Exposed Vocals Interview with DJ Roquer
Exposed Vocals: How did you hear about Exposed Vocals? What made you decide to sign up?
Roquer: Well, I discovered Exposed Vocals through a Facebook link I followed and found that the promotion offered is far better than most social media promoters, so I decided to sign up as soon as I get the opportunity.
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
Roquer: Growing up in Johannesburg, South Africa, my friends and I would always get together to hang out after school on a Friday and play video games while listening to DJs playing mixes on of the radio stations. That’s when I found DJ Kent SA and Black Coffee. I instantly became a huge fan and quickly became fascinated with how they played all my favourite songs. I then decided to try it out and downloaded Virtual DJ. After a few weeks of messing around with Virtual DJ, I started getting into producing music, and when I produced the first track that my friends enjoyed, I decided to become an artist, and haven’t given up since.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
Roquer: Back in high school I called myself “Rocker” after my older brother continuously referring to me as a rock-star. But the spelling came from a friend who had a thing of creating very different ways of spelling ordinary words, and so “Rocker” became “Roquer”.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Roquer: Online music sharing is probably the best way to have your music distributed nowadays. You’re able to share your music as far as you’d like and to more people that have similar tastes in music than you could in the past. It’s just all-round amazing. I always give my music away for free. Mainly because more people are willing to then download your music, because some people are still reluctant to buy music. This way I get my music even further than if I sold it.
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?
Roquer: I’d say the biggest tip that hardly gets mentioned is to network. Of course you have to keep pushing at creating better content than the previous release, or keep doing what you’re doing until someone takes notice of you, but networking will also help a great deal. Most start-up artists are embarrassed of being that “fanboy” who goes to every event of his/her favourite artist just to meet them or have a chance to take a picture with them, but truth is, that’s how you’ll get the attention of several different people in the industry. Another trick to networking is you shouldn’t be afraid to ask for someone’s phone number without getting to know him/her. Chances are that you won’t be remembered because the person is far to busy to talk to you right now, but if you give them a call and set up a meeting then you’ve already gotten the hardest part out of the way.
Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?
Roquer: There will always be performances where you make mistakes, but how you react to them is pretty important.. well at least in my opinion. Whenever I make a mistake, I simply focus on moving on, and not letting the small bump bother me. More often than not, if you let the mistake phase you, you’ll end up having a terrible performance because all you think about is how you messed up and end up not having fun. Most people love to watch a performer have fun and come back from a minor mistake. It adds to the overall atmosphere that you’re there to create and experience. So my method is to just forget about it, move on, and make the rest of the performance as great as can be.
Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?
Roquer: I haven’t had any tours just yet, but one interesting thing that has happened recently is on one of my flights back home, I had a seat next to someone who’d just come back from the exact same event that I played at. When I sat down next to him, his face just lit up and first thing he said was, “You’re him!” and he proceeded to tell me how he’s found my music online a few months ago and just had to see me perform live. I have never seen so much excitement in anyone’s eyes when talking about music!
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Roquer: Most of my inspiration comes from past, and current, events in my life. Now because I don’t sing I find ways of translating what I have to say, into music. Music that tells a story of sorts. With regards to my songwriting, I don’t really have a process. I usually think up sounds and melodies, at random times, that I just have to write down on paper before I forget them. Then when I get the chance I play it out on my piano and that’s where my songs usually start to take form.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
Roquer: I have a site that’s currently being built and should be up running within the coming months. I share my work on the major sites, so that’s SoundCloud, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can like my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/roquerofficial, or follow me on SoundCloud at www.soundcloud.com/roquer_official, as well as Twitter, and Instagram at @DJ_Roquer.
Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?
Roquer: That would probably be Spice Girls – If You Want To Be My Lover. Hahaha. That song has to have the catchiest lyrics ever! But for some reason people always look at me weird when I say I also listen to music by Ludovico Einaudi, and Beethoven. I may be a “Rave Bunny” but I like some slow, relaxing, classical and orchestral music too!
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
Roquer: I’d put some of it into investments, and spend the rest on a new studio, and travelling the world!
Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?
Roquer: Right now I work from a home studio with just the basics. A pair of JBL monitors, a midi keyboard, and my computer. Not much studio-wise. I look to turn my one room into a proper studio, with mics for recording, a mixing desk, monitors, and soundproofed walls and windows.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
Roquer: When it comes to promoting my music I think it’s just trial and error. There isn’t a specific way of promoting my music. I just try to make each posting as appealing as possible, however I have found that spending certain times of the day promoting my music yields a greater outcome so I try my best to post at those times.
Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?
Roquer: That’s an easy one. It would definitely be with Armin Van Buuren at TomorrowLand! It’s my dream to play at TomorrowLand one day, and it’s another to play alongside Armin Van Buuren, my biggest role model in the DJ community. So having these two dreams unite would be the best performances I could ever have!
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
Roquer: I’ve got a few new tracks coming up and I’m busy recording with another artist, from here in South Africa, on one of the tracks. My latest projects are going to be great, exciting, and different from what I usually put out so I’m definitely looking forward to releasing those.
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Roquer: Well right now, I’m studying for a degree in BSc IT, so I guess if I weren’t making music, I’d probably be getting into the world of game development because gaming, and programming, are things that I also love doing.
Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?
Roquer: My very first album was a multidisc compilation album, Soul Candi Sessions. Each disc was a compilation of music from various artists in the form of a DJ mix, and every time I played those CDs, all I kept thinking was, “One day I’ll be making mixes like that”.
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Roquer: Well that used to be something I struggled with, but I think the trick is to prioritise and diarise everything in your life. Always plan things, and always give the right amount of time for whatever needs to be… just don’t forget to plan for fun now and then. That way there isn’t much that needs to be juggled.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2015?
Roquer: One thing I’m looking forward to this year is releasing three of my latest tracks this summer as well as playing several events as a “surprise artist”, so this should be what fans should look out for.
