T.H.E Interview – ALIFIC

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ALIFIC

The man behind ALIFIC (a-lif-ic) is artist/producer Brendan Dane. Dane has lived in San Diego for six years and played bass in the reggae band Stick Figure.

ALIFIC recently released a new album, ‘PACIFIC’ which invites listeners to an upbeat journey of reflective, sentimental chill sounds. We got in touch with the man to speak to him about this album, travelling, collaborating with other musicians and more.

T.H.E – One of our favorites tracks from the album ‘Here’s To Us’ has a really nice urban hip hop feel to it. Will you make more tracks in this style?

ALIFIC – Yes. I enjoyed making this tune and can definitely see more music in this style coming out. I like making all different types of music and will always strive to break my own mold and create something new and fresh.

T.H.E – You come from a background of reggae. How different is the approach with your previous albums as opposed to Pacific?

ALIFIC – The approach on my other (2) albums were quite different as I was actually seeking out other reggae artist and collaborations to ensure the album fell under that “reggae” category. While making Pacific, I let go of all those constraints and instead just went with what felt good. I didn’t care what genre these songs would end up in, I just went from the heart.

T.H.E – What is your personal favorite song of Pacific and why?

ALIFIC – I really enjoy “Faded Times”. I like the soothing and relaxing vibe it gives me. I also like it because of the way it was made. I first recorded my dad to a standard click track and told him the chords I wanted. He just played it a few times and I later layered in a sample drumbeat from a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks”. I then had my friend J Smiles play bass and guitar on it and got Frank Mitchell Jr. to play sax. It’s a bunch of different elements that all came together to create this very relaxing and sentimental groove. It has a melancholy feel.

T.H.E – What’s the best thing about collaborating with other musicians?

ALIFIC – I like to hear other people’s ideas and influences. When you make all the music yourself, you sometime get caught in your own traps of sounding like another song you already wrote. But with other people collaborating, you get all their different musical influences and it all comes together to form something you could not have done on your own.

T.H.E – The most hilarious moment you ever experienced on the road?

ALIFIC – Being pulled over in Idaho and everyone getting arrested except for me. I had to follow the 5 cop cars back to some small no-name town and bail out the rest of the band. I then had to show up in court the next day to basically represent them and get us back on the road so we could play a show that night. It was kind of scary at the time, but now looking back it was pretty funny. Those Idaho cops had nothing better to do. They wrote a report the next day titled “Ragged Dreadlocked Crew Arrested in Drug Bust”. Gimme a break.

T.H.E – Which country would you really like to explore and does traveling inspire your music?

ALIFIC – I really want to go to Egypt and see the pyramids. Yes traveling definitely inspires my music. I love hearing new sounds and gaining a better understanding of other cultures musical tastes. Every country I go to, I try to experience some of the local music.

T.H.E – What’s the process you use when you start a song?

ALIFIC – I don’t have a standard process. Each song is constructed a little differently. Some start as a bassline, some start with the drum beat. There is no rhyme or reason to it. I just let the creative juices flow and see what comes out of it.

T.H.E – What’s your favorite way of connecting with your fans?

ALIFIC – I really enjoy when a fan expresses that a certain song helped them with their own lives in some positive way. Whether it’s a breakup, a death or just an uplifting story, I enjoy when my music brings positive vibes to peoples lives.

T.H.E – You’re a sound engineer for other people as well. Is there a difference in approach in the creating process?

ALIFIC – Yes, “live sound” and “creating/producing” music is vastly different. The approach to live sound is to work with what you got. Whether that be the band itself or the equipment at the venue, you are at the mercy of the musicians, and the equipment being used. Live sound is also in a live environment so anything can happen and you have to be able to deal and roll with it as it comes. Creating/Producing music in the studio is different. Your generally not on a time constraints and you have endless options to make the music sound different and to your liking. In all honestly, I don’t really enjoy being the live sound engineer anymore. I got tired of bad singers blaming me on them sounding bad. When something doesn’t sound good live, it’s ALWAYS the engineer’s fault (not really but that’s what everyone thinks!)

You can purchase the album here.

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