Exposed Vocals interviews Binkos

My name is Calvin, but musically I go by Binkos(pronounced Bean-Kose). I’m African-American, and I’m from Hartford,CT. Born & raised. I’m 27 years Young, and I’m a Libra, ha-ha. I’ve been writing my own lyrics since I was 15, at first just coming up with my own remixes to popular songs at the time. I bought my first microphone when I was 17 and began recording my own music over various industry beats.I have a serious passion for both listening to, as well as making music, it’s my life. My genre of music is Hip-Hop/Rap. And my style is BluFlayme. Here’s a few of my tracks from my new mixtape, entitled “MicSlayer Mayhem”. All beats produced by King Joey Beats.

 

Exposed Vocals: How did you hear about Exposed Vocals? What made you decide to sign up?

 

Binkos: Well the way that I heard about Exposed Vocals actually, was via Social Media on my twitter account. I recently followed their page and vice versa. As far as what made me decide to sign up. Well, simply my passion for music, and the desire to have my music heard on a wider scale. That, and I am always open to networking with anyone that can help me better myself in any way as an artist, and has a similar passion for the music industry as I do.

 

Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

 

Binkos: I grew up in Hartford,CT. Born & raised in the 860. But I don’t feel as if I “decided” to become an artist. I feel as if it has always been a part of who I am. I’ve always loved listening to music, and have an uncanny ability to learn songs word for word and recite them, flawlessly. Music, listening to music has always been something that helped me to keep and remain calm in times of stress. So I think that desire to hear music that quelled my anger,transitioned into me writing and recording my own sounds. At the end of the day music is my therapy. That’s what my essentially drove me down the path of being an artist.

 

Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?

 

Binkos: Actually, I wasn’t the person who came up with the name Binkos. It was actually a close personal friend of mine who initially coined the name and term “Binkos”. My boy, Krizz is the inventor of the terminology “Binkos”. Originally, Binkos was a term in which he came up with that we used as our own personal slang term for money. Where most people would be like, “I need this money”, we would say that we’re “trying to get these Binkos”. The word itself is pronounced like Bingo, just substituting the G for a K.  And bingo, when you play, you use chips, which is another term used for money for I’m from. After a while the term grew on me so much, and I always said that I was Money on the Mic. I dawned the term Binkos as my official alias, and the rest is history.

Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?

 

Binkos: I think online sharing of music is a good thing. It helps broaden the horizon for artists, like myself, who want to reach a bigger audience. I live in CT, but with online sharing of my music, you could listen to my newest tracks even if you’re all the way on the West Coast in California, or down in the Dirty Dirty South in Atlanta, anywhere. Do I ever give my music away for free? Yeah, I do. I’m not notoriously known worldwide for music making. I’m no industry artist making thousands upon thousands, or even millions of dollars. But even more than my level of exposure, my passion for the music I make outweighs all. I’ve never worried myself over whether or not I would become someone famous over music. I just enjoy making good music, and hopefully people enjoy hearing my sound and can even relate to some of the things I say on track. Just being able to make song after song and have it heard by others makes me happy, and I want to share that awesome gift of lyrical content that I have with the world.

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?

Binkos: I would tell any and every local band or artist to simply believe in yourself first. That’s where it all starts. You have to be self-motivated. You have to believe that your goals are something you can accomplish. After that man, it’s all networking. Promoting your product. You have to put yourself out there. But you also have to be able to accept constructive criticism on your product. Heck, I’m still a local artist myself. I still look for ways to gain more exposure myself. It’s not something that happens overnight though. So patience is a virtue. Patience, and Determination. 2 things that will always drive anything in this world towards success, if you ask me.

 

Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?

 

Binkos: Do I ever make mistakes during performances? I’m human, we all make mistakes, ha-ha. Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’ve had my miscues. But my miscues are normally in the recording process of a song. Any song I work on I recite the lyrics maybe 100 times, literally, before I actually record the project, that way if there’s a performance to be made, the chances of a slip-up are almost completely non-existent for me. I would have to say though, that if you do have a miscue you have to remain poised. You can’t allow it to hinder the performance at hand. You just have to continue, and go with the flow(no pun intended).

 

Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?

 

Binkos: No, I don’t tour. I wish I did though. I definitely need a much bigger buzz before I could even entertain the idea of being out on a tour. I wish I had some crazy stories of being out on the road but unfortunately, at this point I don’t. Hopefully, that will change in my near future.

 

Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?

 

Binkos: I gather my inspiration from everything around me. Everything that I go through. Everything that I see, have seen, might see in the future. And I get a great deal of inspiration from the music I listen to. So my typical songwriting process is that I 1st select the beat that suits me best at that point in time. That selection varies on my mood. Honestly, I prefer writing my music when I’m in some sort of emotional uproar. When I’m angry, or sad, or happy, each emotion carries with it a different sound. Once, I’ve done that, I listen to some of my favorite songs that inspire me. For instance, Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”, 50 Cent’s “If I Can’t”, Nas’ “One Mic” and a whole bunch of other songs help to drive me because these songs, personally, give me the message that anything I put my mind to; Anything I put my heart and soul into, I can accomplish. Nothing is impossible. Then and only then, do I begin to actually produce lyrics.

Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?

 

Binkos: I don’t really have a band website, but I do have profiles set up on a few different platforms designed to help spread my music around more efficiently. I have accounts currently on SoundCloud.com, Datpiff.com, AudioMack.com, and I actually do have an old page, that I haven’t accessed in a while on ReverbNation.com as well. Other than that, people can just contact me directly if they are interested in hearing my music via my Facebook/Twitter pages @BinkosBluFlayme. I’m always willing to talk music with any and everyone, so I try to make it as easy as possible to get a hold of a few tracks of mine.

Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?

 

Binkos: There are no “embarrassing” songs on my mp3 player. I like what I like. From Wu-Tang Clan to Adina Howard or Alicia Keys even to groups like MotorHead. Anything that makes me snap, tap my feet, sing along, or just makes me feel good about myself isn’t an embarrassment at all. Everyone is entitled to like whatever it is they like.

Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?

 

Binkos: If I had a year off, I would spend that entire year working on new music. 365 days is a long enough time to acquire new inspiration and topics to write about in my music, so I would technically still be hard at work even with that time off. As for the half a milli… I would look to purchase and setup an official recording studio. That way I would have the best possible equipment to use in my music making endeavors. And that would also allow me to help others prosper and grow with their musical gifts as well.

Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?

 

Binkos: Nothing exclusively planned, no. Currently I work with my MXL990 compressor Mic, and Sony’s Acid Music Pro. those have been working pretty good for me at this point. But I would definitely love to work with programs like Pro Tools in the near future. As long as I’m making good quality music that people are enjoying, then I will be at peace.

Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?

 

Binkos: A good friend of mine, King Joey Beats, has been a big part of my exposure. He’s always giving me tips and looking to help me better myself as an artist. Whether it has been online promotion. Attending events. Or even doing things “old school” and making a bunch of Cd’s to pass out to people. I feel like all of these methods work equally for me. Online sharing helps me to reach people I can’t due to distance between myself and the target audience in question. Handing out Cd’s allows people to meet me in person and in return allows them to see me for who I am as a person, which in turn creates a certain sense of comfort-ability. And attending events allows me to see others to what they love, the same thing I love, which is music. It helps me to be able to see how others respond to a crowd and just simply be in that type of environment.

Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?

 

Binkos: In terms of where, I would love to perform at MSG. That’s probably, hands down one of  the most iconic venues, period. Artists that I would want to perform with would be, Notorious B.I.G. his style was phenomenal, and he truly made something out of nothing. 50 Cent and G-Unit. I’ve been a huge 50 fan since Power of the Dollar so working with him would definitely be a dream come true. And out of everyone in the Unit I have to say my favorite is Lloyd Banks. The Punchline King, the PLK.  The way he lays down lyrics on a track is like no other. Lots of people say that my style mirrors his in its own way. They either compare me to Banks, or they compare me to another of my favorite artist, from a popular Rap group; Wu-Tang Clan’s own, Method Man. There’s a lot more names that make this list, but we’ll keep it short for the time being.

Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

 

Binkos: I actually just finished my latest project, back on the 2nd of January 2016, entitled “MicSlayer Mayhem” I spent months working on, recording, and re-recording song after song in preparation for this project. 18 tracks, only 1 feature. And all beats used on this project were produced by my good friend, King Joey Beats. All the lyrics are my own, in case anyone questions that ha-ha. I put my heart and soul into all my music as is the case with this project, and any other projects I work on. “MicSlayer Mayhem” is currently available for streaming and download on AudioMack.com, Datpiff.com, and SoundCloud.com I also hope to have a 2nd project this summer. No title for that yet. But I hope to have a few special features from other local talent on that project. One of my best friends, younger sister is an amazing singer, so I want to help her persue any ambitions she has in music as well. Like I’ve said, I’m open to working with pretty much anyone. And I’m always working on new material. That’s always going to be a constant with me.

Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

 

Binkos: Wow that’s a great question. Well, I guess if I weren’t making music, I would just be your typical guy working for a living. Hanging with friends. Actually, a great friend of mine, Michael Luis, better known to me as Joker is a Youtuber, and a very funny guy. I have a great sense of humor myself, so I would probably just be helping him out any way I can with his dreams and goals of comedy, just like he has supported my music making since day 1.

Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?

 

Binkos: I don’t really remember the 1st album I bought… But one I was extremely excited about owning was 50 Cent’s “Get Rich Or Die Tryin'” album. I was so pumped about getting that album and once I did, I swear I must have listened to it everyday for like the next year. It was THAT good and he was one of my favorite artists already at that time and the sounds from that album are still to this day, timeless. I still listen to that album faithfully. I wanted to learn every song on that album, and I did. Word for word, track for track.

Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?

 

Binkos: One step at a time. Music will always be my life. So even if I don’t become this insanely popular figure to the rest of the world, I will always enjoy making music. I will always have that passion to write lyrics and express myself through those lyrics simply because doing so makes me feel alive. But in terms of juggling my responsibilities, I wouldn’t say that I have to juggle them. Music is just as important to me as making it to work on time every day. I listen to music all day every day. And my days off are spent writing new material, or just listening to material that I have already recorded previously. Everything I do in my life is to ultimately help me become not just a better musician/artist but to become a better person as well. So it all goes hand-in-hand for me.

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?

 

Binkos: WELL! There’s already the “MicSlayer Mayhem” project available now, so I encourage everyone to at least check that project out ASAP. I feel that people will find that I have a unique style and sound on every song I put together. I look forward to taking my music from Hartford,CT to, well, everywhere. The fans should definitely look forward to more music, at least one more project this year alone. Maybe even a 3rd project. Like I stated already, I want to have a 2nd project circulating around this summer 2016. And if that goes according to plan then perhaps another project in the fall, most likely around my birthday time in October. #TeamLibra ha-ha. Hopefully more features for those future projects, and hopefully other artists decide to branch out to me for features, as I’m ALWAYS up to the task of collaborating with other talented artists. I look forward to everything this year has to offer me, and I hope the fans are just as stoked about it as I am. I appreciate any and all support I’m given and I hope everyone gets a chance to listen to-and enjoys-my style of music. Welcome to the Era of the BluFlayme, ladies & gentlemen.