Hey everyone, thank you for taking the time to do this interview with us! How has the start of 2021 been for you?
Rederick: To be honest, not that much different from 2020 so far. However, it’s been a pleasure dropping some new music at the start of this year, and this music was created during the height of COVID in 2020 and carries a lot of emotional elements. Can’t wait to see what else is in store for 2021 and we can’t wait until things can return to normal.
Citizen Gold: 2021 has started off pretty great back-to-back tracks with Rederick! And more music in the works. I’m very excited for what the future holds. But I’m also terrified to have any sort of expectations after 2020. I also miss performing live like crazy!
What gave you the initial spark to start collaborating on your new track “Rain”?
Rederick: The initial spark came from Sao Kzu with a WIP (Work in Progress) he shared in a discord server. Rederick was feeling the vibe, hit up Sao Kzu, and he sent over the stems. The theme of Rain was already established with the initial project Sao Kzu shared and Rederick built upon that theme using various sounds, ambiences, harmonies, etc. The track was ‘done’ after Rederick wrapped up what Sao Kzu started, but he felt that some vocals would fit super well over the track. Around the same time, Rederick became acquainted with Citizen Gold in Atlanta and decided to reach out to him and see if he would be interested in recording on the track. He happened to write the lyrics on a rainy day and holy hell do they resonate with the vibe of the track. It was a pleasure having Citizen Gold over to Rederick’s studio to record and what a track this came out to be.
Citizen Gold: Rederick and I met at a party. Actually it was the last party I went to before the lockdown. It was a great time and he and I just started vibing. He was the DJ and towards the end of the night he played me some of his original tracks. I started sort of freestyling and I think immediately we both knew that we wanted to create something together. We went back-and-forth a few times trying to see what would work. And when he sent me this track he and Sao Kzu were working on. I knew immediately it was exactly the vibe that I wanted to play with. It was a rainy day, everything was locked down and I had been in such a reflective state. 2019 didn’t end very well for me. And working on this track and all of the writing I’ve done during the pandemic has really kept me sane.
How did the pandemic affect you creatively when making this track? How did it affect your overall production process?
Rederick: This track was written around March / April 2020, during the peak of our shift into the pandemic. As Citizen puts it: “It’s a new day, ride a new wave.” That phrase sums the emotions that we put into this track and the creative inspiration that we incorporated. All things come to an end and tomorrow is a new day. We hope that this song reminds you of that.
Citizen Gold: I feel like right now this is good music to release. Because during this quarantine, no one really wants to get super hype. I mean if they do, I get it, get hype in your living room! But you know, I think that we needed some chill music to vibe with and reflect on everything that is going on. That’s sort of what this song is all about. This moment that we all collectively got. To sit down and think about our lives. To think about our priorities, and think about ways that we can improve the world around us.
I think we’ve seen the results of that, through so many different movements and changes that have happened. Even though really, the world is sort of standing still. But human beings can never really stand still. Especially now with all this connectivity that we have.
Did it cause the process to take longer than it usually might, or vice versa?
Rederick: The pandemic didn’t really hinder the process of creating this track in any manner, especially since Citizen Gold and Rederick live in the same city. Of course, we tested ourselves before getting in the studio together. In addition, since Sao Kzu is in another country, we definitely had no issue related to the pandemic because we were able to share stems / communicate virtually without issue.
Citizen Gold: It really wasn’t that hard for us to work on this. Luckily recording is a great activity to do during the pandemic. We could send the track back and forth in emails. Then when we recorded it we kept plenty of space between us.
Rederick, how has joining the Wubaholics family inspired you, or helped you grow as an artist in 2020?
Rederick: First off, I am very blessed to be a new member of the Wubaholics fam and I can’t thank them enough for:
1) Finding me somehow
2) Believing in my music
3) Being genuine and incredible human beings
Through Wubaholics, I have met so many new producers and now feel that I am a part of a family. Soon, I will be moving to Florida, where a lot of the Wubaholics folks are based, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds with this incredible community. S/O Adam, Austin, Tyler, & Zack.
What other goals of yours have each of you accomplished in 2020?
Rederick: My biggest goal was to just get better at producing and hone in on my sound. I finally got to this point around August of 2020 and I can’t be more proud of the progress I made. COVID definitely hindered my creative process a bit, but progress is progress.Citizen Gold: I really just worked on music. I’ve worked on writing a lot of tracks. I really have a bunch of songs lined up and ready to go. We just have to put some finishing touches on them. I am really excited! Because of this whole situation, I felt like really the only thing I could do is just try to put as much music down as I could. I mean why not? We’ve got this time that we wouldn’t normally have and we can’t do shows. So might as well write! My goal for 2021 is to release as much music as is humanly possible. If I could release a song a month, not gonna put that kind of pressure on myself because I want it to be quality. But if I could have a song a month, I would be ecstatic. So that’s really my plan for 2021. If we do get to play shows, then of course I’m gonna load my schedule with shows at the end of the year but we’ll see what happens.
With much time ahead of us this year, what are some goals you have for 2021?
Rederick: My main goals for this year are to lock down at least 10 label releases and collab with some larger artists that I really admire. Only 1 month in and substantial progress has already been made 🙂
If you have any other projects or releases that you’d like to plug to the fans let us have it, otherwise get your butts to your favourite streaming platform and check out ‘Rain’, by Rederick & sao kzu (ft. Citizen Gold) out now on Above.
Rederick: Recent release on Wubaholics:
Citizen Gold: I want to say to the fans thank you so much for listening,the feedback and sharing. Means the world! Go follow me on all the social media. You can search Citizen Gold Music and you’ll pull me right up. Go listen to the singles and the Electric Soul album. Give me your thoughts, tell me it sucks, tell me you love it. I always appreciate feedback. It makes the music better and makes me a better artist. Get ready, stay tuned there’s more music coming. Much love