Tag: Atmospheric

Tia Gostelow [unedited] Music Review

Posted on Posted in #ilivefor, 2017, 2018, 2019 Pop Music, 2020, alternative, Alternative pop, ambient, Artist Bio, Australia, Backstory, Chill, dark pop, dream pop, dreampop, Edits, Emo Pop, Facebook, Indie, indie music, indie music playlist, Indie pop, indie pop playlist, Inspirational person, Instagram, Interview, Live Session, Lullabies, Music, New Zealand, Pop, Pop Music, Soft Rock, Soundcloud, Spotify, YoutubeTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Tia Gostelow | Psycho
Tia Gostelow | Photo taken by Jeff Andersen Jnr. (2020)

“Mr. Hutchinson, 36, had not been seen since the early morning hours on Wednesday (May 9th, 2018), when he left a hotel in South Queensferry after sending two cryptic messages on Twitter. He wrote: ‘Be so good to everyone you love. It’s not a given. I’m so annoyed that it’s not. I didn’t live by that standard and it kills me. Please, hug your loved ones,’ and ‘I’m away now. Thanks.'”…

“‘Depression is a horrendous illness that does not give you any alert or indication as to when it will take hold of you’ the (Hutchinson) family said. ‘Scott battled bravely with his own issues for many years, and we are immensely proud of him for being so open with his struggles.'”…

“Scott Hutchinson, the lead singer and songwriter of the Scottish folk-rock band Frightened Rabbit, was found dead on Thursday (May 10th, 2018) near South Queensferry, Scotland, the Edinburgh police confirmed, after a days-long search for the musician, who was said to be in a ‘fragile state’… The police could not immediately identify the cause of death, but said it was not being treated as suspicious”. ~New York Times (May 11, 2018)

I remember reading this article not too long after it was published, and I am almost in tears just revisiting that day. I knew Scott Hutchinson battled a lot of demons, but I don’t think any Frightened Rabbit fan or anyone close to him were or would ever be ready for that day he was found dead.

Scott stood for so much, and he meant just as much to every one of his fans, band members, and family. He will and should never be forgotten.

“I have to say I didn’t really know who Frightened Rabbit were when the offer came through, but I definitely learnt very quickly that they were very important for the music scene worldwide. They were such lovely people and it was really nice to tour with them and be able to appreciate watching them live,” says Tia Gostelow. 

On March 9th, 2017, Tia opened for Scott and his band Frightened Rabbit at The Triffid in Brisbane, Australia. 1 year and 1 day before he was found dead due to suicide in Scotland.

At around 7 or 8 years old, Tia was inspired at a young age by Taylor Swift. She taught herself how to play the guitar, since T-Swift played that instrument. “I remember just being so in awe of everything about her, how she looked, the music she made and how confident she is. After that I remember forcing my parents to sit down and listen to me play Love Story over and over again,” she says.

Taylor Swift’s fans have always been loyal and supportive, and fast forward to 2020 and Tia Gostelow has an equally caring and faithful fan base. “I feel like they’ve been with me for such a long time and are watching me grow as an artist and also as a person. I love messaging back and forth with them, it feels really important to have those connections,” she says.

“(Psycho) forced me to really think about the situations and relationships I’ve been in where I have experienced gaslighting and how it made me go f—ing crazy. I constantly thought I was the issue, that everything was my fault and I kept apologizing for things that I later realized weren’t my fault at all.”

~Tia Gostelow (6/17/2020)

I need to clarify one thing before I go forward, as emotional as that intro was on my end… It wasn’t necessarily meant to focus on Scott’s death. Instead, the last paragraph is why I wrote that whole introduction. It was a way to start connecting the dots between these two musicians I personally think mean a lot to the music industry.

I’ve always loved listening to the top modern musicians from Australia, such as Malrat, G Flip, 5 Seconds of Summer, Amy Shark, etc. One thing I find quite similar with most of these artists are their sound and songwriting, almost a chill pop sound with catchy but also mature and creative lyrics. Tia definitely carries this unofficial tradition amongst Australian musicians, especially with songs like Hey Friends (2018), Phone Me (2018), and That’s What You Get (2018).

At the start of 2019, Tia started writing Psycho with her friend Aidan Hogg. “Going into the session I felt like I really wanted to write a song about something that was really prominent in the media at the time and was also something personal to me,” she says.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, gaslighting is “manipulating (someone) by psychological means into questioning their own sanity”. There’s a high chance that you probably will be gaslighted in your life, especially if you’re in a toxic relationship. Please do your research if you’re in a position that could make you feel gaslighted, some great articles to read are from Vox, Pyschology Today, and ABC.

“I felt like I was turning into this psycho person and it seemed like nobody else saw where I was coming from. However, seeing all of these other people speaking up about it, made me deal with my emotions that I had just ignored and I finally felt like I could put all of my anger and frustration and hurt into something that means something,” explains Tia. She hopes Psycho helps people the same way hearing others stories of gaslighting did for herself.

Far before the release of her debut album Thick Skin she has attracted a massive audience from all around the world and even established her own record label (Lovely Records). 4 of her 5 top songs on Spotify hitting 2-10 million streams, and her newest release Psycho is certainly on its way to that milestone as well with close to 200 thousand streams to date. The Queensland Music Awards winner of Album of the Year for Thick Skin has certainly made her name heard, loud and clear.

“I really wanted this next record to be inspired by 80’s electronic music but still keeping my style in there. It’s definitely a lot more danceable than my previous music and I’m really excited about that.“

~Tia Gostelow

Fans should expect Tia’s next album, that’s coming out later this year, to be heading into a more indie-pop-electronic direction. It sounds like we should expect songs that Oh Wonder, Sylvan Esso, and Marian Hill would make. But I am not too sure, and I could be very wrong.

If you enjoy listening to Tia Gostelow, I encourage you to keep your eyes peeled to our social media for updates. I will keep in touch with Tia and her PR agents, and as soon as I get word of new music I will update everyone as soon as possible.

I want to thank Kershona Mayo of Mora May PR for connecting me with Tia Gostelow (Lovely Records)! She is such an amazing musician who I look forward to setting something up with when she comes touring through Boston.

You can follow Tia Gostelow on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, as well as stream her music through YouTube, Spotify, and SoundCloud.

You can follow Mora May PR Agency on Facebook, and Twitter.

You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and stream our playlists on SoundCloud and Spotify.

I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable extended weekend in the States, and a happy 4th of July! To everyone else, have a great weekend and stay safe.

Psycho (2020) by Tia Gostelow
Psycho (2020) by Tia Gostelow

Overall: 4.9/5

Psycho: 5/5

Rush: 5/5

Get to It: 5/5

Thick Skin: 4.8/5

Top Song: Phone Me (2018)

Zilla with Her Eyes Shut [unedited] Music Review

Posted on Posted in #ilivefor, 2020, alternative, Alternative pop, Backstory, electronic, Europe, Facebook, Future Star, Good Vibes Only, House, Indie, indie music, indie music playlist, indie playlist, indie pop playlist, Inspirational person, Instagram, Interview, Music, Psyche, Recording Label, Soundcloud, Spotify, UK, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Zilla with Her Eyes Shut (Accidental Records)
Zilla with Her Eyes Shut
(source: Accidental Records)

I was told for years that I always talked in my sleep, and most of the time the things I would say were the most bizarre things ever. I was always interested to hear what I said, so I downloaded an app that records what you say in your sleep. I had it for years, and caught a lot of funny moments.

But then one night I had a horrifying nightmare…

I never heard myself scream like I did in that recording, it was like I saw something that would effect my life in the worst way possible. I cried as I heard myself crying in fear, and I shut the recording off immediately.

I deleted that app after I captured that, and I haven’t downloaded since… And I probably won’t ever again.

Zilla with her Eyes Shut’s song Sleepwalker is about her own sleep talking and her own adventures with sleepwalking.

“Based around the artist’s own sleepwalking adventures and even featuring her own ‘sleeptalking’, the track takes on an almost dub vibe at times, laced with heavy beats, deft vocal work and a penchant for the strange. It does well to delve into the singer’s fears as she opens up about anything and everything these night terrors can bring out in her: ‘I’m scared of who I might become if I never wake.'” ~(Vinyl Chapters)

Zilla’s musical path begun by learning classical music with a piano teacher in Paris, France. She quickly discovered her true passion was to make music, “I’d always been into painting as a kid and writing poems but piano hit me really hard. That day I knew I had found my passion,” she tells me.

In the beginning, she was only learning and playing classical piano, wanting to learn as much melodies and compositions. “There’s something surreal about playing someone else’s piece to the point where it becomes part of you and the experience never leaves you, it’s like biting a piece of the composer’s memory and intentions and adding it to your psyche,” she says.

She naturally progressed into writing music, because that “is what songs do, they travel with you, get you through pain and joy and they compliment your psyche,” she says.

Her music is about what happens whenever she dreams, what she calls her “creative gifts” that come up when she’s asleep. These things that come about in her dreams more often than not could be related to whatever trauma she endured in her childhood.

The music she creates lacks a description, and defies any boundaries of a specific topic. “I’m inspired by so many things, moments of the day, sounds around me, people’s accents, there is flow everywhere. I like to call it surrealist pop because I layer unexpected vocals with unexpected sounds of unexpected objects,” she explains. She equally values a fan base that likes to be surprised, but is unclear if this has been achieved.

“Instead of denying my trauma, I tend to embrace it through music and even celebrate it. There’s no other way to get over it for me. I recorded myself sleeping talking and sleepwalking. We used objects that are related to the songs as instruments.”

~Zilla with her Eyes Shut (4/20/2020)

I am absolutely inspired by Zilla’s music and songwriting, especially since I can relate to having such vivid dreams and nightmares myself. The fact that she finds her dreams to be a source of musical inspiration is very unique, and makes me want to explore this on my own.

Whisper Whisper was written “when I was about 10 I started hearing whispers when I played the piano, it was really scary until I turned the whisper into my imaginary friend that would help me go through sh*t,” she says. It’s really cool to see that Zilla could take a really scary scenerio and make it into a very unique song that looks on the bright side.

If you’re a fan of Billie Eilish and Bjork, then Zilla’s music is definitely a must listen to. Her style of music is definitely a mix of those two artists, but more.

There definitely is a storyline in each song, it’s just a matter of time until the whole story is told. But not everyone needs to know everything about everyone… But I hope this article can provide more clarity to her story.

“Although the inspiration is my trauma, it’s so important that it is not a self pitying song, the trauma made me strong because I accepted it and turned it into something else. It’s an explosion of innocence and control.”

~Zilla

At the moment, Zilla is working on songs that take a brand new approach. She wants to maintain a sense of surprise for her listeners, but is not to compelled to release any more music at the moment.

I would like to thank CEO of Independent Music Promotions Inc., James Moore, for connecting me with Zilla. I would also like Zilla for answering my questions and also staying in touch through Instagram.

You can follow Independent Music Promotions on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. You can stream their playlists on Spotify, SoundCloud, and Youtube. Also, you can follow Zilla’s record label (Accidental Records) on Facebook, and Twitter. Stream Accidental Records on Spotify, Bandcamp, and SoundCloud.

You can follow Zilla with her Eyes Shut on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. You can also stream her music on Spotify, and Bandcamp.

Finally, you can follow Unedited Music Blog on Instagram and Facebook . You can also stream our playlists on Spotify and SoundCloud.

Zilla with Her Eyes Shut [self-titled album] (2020)

Overall: 4.7/5

Zilla with her Eyes Shut: 4.7/5

Top Song: Sleepwalker (2020)

Damien Gibson (unedited) Music Review

Posted on Posted in 2020, alternative, California, Chill, electronic, Facebook, Future Star, Hip Hop, Indie, indie music, Indie pop, Inspirational person, Interview, Music, Pop Music, R&B, Rap, Singer, Soundcloud, Spotify, USA, Warped Tour, YoutubeTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Damien Gibson taken by rollovbaer

I was going to add a nice long quote, like I’ve been doing recently for past articles, but you know what… You can’t really philosophies a philosopher. And that’s how I view Damien, he’s wise beyond his years… And those kind of people you can’t really find wiser words than their own. So I will begin this article by saying something Damien would be surprised to hear… I was actually kind of hesitant to review his work. I was afraid that after 2 years of really exploring and taste testing soo many different genres of music, I would change so much as to dislike his kind of music. But I was pleasently surprised because I actually didn’t hate it. I loved and still love his unique videos (especially his new music video for 18 Pañatas) and his tracks that had a feel of Frenship, Drake, Blackbear, and such artists. All in all, I feel like if you enjoy R&B, hip hop, and electropop then you’d definitely enjoy his most recent album called Domenika.

Then, I was going to dive into Damien Gibson’s answers to my questions about his past… But I think he was high cause here are his answers…

John: are you high? Damien: Depends. John: Okay um so, What inspired you to start making music? Damien: Pass John: What influences your songs? Damien: Totally random stuff John: So, What is your fanbase like? Damien: I don’t know. if you mean demographically or numbers. I’ll just say my fan base is amazing and I love them very much.

I took on this blog because I’ve always had a big passion for music and invested a lot of time in my life to discovering new music. The blog was a thing I wanted to do to prove that a boy from a small town can make something bigger than themselves. But not all people are living to improve the person they were, and that’s okay. This is true for Damien. Sure the guy always wanted to make music for his career, but he isn’t doing it to prove a point. He’s doing it to prove that a dream can be fulfilled through a pure passion. And honestly, that’s really cool because that’s why music is music… Now back to his review…

“What makes (my music) different is there an overwhelming sense of impending doom. Like you can just tell my crazy side is about to pop out at any moment.”

-Damien Gibson (8/8/2018)

I find myself listening to Damien’s music on my own time and keep liking it more and more as I do. His favorite song he’s made he said is Media Mirror, however I can’t find that song so I’ll just have to take his word for it. For a very long time I tried to comprehend what it was about his music that I loved so much. I knew that I absolutely loved the alternative sound mixed with electronic and dark pop… But he said it best with the quote above that refers to the sense of “impending doom” in each song. It’s an infectious sound he’s got, and it’s hard not to like and/or appreciate it.

“I don’t really have any. Just be an entertainer. Make music that feels good. That takes life to the next level I don’t know about five years but I know that I want to have 1,000 songs before I die so there’s that.“

-Damien Gibson

I don’t actually know what is in the works at the moment for Damien, but that’s cause I haven’t talked to him for a while. As soon as he tells me something that he’s working on I’ll probably announce it on Facebook and/or Instagram. Either way as soon as I hear he released new music I will share it on social media.

I wanted to thank Damien Gibson for being very patient with me, it’s been about two years since the interview was done. This article has been a long time coming, and I guess you could say I was waiting for the right timing. Anyways you can follow Damien on Facebook and Instagram. You can listen his music on Soundcloud and Spotify, and watch his awesome music videos on YouTube. You can follow Unedited Music Blog on Facebook (@uneditedmb) and Instagram (@unedited_music_blog). You can listen to other songs that have been previously reviewed on Spotify. Have a fabulous week!!!!

Continue reading “Damien Gibson (unedited) Music Review” →

J. R. August [unedited] Music Review

Posted on Posted in 2019 Pop Music, 2020, Alternative Americana, ambient, Artist Bio, Chill Rock, Croatia, Europe, Facebook, Folk Rock, Indie, indie music, indie music playlist, indie playlist, Indie pop, indie pop playlist, Indie Rock, Inspirational person, Instagram, Soundcloud, SpotifyTagged , , , , , , , Leave a comment

J. R. August

“A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, ‘This man was with him.’ But he denied it. ‘Woman, I don’t know him,’ he said. A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them’. ‘Man, I am not!’ Peter replied. About an hour later another asserted, ‘Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.’ Peter replied, ‘Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!’ Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: ‘Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.’”(Luke 22:56-61) Betrayal is everywhere, it’s even in the Bible. In fact, this quote was among many many other quotes of it’s kind. J. R. August speaks of betrayal and a lack of understanding in his song Crucify Me. Although he leaves the song open for interpretation, his meaning makes more sense to me. Out of all 10 songs that fulfill 58 minutes and 13 seconds of time to listen to, Crucify Me is my favorite song. This song (similarly to most of the songs in Dangerous Waters) is heavy and can be meaningful to so many.

“The sheer joy I felt while (making music) for the first time,” August tells me when I asked about his inspiration behind producing music. He goes on to explain that he started composing and writing songs as soon as he got his first synthesizer on his 4th birthday. August says, “it was a small red 2-octave Casio keyboard and I was so fascinated with it that I started spending more and more time with it. I always felt the need to create something that didn’t exist before and I’ve been creating ever since!” All in all, he felt an obligation to create music. J. R. continued to make music and up to now he has gathered a total audience of almost 12k (total of followers on both his Instagram and Facebook pages). He tells me that he loves his fans and that they are truly supportive of him and everything he does. They fund all of his expenses including his albums, music videos, merchandise, and more. August tells me he “tries to maintain one-on-one communication as much as I can, but lately it’s become much harder because there’s more of them each day!”

“Songs are such peculiar things and even though I write them, sometimes I don’t quite understand them until much later. They are similar to life in that way.”

-J.R. August(11/27/2019)

“For me personally, Crucify Me is about lack of understanding and about betrayal. I wrote it in 15 minutes few years back when I was in a really bad state due to my depression. Fortunately, I feel great now and as it turns out with songs, as I mentioned it before, it seems the song is about hope as well. I just didn’t know it back then.” I chose to begin talking about my thoughts on August‘s music with this quote cause it shows just how important his songwriting is to his production process. If your not used to songs being longer than 4-4:30 minutes long, then you would probably ask why write such long songs. August’s longest song reaches over 9 minutes, and of course I have yet to listen to that whole song (The Brown Trout and Nightingale). “I think, since I write them myself, I have the right to write them as long, or for that matter, as short as I like. This album is my first LP album and it’s dedicated to Mother Nature, to rivers and streams, to mountains, to friendship, to relationships we have with ourselves and with others… All these things take a long time to be born and developed, they don’t happen over night. I guess that’s why my songs are long. They mimic nature,” says August. With this said, I really admire how he chooses to use his music to express himself and how he produces his songs as well.

“I have more than a 100 finished songs and something like 10 albums ready to be recorded. That is why I really don’t have a favourite song at the moment, there are too many to choose from!”

-J. R. August

August is constantly making music and albums, but right now he is focusing on advertising his material. He is currently asking for help with advertising his music expanding his audience in other areas of the world outside of his home country (Croatia). “I’d really like to come to the UK and play some shows there,” he says. More music is expected to be released at some point this year.

I would like to say thank you to J. R. August for answering my questions, and Lisa from Knight PR for introducing me to this fantastic singer-songwriter. I don’t get requests to review musicians from the same small country that legendary football player Luka Modrić is from. You can check out August’s music on both SoundCloud and Spotify, and follow him on Instagram and Facebook. To read other articles please feel free to scroll through this website because they’re plenty more amazing musicians that you definitely have never heard of (at least that’s what I hope). If you like what you read about any of these articles then you can listen to them on Unedited’s favorite songs on our Spotify playlist! You can follow us on Facebook (@uneditedmb) and Instagram (@unedited_music_blog).Have a nice weekend, and go 49ers!!!

Dangerous Waters by J. R. August (2019)

Overall: 4.5/5

Dangerous Waters: 4.5/5

Top Song: Crucify Me (2019)

The Vast Oddity [unedited] Music Review

Posted on Posted in 2017, 2018, Alternative Americana, Alternative pop, Backstory, Chill Rock, Good Vibes Only, Indie, indie music, indie music playlist, indie playlist, Indie pop, indie pop playlist, Indie Rock, Pop Rock, Rock, SpotifyTagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Photo taken by Bev MortimerPhoto taken by Bev Mortimer

“Since ancient times, humans have assigned healing and transformational properties to water. In early Rome, baths were an important part of cultural life, a place where citizens went to find relaxation and to connect with others in a calming setting. In ayurveda, the ancient Indian medicinal wisdom, and traditional Chinese medicine, the water element is crucial to balancing the body and creating physical harmony. Rivers have long been seen as sacred places, and in a number of different spiritual contexts, water has symbolized rebirth, spiritual cleansing and salvation” (Huffington Post).

Chad Thomas Laybacks and Cayla J. Louw make up the duo that is The Vast Oddity. The couple live together in South Africa where they both pull influences from their natural world around them to make unique music since May of 2019. Chad says that “a lot of ideas and notions rattling around the old noodle” inspires him to make music. Cayla says that she’s always been inspired to make music. “I guess music is a natural expression from and for the soul, it comes as naturally as breathing (for me)” says Cayla. Ranging from various observations about the surrounding environment and beyond to “theories, nature, extraterrestrial concepts, higher vibrations, epiphanies, the supernatural, anti-systemism (no idea what that is but okay)” influences their music. Finally, they tell me that “our fanbase is mostly open-minded, free-spirited, and usually likes to dabble in psychedelics or such”.

“Well I’m not affected by,These winds of change. And I’m always riding high,When the waves cascade. I’m doing swell!”

–Swell by Vast Oddity

The first thing that caught my attention about Vast Oddity’s unique sound is how the music almost sounds like it’s made underwater. However, it definitely looks like neither Chad or Cayla had produced their music underwater. You can probably find a way to make the same sounds with your guitar with this Google search! The sound is unlike any other one, at least for me I have never really heard a sound like Vast Oddity’s. Swell is a really cool song and is the first song I heard (because it’s also the most listened to song on Spotify). Chad did a good job with the vocals, and I didn’t even notice that Cayla made the “chhhhhh” sounds (I initially thought that was a sound effect made by GarageBand or something). I don’t only feel passion about their music when I read the interview answers for the first time, I also felt a sense of playfulness too. I guess that’s why I feel Swell explains what their band is probably all about. And that’s really what that song is about, a sense of “doing great no matter what external influences there are,” Chad tells me. But there’s more to having fun with their music, like I said before they really want to reflect on the world around them. Sometimes the best way to get to know a musician is to intimately listen to what they are saying or at least try to say in their songs, and that rings very true to these guys. I find their two songs Beautifully High and Swell to be my favorites, so you guys definitely should listen to them and even try to see life in their viewpoints.

“Our music reflects the essence of the absence of culture in the general sense. It goes against traditionalism in some ways. I guess it reflects the modern culture in a sense.”

-Cayla J. Louw (11/26/2019)

Prior to the new year, Chad and Cayla released their last 2019 production called Paper Mache Moon. However, I don’t believe it is available in my area so I wasn’t able to listen to it, but everyone who can should tell me what they think in the comments or even on social media! Meanwhile they’re focusing on growing their audience, touring, and making more music. There’s definitely going to be more updates for these guys in the future so I will keep everyone updated.

I would like to sincerely thank Chad T. Layback and Cayla J. Lousy for answering my interview questions and staying in touch. If you want to check out a really cool clothing brand that Cayla co-owns in South Africa go check out their brand Shaka Rags on Facebook! You can follow The Vast Oddity on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to them on Spotify and SoundCloud. You can follow Unedited Music Blog on Facebook (@uneditedmb) and Instagram (@unedited_music_blog), and listen to Unedited Music Blog’s favorite songs on Spotify. I hope everyone enjoyed Emily Krings guest post, don’t worry there will be more guest posts! Have a fantastic week!!!!

Liquid Sun by The Vast OddityLiquid Sun by The Vast Oddity

Overall: 4.7/5

Liquid Sun: 4.7/5

Top Song: Beautifully High (2017/19)

Make Like a Tree (unedited) Music Review

Posted on Posted in alternative, ambient, Backstory, Chill, electronic, Europe, Facebook, indie music, Inspirational person, Instagram, Instrumental, Music, SpotifyTagged , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments
Photo taken by Arkadiy SosninPhoto of Sergey Onischenko by Arkadiy Sosnin

To Sergey Onischenko of Make Like a Tree, traveling and going outside is the main inspiration behind his music.All tastes, smells, fragrances that stay with me, all strangers who I meet on my way and they turn to be my best friends, all landscapes from bus, train, airplane windows – all these things stay deep inside my heart and later on when I start working on a new song,” says Onischenko. That’s a big reason why I choose Arkadiy Sosnin’s photo of Sergey. The photo represents a man surrounded by water and mountains in the horizon. It is calm… Peaceful… And that’s exactly what Mothernight is.

Sergey Onischenko, singer songwriter for Make Like a Tree, isn’t just a musician. He’s also a traveller. “I travel with a pocket size recorder and do some field sessions capturing nature sounds, noises of the big cities, symphonies of big factories and solos of subway and intercity trains. I’m always happy to use them as a background  for some of my songs where it fits to the ideas of the song,” says Sergey. His influences also include the music he listens to on his own time. He dreams to produce an album where every track is different then the others… “Let’s say after an ambient track – there would be hip-hop track, and then midwest-emo song, then hardcore tune and finishing the album with some classically composed fugue for strings quartet,” says Onischenko. Sergey’s fan base is mainly people who’ve been lucky enough to hear his music played live. He often play small venues of 20-50 people. While he does play larger venues and festivals, he actually prefers smaller venues. “I actually like it a lot as every show becomes a very intimate dialogue between me and audience and I feel like I can really be heard and understood by those people,” reflects Sergey.

“Sometimes I feel that I know most of my biggest fans personally. As I keep in touch with some people who are deeply inspired by my project and it makes me feel very motivated to write new songs and release new albums.“

– Sergey Onischenko (Make Like a Tree vocalist and producer) [7/23/2019]

Under Water is the 4th most popular song on his Spotify library and also the opening song for his most recent album Mothernight. The song features Sergey Savenko (Owl Clarinet) and was recorded/composed on the island of Zanzibar. Savenko’s part in the song is his clarinet, sax, and akai ewi melodies that fit beautiful upon creating the song. “I met Sergey long time ago seeing him performing with other bands in clubs of my hometown Kharkiv where we all used to grow up. Some solos that he played from stage got carved in my memory and when coming back home from his shows these melodies were always on repeat in my mind,” says Sergey. Under Water is focused around the feeling of being united with someone for no reason. Unity and togetherness is actually what Sergey discovered during a 3 year journey through the world. “I can definitely say that travelling changed my life, changed myself – hopefully to a better person, helped me to overcome many complexes, get rid of stereotypes and I actually started trusting people much more than in the beginning of my big trip,” reflects Sergey. This world journey was more than just collecting nature sounds for background in tracks like Birdwatcher. It was also a time for him to find himself and his own peace in the world around him. “When I came back from my long journey home (Savenko and I) made our collaboration happen. Being ‘Under Water’ with other people means finding out that you have something in common that makes you feel a strong connection even without knowing each other well,” Sergey says. That connectedness is common when you travel and meet new people he tells me. Mothernight is not only an attempt to connect with more people around the world, it’s also Sergey giving back to the people who he connected with on his long journey. “Travelling alone somewhere on the edge of the world and being saved by complete strangers who shared everything with me and never asked anything in return. I feel I came back home as an updated version of myself and I realized that this world has no limits,” Sergey says.

“The main idea of my performance is to take the audience on a journey with the help of my music, photos, and videos to the places and experiences that I have seen and witnessed. The deeper that journey can be – the more my concert and music would mean something special to myself and to my listeners.”

– Sergey

Sergey is currently working on improving his performance in live venues… As mentioned above… He is also focusing on releasing an album sometime around 2021. That way he “will have enough time to work on a more quality record and trying to express my emotions and feelings more accurate in lyrics and music,” says Sergey.

I would like to thank Sergey Onischenko for the response to my questions and being so patient in waiting for this review. You can follow and like Make Like a Tree on Facebook and Instagram. You can listen to Sergey’s music on Spotify and SoundCloud. I would like to also thank Johnattan Suckling and Arkadiy Sosnin for taken the two photos used in this article. You can follow and like Unedited Music Blog on Facebook and Instagram. Finally, you can also listen to previous music that has been reviewed on Unedited’s Spotify playlist. Have a good rest of your weekend and upcoming week!

Mothernight (2019)Mothernight by Make Like a Tree (2019)

Overall: 4.9/5

Mothernight: 5/5

Animal: 4.8/5

Top Song: Under Water (2019)

Being [unedited] Music Review

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Being
Original UMB Review
[unedited]

Within a tone of darkness, Being seems to have a lot of room for a deep understanding of things a lot of musicians struggle portraying in other genres. “We write songs from a very authentic place, looking retrospectively at real-life events that are often uncomfortable to talk about,” they tell me. Their vocals are unlike any other I have heard, and are meant to be very raw and authentic. Rage is a perfect depiction of what Being is trying to symbolize, and I believe they’ve successfully done this within their music video.

To the two who form Being, music is a form of natural self-expression that has turned into a necessary part of their lives. “It’s a part of who we are and always will be,” they explain to me. After announcing their debut album shortly following our interview in November 2017, the two have played a show in Iceland in March 2018 as well as shows across the UK. Other events that happened after our interview was the release of Rage’s music video, which came out on 11/17/2019.

“We don’t consciously have a genre in mind when we write so we find it hard to define ourselves in a specific genre, we just make music that’s genuine to us. Once after a show once we got described as ‘dark but interesting’ and we think that’s a very good description of what we do.”

Being (11/3/2017)

Every band has a very unique element and/or voice, and that’s usually what makes the most profound musicians go far in the music industry. Being are grateful to depict to their listeners and fans their dark tone. They are content to release personable and minimalistic music, such as Over which has a very intense feel to it’s music video. “It’s written from the perspective of suffering from a long term illness which I’m now fully recovered from”, one of the two tells me (name possibly will be released ASAP). Happy Miserable (their debut album) is exactly what they were going for, raw and provoking. Rage and Tempers are my highlights, however, the other tracks (Don’t and Run for Your Life) are great too. Following this album release, Healthy was released on May 7th of 2018. Healthy is another raw track with the same minimal beat as Rage, as well as provoking thoughts of what is actually healthy within the lyrics such as “I love/ To hate you”.

This year has seem to bring a new sound to their creations, including You Saw Me which has become my new favorite (with Rage being a close second). These tracks (You Saw Me, For the Taking, and Brittle) were all recently released in the last 6 months, has a new element added to their sound. This component is an acoustic guitar. Rather it is distorted (like in You Saw Me, and Brittle), or simplistically strummed (like in For the Taking)… The guitar ultimately fits Being’s puzzle, and actually makes their music more intriguing to listen to.

“We feel our songs are honest moments of reflection and melancholy and the musical ambience underneath the vocals compliment the emotions and the atmosphere of the songs well.”

There is no doubt that Being has certainly pulled me into their music as I write this review, they seem to challenge people to think and somewhat meditate while listening. Being are dedicated to continue to explore new sounds, travel with their music, and potentially gain a bigger audience. However, right now I guess Being and I are content to produce for themselves and others who are willing to explore our work. Which you can’t help but to admire.

I would like to thank these guys for reaching out, and I want to say thank you to whoever reads and/or listens to their music. I hope you enjoy both productions. These guys are beyond intriguing to me, so I will gladly be updating this article with more reviews of future tracks in the future!

Rage (2017)
Being

Overview: 4.9/5

Over: 5/5

Happy Miserable: 5/5

Healthy: 4/5

For the Taking: 5/5

Brittle: 5/5

You Saw Me: 5/5

Top Song: You Saw Me (2019)

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