NextShark x Traktivist Interview: Ez Mil on being the 1st Asian American artist to sign with Eminem’s Shady Records
His first full deluxe LP and debut under Shady/Aftermath/Interscope, “DU4LI7Y: REDUX,” was released earlier this summer. Traktivist writer Stephanie Lamond interviewed the multitalented artist to find out more about the signing, his experiences growing up biracial in the Philippines and his thoughts on his place within hip-hop, as well as how he retains his own creative voice while under the giant spotlight that’s now on him.
His first full deluxe LP and debut under Shady/Aftermath/Interscope, “DU4LI7Y: REDUX,” was released earlier this summer. Traktivist writer Stephanie Lamond interviewed the multitalented artist to find out more about the signing, his experiences growing up biracial in the Philippines and his thoughts on his place within hip-hop, as well as how he retains his own creative voice while under the giant spotlight that’s now on him.
Traktivist: Congratulations on the new release and signing with Shady/Aftermath/Interscope. What was it like for you to meet Dr. Dre and Eminem, both of whom you’ve talked about being huge influences on you, and how has it been working with them since the signing?
Ez Mil: Thank you! It has just been an honor for me to be even in the conversation with them, so I’ll make sure to work hard to be worthy of their belief in me!
Can you walk us through the road to the signing? We know they got shown the unfinished “Realest” track – how’d it get in their hands, and what was the process like?
Honestly, when we met we all just got distracted sharing music, and Em asking to sign me kind of even rolled off his tongue like he almost forgot to mention it that day!
TRAKTIVIST INTERVIEW: Raye Zaragoza and MILCK’s “Joy Revolution” Invites us to Radical Joy
LA-based singer-songwriter Raye Zaragoza released "Joy Revolution", a collaboration with fellow LA-based activist-artist MILCK and co-written with AG; they came together from afar to tell Traktivist the story of "Joy Revolution" and share what it's like collaborating with friends.
In May of 2023, LA-based singer-songwriter Raye Zaragoza released one of the first singles from her upcoming album Hold That Spirit, "Joy Revolution", a collaboration with fellow LA-based activist-artist MILCK and co-written with AG.
With Raye in the midst of a busy Summer tour schedule and MILCK on the road across the globe in Rwanda and Cape Town, they came together from afar to tell Traktivist writer Steph the story of "Joy Revolution" and share what it's like collaborating with friends.
Traktivist: Raye, the story of the song has such a sweet sentiment you’ve been sharing. Can you tell it again for those who may not have heard it yet?
Raye: Joy Revolution is all about how we all need to experience radical joy and laughter on a day to day basis - because our ancestors fought hard for it! It’s so easy to get caught up in the big stresses of life, but it’s also so important to be present with the small joys - like freshly picked flowers, a warm cup of coffee, or laying on your back in your friend’s backyard and laughing uncontrollably. I’ve always been someone who feels like I need to work enough first to earn rest and play - but the “Joy Revolution” is all about prioritizing joy whenever we can!
(Editor’s note: don’t miss Raye’s moving essay on her mother’s own Joy Revolution: https://bit.ly/MyImmigrantMothersJoyRevolution)
Women of NAMM's ReVoicing the Future: Meet Women of JAM Industries
In celebration of Women’s Equality Day on August 26th, ReVoicing the Future teamed up with JAM Industries to shine a light on some of the women behind the company.
In celebration of Women’s Equality Day on August 26th, ReVoicing the Future teamed up with JAM Industries to shine a light on some of the women behind the company. Join Natalie for a journey into the careers of Terri Shaw, Director of Sales for KMC Music & Davitt & Hanser, and Leann Ryan, Director of Product Development of The Music People.
They dive into the importance of mentorship, how they’ve grown their careers from the bottom up, and how your identity as a woman brings an equal asset to the table. They dive into the importance of mentorship, how they’ve grown their careers from the bottom up, and how your identity as a woman brings an equal asset to the table.
WIMN INTERVIEW: Beatie Wolfe's imPRINTING: The Artist’s Brain
In this interview with “musical weirdo and visionary” Beatie Wolfe, the artist and inventor takes us inside our musical brains with her project imPRINTING.
Photo by Hideko San
With imPRINTING, “musical weirdo and visionary” Beatie Wolfe takes us inside our musical brains.
In this sonic self-portrait, “musical weirdo and visionary” Beatie Wolfe presents a new format for the digital age: a data-encoded “thinking cap” tailored by Mr Fish as a counterpart to their award-winning, wearable Album Jacket. Via retro listening stations, plugged into the hat, the audience will be able to listen to and explore the brain’s many channels which include music (limbic system), memory (temporal neocortex), collaborations (medial prefrontal cortex), conversations (Wernicke’s area) with the data related to each “brain channel” ecologically encoded in glass and woven into the cap to be preserved for up to 10,000 years.
Beatie ‘sat down’ with us from afar to share some thoughts about the project.
The WIMN: Diving right in– I’ve read that you were drawn to dementia and music research work after some family members were diagnosed with it, and were inspired by Oliver Sacks groundbreaking work and book Musicophilia. Music’s power to reach beyond diseases like dementia and Alzheimers is incredibly beautiful, heart-aching stuff; my grandma living with Alzheimers constantly sings the “who could ask for anything more?” line from “I Got Rhythm”. What’s one of your favorite concepts or ideas you learned through your research in this area that you love sharing?
Beatie: That music imprints on the brain deeper than any other human experience and that we think of ourselves as a language species but we are really a musical species.
The WIMN: What’s one ‘core’ piece of music for you that you feel has become part of you in this way?
Beatie: “Tonight” by David Bowie and Tina Turner. I don’t know why. There’s no good story behind it or a specific moment that it takes me back to but whenever I listen to it (which is now thousands of times over many years) it always makes me feel exactly what it sings about… that everything will be alright. That’s also the magic about music, there is so much mystery in it, why it impacts us the way it does. There’s so much left to explore.
Stephanie Lamond on the UnStruktured Podcast: Paving Your Own Road
Just after starting Unpaved Roads Studio, I got on the other side of the interviewing mic with Michelle Rose of Struktur Society to talk about my path to this new venture and into music, the power of story, and what’s next.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FOLLOW IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF TRAILBLAZERS AND PAVE YOUR OWN WAY?
Just after starting Unpaved Roads Studio, I got on the other side of the interviewing mic with Michelle Rose of Struktur Society to talk about my path to this new venture and into music, the power of story, and what’s next.
WIMN INTERVIEW: Covet Debuts Vibey “Firebird” Single and Video from their Forthcoming Album, Catharsis
Guitar virtuoso and 2022 She Rocks Awards Honoree Yvette Young shares the story behind the song and I catch the group’s rockin’ performance at New Parish.
Guitar virtuoso and 2022 She Rocks Awards Honoree Yvette Young fronts rock band Covet, and for her, their new single and video carry a special meaning.
I got to connect with Young about the story behind the song and catch the group’s rockin’ performance at New Parish.
In the Studio with Samantha Margret's "Emotional"
Early in 2020, before the world stood still, I had the supreme pleasure of bringing my dear friend Samantha Margret to Dreamrack Studios out of Hyde Street, to record the vocals for her new single, “Emotional”.
Early in 2020, before the world stood still, I had the supreme pleasure of bringing my dear friend Samantha Margret to Dreamrack Studios to record the vocals for her latest single, “Emotional”.
Samantha is one of the most gifted songwriters I’ve had the privilege of learning from, and I truly feel incredibly lucky that she and I crossed paths. We met in class pursuing our Level 1 Certificate from the Women’s Audio Mission, and I’ve glommed onto her ever since, following her to numerous songwriters’ circles, shows, and into the Nashville Songwriter’s Association. A huge fan of the Enneagram system, and a true Type 3, she’s also been instrumental in helping this Type 4 find structure and tangible achievement in my artistry. What a gal. Find yourself a Samantha if you can (or just join the orbit of this one).
When it came time for her to come into the studio to record “Emotional”, the scheduled session she had in LA fell through, and we both had the lightbulb moment driving back up North to the Bay Area from the 2020 NAMM Show of “Wait a minute; why don’t WE record these together!”. A few weeks later, a lovely few sessions at Hyde Street Studio B (the home of Dreamrack) were born.
To record “Emotional”, after shooting out the wealth of delicious mics on her lovely, pop-friendly voice, and with input from my mentor and Dreamrack’s Co-Founder/Senior Producer Trent Berry, we ended up pairing the Mojave MA-200 with the Heritage Audio Elite HA73 preamp, a modern recreation of the vintage Neve.
In the studio, Samantha is a consummate professional, and over the course of a few sessions, and with reinforcements like her frequent co-writer, the brilliant Eva Snyder, we honed her vision for the vocals, leading to the crisp, clear gorgeousness you hear on the finished track. One point of reflection Samantha and I found from this process together was the special beauty that comes from true trust between an engineer and an artist; the difference in experience (and therefore the finished performance) is night and day when there is deep respect, when the engineer has a clear picture of the artist’s vision, and when it’s enforced that this is about THE ARTIST, and about creating a creative and positive environment for them to make some magic.
Samantha’s done an incredible job of building out a synergistic creative team, and I count myself a very Lucky Lamond indeed to have been part of this latest track.
