The Giant Blast: What has Random been up to lately?
Random: Well, school is out (I'm also a middle school teacher), so while summer for most means vacation, for me it mean it's time to push the music as hard as possible. Right now I've been promoting my new album Forever Famicom with producer K-Murdock. We just got back from LA for E3 and some other shows. I'm still on a high from that. Now I spend most of my days mailing out CDs, setting up shows, and writing new material ... and when I can, playing X box.
The Giant Blast: In your own words how would you say Random is different from all the other artists?
Random: It's easy for an artist to say "I'm bringing something different to the table," or "I'm different because I think differently," but it's not backed-up by their songwriting. I think just looking at my musical output, my upbringing, the fact that I juggle two very complex careers, and always try to work outside of the box is what makes Random "Random."
The Giant Blast: For those that are unaware how would you describe the Mega Ran series?
Random: Wow... well if you were a fan of the Mega Man videogames on the old Nintendo at all, then you'd know that one thing that always stood out was the impressive music. I decided one day to sample some of my favorite Mega Man tunes, chop em, slice em, throw some drums on them, and create rap songs around the basic premise of the Mega Man games. It was extremely risky, but it was fun, and that was what I needed at that time in my life, was fun. A gentleman at Capcom (the company that makes the games) got a hold of me on MySpace, and told me that they not only weren't going to sue me, but that they enjoyed the music and wanted to help me promote it. That's an awesome feeling.
The Giant Blast: Who did you work with on the Mega Ran 9 project?
Random: Some of my absolute favorite people: beats were done by myself, DN3, Samik, K-Murdock, Fingaz, Ravage and Andre Jackson... Storyville did a little of everything on the project... he rapped, produced and mixed the entire album. I think he did more than I did, haha. Guest vocals were done by Chicago's Pugz Atoms, Ciphurphace, Side Effect, Rufus Pipes and more.
The Giant Blast: Are there any plans of doing a Mega Ran X series in the future?
Random: I can't say a definite yes or no.. ironically, I get beats in my email from a lot of producers who have made beats out of tracks on Mega Man X, and while they're very dope, I'm a sucker for the 8-bit MIDI chiptune sound. If it sounds too realistic, I don't like it as much, haha. So as of now no plans, but who knows what the future holds-- I never even thought I would have done Mega Ran 9.
The Giant Blast: Getting back to Mega Man what game in the series had the best music?
Random: Mega Man 2, hands down. I used most of my favorites from MM2 on the first Mega Ran album, but there are still a few I haven't touched.. Crash Man, Air Man and Wily Stage 1. Maybe one day.
The Giant Blast: What do you have planned for the future?
Random: The future is a mystery right now... In my few years in the business I've learned not to look too far ahead, because you miss the good things about the present. Right now it's all about Forever Famicom. We're talking to a label in Japan about releasing it over there this Fall, even a promo tour in Japan...so fingers are crossed on that. We have a great sprite artist working on some music videos for a lot of the songs on the album, we have some summer tour dates going. That's the immediate future. I'm happy to say that my next album is completed as well, but I'll plug that when the time comes, haha. After all this stuff calms down, I want to write a book in 2011.
The Giant Blast: So far what would you say is your greatest achievement has been?
Random: I don't know if it's happened yet, I've had some amazing moments so far-- getting a full page in Nintendo Power Magazine (April 2010), Performing to a packed house in the Viper Room in Hollywood. Getting a song into a video game (Caster, for PC and iPhone), but I think the best is yet to come. I have dreams and visions of where I see myself going in music, and those haven't come true yet.
The Giant Blast: What has been your worst experience in the music industry so far and how did you learn from it?
Random: Well, I actually talk about it on a song on the new album, "Priceless:" One of the worst moments had to be when RAHM Nation was still local, me, Ohene, and G. performed at a terribly promoted festival where about 13 people were in the crowd (almost as many as were backstage), including 3 elderly folks who had no idea what was going on. Talk about humiliating! But that situation humbled me greatly, and showed me that we had a lot more work to do to get the name out. Making good music is only half the battle, if that: The big fight is getting the word out to the people. Since then I've been working extra hard on promotions, both online and off, and I learn something new every day.
The Giant Blast: What does Random get into besides music?
Random: When I'm not teaching, I love to draw, and I love to play video games. I haven't had much time to do either lately, but those are my main releases from reality.
The Giant Blast: Any future show dates you want to plug?
Random: July 22-25, 2010 – Special Appearance @ San Diego Comic-Con, San Diego, CA (Capcom Booth)
July 22, 2010 – Live Performance @ The Casbah, San Diego, CA (w/MC Lars, MC Frontalot and more), 9PM
July 23, 2010 – Live In-Store Performance @ Access Hip-Hop, San Diego, CA @ 5:30PM
