Exposed Vocals Interviews D-Roc
D-Roc is an independent artist who is somehow unsigned, even tho his tracks would make you wonder how he isn’t affiliated with a label. His songs “Flex” & “Miraj” display his fluent versatility on instrumentals moreso than most independent artists have ever shown. His music group’s biggest hit “Singularity” has more listens than there are people in his hometown! If that ratio was New York City, it would have 8.5 million plays! The only reason this guy hasn’t blown up yet is his lack of real exposure. His lyrics show ambitious potential and his flow is a unique sound that is unlike any artist out. Once people do discover this he won’t be able to get labels to leave him alone. Only time will tell what his future has in store!
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Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
D-Roc: I was born & raised in Elkins, West Virginia. Town population of 7,000 and some change. Needless to say I’m from a small place. As soon as I could hold a pencil I drew pictures & took an affinity to literature early on in school. Hip hop always sparked my interest & it developed into a passion as I grew older. Artists like Tupac and eminem inspired me, and I wanted to be like that. In 2006, my 6th grade year, I began writing & rehearsing my own verses with my cousin Tanner (T wreck featured on “mainstream”) but it wasn’t until 2012, my senior year, that I began bringing it to the public with the help of Trizzy (featured on “Stains”) who bought a MacBook & blue yeti microphone and recorded me in his closet with McDonald’s cup holders as sound foam. My stage name is D-Roc.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
D-Roc: It was my high school nick name. Since everybody already called me D-Roc it seemed to be a fitting alias.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
D-Roc: Actually all of the music that me or my group have dropped so far has been free of charge. I create songs for expression not as an enterprise; I just wish to have a career doing what I love rather than a job doing something I hate. All our material is available to stream & download on our sound cloud page:
My old soundcloud page:
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?
D-Roc: I’m not gona act like I’m a guru or anything, but the best piece of advice I can give is to just do it. Anybody can consider the possible outcomes of becoming an artist, persuing a dream, getting gigs, etc.. But none of it is going to happen if you just think it. Do it. Even if you’re scared to fail you’ll never know unless you try. The only person stopping your dream from coming true is yourself.
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
D-Roc: Inspiration can come from the smallest thing; a word, a memory, a sound, an idea…it can hit you at 2:00 pm in the middle of lunch or 4:00 am when you wake up for water in the night. My girlfriend is constant motivation & support as well as my close friends. As for my own personal process, varies as I’m an experimental artist. Typically, I put the instrumental on replay with headphones in, close my eyes so that the music takes me away, then wait for the words to form in my head. Once the ball is rolling I usually keep goin until the writing is done. I always sleep on it then revise/edit several times before & during recording a track. The smallest detail makes the biggest difference.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
D-Roc: We’re in the process of a group website right now but it is unfinished. Our platforms currently include soundcloud & YouTube.
First YouTube video:
We are in the process of expanding to more media so we can have a wider online presence & further reach to more potential fans.
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
D-Roc: I wouldn’t take the year off. I’d spend everyday in the studio stacking up as many tracks as possible. I’d invest about 200,000 in business ventures & stocks, setup a 50,000 launch campaign for my first project, put 100,000 in a savings account to accrue interest as a safety net, then use the remainder to establish & run my own record label.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
D-Roc: For the best quality promotion, it requires investment. You can market yourself pretty well with word of mouth, but even handing out your cd’s throughout the town doesn’t garuntee people won’t throw it away as soon as you walk off. Social media can get you only so far until it plateaus & your followers get annoyed with your tweets of the same song over & over in attempt to raise the listens. Online promo gets me the best results number wise, but there are so many scam promoters that will give you fake listens or not deliver the listens promised, so it’s water that must be carefully tred. But again, I wouldn’t know this had I not experienced trial & error in my own come up.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
D-Roc: I don’t want to say too much, but my first official project is in the works. Been making song after song, picking the best, making more, picking the best, etc. I’m a perfectionist so I never seem to meet the standards I set for myself, hence the reason I have yet to drop my first tape. However, I’m finally feeling comfortable with my most recent single with my producer ben, which gives me a good feeling for this year.
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
D-Roc: if I wasn’t making music, I’d be an entirely different person…or dead. Everything that makes me me makes me an artist. I did however used to draw up tattoo designs for people, which I liked to do as well. So if I had to pick something else a tattoo artist would probably be the most likely.
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
D-Roc: I’m not gonna lie, it’s difficult. Rent doesn’t pay itself and as an aspiring artist it doesn’t exactly pay salary.. So work takes up much of the week. I find time to write late at night mostly, between 12-4 usually I feel the most creative. My producer & I meet up to work as often as we can considering our opposite work schedules.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
D-Roc: look forward to being surprised! I don’t want to spoil it for ya, just keep an eye out for my first project. Follow us on twitter @D_Roc__ and @benjaminsamms
Follow us on soundcloud! Subscribe to us on YouTube! Help us share our movement with the world. Thanks for the time taken to interview, I can’t wait for everyone to hear what I have to say!
