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Nostalgic Authenticity: “Big Time” by Rogue FX and Mayah Camara

“Big Time” by Rogue FX and Mayah Camara Today, we’re opening the gates to our blog in classic style – classic '80s synth-pop, to be precise. Whenever the words ‘80s’ and ‘synth-pop’ are mentioned, Rogue FX is never far behind. Drawn to the essence of that decade, he dives deep to retrieve a flawless pearl and then showcases it in his musical shop window.  His latest track is called “Big Time,” a collaborative project with Retrowave/Nu-Soul artist Mayah Camara . The story revolves around a relationship at a crossroads, caused by the success and fame of one partner who has reached the “big time” mentioned in the title. Jealousy and insecurity take hold, but there’s a shared hope that the relationship can survive and grow.  Rogue FX cleverly packages this story in the big-city vibe of the '80s, creating an emotional counterpoint to the relationship through his astute selection of sound and rhythm – the big-time lifestyle of that era. From the start, the listener experiences the

The Tuesday Interview: Zorastead


"Sometimes things just happen": so it happened that a composer, a singer and a writer met on a foggy winter evening in a small town in northern Italy, and thus Zorastead was born. Their first released song "True Words" is a highly introspective track in which the piano guides the listener to an intimate confession, to the final explosion of drums and words. In June 2021, their first album “Inner Rails” will be released, an extraordinarily eclectic casket of pop rock music.  Argentine-sounding electric guitars, carefully selected synthesizers and drum sounds accompany a deeply vibrant female voice and bring to life songs like "Methodic Poisoning", a story about burnout syndrome among health workers, and "Thorns for Breakfast", an overview  criticism of the struggle to face a life you don't like every day.

Who inspired you to make music? 

Making music is part of your DNA, it's a talent you were born with.  Influences can inspire you in the sense that they give you direction, but if you are an artist you will take a piece of that inspiration and make it something different and wonderfully personal.


What or who inspired you to "True words"?

“True words” tells the story of a self-denied love. It is the story of a personal experience of silence and hidden emotions due to a lack of courage. The pounding piano recalls something similar to the heartbeat; the whole song flows on a super emotional level, but it is only at the end that the explosion of words and drums realizes the full meaning of those never-said ‘true words’.


What is your creative process like?

No rules, sometimes the lyrics come first, sometimes the music inspires the lyrics.  Sometimes I have a simple telephone conversation with our composer, we talk about everything but music and boom!  a new song is born.  At that point the beautiful voice of our singer does the magic.


Who would you most like to collaborate with? 

The most dreaded question! Well, so many artists are now in my head, but I think I’d like to meet Shania Twain and Dorothy Martin… I love those girls! And our composer would dream of meeting Martin Gore, but that’s another story… And Tori Amos, of course, the non plus-ultra artist, in our singer’s opinion. Too ambitious? I personally would like to collaborate with Indigo & the Sirens, I am so proud that he is Italian, I think he’s a genius.


What is the most useful talent you have? 

Overthinking and overanalyzing; people say I’m a problem solver, and I absolutely love it. I believe that even our emotional lives abide by unwritten rules that need to be explored and, why not, written to become a song. After all, life is nothing more than a code.


...and of course your most useless talent is?

Overthinking, again. It’s a double-edged sword, one day it can save you, the next it can kill you.


If you could change anything in the past, what would it be?

I wish I had the idea for Zorastead 20 years ago.  I think things were simpler then, in the world of music


How do you feel the Internet (especially Social Media platforms) has impacted the music business?

Social media platforms have a huge impact on our lives, both positively and negatively.  The music business is part of this and I think it is too much influenced by what the platforms display.


What do you know about Austria?

Austria reminds me of a beautiful trip I took with my family when I was a teenager: beautiful buildings, the white of the snow in the streets, a strange light at sunset and great beer.  And Princess Sissi, of course!


Zorastead is...? 

We were thinking of a name that night in the studio (it was the last night we were together, before the lockdown due to the pandemic), but nothing came out. Then suddenly our singer yelled the name of a medicine she had taken for allergy, and we immediately liked the sound of that name. So we started a real brainstorming, adding and removing letters and changing the sound of the name. It almost looks like Frankenstein's creation, doesn’t it? Well, in the end we created the name “Zorastead”.


What’s next for you?

A full album called "Inner Rails", due out in June 2021. And a video or two of our favorite songs on the album, of course.




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