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Waldorf And Statler are at it again…
22 February 2010 | Uncategorized | No Responses
Here’s Volume Two of Five - Calm Conversations.
Each and every EP is and will be free. YES, FREE - just like the last part of my name. If y’all like what y’all hear, and you wanna put some money in the game to support, “The Return Of The Dirty Cymbals” is still for sale, and it’s still dope. Purchase a copy of that. As for DVS, details will be coming soon on how to purchase solo product from him.
You can download it here, or stream it AND download it here.
Here’s the credits (tracklist, feature info, etc.):
Welcome To The Waldorf & Statler Experience…
13 December 2009 | Uncategorized | No Responses
I know it’s been a while since I’ve put any new music out, but if you’re a fan, I thank you for your patience, and if you’re not a fan, hopefully this new stuff will turn you into one.
“A picture of two old farts - what’s the deal tREB?”
Here’s the deal: Those of y’all who heard my debut production album, “The Return Of The Dirty Cymbals” (or even if you’ve been checking for my work since the “Nigga I Know James” EP), should remember the name DVS Jackson.
Yup, that’s him.
Anyways, as a result of the great work we seemed to come up with when I slid him some beats, I decided we should do a whole album together.
I gotta admit, when I put out “The Return Of The Dirty Cymbals”, I was actually way more excited about getting this material I did and was doing at the time with DVS out. However, I felt like both of us as artists needed to be seen as individuals that came together to do a project, as opposed to a group who did this album and then went solo. DVS is dope in his own right and has killer tracks with other producers, which hopefully y’all will hear soon.
The original plan was to put out a full album with DVS - 13 tracks and be done with it - not too long, not too short. After I saw how the whole “Nigga I Know James” EP worked out, it seemed like a better idea to hit people with 5 tracks at a time in a package, and if they want more, they’ll ask, comment, tell friends and all that, and if they didn’t want more, they’d walk away. Also, the current structure of how music is bought and sold doesn’t seem very conducive to newer cats who are trying to build a name. I didn’t feel like sitting on this music until either of our names were ‘built’ so to speak.
So this here is Volume One of Five - the premier EP. Each EP will feature production from me, tREBLEFREE, as well as rhymes from DVS Jackson, along with a few special guests here and there. We’ve already got stuff in the can with See-Me-On of The Primeridian and MC Juice, the legendary freestyle champ who hails from Chicago.
Each and every EP will be free. YES, FREE - just like the last part of my name. If y’all like what y’all hear, and you wanna put some money in the game to support, “The Return Of The Dirty Cymbals” is still for sale, and it’s still dope. Purchase a copy of that. As for DVS, details will be coming soon on how to purchase solo product from him.
As far as the whole Statler & Waldorf thing, well, DVS’s engineer Seano is actually is the one who came up with it. As I thought about it more though, both of us are bald, both of us are older than the traditional age of rap cats these days, and both of us are musically specific about what we listen to, so the whole idea just seemed to fit.
With ALL of that being said, here’s the 5W’s on this stuff:
You can download it here, or stream it AND download it here.
Here’s the credits (tracklist, feature info, etc.):
TODAY’S THE DAY…
8 August 2008 | Uncategorized | No Responses
08/08/08
As of today, “The Return Of The Dirty Cymbals” is OFFICIALLY available in all forms for purchase.
To buy “The Return Of The Dirty Cymbals” on Amazon mp3, go here: http://tinyurl.com/5juc8s
To buy “The Return Of The Dirty Cymbals” on iTunes, go here: http://tinyurl.com/6f2yug
Physical CD copies of “The Return Of The Dirty Cymbals” are available at: CreateSpace and Discology in Reno, Nevada (thanks Dave!!)
For the radio people (especially y’all college radio cats - whatup TIMP, j.benok, DJ Primetime & Sesion 31, EL3G and myk blAUUW!), the clean versions and instrumentals are available for download here . Also, be sure to hit up Preach’s Clean Rap Blog for clean versions of various other rap albums that you may want to play on your show. Being a former college radio jock myself, I understand how hard it is to come up on stuff like that…
For those who subscribe to legal downloading services to save money, mp3 downloads are also available through Rhapsody, eMusic, Lala and Napster. Shockhound will also have it when their site launches.
Don’t forget about “Nigga I Know James!!!” - the free EP that I produced for Chicago’s own DVS. You can download that for free by going here: NIKJ
The clean version of this EP, “I Know James!!!”, is available for download here .
Thanks again for ALL of your support!!
Cris Rios talks to tREBLEFREE about the album cover for “The Return Of The Dirty Cymbals”
5 August 2008 | Uncategorized | No Responses
tREBLEFREE: First of all, I want to thank you for doing the cover and artwork for the album. When I asked you to do the cover, I gave you the album title and I wanted to see what it meant to you. What does the phrase “The Return Of The Dirty Cymbals” mean to you?
Cristian Rios: First, I want to say I am very grateful for the opportunity. CD covers have always been a big interest for me, and I was glad to get to do yours. As far as the phrase goes, when you first gave me that title, I had to step back. The first image that popped in my head was a rusty or dirty cymbal, so I had to step back and just examine the phrase. The first thing that I latched onto was, this was a Hip-Hop record, and with music in general, live instruments are often forgotten. With that, there’s a sound that becomes absent in music, which I felt you recaptured from the snippets I had heard. The cymbals were a symbol for that last great part in music. So, I took the return of this as the return of that real music. The grand return and emergence of what we’ve been missing.
tR: That’s an interesting way of looking at it. Aside from the album title, were there any other things that inspired your art and design, such as particular artists or drawing styles?
C.R.: You know, there’s a lot more that went into the art and symbolism. As far as particular inspirations, there weren’t any. Most artists are influenced by what they know, and the rest is how much they can dream. I don’t really keep track of pieces I like, or the people who do them. I take in the art and let it inspire me subconsciously. I’ll say this, straight up – tohunga (one of the message board users/members on okayplayer.com) really made me push myself. Seeing his artwork definitely hit me. It’s something I admire, so I did have his stuff in mind as far as wanting to create something that could have some impact. As far as styles, I more so let the story that I saw within the album title influence that. When I thought of how to represent the concept, I got these images of a grand terrain – a post-apocalyptic world; and in I saw the return as a struggle we can all relate to. You know, right now, times are tough in America. Even though the music business has been hit hard, you still have underground artists with a lot of passion and determination saying, ‘this is our chance’. It’s not a pretty struggle, so I wanted to go with a style that reflected that – a grimy and unrefined style full of texture and character.
tR: I can definitely relate to what you’re saying about times being tough right now. I remember you mentioning to me once that the album title reminded you of something the Wu-Tang Clan would make. I kind of agree – ha-ha!
C.R.: Yeah. The title also had me thinking of a warrior theme, like a ninja. Something from the Far East, maybe a little Mortal Kombat, martial arts, Wu-Tang type of thing. People who buy the CD will actually see that come to life inside the booklet. It also has a lot to do with that struggle and grimy vision that I mentioned. I wanted to go with something dark that gave hope; not a colorful bear jumping out of a cannon, which to me was dope, but not fitting for this title, ha-ha!
tR: Maaaaaaaaaaan, I feel cheated now! I wanted the colorful bear!
C.R.: Ha-ha!
tR: “The Return of Colorful Bears Being Shot out Of Cannons” - that’ll be the next album title…
C.R.: That sounds carebearariffic – ha ha!
tR: LMAO!
C.R.: We’d have to do a psychedelic video for that one though, and I know aftereffects! Ha-ha!!
tR: Seriously though - I also like how you were able to incorporate the “book” theme I wanted into the design. I remember telling you that the title reminded me of something like “Aesop’s Fables”.
C.R.: That was a concept that just fell together with the artwork I had in mind. This idea of a return and the struggles just lends itself to a book greatly, so when you brought up the idea I was all for it. You definitely had some great concepts to build with it like the pages effect and just the layout and formatting of the text.
tR: Well thanks sir. The best part about working with you on this design was that you were open to the ideas I had, and you made them work within the art you created. I’m curious about one thing though – why are the people faceless in the cover art?
C.R.: Man, you know how hard it is to make eyes in PhotoShop? You were gonna have to give up some Kanye kind of money for that! LOL!
tR: LMAO!
C.R.: Ha-ha – I’m just kidding. It was a battle I thought a lot about. Do I want to give these people a specific identity? I thought that was unnecessary. I thought it would be more effective to bring out emotions and ideas without having to hit people over the head with a sad face and a tear, but the question I asked myself, was how would I be able to accomplish this? I usually don’t toot my own horn, but I think those figures were perfect! LOL! In all seriousness, I felt it was more effective to keep them faceless, as this is a whole class of warriors, not an exception. It was more important to me that everybody would be able to relate.
tR: Having them faceless definitely makes the message more universal - bring it above the normal boundaries of race and gender. I really dug that. I mean, I can tell those were dudes; the guy on the inside cover could have been mistaken for Sacagawea if you made the cymbals look like a baby. LOL!
C.R.: Ha ha! That was definitely inspired by art depicting a woman. In a way, it’s the same kind of situation; these were its babies, and when the time came they would be raised for the return.
tR: Wow! That’s deep! LOL!
C.R.: And guess what? It’s all natural; not an ounce of weed in this head ever. LOL!
tR: HA HA!! I think people who read this interview and possibly consider working with you will be happy to know that.
C.R.: Man, if that lets me get some jobs without having to pee in a cup I’m all for it. LOL!
tR: You killin’ me man! LMAO!!! It’s gonna be hard to finish this interview without laughing. Okay so, here come the standard “art” questions: How long have you been doing art, and what is your preferred form of expression?
C.R.: I’ve been doing art since I was in the third grade. My first piece of “art” was a trace of Bart Simpson from some Simpson pajamas I had back then. I was so ashamed like, man how could you cheat? I felt so cheap, so I threw it away and never showed it to anyone. Since then, I’ve been trying to get to the point where I don’t have to trace. LOL!
tR: Ha ha! You’re on that ‘Color by Numbers’ style – I KNEW IT!!! LOL!!
C.R.: Right now, I’m exploring a lot. I do a lot of pen portraits in a sketch style, like the one I did on the back of the CD tray, but as of late, photography has taken a hold of me. To be honest, school kept me from doing a lot of ‘fine art’ but now that I’m out of school, we’ll see what grabs me. Black and white drawings were always my specialty.
tR: Do you mean charcoal on white paper, or just regular pencil sketching?
C.R.: Well, initially it was just pencil, I worked those pencils. LOL. I was introduced into charcoal in my last year of high school and into my first college, and it didn’t make sense to go back. The artwork for ‘The Return Of The Dirty Cymbals’ is a breakthrough for me. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do; create a story theme through my art. For various reasons, I haven’t had many opportunities for that, but doing this got me excited and I was very pleased with the results. It’s a direction I’m hoping to explore more.
tR: Thanks man! It means a lot to me that I was able to provide a start for you in your art career. That’s actually the same way I approached the rappers on the album. Everybody is pretty much unproven and new to the rap world as far as having material out.
C.R.: One of the things you told me when we started this was that you wanted to have a theme to the artwork; as far as I can see, there was obviously a theme to this whole project. Thanks once again for the opportunity. It was a great experience and you have a great album. It would be amazing for this to be the launching point of many careers.
tR: I’m glad you dig it! I seriously hope that this album does start something for everybody involved. I took a chance on working with those who were willing to work with me on that artistic level, and I think it paid off.
C.R.: Man I’m grateful for it, and the results on the album definitely look like they paid off.
tR: Speaking of careers and launching points, I think the artwork you did stands on its own as magnificent art. Are you looking to do more work of this caliber?
C.R.: Honestly, I’m looking into expanding this story and do some more pieces using the characters and the theme. My goal was to create something that would stand on its own, and when the concepts came to me, I got lots of ideas. It was an inspiration that hopefully I’ll be able to keep exploring. I’m always looking to work with new people and do new projects; be it sketches, art, album covers or graphic design.
tR: That seems like that would be really amazing. What’s next? ‘The Return Of The Dirty Cymbals’ comic book? LOL!
C.R.: LOL! You never know. I’ll keep you posted, but I’m thinking more so of big canvas paintings.
tR: Hey, I already got the main character’s name for you – Cymba.
C.R.: Ha ha ha!! That sounds very familiar!
tR: How can people get in touch with you and see other examples of your work?
C.R.: The best way to see what I’m up to and get in contact with me is to go to my website, www.cristianrios.com.
Welcome to the site!
21 July 2008 | Uncategorized | No Responses
Thanks for logging on to tREBLEFREE dot com!
In the coming days leading up to the official release date (8-8-2008), I’ll post up some info about the guests on my debut album, “The Return Of The Dirty Cymbals”.
For now, as a special treat for all the CD heads out there - Y’ALL CAN BREAK RELEASE DATE!
Click here to purchase the CD!
For all the digital heads, downloads will be available at Amazon mp3 on 8/8/2008, and on iTunes soon after. If you want to hear snippets, you can do that here.
In the meantime, for y’all digital heads that must wait, here’s something to keep y’all busy:
Stay tuned to tREBLEFREE dot com for all the updates!