Sophie Moser 0:02
Hey, I'm Sophie.
Sophia Barber 0:04
And I'm Sophia.
Sophie Moser 0:05
And this is the That's Showbiz, Baby! podcast.
Sophia Barber 0:12
Hey, everyone, welcome back to the podcast. And hey, Sophie, how are you doing?
Sophie Moser 0:17
I'm good. I'm back at home for the holiday season, which is nice. It's a little bit chilly. I'm not used to it coming from LA, but it's good. How are you?
Sophia Barber 0:28
Yeah, same. I'm cold and, you know, chillin in my parents basement. So I'm really living the dream life I would say. So today, everyone, we are going to start the podcast off with some music recommendations. I'm going to go first. My recommendation is from 2019. And it's the song "Roddy" by Djo. I think is how you pronounce it. And this is actually Joe Keery's band who plays Steve on Stranger Things. He makes some music so let's take a listen.
Audio 1:01
*Clip of "Roddy" by Djo*
Sophia Barber 1:37
So this song is just kind of nice and laid back. I have it on my chill playlist that I listen to when I'm you know, doing homework or doing other stuff. But I don't know it's kind of nice. He has a nice voice. I was surprised to find out that this was him. I found the song and then found out it was Joe Keery. So kind of fun. That's my recommendation.
Sophie Moser 2:00
Yeah, that's that's super fun. It definitely reminds me of you. It's a very Sophia Barber song to me.
Sophia Barber 2:10
Yeah, that tracks.
Sophie Moser 2:12
But um, I brought a song called "Molang" by Payday so we can take a listen to that one.
Sophie Moser 2:41
*Clip of "Molang" by Payday*
Sophie Moser 2:53
So that one I think is super fun. Um, the artist Payday, she is pretty young, I think either 16 or 17. So I think that's really cool. Like I always look up to people who have cool music at a young age. But I don't know, I think her tone of voice is really cool. I kind of just found this I think on some Spotify playlist and just really liked it. I think it's cool how she can kind of do like, like she has a kind of like light and airy intro and then like a strong verse. And then she raps a little bit too, like kind of raps which I think is all fun. I don't know. I like the sound.
Sophia Barber 3:33
Yeah, that was a fun song. She's very talented. And it is cool to see young people- I mean, it's one it also kind of makes me jealous, but to see young people, you know being so talented. So anyway, today we are going to welcome Ashes To Amber or Kane Acosta and we're going to talk to him about his music, what's next for him and the EP he recent- recently released. So stay tuned for that.
Sophie Moser 4:07
So our guest today is Kane Acosta of Ashes to Amber. So hey, Kane, how are you doing?
Kane Acosta 4:15
Good. How are you guys doing on this wonderful Saturday.
Sophia Barber 4:19
So good. Thank you for asking.
Sophie Moser 4:19
Super good. Super good.
Kane Acosta 4:23
No worries.
Sophie Moser 4:23
So can you tell us a little bit about yourself and Ashes To Amber.
Kane Acosta 4:29
Okay, sure. So pretty much. I've always had music going on throughout my whole life. So I've wanted to be able to like adapt that to like my real world like career and stuff because it's like one of my favorite things to do. So when I came here as a music industry freshman I noticed that there was like madly talented people around me so I just kind of started diverting my, my goals to like meeting and networking with people and before you knew it like I had like a little EP that I was releasing in October of 2018 that was like, even though it's like super diy not like produced like super well it's still like one of my favorite pieces of work. So like from that point on, that was like the epicenter of just like growth where I just wanted to wake up every single day and just keep the Ashes To Amber dream alive. I mean that's kind of how it, how it started but like more about Ashes To Amber would be like- it kind of just like tells like so far in my life story going from like an ash like from like, from like a dark ashes to like more of like a luminescent Amber. So it's like, the journey from- it's like, reversed fire like, like if something was like destroyed and then like return back to like what it was before it caught on fire. Crazy. Um, but and also like, want to make Ashes To Amber a community because I'm sure a lot of people like feel like that. So like, I want to like bridge the gap between like artists and like, fan base beyond like discord and like, Only Fans or whatever that is just like something something that just like, brings everybody together for the common good.
Sophia Barber 6:00
Alright, everyone goes look on Only Fans for Kane after this episode.
Kane Acosta 6:04
Only guitar, only for guitar.
Sophia Barber 6:09
Yes, he has guitar in hand while talking to us. So you know, he's legit.
Kane Acosta 6:14
Oh always. I go to the shopping market with my guitar.
Sophia Barber 6:18
Um, so we like to start out the episodes with guests asking them to give us a few new music recommendations. So do you have any stuff that you've been loving recently and want to share?
Kane Acosta 6:28
Oh my gosh, yeah, mine is probably gonna be random.
Sophia Barber 6:31
Perfect.
Kane Acosta 6:32
But um, I've come into this new artist. He's from Hawaii, his name's Brother Noland. He like, they- I think somebody did the music supervision for Pineapple Express with Seth Rogen with one of his songs. And I think that's how I had like a nostalgic like, oh, I've heard this song before. But beyond that, like, if you go through his like other- it's like, beautiful, like Hawaiian rock. I have no idea. But it's the most like, cool sound ever. So I would check out Brother Noland and I would check out- Um, let's just go with a classic and just throw in some Dire Straits. You guys should check out some Dire Straits, cuz they make some bangers always.
Sophia Barber 7:17
Perfect. Thank you so much for sharing.
Kane Acosta 7:20
No worries.
Sophie Moser 7:21
That's awesome. So, um, I guess touching on earlier this year, you released an EP called Miss Future. So can you tell us about the creative process of that and how it was to make a record during quarantine?
Kane Acosta 7:37
Yes, so fortunately, fortunately, for me, um, my producer, or like my mixing engineer, his name is TJ, shout out to TJ. Hi TJ. Um, he, he was super free like during all of quarantine since there isn't, there's not a lot to do, I would just commute from my house here in Orange and then drive up to Los Angeles and we would just like work like four times a week. So that- at least like the, the workflow is there. And it was just like creating any other project. I wasn't like trying to let the outside world like, affect too much like I did, like apply some like songwriting and stuff in there, just like the mood of what was going on. But the overall like creative process was kind of the same. I wanted to create more of like a, kind of like a antsy, like skater more based album, because I feel like, like the whole world was kind of just like at a very, what's the best way to place it like just a very, like unstable state. So I feel like there's like always that like, the belly and like drive that kind of comes out like a more punky sound. So I tried to apply that into my music to maybe like, generate more of an emotional just like mood, mood board with it. Um, but with like all the leading tracks and everything, they pretty much are just building on more of just like where I'd left my story off with, with like the previous release of "Outskirts Infinity." So it's just like, telling the story a little bit more. What the scary part is, like, through this the storytell of my life, like I'm already like, 75% through so if I get through this next 25% I gotta started finding a new theme for my branding. But yeah.
Sophia Barber 9:10
Yeah, you're gonna have to start.
Kane Acosta 9:11
So that's where the mystery-
Sophia Barber 9:12
You're gonna have to start making stuff up. And that's fun.
Kane Acosta 9:17
Yeah, I know. I'll just start, like, multiple- multiple like Hannah Montana Miley Cyrus genres. Not like genres, but I'll have like multiple personalities. It'll just be like Ashes to Amber and Jimmy the Dog, I don't know.
Sophia Barber 9:31
That's great. So now we have some more technical questions that we feel might be helpful for any artists listening, that are taking a DIY approach. Maybe they could learn something from you, who knows? So you like handling your business affairs independently, and we were wondering what value you see in doing it this way, kind of DIY as opposed to looking for a record label.
Kane Acosta 9:56
Um, so I kind of have like a middle answer for that because I like, I like going in, going into everything like very independently minded. But then once I get like, to the point where I need to kind of build upon that connection that I just built, I kind of go like in a third party kind of way. So it's not like, it's not like I'm going into it like, by myself, but like, I'll go out and seek things that matter to me. And like ways I think I would want to build my brand. And then once I have those ideas, I'll reach out to just like- like I'll contact people, like just throughout LA and be like, Hey, would you just random people, they don't have to necessarily be like a manager on paper, but like, if they want to be a manager, just like, bring them along with like the project. And like, hopefully, you can just like build something out of- without needing like that label support. So just like creating, just like this fluid, organic thing that you build on your own. Because at the end of the day, like what you want to do is when you actually go to labels is have like leverage in it. So like you can be like, like, I'm sure if Kelly Clarkson came out to them being like, let's do this they'd be like let's do this, you know, they wouldn't be like get out of here. So um, so yeah, so I'd say like, I like doing everything independently, like when I reach out to companies and stuff, because I feel like it's very, like personal talking about me. But I always have like, managers and other people like on standby over watching it because it is hard to do allnon your own. Because it's weird the labels like to, like look at it, like almost like in a negative, like when you're the artists like trying to like balance it all they're like, oh you need a manager sorry bye. But when- if you can like- the best what I can do to say, like, try to bridge that gap is just to be unique and be like heartfelt and don't send them like, Hi, my name is like, Joe from wherever and I believe in music and love it, you got to like wear like a parrot on your shoulder or something wild just to like stand out. And then it'll just it just like organically happens. So just give it your all. And there's no rules to anything, because none of this makes sense. So that's all I got.
Sophie Moser 11:53
Yeah, that's awesome. I think it's cool that you kind of like reach out and get help from a lot of third parties. I think that's probably like more accessible too to like people in our position. But could you give us an overview of what your time in the studio looks like? Like, how do you set up your studio time? And I know you talked a little bit about TJ I think but, just kind of how you found your producers.
Kane Acosta 12:17
Um, so with me, TJ is like, how do I how do I find them? Like, how did I reach out and get to them? And then-
Sophia Barber 12:23
Sure.
Sophie Moser 12:23
Yeah, kind of both, like setting up studio time, and then how you found your producers.
Kane Acosta 12:29
Uh, fortunately again, for me, just being at USC, there's so many talented producers that are just looking for artists to work with. So I just, I just happened to just walk up to TJ just randomly one day, and we just started going for it. And he's pretty much just like my main producer that I work with all the time. Like I have, like other sub projects, like you know, Guspy?
Sophia Barber 12:49
Yeah!
Kane Acosta 12:49
Maybe Guspy. Like I've worked like Sailor Jerry and Miss Future the two tracks from my EP like I worked on with him as like a separate kind of side job. And then we took them to TJ and he got like the full mix. So it always goes to TJ first. He's like, the last line of defense for making the sound sound good. But it's just whoever wants to work on and collab on music, like even myself, like, if I just work with someone random, we'll just like produce up a simple project and then take it to TJ and he just pow pow pow pow just makes it go crazy. So um, that's, that's how I coordinate with like my producers and studio time I get told this all the time, it's just very like, organically just like, like hanging out. And it's not like a structure. Besides having like a whiteboard with like a couple like bullet points of what we have to accomplish like, everything's like just pretty standard like we'll just was have a few beers, talk about things, just finish everything. And then it's pretty functional, because we usually finish a song every like one to two sessions and then get the master on that by three sessions. So it's just like- it's very cool when you don't think about it like work, you know, you can throw some food breaks in there and some skateboarding breaks in there. Oh, if I can throw in a tip for the listeners. If you're trying to find somebody to make music with make sure you have like very similar qualities like that you like outside of music because like me and my producer like to skate and like, like a lot of like the very same headspace things. So like, when you get like plateaued on your work, you can just like, leave and have some like free space with like anything that you want to do and then come back with like clear heads. So, cool.
Sophia Barber 14:23
That's great advice. Thank you. Um, we also wanted to know just what do you use for the distribution of your music?
Kane Acosta 14:31
I use Amuse. I found them on an Instagram ad two years ago.
Sophia Barber 14:35
Nice.
Kane Acosta 14:35
And that's actually one of the reasons I started releasing, music I was like, Oh, you just put it on Spotify. Um, but yeah, I don't know if you've heard of Amuse. They're a Swedish based company. I they they they're cool because they do 100% royalties back to you. They don't take anything unless you like sign a deal with them or take like an advance from them. But it's pretty standard like they just distribute your music for free. I asked them like how do you guys make money? I don't know. But yeah, so they're pretty cool there, but most of their artists that they like, actually- because I don't get any, like playlisting or promotional support from them, I have to do all that on my own because like it's free and stuff but like all their stuff's based out of Sweden, so I don't even know if they know what's going on over here so- Amuse Amuse. A-M-U-S-E, look out for them 2021 bring them to the top.
Sophie Moser 15:25
So what do you do for your marketing and PR, like, how do you handle that stuff.
Kane Acosta 15:31
Uh, recently, I've been doing a lot of YouTube placements by just reaching out to like, every single influencer that has ever existed since sliced bread. Like I just wake up and I just start emailing away, and just like trying to reach out to as many people as possible so I built like this like catalogue of like, probably like 15 to 20 like semi close friends now that are just like, just like relatively, like influential on any and everything like Instagram, YouTube, all that, and then they'll play my songs. And then it'll just be like a symbiotic relationship be like, here because I just give them all my, like tracks that are unreleased and released already. And they just kind of pick their favorites. And if they don't like any songs, they don't have to share anything, obviously, but like, they like a song and it's like, that's why it's symbiotic. It just like gets that promotion out there. Um, but besides like YouTube influencers, I honestly try- I kind of just like let it organically grow as much as possible, and then just post on Instagram every once every couple years. So I mean, I feel like I don't like- my social media presence isn't as there, that's like another thing I'm gonna focus on in 2021, but mainly just like reaching out to Tik Tok and YouTube influencers to place my music. Hopefully some movies, too.
Sophia Barber 16:48
Yeah, if anyone's on Tik Tok and wants to do a dance to Ashes To Amber I'm assuming he would welcome it.
Kane Acosta 16:54
For free, free of charge.
Sophie Moser 16:56
That's so fun. Yeah, that's really cool to hear. I feel like sometimes people forget about the kind of like little organic things you can do like that, that might have a big impact. Like you can kind of make a big difference without, you know, like, you're not investing money in that or anything. Like just by reaching out and talking to people.
Kane Acosta 17:13
Yes, being nice. And if they're nice back like oh, great.
Sophie Moser 17:15
Yeah. That's perfect. So how do you, how do you handle like, merch? I know you've had a few, kind of like merch drops, I have one of your hoodies. It's cool. How do you, how do you do like merch that sort of thing?
Kane Acosta 17:32
Um, uh, uh, okay, so again, this is a very blessed situation I found myself into but um, one of my roommates that I had sophomore year and who's now my roommate still now one of my closest friends, his name's Matt Lizer he owns this company called Nice As Heck and they've been working on like quality clothing for the environment like their own private manufacturing since like very, very very like early High School start. So by now they have like really good like clothing samples and models and since he's my roommate, I'm like, Can we just like make some merch together so like, they're able to like present a very nice quality product like just with like my help as well just like pushing it forward. So like, that's how I get that like if you ask me like how the merch gets from- they just show up at my house, I pack it up, and I ship it out and say thank you everybody. So they kind of handle all aspects of like the business side of things, but- and I just kind of handle like more promotional stuff, you know? And then that's about that with the merch but like idea wise, I've been kind of like using a lot of like the album covers and like single covers as like the themes for those like specific pieces but now I kinda want to start going into just like crazy Kane art where I'm just gonna like draw some sketches and like release like my own like, like technically line oh *fashion* my own like, my own like line of stuff which would be cool it's like less like standard stuff.
Sophie Moser 18:56
Yeah.
Kane Acosta 18:56
But I still love the hoodies, like the 1976 Miss Future hoodies? Oh my they're so cool, I love them. So I mean, so just be a win- win on any side. Do you have it? Do you have it near you? The hoodie?
Sophie Moser 19:09
No, I don't.
Kane Acosta 19:11
Aw, I was trying to get some advertising.
Sophia Barber 19:14
We'll make sure we post a photo.
Sophie Moser 19:15
I mean I can, I can send you a picture.
Sophia Barber 19:22
That's so nice. So we were wondering since, you know, you do a lot you're balancing school, Ashes To Amber, along with other life things. Do you have any advice on how you balance it all?
Kane Acosta 19:35
So-
Sophia Barber 19:37
Or do you?
Kane Acosta 19:39
I mean I kind of do. Something that always grounds me, brings me back home. This is gonna sound odd, it just qualms me. I don't know if you guys have these in the Denvers in the Missouris but Del Taco. Oh my gosh, my favorite place on the planet. I'll literally be having the worst day of my life. Go there. Have a nice burrito and it changes everything, like it'll change my headspace. So it's weird because I've been telling people that for a while, like what gets you through life and I'm like, oh my god every time I see a Del Taco I'm just like ohhh. But um, yeah, so Del Taco gets me through life if you haven't tried that out I would definitely try that out maybe it'll change yours. I don't- it's definitely it's definitely not gonna work for everybody. But outside of that. What keeps me balanced is like- I don't know surfing is good because like you're doing something without a cell phone, away from the world. And like you can- there's just- the world could just end and you have no idea because you're just like chillin in the ocean. Like there's no way nobody, somebody would tell you. Unless you had Apple watch but like who surfs with an Apple Watch? Um, well yeah, like surfing and like other hobbies. That'd be like a great like outlook like just like finding something that's that you love hopefully equally as much as your like, professional career, whatever. And then you can go to that not in a serious fashion like for me, like for example, like skateboarding or surfing like I'm not trying to be a pro surfer or skater. But I can just go to that avenue because it like, just like takes your brain away from the world because it's a crazy place out there. So Del Taco, hobbies, and drinking lots of water. Trust. Drink lots of water. It's great. Um, those three things probably keep me from falling down consistently. Actually not, skateboarding is bad. You get hurt a lot, just surf.
Sophie Moser 21:22
Yeah, I was gonna say I feel like you've had a lot of injuries. But I love these healthy life. tips.
Kane Acosta 21:28
This is a new one. Oh you can't see it. That's sick it healed nicely. But I cut up my hand. I guess you can kind of see.
Sophie Moser 21:35
Yeah, yeah, you can see a little bit.
Kane Acosta 21:38
Gross. Okay continue.
Sophie Moser 21:40
So what are your future plans for 2021? And like post grad, what's coming up next for you?
Kane Acosta 21:48
Um, so I, I'm planning on graduating next May, not this May because so much going on. I'm trying to see what the world, you know? What's good with that.
Sophia Barber 22:00
Yeah.
Kane Acosta 21:59
Um, and then. Oh, no, no, no, no. Okay. Can you repeat your question again please? Or like the first part. Because you asked like a two part question. I forgot the first part.
Sophie Moser 22:11
Yeah, just what's like next for Ashes To Amber in 2021.
Kane Acosta 22:14
Oh that's nice, oh my gosh what an easy question. Um, so pretty much I'm- so we're releasing- we're going with a new strategy we're releasing singles, like more often than like EPs and stuff, which is not like something I personally want to do, because I like having like the whole project, but Spotify likes it. So gotta apease the Spotify gods. And then, uh, so we're doing like four or five singles. And then by the time those come out, then we'll drop in an album in like march-ish, march, april around there, and it's gonna have like, 10 songs, it's gonna be super sick. And hopefully lead into summer and there's dancing and parties, and you know, good old time celebrations with Ashes To Amber, but um, that's kind of the plan. And then hopefully getting back into live shows and creating like a community like, I kind of want to start like going into 2021. Like accomplishing that, like bridging, like I said earlier between, like the community fan base of Ashes To Amber and like me, but beyond like discord and all that stuff. Like, somehow, just like, on my website, I have no idea how it- when 2021 one of these days, there'll be a perfect community post for everyone to just like, reminisce in. I think like, also a couple music videos. And then we're doing some other just like PR kind of stunt ideas that I don't want to talk about. But you guys have like a little like, a foreshadow, but I'm gonna do some crazy thing. And, um, but yeah, so just just kind of, there's more built on the same, just more developed versions of what I've been doing previously. That way, not this way, that'd be forward. Wait. Yeah, this way, in the past.
Sophia Barber 23:56
Very nice, we look forward to all of that, especially the stunts that you're gonna do.
Kane Acosta 24:02
Oh yeah.
Sophia Barber 24:02
Did we miss anything that you want to talk about? Or share? Or do you have any advice like anything, you know, you want to say?
Kane Acosta 24:13
Um, I mean, number one thing is just try your best every day because there's nothing else. It's like, if you love something, you might as well do it every day, because you only got like one person, you got one self. So just try to make yourself happy. And once you do that, possibilities are endless, but it's hard. But you know, you got to get there one day just got to keep grinding to get there. Um, let's see. Is there anything I'm missing out on? Um, I mean, besides like, I'm releasing two singles in January. You gotta get hyped on. I'll send you guys the demos. Sorry, listeners
Sophia Barber 24:45
Ha, we get the sneak peak.
Kane Acosta 24:47
Yeah, and music video also in January. So those are things to look out for.
Sophie Moser 24:54
Yeah, that's awesome. We have one kind of like wrap up question that we like to ask our guests when they come on here, and that is if you could pick one area of the music industry to work in outside of being an artist, what would you pick?
Kane Acosta 25:09
Publishing, I love publishing publishing is my jam. Because I don't know there's, there's something about like, I feel like I could like, like, move copyrighted music like so well, and just, like get different licenses and just I feel like I could be a very good asset to any like publishing company, because I'm already starting to, like, do that with like, my Never Ending Studio stuff. So I'm already like building a catalogue of artists that I want to start publishing also in 2021. So like, I'm like, dual processing like two kind of business models at the same time with my artist career, and like my publishing goals, because like, I like doing both not as much as like, I like playing guitar more than like publishing but like, there's still like that giddyness where I like, when I have like an artist and I can be like, Oh, it would be perfect if we just like put you there. Um, but yeah, publishing would be something that I am also very interested in and will probably end up doing or something, or Oh, oh, my God, I guess like music supervision, too, would be so sick. It'd be so sick, because I like creating the, like, this whole storyline with like music before there's anything else said.
Sophie Moser 26:16
Yeah, no, those are two really cool fields. And I feel like they go together a lot of times too. Like, I feel like a lot of publishing companies have their own like in house, like sync and supervision stuff. But-
Kane Acosta 26:29
Hopefully. Hopefully.
Sophie Moser 26:29
Yeah. Thanks for coming in to talk to us today. Where can the listeners find you? Socials?
Kane Acosta 26:39
My address is- no I'm just kidding. On any digital streaming platform, and then I'm gonna start putting exclusive content on my website because like, Squarespace is expensive to just like have nothing going on. I need to like pull in, pull in people. So keep a lookout. Check the website every day. One of these days, there's gonna be some fancy fancy stuff going on in there. So yeah, um, yeah.
Sophia Barber 27:09
That's so great. Well, thank you so much for coming on. It was great talking to you.
Kane Acosta 27:14
Thank you so much for having me. I hope you have a wonderful day out there in the Denver and Missouri.
Sophia Barber 27:19
We will thank you.
Kane Acosta 27:20
Good stuff.
Sophia Barber 27:20
Thank you all for listening. You can find us on Instagram at Sophia.productions. And please go rate, download, and follow wherever you get your podcasts.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai