Maurisio Tapia
aka 12etro
Birthplace:
Hometown
Oxnard/Port Hueneme, California
Role:
Musician, Composer, Lyricist, Mixing Engineer
Date of Birth:
??????? ??, 2000
Memoir
Where do I begin...
there are many things I could say about my life but I assume most people want to hear about my music.
There was a time when I only wanted to play with my friends and knock at their door in hopes of hanging out.
I wonder if kids today still have those kind of experiences​, especially now that technology and social media has filled most people's days with wonder about the next big thing or the status of their peers.
It feels strange to speak as if I'm old, but the truth is I was one of the last generations to experience life without smartphones before the age of 10. I first received a smartphone around 14 years old and it was a very cheap android phone. Yet, even with that cheap phone, I was able to teach myself many things that have become useful to this day.
My parents were born and raised in the ranch life of Michoacán, Mexico.
They were born in the 70s and came to the United States as young adults. The reason I bring this is up is because I know that their upbringing has shaped my childhood one way or another.
They were not very wealthy growing up so they were usually working to help their parents financially.
When they came to the United States, they had 5 children in total. I am the middle child who was born in 2000. I have one older brother and sister, along with a younger brother and sister.
I lived most of my childhood in Port Hueneme, California.
To this day I can still remember the smell of the trees and the mist in the morning. The doves cooing would always make me feel surreal, and have me pondering about creation. I spent a lot of time by myself in the backyard playing different pretend games where I was the main character and I was destined to be a hero. Not like a super hero, but usually as a knight. I would naturally get creative with any items I could find in my father's old shack or the branches that would fall from our trees. Those days were very simple and I didn't worry as much about life's affairs as I do now. In those days, I was very active and willing to pull off wild stunts like climbing my roof and jumping off. I also started skating at the age of 4 but I couldn't get a quality skateboard unless it was a used up hand-me-down. I had 4 close friends, 3 of whom lived on my street, and the last one being a cousin of one of those friends who would frequently visit. We spent a lot of time playing outside together. Things like tag, sports, toys, and made up games. Sometimes we would last until the night. When indoors, we would either play video games or with toys like LEGO. I was a very mischievous kid compared to all of my friends, always saying the wildest things and getting in trouble. I would often sneak out of my house to hang out with my friends even if I knew a spanking was waiting for me at home. I don't resent my parents one bit, those spankings have taught me more life lessons than my own school ever could. I attended Richard Bard Elementary which was fortunately around the corner of my street, Florence Avenue. I went to that school for all my years, from Kindergarten to 6th grade. No one could say I was very bright, but I was smart in other ways outside of school. I remember not having much interest in reading, unless it was dialogue from my favorite video games such as
"Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time". That game shaped my character a lot and gave me musical inspiration.
The story is about a boy named Link who was an outcast, destined to be the hero of all, and yet was neglected and despised by many.
I never really thought about it then, but I now realize that I truly was an outcast. Sure I had friends on my street, but they wouldn't really like to come over to my house because I didn't have much to offer. They would straight up tell me I was boring, and I probably was. I mean, who wants to play pretend when you could play with cool toys or video games at Andrew's house. My parents couldn't buy me nice things and that was nothing to be ashamed of. Except at the time, I didn't know that was something I shouldn't be ashamed of. This is the problem I see continuing in our current society: young people chasing after the respect of their peers rather than honoring their parents. Seeking to impress the world and trying to fit in, instead of blessing the ones who raised them. I wish I could change my old ways of thinking but I wouldn't be who I am today if I didn't learn from my mistakes. The Lord has given me great wisdom through His precious word now, and I truly repent of not honoring my parents, despite all of their labor and sacrifices made to fill our refrigerator and put clothes on our bodies.
At the age of 8 years old, was the first time I touched a real guitar. My older brother Erick was taking classes for guitar in High School and that gave me an opportunity to use his guitar. In all sincerity, most of my skill came from playing Guitar Hero in the past, but the other part of my skill came from having an ear for music. I learned guitar rather quickly but I had no teacher, so I couldn't improve as I would have wanted to. I was able to play really simple lines from songs like "Smoke on the Water" and "One" but nothing advanced.
At the age of about 9-10 years old, our family was able to obtain an old and outdated iMac G4 computer. For a long time, we didn't have internet access so we used the computer solely to listen to local music that my brother obtained from who knows where. He would transfer the files onto the computer and that is when I was introduced to Electronic music. My older brother was into raving at the time and he showed me songs from artists such as Deadmau5, DJ Bl3nd, Daft Punk, Skream and so on. It was because of people like Deadmau5 and Daft Punk that really inspired me to make electronic music but I did not know where to start. I remember in those days, I was given a phone with a key pad by my mother, but it had no service. I recall having my friend Marcos send me music via Bluetooth. One song I remember clearly was Eyez On Fire (Zeds Dead Remix) by Blue Foundation.
Eventually, my parents were able to afford internet which meant I could use the iMac to its full potential.
​On this computer, was my first experience surfing the internet freely without the schools restrictions. I was able to watch Youtube for the first time and began watching many different things from "try not to laugh" videos, viral videos, talent, to music. One person I would watch often was a beat-boxer from the UK named Reeps One. He inspired me to become a beat-boxer which I ended up doing for years up until I was about 14.
At 11 years old I found an electric guitar for sale at the swap meet.
In our family, it was a tradition to go to the swap meet in Ventura on Sundays if my father had spare money.
I recall my father handing me 5 dollars to buy whatever I could afford that day. Searching through used things was very intriguing to me because many times you can find some really cool stuff and items that would be considered rare today. If it wasn't video game related, it was toys, or gadgets/devices. I would always be quick to search and knew the spots were most of my desired items were; so because of this, I was quick and eager to go straight to those vendors. Almost always, I would leave my parents behind and then return when I could not afford something so I would plead with my father to get me the item I wanted. In this case, I asked for something a bit pricey for my father but I knew he would understand to some extent on how important this was for me. I found an electric guitar for about $65 dollars. The vendor said that if I bought the guitar, he would give me a little amplifier for $15 dollars. My father agreed to buy them both.
Strangely, I remember that day like it was a dream. As soon as I went home, I started playing that thing like there was no tomorrow. For a long time, I learned by ear; fortunately, we had recently gotten a computer (which was very slow and outdated) where I was able to look up tutorials. I didn't understand music theory or even know what it was but I did learn the ability to read tabs with numbers. That surely made sense to me. I began learning a lot of songs that would play in Guitar Hero such as Reptilia by The Strokes. Due to my lack of skill, I was only able to learn simple songs with power chords and easy solos; however, this was the start of a new chapter in music for me. Other than guitar, I also began writing rhymes and raps since I grew up hearing Hip Hop and Rap every now and then. It was another genre of music that I enjoyed then. In middle school at E.O. Green Jr. High School, there was a hip hop club in the after school program which I joined​, and one day, there was held a rap battle. Those who won against there opponent, would win a CD with instrumentals made by the staff member who led the club. I ended up winning my battle and obtained the CD. I would end up using this CD of instrumentals to write rhymes. I don't remember too well, but that CD had about 25 instrumentals.​​
Around the same time, my brother had a laptop, in which he would experiment making music on an online program called Soundation. He was willing to let me create an account to try it for myself. At first, all I knew, was how to drag and drop samples from the program and put them together to make simple beats. I understood what the volume sliders did, but I had no clue what was worthy. I remember dragging electronic/dance samples and applying effects in many ways. Whenever my brother needed his laptop, I was reminded that the old iMac was available. When I would load up Soundation on the iMac G4, I immediately noticed how slow the program would run.
For many years I would learn to make music on this super slow computer. Not only was it slow at loading, but even the frames were very little compared to my brother's laptop. Slowly but surely, I became more knowledgeable in terms of music production on a computer.
Eventually we moved from that house in Hueneme to a place in Oxnard called La Colonia (my parents have a lot of history there from when they came to the United States in their late teens). I remember feeling sad because I was very familiar with Port Hueneme and created many memories there. When I moved to R.J. Frank Intermediate School, I noticed a huge difference in the way kids would behave, from the suburbs to the ghetto. Everything felt very superficial compared to my old neighborhood and friends. It seemed like a lot of people knew each other back in Hueneme compared to Oxnard. I remember the day when we moved to our new house quite clearly. We had no electricity, gas, water or a proper bed. I recall eating canned sardines and tostadas with my family because my parents couldn't afford a nice meal, especially without gas.
At the age of 13-14 years old, I started working with MIDI and trying to make my own sequences. At first I would load in pre made MIDI chords and beats from Soundation. Then I would assign instruments to the MIDI channels and experiment with the envelopes and all the knobs that changed many things from the instrument. It was a lot of trial and error, but eventually I improved a lot more. I used to publish my tracks on the Soundation website but I never had any success. Once I made an Instagram under the username "5t3ps", that became the main place for me to share and promote my music. Even then I had no success, but I did have more viewers than before. Whenever I could, I would use the computers at school to use Soundation and make the most of my time because the computers there ran better than the iMac at home. Throughout Jr. High and High school, this was a common way I continued improving my skills. Listening to music I enjoy, and then trying to sound just like it.
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I never really had any good friends that had a consistent bond with me, but I did have a diverse selection of friends due to my interest in many things. I never really fit in with groups, but I always wanted to fall in love with someone since I was a child. I recall thinking of love even at the age of 5. It was on my mind a lot, but I rarely found anyone who seemed like they were willing to stay forever. Furthermore, even the few relationships I did make with girls, almost every single one tore my heart by either cheating on me or leading me on, only to break up with me. There was really only 2 relationships that were long term and it fractured my heart every time it ended. If there was anything important that I learned from these heartbreaks, it is that real women are hard to find. A majority of society is filled with boys and girls who only want to play around with life and not settle down like a man and woman would. A child does not think far ahead into the future, but is satisfied with temporal pleasures that do not require commitment.
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At around the age of 15, I purchased a used Yamaha MT4X Tape Recorder from the swap-meet.
It was the first time I started experimenting with audio recording. Beforehand, me and a friend of mine planned to make some music together using his old computer, so we walked from his house to mine carrying his old PC. We didn't make much progress that day and we never resumed this idea. He let me borrow the computer anyways. While this computer was better than the iMac G4, it was still a slow and outdated computer running on windows 7. I learned about a program called Audacity which ran pretty well on the "new" PC but I had no interface at the time to record audio. So I basically connected my MT4X straight into my computer using an RCA cable that was a 3.5mm aux on the other end. It was a very cheap and poor way of recording, but it was all I had at the time. Since I was going through a lot of heartbreaks over the years, the theme of my lyrics became more about love and heartbreaks. I was never one to sing or make love songs, but I pushed myself to start singing since I knew I had a sense of pitch. When I would fall in love too easily or was in a relationship, I wrote about people I liked and my love for them. When I was led on or hurt by someone, I wrote about my sadness.
While it may sound like I was writing about many people, it really wasn't that many girls.
The fact of the matter is, that I wrote about these things in hopes that they would hear my plea. I was tired of being lonely and in a sense, music became my way of coping with my internal suffering. It was also a way of recording my memories of lost hopes and dreams or memories that were wonderful at the time.
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During my time at Pacifica High School, I met two folks during 0 period in Jazz Class. I didn't think too much of them except that they were very humorous and enthusiastic. When we got to know each other more during our time in that class, I would invite them to come record some music with me at my place. At first, they didn't really take me serious so they never came. Once they graduated from High School in 2017, I was a senior, and we tried to form a jazz band with some other folks from the same class. We all agreed to meet at my place and we got to play some music. That day was the last that all those people gathered and nothing ever became of that band idea. However, the two folks who I invited before, Chaisson and Amir, finally came along to my cheap studio. This idea was more exciting to us than that Jazz Band that didn't work out with the other guys. The first day we gathered in my studio, we made a song called Guava Juice which seemed funny at the time. If I remember correctly, we wanted to post that song on Soundcloud that very same day so we came up with the band name "retrospect" which had no specific meaning to us, it simply sounded cool. From then on,we started making more tracks that were serious. The next few songs we made were called Room Gloom and Within This Love.
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Shortly after, Amir left the band which was nothing personal. So me and Chaisson remained as a two man band. Along the way, a man named Alex reached out to me who is a local from Oxnard. He made music under the name Late Bloomers and wanted to get to know each other, perhaps even work together. When we grew closer, he agreed to play drums for us when we would do local shows.
He wasn't really a drummer but was able to play the simple beats from our recordings which is all we needed. Slowly but surely, we started to grow a fan-base online and it was more than anything I could have ever achieved before. Some of the popular songs at the time were tracks like Moon Ride, Within This Love, and It's Got to Be You. Around this time, we played quite a number of local shows in Oxnard, Hueneme, and Ventura. Since we were becoming more popular thanks to a youtube channel from a friend, and another from a guy in Mexico, I started getting busy in the studio. Even though Chaisson didn't show up to the studio as much as before, I started recording more and more songs which helped me improve my recording and mixing skills. Around this time we release our first album on bandcamp called "retrospect".
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During my recording spree, I met a girl online named Melisa who made music under the name Firelordmelisa. We ended up becoming friends whom would chat and video call on Intstagram. To cut to the chase, we agreed to make a song together which I wrote and produced. She had no recording gear so I asked her to use her Iphone as a microphone along with a shirt that would serve as a pop-filter. That song is what ended up being "Someone to Spend Time With". This became my most popular song before I was signed to a record label. Ironically, the song went Gold years later, even though I had poor mixing skills and Melisa's part was recorded on an Iphone 6.
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One day right before a show in Ventura, I was notified by a peer that Peanut Butter Wolf (founder of Stones Throw Records) wanted to meet up with me. I believe a friend of mine named Eddie whom I met through Alex, mentioned my music to Ross Harris who has made videos for Stones Throw Records. And then Ross mention my music to Chris (Peanut Butter Wolf). When I was in the car with Alex and Chaisson, Alex was real surprised because he knew who Peanut Butter Wolf was and explained to me who he is. I had never heard of him before, but I did briefly know about Stones Throw because I was a fan of MNDSGN and Mf Doom before. Eventually I met up with Chris during a Prophet video shoot with Ross, and that was the start of our relationship. Soon I was invited to perform at a Stones Throw event called SOUL in a place called 1720. I personally felt unworthy since I knew I was not as good as any of their artists.
These were the artist that performed that day: MNDSGN, Kiefer, Sudan Archives, Stimulator Jones, Prophet, and Jerry Paper.
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Eventually, Chris began talking about having me signed to his label and the rest is history. I remember not having a manager, lawyer, or anything. It was only me handling all the decision making. Eventually I hired a lawyer and had him read the contract for me. The people at the label also recommended that I change the band's name which was unfortunate, but I understood why. There was already another band called "retrospect" with a bigger fan-base online in another country; so to prevent confusion, I eventually chose the name "Los Retros". Originally, I was live streaming on Instagram one day, and began asking fans for name ideas. There were some ridiculous ideas, but there was also some pretty good ones. One person mentioned "Los Retros", and my mind clicked because it reminded me of bands that I grew up listening to. My parents would play Románticas/Spanish Rock from the 60s-80s and most of those bands' names began with "Los" which means "The" in Spanish. So "Los Retros" basically meant "The Retros".
I liked the name because it kept "retro" from our old name "retrospect". So it was decided that we would keep that name.
Once I was signed, I received a $5,000 dollar advance from Stones Throw which was a lot of money to me at the time since I never had so much money at once, not even my own father. It felt strange to receive so much money for something like music. Knowing my father's background, he would work at a very young age to make ends meet for his parents. My father worked almost everyday from about 4am to 6pm in any kind of crop fields that were hiring. My mother was also working just as much as my father but eventually she was injured a few times and had surgery which left her unable to do that kind of labor. My point with all this, is that my parents worked very hard all of their life to put food on our table and barely be able to pay rent and bills. Sweating and straining themselves to give us the necessities. Where as now, I'm getting paid more than my own parents because of entertainment? To this present day, I believe being a musician is not real labor. I don't deserve to get paid so much, when there was only little sacrifice on my part. That is not real labor. I definitely appreciate the opportunity to live an easier life, but down the line, my children will not know what real labor is, and the value of items because they won't see the hard work that it takes to earn possessions or money. In physical labor, you can feel the value of the money you earn through sweat and pain, where as in entertainment, it's less about physical strain and more about being popular or meeting the desires of the industry. Working in a field and earning little, is more honorable than being a musician and earning much.
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With my advance money, I immediately purchased a $1k Tascam Model 24 Hybrid Mixer which I pre-ordered since it was not out yet. I bought a $1k DELL laptop, new snare/cymbals, a new AKG P120 microphone, and some cables to connect everything. For me, this was more than I've ever had before so I was grateful to work with what I had. I also got a discount on Ableton 9 thanks to Stones Throw. It cost about $250, and it would be my first time using quality software. I was able to record tracks such as the ones on the "Retrospect" album which where higher quality compared to my old stuff. As much as I was invited to their studio plenty of times, I preferred recording everything by myself in the comfort of my home. I felt less pressured, and I also didn't have to worry about a time limit. To this day, I record all of my stuff at home and I plan to keep it that way until the end. Before "Retrospect" was released, Stones Throw wanted to release "Someone to Spend Time With" as a single which was one of my most successful songs. With the label involved, they were able to promote my music more than I ever could on my own. In the past, we already had a fanbase, but after joining the label, I was stepping into new grounds.
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Other than recording music with new gear, I now had more opportunities to perform at venues around California due to Stones Throw having connections. Another reason why we had more opportunities was because we became more popular so more people started reaching out. I seemed to have become popular in the Bedroom Pop/Indie Pop scene which at the time I didn't care too much about, I simply experimented a lot with music and I happened to have made songs that sound like that genre.
By this time in 2019, Chaisson was becoming less involved in recording which did not bother me since I was used to working alone. I would invite him quite a number of times but I gave up once it seemed like he didn't really like coming over to my house. However, he would show up to practice whenever we had shows to play and this became the norm for the rest of his time in the band. It was also around this time that I had met my current wife (Lupe) after messaging her online and inviting her to a show. I had asked her for a ride and that's how we first met in person. We would become friends for a good while, but I actually liked her so I even wrote a song about her which ended up being "Friends". Eventually I asked her if she wanted to join the band as a backup singer. At the time, I was trying to make Jazz/Funk music so I could use another singer in the background to create some harmonies. Lupe never really took music serious but she was willing to try and make it work with the band. She had some experience playing piano when she was younger but also did not take it that serious. Her old skills would soon be tested after she agreed to perform with us. Her first performances were during our tour with Cuco. It was quite a lot pressure for all of us in the band, because Cuco was very popular and if I remember correctly, I think all the shows sold out and we had full venues. I personally felt very unprepared at the time but we did the show anyways. Beforehand I had met Omar (Cuco), through his friends Gio (visual artist for the band at the time) and Kwest (rapper and musician in the band at the time). It was during that tour that me and Lupe became closer and eventually we became lovers on the last day of the tour after the last show. Everyday of sitting in that van with her, we slowly sat closer everyday and eventually began touching legs to where we could not deny what's going on between us. I always had the feeling that she knew I liked her even before joining the band, but I never admitted or told her. Before I ever met her, I used to see her in High School walking by during lunch and I remember thinking she was pretty. Because she was a year older and a grade higher than me, I felt like a having a chance with her was was a long shot and beyond reality so I never made a move. I was always a very shy person with people I've never met, especially girls.
Even so, I would go to the area where she would pass by during lunch and wait to see if she would pass by. This was at least 3 years before we had actually met and spoke for the first time.
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Before that tour with Cuco, Alex (the temporary drummer) told me he was not ready for all the shine and wasn't prepared to play in front of a large audience so I had to find someone else to fill in. I eventually found an older man named Josh. So Josh played with us for a couple of months before he left the band. Afterwards, my younger brother Brayan took over and remains as our live drummer to this day. There was more chemistry between me and my brother despite butting heads for the majority of our younger days. We were into the same kind of music, although we had slight differences in taste at the time. His first performance with us was at a shoe store called TREAD where we were invited to perform. My brother was only 15 years old at that time and didn't really have much experience in the industry. We were both self taught so we always felt humbled. For that performance, Chaisson did not attend so it was just me on Keyboard, Brayan on drums, and my wife singing with me.​
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In 2020, I began working on a new project that would have been called Happy Hour. It was meant to introduce a kind of music that I enjoyed more than my older stuff which was Jazz/Funk. I planned to release a whole LP but plans changed and I cut it short to satisfy Stones Throw's proposal. That idea ended up becoming an EP called "Everlasting" At the time I was considering the reality of life and death. While I had everything I could have ever wanted, it all felt too good to be true. I had more money than I've ever had before, I had a beautiful girlfriend, and popularity. However, I knew one thing to be true that I always thought about when I was as young as 5 years old. I will die one day, and I will keep nothing in this life. I felt like there had to be more to life and just temporal pleasures and that drove me crazy. All of this work in life, only die and no longer be remembered. To lose my family, friends, future children and my soon to be wife, my life felt meaningless and my days were filled with sorrow knowing that I would lose it all. No matter how rich, successful, healthy, and happy you may be, none of those things can bring back the life of a dead person. I knew that resurrection is something only a Creator can do, for all of mankind is but a grain of sand, so weak and small. Not a single man can recreate the things of the earth, but can only manipulate them and make combinations of what has already been made. This made me realize that man is truly dependent on something bigger than himself, all the days of his vain life. When I was younger, I wanted to become successful, and now that I was, it all seemed so meaningless knowing I will die, return to the dust and take nothing with me.
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It was around this time that I started studying the word of God who is Jesus Christ. My parents were not Christians or practiced any form of Christianity, but I came to the Word on my own. My father was a Jehova's Witness at a very young age but he didn't continue as he grew older, and my mother was a Catholic but did not really practice her faith either. The only experiences I had with Christianity was in a Bible Club called Young Life during middle school (2013-2014) but I didn't last. The other experience was when I was invited by a friend to visit his Pentecostal Church in hopes of playing music with some folks back in 2016. I lasted about 1 year going to that church but I felt skeptical because when I would read the word for myself and compare the practices of the church, I saw more of an emphasis on "Speaking in Tongues" than the gospel of Jesus Christ which is the most important thing to God. Despite the contradictions I saw in the church, there was a very loving man named Jacob who would take time out of his days to serve the church for the youth. Jacob had many bible studies with me which planted a seed in me. He also did so much for me in hopes that I would see the love of Christ through him.
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However, I eventually started "retrospect" in 2017 and drifted away from the faith. I became more concerned with my music than serving God. In 2020, I began contemplating about life and death in a point in my life where I could have been enjoying my fame and success. Since I cared so much for my life, I wanted to the find the answer to eternal life. I didn't want to die. Immediately, I couldn't deny that without Justice, no one would be safe, because justice is what ensures the safety of all people. While the justice system of humanity is imperfect and corrupt, perfect justice would require all people to be held accountable for everything they do in the flesh, even the evil within their minds. I suddenly felt like I was in big trouble. If God is true and Justice ensures that heaven is spotless and without evil, then I have already fallen short and I do not deserve to enter into eternal life. Most people would argue against God and resent him, but I had no argument, because I know my life very well. I've done many bad things and have commit evil acts, even the ones people think are "innocent" mistakes. Perfect justice is necessary for eternal life, or heaven could not be safe if it was filled with evil people and darkness that received no judgement. If a criminal is not judged, than he can continue doing evil without any consequences and that is unacceptable. Even for all people this is unacceptable. This is the reason we keep our doors locked at night, because we can't deny that evil lurks to steal, kill, and destroy. In the same way, God is separate from darkness and has a barrier between heaven and hell to ensure He is spotless. Because He is just and perfect, he can not partake in darkness and accept evil in His presence. These kind of thoughts came from my own observations, and it drew me closer to God.
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It was then, that I would take God's word more seriously and I found the purpose of this life. When humanity neglects their creator, they pave their own meaningless path which is only temporal. This is why all people die, because we were born of Adam and Eve, who bought the lie that they could be "more than God" and rebel against the very source of life. That action brought sin into the world and corrupts the minds of people and the land to this day. However, if we submit to God's will, we find the reason we were created, and that is to reflect and live with God for all eternity. So because if this, I no longer wanted to live to please my fans, but to please God as much as possible. Around the same time, me and Lupe had our first child so it made my priorities in life shift dramatically. Due to my convictions, I wanted my new project "Everlasting" to briefly introduce my faith in God. The title refers to the everlasting life I wished to have, which could only be found in a righteous and perfect God.
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In 2021, I only released 2 singles. One with a band called Jintana & Emeralds from Japan, and my own single "Solo Tu". From the start of the band, I was always trying to make older sounding music so I enjoyed working with Jintana & Emeralds. As for "Solo Tu", it was the first time I made a true "Romántica" that sounded more authentic in terms of mixing and composition. I was taking my time with making music so that I could improve my skill in both mixing and musicianship. That is why I didn't release music as often.
Eventually, Chaisson left the band a year later due differences in opinions. He wasn't as consistent as before when it came to practicing with us and it became troubling to me and the rest of the band. Not only that, but throughout the years we became distant and I know one of the main reasons was because of my change in character. I was no longer the crazy, out of pocket, and foolish boy that I used to be. God was everything to me, so I was no longer interested in laughing at edgy memes and speaking with a filthy mouth. The main reason for why Chaisson left however, was not my Christianity, but actually due to me calling him out multiple times on not showing up to practice and leaving the rest of the band (My brother on drums, and my wife on second keys) under pressure before performances because we lacked so much practice as a whole band. When he left the band he said I was being bossy, but the reality is that I can't be bossy if he barely even showed up. He was able to practice many times with other bands and even perform with them(which is totally fine, that is his right), but he would agree to play big shows with us that payed a lot of money and yet he would only show up a week or less before the day of the show, only to practice for about 3-5 days which was not enough for the rest of us to play confidently. This happened many times for many shows we had agreed to play, and yet I would split the money evenly with everyone despite his lack of cooperation. I was always fair and never demanded anything from him. But once I was tired of lacking practice and feeling anxious before shows, I had to be very bold and honest with him about how this always happens and that is what made him leave. Not only that, he instantly blocked me on social media and publicly made defaming statements about me even though our dispute was only between us and private through text message.
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In 2023, Lupe and I ended up having another child. Personally, I enjoy being home living life at a slower pace, especially knowing that our current society is very fast and worrisome. I will be home schooling my kids and spending much time with my family. When I was younger, my parents always worked really hard and would barely be able to pay rent for the house we lived in so it resulted in me not having that close relationship with them, and my confidence as a person was very low without someone to relate to that was in my family. As most people, we end up being pressured into following trends and methods of society to feel secure and as though we "fit in". Anyways, my point is that I've experienced and remember a lot of the downsides of being raised in a poor and busy family, along with a fast and rebellious society that truly doesn't care for you as a mother and father can. So I want to make sure my children can see their parents everyday and not feel peer pressure from the world.
Back when I gained popularity in 2018, I was still developing as an Artist and did not feel satisfied with my skills and abilities at the time. Playing shows and trying to meet the demand of fans drew me away from bettering myself and making the kind of music that I really enjoy. I was always seeking to sound "retro" and "mature" in terms of composing and being able to produce music that sounds like it was made in the 70-80s. I was still naive to a lot of things at the beginning of my popularity and wanted to slow down on recording and appearing publicly so that I could work on my skills and abilities. Most of my fans are quite superficial and don't really know much about me when it comes to my personal life. I guess I don't blame them since I am not conceited and post about everything I do. Back then I released songs carelessly, but now I take my time and put more thought into my tracks as though older musicians would be here to criticize my music. Back then, recording, and composing was more time consuming compared to today where we have so much access to technology and knowledge from the internet. I noticed that this is was makes us different from older musicians, because they had to put in more effort to release something and that is why their music sounds more wholesome and meaningful. Nowadays I could generate a song using AI, search the web, use plugins and software to enhance my music. However, I wish to go back to the roots of music and go back to the basics. How else will I truly be "Retro" unless I follow the same steps as older folks and their methods?
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To close, I will finish by saying that my new project will be focused on my skills, instrumentation, and my favorite kind of music which is Jazz Fusion/City Pop from the 70s-80s. In the past years, I realized that it was this kind of music that I would often hear and enjoy in Nintendo and SEGA video games. It is no wonder why it felt familiar hearing artists like George Duke, Billy Cobham, Yellowjackets, and Casiopea. My plan for the future, is to compose, record, and mix the music to sound as if it was made in the 70s-80s. Since I do practically everything alone, there is a lot of thought and effort that goes on in my studio here at home, and because I am very indecisive about my choices, I take my time with making final decisions. To this day, I am still learning new things and I hope to reach my goal of truly sounding retro.
God bless you all
-Mauri
Published February 21, 2025