Groovy Kaiju AMA 01/02/2020
ARTIST INTRODUCTION:
Hello! I am Groovy Kaiju, formerly Groovy Godzilla. I’ve been making FutureFunk / Vaporwave since about 2014. Stoked to be a part of this AMA today! And feel free to reach out whenever, I’m super extroverted, and always down to chat about whatever.
LINKS: Soundcloud Bandcamp Spotify Instagram Twitter
AMA BEGINS:
Q: What prompted the change from Groovy Godzilla to Groovy Kaiju?
I did the change because, I had a bunch of friends tell me I should take my music more seriously at like 4 in the morning. And I saw Vaporwave had a super strong resurgence and things. And I really wanted to be a part of building that community up and helping out.
So when I started to get involved in the local scene, I realized that my name is a big target for like copyright stuff. And Toho has been notorious for like trademark stuff. So I talked with a lot of fans for a name that would convey the same feeling, but also be close enough so I wouldn’t have to fight with anyone over trademark.
Q: What direction do you think Future Funk is gonna go in terms of popularity?
So for direction, I am unsure! I definitely think there is like two types of Future Funk now. “Anime / House-y” FutureFunk. And More Vaporfunk, old style stuff. I think both are really good, and I’m glad we’ve been able to appreciate both as one community. I think it’s up to the listener honestly. And I kind of see both finding their crowds that will bleed into one another?
Q: You seem to have been away for a while — diving back into the scene, what are you liking or looking forward to the most?
So yeah, I have! That’s a whole can of worms I can get into haha! But what I’m looking forward to the most, and please excuse the lack of words, but meeting all the “new people” in the scene! Back when there was like a handful of us, we all did it for fun. And no one really took it serious. To see new artists, youtubers, event promoters, etc… REALLY take this stuff serious, and like put hard work into growing a scene around the music is something I am SOO appreciative and happy to see.
Q: Which of your songs / albums would you recommend for somebody who is just discovering you as an artist?
So probably my two favorite are Mighty Morphin’, and Thanks for Everything. They are songs I am proud of, like skill technical wise, but also I still listen and love them like years later (Which can’t be said for a lot of my other songs for me haha!) Also, I just dropped a song with Real Love today, Senorita, that’s gonna be on my new album, so that one too!
Q: I would like to know, if you had the choice to pick between Surface Pro for music or the Macbook Pro.. Which would you pick?
Either computer would be great in my opinion. I’ve always used Windows with FL, and from what I noticed, Mac FL has some catching up to do in terms of VST support. But if your mostly sampling, A Mac should be fine.
It depends which OS your more comfortable with. But I guess TL;DR go with the Surface if you like Windows for the “most mature” FL experience. Go with Mac if you really like Macs and plan to sample a lot.
Q: How much do you think you changed since you started doing music?
Hello! So in terms of like as a person? Or like in terms of skill?
As a person, I don’t watch as much anime anymore, and I think maybe I’m like more “wise” now? I started music in college, and now I’m graduated and stuff. I got super into software development, and that’s taken me really far. Like I’ve travelled to like 3 different countries last year. Went to Japan and all that.
Re-reading that, anime watching and wisdom are not related. I was just typing stream of thoughts haha!
In terms of musical ability. I am like 10000x better. I learned a lot from the number of collabs I’ve done. I’ve been able to experiment with more and more things. When I got into vinyl, I artificially will make my music more “warm”. I learned how to humanize. And since I make more than just Future Funk. Learned alot about humanization and drum patterns from making my LoFi beats and studying J Dilla videos. And I learned a lot of music theory, and how to throw chord progressions and basslines from my Future Bass stuff.
Q: Do you have any other aliases?
Quick Aside for that: Groovy Godzilla was my Second Alias. I didn’t like when an artist would like transition genres (like Linkin Park) and their new stuff would be terrible. So I figured I’d put each of my genres into their own alias. And then I thought it’d be funny if I kept them secret from one another, and collab with myself.
But now I am trying to un-make them secret because it’s hard to do them all individually. But I have: Aviscerall — My lofi hip / hop beats I’ve been making for like over a decade. Marquice Turner — My “no sample” Electronic / Future Bass Stuff. Endago — My (please don’t look it up) rap alias that I’ve been neglecting.
Q: Can you rank the godzilla movies?
YES! I am so stoked to do this. I’ll do a top 5
1. Godzilla Final Wars 2. Godzilla (2014) 3. Godzilla vs. King Ghidora 4. Godzilla Vs. King Kong 5. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
Q: What does your IRL friends & family think about FF?
Oh I love this question! So my mom and dad are confused why I know all their music. My Girlfriend (shoutout Leah) is also into VW / FF. Like she got into it because I had just started Groovy Kaiju / Groovy Godzilla when we started dating. My college roommate (shoutout Daniel / NetNavi) and I would listen to Artzie whenever we’d clean or just be chillin’ on a saturday. One of my closest skate buddies (shoutout cory / snazzypants) is a HUGE vaporwave fan. I gave them hit vibes like back in 2015. And the other day they posted they were listening to “Slide” by George Clanton.
TL;DR probably about half of my friends know what vaporwave is, and maybe a quarter are like huge fans of it. Maybe it’s an LA thing?
Q: Planning any new releases?
Yes! So I just released the first song from my new Album, Senorita, with Real Love Music. Super appreciative they were down to do that with me! So I’m working on a new album, and I made the whole thing using samples from Tracklib. Meaning, I can / have cleared all the samples on it! So It’ll be on everything, spotify, soundcloud, etc… and I don’t have to worry about anything!
I’m gonna call the album “Still Groovy”. And the cover is gonna be me in front of Hotel Gracery with the giant godzilla in Japan. with like a city pop red strip on the side. Dude, I’ve had 4 years to think about this album. I don’t want to sound too “into myself”. But I am STOKED to release this album because I’ve had so long to think about it, and Tracklib really removes a lot of limits on where my music can go haha!
Q: Favourite 80’s animes?
Ooof. 80s animes? I’m actually kinda slacking here, I only really know 90s ones I think.
Oh wait, I searched when some of my favorites came out and they are totally 80s haha! My neighbor Totoro is dope, Dragon Ball is and always be a classic, and I’ll throw Gundam in there. I’ll be honest, I don’t watch Gundam like that, but I LOVE Gundam video games.
Q: Pick a waifu?
Ooof! I was thinking about this the other day. Do I even have a waifu?
Ummm, Hmmm. You know what, I’m going with “Megumi Tadokoro” from Food Wars. But instinctively, I was thinking “Touka Kirishima” from Tokyo Ghoul.
Q: How old are you (Optional)?
I am super open about stuff I don’t mind. I’m 24 years old. I’ll turn 25 in July.
Q: Do you live in LA?
Yep! Well I live in the LA area, but I currently live in Long Beach, California. If you are ever in the LA area hit me up! I’m stoked Future Funk and Vaporwave are going IRL. Would be stoked to chat about stuff over some tacos haha.
Q: What’s your favorite FF producer?
Oh my that is a HARD question. If you don’t mind, I’m gonna cop out and name a few. Saint pepsi is my favorite of the “OG”s. Tupperwave is probably my favorite of the newest scene / 2019. Close second is 3d Blast. Bluntside is my favorite underrated /lowkey artist in my opinion. But if I had to pick like one. and Only one. Dude that is so hard. But I’m gonna go with TupperWave. Honestly, when I found their album, they got me to listen to FutureFunk daily again. Like Saint pepsi got me into it. But TupperWave really brought it all back together for me.
Q: Any last words?
Totally! So first, thank you Flammy and D Vana for organizing this!
And thank you everyone who took the time to ask a question, I super appreciate it! And to everyone, feel free to reach out whenever (DMs are open!). Always stoked to talk to new people about stuff. And I appreciate anyone / everyone listening to my music! I have a new single out on Real Love Music ‘s Youtube channel, and be on the lookout for my new album, and me coming to Spotify.
I’m also playing a lot more shows. If you can make the time to go to one, please do, and say hi after, always stoked to meet fans and stuff. And with that. Yeah, thank you everyone!
This AMA was held in the Future Funk Subreddit Discord. Join it here: https://discord.gg/guF4qvU
