Exposed Vocals Interviews kushman
Joshua Samuel Hall jr. also know by his stage name xodak kushman is a jamaican recording artist, song writer, studio engineer and video producer. he released his first official mix tape redsun: kushmusic in 2014 he also signed a distribution deal with cd run in that same year and released his follow up mix tape red greens and goals in 2015.Tragedy struck later in 2015 when he lost his father to a short illness as he was a grate influence on his musical career. kushman is now currently a student of the media technology institute where he is studying cinematography in order to honor his fathers dream to see his son graduate university
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
kushman: I grew up in the district of orange field, thats a small village in st. Catherine Jamaica. i was living with my father, uncle and cousin they all are musicians me on the other hand was just able to do art work at that time. As i got older i got drawn to my fathers music his music is very exiting, the first time i ever performed in front of a large crowd i think i was about nine or so i sang one of his songs and the reception was really wonder full, so from then i just continued.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
kushman: well during my years at high school my friend and producer noxious and i were creating some beats and he was like “dwag you know you are the only one of us with out an alias you need a name” so after a couple of days of searching we came up with the name xodak its a acronym too complicated to explain. the other half of my name came about a couple of years ago when i was over using marijuana due to my prescription, its like a nick name that never goes away.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
kushman: music sharing is awesome, its a good medium to get your sound out there. I have always like the idea of making tracks available to the public for free, especially the music i create by my self because it dose not take much out of me to make music its some thing that i love to do
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
kushman: yes be very “sticktooitive” i heard that word in a movie once, i mean don’t ever give up just keep on practicing even if its not going well keeping on trying because things always get better.
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
kushman: It mostly just comes to me, if i hear a beat i like instantly know what to sing music is just so fun almost like my second nature.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
kushman: i use the sites that are available for instance i’m on sound cloud at soundcloud.com/xodak, reverbnation, youtube all over and i also have a few tracks for sale in the windows play store, amazon just search for @xodakkushman i’m every where like air
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
kushman: well i still would be doing music, and also id probably shoot a low budget movie maybe enter a few competitions with the finished product thats just me still i love what i do.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
kushman: ahh, i do a few shows a year thats always a good medium, air play some times, face book i have a lot of friends on face book and social media apps every one has social media apps.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
kushman: i’m currently working on my new album kingkush, to be distributed by cd run I’ve been working on this album from about September of last year it just needs a few finishing touches and its go time. I also have a mix tape coming out in a few weeks and i have a few shows booked for the summer.
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
kushman: painting, animating pretty much anything that has to do with artwork.
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
kushman: well it can be challenging at times but at the end of the day you just have to remember what you want to achieve and work towards it. i do as much as i can and i always push my self.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
kushman: ahh a couple music videos, a whole lot of shows and a lot of new content.