Music Review and Interview with ‘Breaking Solid Ground’ – Music World
Breaking Solid Ground have put out a track that encompasses all that is optimistic and uplifting within music, sound, and melody. The backing track throughout this one is stacked full of soothing sounds and synths – there is no gap in the sound, no pause, no break, and for the most part it has the effect of bringing a certain warmth to the room, a wall of soothing sound. The vocal effect half way through has a sort of robotic nature to it, a little distracting all of a sudden, but only slightly, and it made for a good distinguishing point between the two vocals, and an interesting alternative to what is expected. The experimentation with sounds and instruments is clearly born from creativity and a love of music, which is always a pleasure to hear. The melody grows and becomes familiar after a couple of choruses, and that uplifting sound is amplified by the lyrical concept of just having a good time.
It would add a little more dynamic to the track if there was a break or a pause at some point, but it’s a minor observation – there is constant change within the track, whether it’s vocally or instrumentally, and there is a drop out towards the end which rounds the whole piece of music off really nicely. It’s important to have music that aims to lift spirits and make people happy, it’s often overlooked, so it’s nice to hear this, built up with such a great production job behind it as well. The electronic nature of the track adds a nostalgic blanket of familiarity, yet the ways in which the sounds and the effects are played around with gives it that unique edge, that Breaking Solid Ground sound of choice, so you know it’s their work, you know it’s them when you listen. The track has received a lot of air play and it’s no surprise; it’s a feel good song, with a really calming opening melody and lead vocal.
By Rebecca Cullen
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
BreakingSolidGround: Our team name is BreakingSolidGround(BSG) we are a duo of songwriters (Jasmith&Vanan) who are from Singapore. We have been producing songs since late 2011.Music have always been our passion from young. Jasmith have been producing songs since he was 17 years old and Vanan have been in the film and sound production team since 17 years old. Therefore, the passion for the music industry have been growing ever then. Given our ability to perform well in these two fields separately, we decided to give it a shot and after our first outing, we decided that we shared the same drive to make music.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
BreakingSolidGround: The name of the team literally means to break new grounds. Why is that so? It’s not easy to succeed as a well-established artist in Asia, therefore it’s like breaking a solid ground. It takes a hell of an effort and determination just to gain some amount of recognition.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
BreakingSolidGround: Online music sharing is good as it allows an artist to gain fame faster as the music piece could go viral if there are many people sharing it. We did start to give some of our music free once our sales target was achieved on the digital download stores.
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?
BreakingSolidGround: It will seem extremely disheartening at first when you don’t see good amount of sales and crowd but you must never give up hope and keep on trying. Besides, even after a run of good gigs and records, there might be some rough patches and it’s important not to give up then. Think of it as a good opportunity to realize what’s your true forte’ and work on that the next time around.
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
BreakingSolidGround: Well we will always meet up once a week to discuss about our next single or cover and how we would like the song to be crafted. We would exchange lyrics lines and play around with a keyboard to see if the melody line fits with the lyrics, that’s how we will lay the foundation of a song. Later after all falls into place, using software, we would place appropriate pads and synths to the music for necessary beautification of the song.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
BreakingSolidGround: We have our Facebook fan page , our YouTube page as well as a twitter page but we don’t have a formal website. We use sound-cloud , YouTube and band camp to share our music to our fans. Our short term goal would be to look forward to opening a band website to benefit our fans.
https://www.facebook.com/Breakingsolidground https://soundcloud.com/breakingsolidground
https://www.youtube.com/TheJourneyAlbum https://breakingsolidground.bandcamp.com/
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
BreakingSolidGround: We would definitely use it to upgrade our education in the media industry to provide better sounding music to our fans, a small charity drive to give back to our fans and needy ones out there aspiring to make music. We will travel to try and meet different artists from around the globe looking for whatever opportunities to make better music.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
BreakingSolidGround: We usually promote our songs on online radios, YouTube promotion campaign and Facebook promotion campaign. The YouTube promotion seems to be the best source of advertising as we see a sharp rise in views and new interaction between fans there.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
BreakingSolidGround: We will definitely be doing at least 2 more singles this year and 2 more covers. We are currently looking for an international artist to collaborate with us for a new song. The collaborated song should be one of the biggest project of the year, and we are looking forward to it.
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
BreakingSolidGround: (Jasmith) I would probably be pursuing studies in film and will probably try to be a feature film director. (Vanan) I would be completing my BA in Mass Communication and looking to build up on my video production and music making skills as a part time hobby through budding artists in the local and international scene.
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
BreakingSolidGround: It comes down alot too proper time management and determination. We usually try to reserve 3 days in a week to meet up and discuss about our music agendas and try to work out solutions within the day itself or next and commit the rest of the week to our studies and family.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
BreakingSolidGround: The fans should look out for new exciting covers and singles in this year. We have just released a new cover of Adele`s Hello (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA8aWSe3fOw) and would be releasing a new single very soon. The international collaboration should be the most exciting project of them all as it will expose us to new fans and genre of music. So the fans should stay tune to us for 2016.
