included below
https://soundcloud.com/refrase/tropics-original-mix
Now we get to this last year. I only graduated in 2016 and have spent this last year working to improve my music as well making more of an effort to convey my passion, as well incorporate my emotions into my compositions rather than just making music for the sake of numbers. As soon as I graduated I moved out of my parent's house and flew to Sydney, Australia – and it was an incredible, eye-opening experience – but it wasn't an easy one. Apart from the issue of finding a job with a good enough income to support me for a year – there were the issues of starting new friendships and all that. However, this gave me the opportunity to really reflect on my life and the goings on – and what better way to do it, than to put all of these thoughts and emotions into my music. Thus – my Sydney EP was conceived! Each of the 4 tracks in the EP represented a state of mind or situation that happened during my stay and the link to that will be included at the bottom of this interview.
Finally, on August 3rd 2017, when I returned home to South Africa I decided to focus purely on my music and really make sure that it represented me as well as giving a good representation of my ability. This brought me to the conclusion that I should pursue this career path through tertiary education and as a result I enrolled in Cape Audio College, a technical college dedicated purely to Sound Engineering, Music Production, Broadcasting, and Live Sound. After making this decision I began working on my New EP, aptly called "The Next Chapter" – which represented the reinvention of my sound, my turning 20, and the next step in my life. Only two songs are up at the moment, but there are more to come:
How would you describe your influences and how have they changed over the years?
There have been many influences in my music over the years – most stemming from the goings on around me. For a long time, the genre/style of music that I made was based on the interested of my friends and family – particularly on what they wanted my music to sound like. Unfortunately, since all of my music relied on what others wanted to hear, it was very varied and unpredictable, and my style constantly changed without a real sense of continuity.
However, the initial influential figures were Tycho, deadmau5, and my father. My father would make me listen to Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Korsakov, Brubeck and many others with the hope that I would learn to appreciate the classics. To this day, all of the music that I have produced, and tried to mimic, incorporates different elements from these composers, and styles – even with the dance music that I make. As far as deadmau5 and Tycho are concerned – the sounds and progressions that they produced really fascinated me and I couldn't stop thinking about what I could bring to the floor to try and compete with them. I even remember Googling "What software does deadmau5 use" – which didn't present much helpful information.
Since then there have been many external influences on my music – from the changing music scene, the chart-topping artists, the people around me, the schools I have attended, the obstacles that I have had to face, and the places that I have lived in. Of that list, the most influential points have probably been the obstacles I've faced, and the people around me… namely my friend groups. For a long time, my music style would rely on what others are listening to, and what they want to hear – essentially I was constantly seeking their approval through my music. If there was a techno-fad at school, I would produce techno music, if there was a Psy Trance fad then I would make Psy Trance and so on. This led to a real sense of unsurety within myself because I began to lose touch with what I wanted to make and instead focussed on impressing others. As for the obstacles that I had to face, most of them revolved around schooling. By 2nd Grade, I'd been placed on a Ritalin and many derivatives which led to endless problems such as depression, and anger – this became quite a major contributing factor to the styles of music and the emotion in my music. But it's all part of the Journey
What´s new right now?
As mentioned above, I'm currently releasing my new EP called The Next Chapter which consists of 7 tracks sharing a similar style and theme serving to convey my mental and emotional state since I got back from Australia. However, at this point in time, only a few of the songs are available online as it's a rolling release intended to keep people coming back for more!
On top of that, there is always new stuff in the works, and I'm going to keep releasing music until the day I die. There's always going to be new styles, sounds, and inspirations which can always be utilized to keep the music fresh! You'll just have to stay tuned to keep up to date with everything!
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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?
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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?
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How do you get gigs? Can you share any tips?
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Do you have good promotion tips for other musicians?
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Do you have insights on how to grow your audience on soundcloud that you want to share with our audience?
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What has been your biggest challenge right now? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
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How do you personally discover new music?
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Once you discovered new music, do you tell others about the new music/artist you discovered? If yes, how exactly?
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What is your number one tip to improve your music production or songwriting skills?
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What is your best tip for those who struggle with finishing their tracks?
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We meet again in one year. What has changed?
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http://www.soundcloud.com/refrase
http://www.facebook.com/ReFraseZA
http://www.twitter.com/fraserturnbull
https://www.minimelargelifestyle.com/fresh-off-the-block-winner.html
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Enter your questions to the artist in the facebook comment section below.
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