Exposed Vocals Interviews Hefe Heetroc

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

Hefe Heetroc: I grew up in Upstate, NY, Really what made me want to to become a musician

Was the burgeoning  grunge music scene, so I took some guitar lessons, started writing songs & lyrics, my creativity & love for the music making process grew from there.

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

Hefe Heetroc: The name, ha, I had recently moved out to Los Angeles, during a brainstorming session for a video

I made, it came to me, the Spanish word for “boss” is jefe, but I wanted a word that started with an “H” to precede the word heetroc, heet is a stylized version of “Heat”, and “Roc” stands for Rochester, where I grew up.

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

Hefe Heetroc: Online music sharing is a tool, it can dramatically help an artist’s reach new listeners, everything now is digital, the big record company conglomerates of the past have lost control of the medium they help start, it’s all apps now for promoting  oneself , and yes a majority of my music is available online for my fans to listen to. I give it away so that I can establish new revenue streams, via music video ads or iTunes if you get a fan hooked on your style or “brand” per say, you have a fan for life, who will be interested in any new merchandise you have to offer regarding your brand you are promoting

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?

Hefe Heetroc: Well buy promotion gigs on Fiverr or Submit hub, to establish your online presence.

Doesn’t matter how dope your album is, if no one knows it exists, you’ve wasted a lot of time recording it!

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

Hefe Heetroc: I think most artists do, While I haven’t booked any live shows as yet, during my studio time, I mess up a lot, the brilliant aspect of a studio album is the “retake”, multiple takes make any artists life easier! Unfortunately when I do start doing shows live, I won’t have that luxury.

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

Hefe Heetroc: Naw no tours yet, but its gonna happen stay tuned!

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

Hefe Heetroc: Really it’s a mindset, you can’t force the creative process, I start of just writing lyrics or poetry, I will then create a beat, and then try to mix and incorporate my lyrics into my beat into my song in a rhythmical  way, that fits into the song, it all starts as a very organic process.

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

Hefe Heetroc: hefe-h33troc.bandcamp.com

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

Hefe Heetroc: Man, 80s music lol, my guilty pleasure

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

Hefe Heetroc: Build the perfect studio

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

Hefe Heetroc: I am currently looking into recording at a studio that charges per hour, I used to do the home recording thing, it just takes up too much time, and me being a perfectionist doesn’t help, ha!

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

Hefe Heetroc: Small music blogs, soundcloud sharing, joining soundcloud music groups, facebook groups, ect

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

Hefe Heetroc: Kurt Cobain, Loose Logic, Mads Veslelia, Yung Lean, Layne Staley

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

Hefe Heetroc: I got some stuff I am writing, I did a lot of writing in LA, nothing set in stone yet though

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

Hefe Heetroc: Graphic Designer

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

Hefe Heetroc: Nirvana, I was like, oh wow, this is cool

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

Hefe Heetroc: Its tough but you have to prioritize your most important duties first

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in the next year or so?

Hefe Heetroc: Promoting the Shr00mz video & single