Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
RAFZTAR: I grew up in North West UK. I have spent most of my youth in full time education but being from a middle class working family we struggled some what financially. Due to my academic achievements I made into a private grammar school and then passed my way through university and gained a Masters degree. My degree was not related to music though. I got into music creation at university after spending some time with a DJ who I shared halls with. He had the whole system set up in his room. I learnt a bit about mixing, beat and bars. I then started creating my own electronic music using eJay. It was a low budget software but it helped me make my first few tracks. I currently work in IT and spend whatever time I have left making songs and beats.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
RAFZTAR: Its a combination of my initials and “star” with the S replaced with a Z as I like being a bit different / unique.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
RAFZTAR: Online music sharing has opened the doorways of success in music to the masses, from the young kid who has raw talent to professional bands who dont want to fork out on mass promotions and record labels. I give lots of music, beats and loops away for free to build my online presence, promote my album and just sometimes when I feel the need to share something I think sounds great.
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?
RAFZTAR: When you startup you will find it difficult sometimes to finance your dreams and ambitions. You may not know where to turn to and your songs may just get a few plays hear and there. But now there are literally dozens of music sites that let you upload music and music videos to promote yourself for free. There are now also affordable ways to distribute your music. Join music forums and see what artists are talking about and ask them for advice. Dont forget to listen to other artists and give them feedback, in return they might give you feedback which will help you.
Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?
RAFZTAR: I have never performed live. However I have had live performances of my songs in USA by the featured artist on the track and it went quiet well getting a decent crowd response. If I did make a mistake I dont think I would let it get be down as you dont know what can go wrong. If its just nerves these are just something you have to overcome in your own way and over time you will get more confident and perform better. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIp58MY0xKY
Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?
RAFZTAR: I have never toured I primarily use online platforms to promote my music.
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
RAFZTAR: Most of my music is instrumental. Electronic dance music and instrumental hip hop. Songs that have vocals are usually with other rap artists who write their own lyrics. I have written some lyrics and recorded some of my own vocals on tracks on my upcoming album. I get inspiration for my beats and vocals sometimes when I wake up, sometimes when im just sitting around chilling. But then its a case of getting it written down or recorded before I lose it….
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
RAFZTAR: http://RAFZTAR.com I distribute my album and songs using Tunecore. I also use Reverbnation and SoundCloud to upload and share my songs.
Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?
RAFZTAR: Probably some older Bhangra tracks. If you look harder you may even find the Crazy Frog song…I just had to have that one for the sake of it.
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
RAFZTAR: Well like I said I have spent most of my youth in full time education and after completing that I was not able to find proper full time work so have struggled a bit financially. But friends and family I see around me have done better and I hear about them travelling alot and driving much better cars. Ive just had to sell mine…. So If I got that half a million dollars id first buy a top notch motor with top specs sound systems to blast out my music to friends. Then I would travel to all those places friends have been to and bring them back post cards to say “I made it too bro!”
Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?
RAFZTAR: I work with Mix Craft 7 Professional edition. I am working with existing samples but always on the lookout for new interesting sample packs.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
RAFZTAR: I have quite a lot of followers online from other streams, like software and IT. I promote my music to over 35K of my own followers. I have also used stats to determine the best time to push out new content to get better responses. I also use third party sites, music competitions, freebies (like promo versions of songs). Youtube is also a good way to promote music but im still working on building my subscriber list. Recently I have got more interest from music websites like this one and so I am promoting myself and my music via interviews and radio play (paid and free)
Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?
RAFZTAR: May be a bit far fetched but I would love to have done a project with Michael Jackson. Also being a fan of Rihanna I would like to work with here as she has worked with electronic music and hip hop music in the past and done will with both styles so I think is someone that I could work well with.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
RAFZTAR: I have almost completed my second Hip Hop album which is mainly Hip Hop instrumentals and a few originals songs, some with my own vocals and lyrics. The album will be named “Loops de Life” as I believe life is a bit like music, it has structure, ups and downs and when it ends it loops again from the start (the next day..)
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
RAFZTAR: Well I finance my music via my work in IT and so I would most likely just spend more time on that.
Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?
RAFZTAR: My first album was Danny Morales – SESSION SEVEN. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDzvX5-9RpU I heard one of his songs at uni and really liked the style and sounds. It was a bit hypnotic in nature and it helped with revision for exams. It most likely influences some of my own songs.
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
RAFZTAR: Well music needs paid promotion and I cant rely just on song/album sales so I have to work elsewhere to. I dont really allocate specific time for a song or album. Its really as I go along. I might find a bit of time and add more things to a new song I was working on when im not doing anything else. I do sometimes get projects to produce music for clients in which case it becomes a priority over my own music and I get this done first.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in the next year or so?
RAFZTAR: My second album and lots of new sounds. I am also looking for artists to collab with. I have also got interest from small or local stations in USA and so you might here me on there. I have also promoted my album on a popular music TV channel so some indian fans may see my logo and name being mentioned on there. I also am releasing more loops for other artists and hobbyists to use for free.
