Starranko
Starranko is a Hip Hop musician from the Washington, DC area providing beats from various genres of music . . .including trip hop, alterntative rock, and soft rock . . .You can frind Starranko in the first issue of Azur Magazine . . .
(click on a title to watch a video . . .)
I met Starranko from craigslist . . .I think he contacted me after I had placed an ad . . and he, basically, submitted his music to the eclectic category - which was, exactly, the type of music I was looking for. Upon hearing the soundcloud album, I was impressed and loved the similarities I found comparing his production to Pink Floyd and Kanye West. Starranko, or Domingos Muekalia, Jr, agreed to sit down for an interview and tell me more about producing his latest creation. Odd Ass City . . .Here is what he had to say . . . Azur Mag: I've got Domingos Muekalia, Jr with us or Starranko . . .OK . ."Just Us" the song reminded me of a Nirvana song . . .Believe it or not . .to me it did . . .Are you interested in acts . .like trip hop or Massive Attack and Tricky? Domingos: Ahh . . which song? Azur Mag: "Just Us" . .the song you did a video for . . . Doningos: Yeah . . yeah . .actually. . .that one was inspired by a direct Nirvana song . . ."All Apologies" I kind of liked. . . .that feel . . of the song . .and I saw an interview with Kurt . . .and he was explaining how he made that song . . .and he was saying that he wanted it to be a comfort for his family . . .and . .that was kind of the feel I wanted . . .but not directly for like . .my family . .but just like . . people in general . . .it had a comforting feel . .but it had a message at the same time . . .questioning . . .what we were doing . . .it doesn't really have a solution because . .I mean . .I don't have one . . .for like . .everything that's going on in the world . .but just like raising questions . . and just like asking . .is it just us that . . don't have any justice . so like . .that would basically . . .yeah . .it was cool that you caught that . . because that was what was going on there . . . Azur Mag: Oh . .ok. .so it was a Nirvana song . ."All Apologies" . . . . Domingos: Yes . . Azur Mag: Oh cool . . .I don't know why I picked up on Nirvana but . . it did remind me a little of them . . in all your other songs I hear a lot of Massive Attack and Tricky and trip hop and . .but I mean . . it's your own thing, too . . .I'm not saying you're copying other people . . but it reminds me of that type of genre . . which is pretty cool . .especially in the rap world . .it's a nice direction to go into . . .Ahh . . .what made you decide to film "Just Us" with prime time news events . . .and shots . .it must have been the song . . .right? The "All Apologies" song? Domingos: Yeah . .well. .actually with that . . .there was a Michael Jackson's own "Man In the Mirror" . . . he's basically my biggest influence . . Michael . . .He's the one who made me want to make music and stuff. . .so . . yeah. . .that one . .with "Man In the Mirror" . . .he had a lot of . . just like . . images . . of different catastrophies going on . . .and then . .also . . he got that from John Lennon . . .who did the same thing with . . I want to say . . . "Happy X-Mas" . . .like . . he did the same thing with that video . . .so . .just kind of followed in that line . .or what ever with this one . . .and I actually have both of them in the video . . .like a shout out. . .to them . . Azur Mag: Ok . .so . .how do you feel about Michael Jackson . . .when he . .I mean . .he almost became a woman . . or am I mistaken in saying that? Domingos: I mean . . everyone has their flaws . . or what ever . .and like . . he never had a normal life. . . so . .I don't expect him to be a normal person . . because . .from age five . .he was already on stage . . .I couldn't imagine . . .living a life where you never really had true people around you. . .because . . most people in that industry just want to use you . .so . . it would be amazing if he turned out to be a normal person . . you know what I mean? Azur Mag: Right . . .well . .he started so early . .I guess it really did affect him . . .he pretty much had one of the first videos . . .one of the first videos on MTV for an African American . . so . .there weren't very many African Americans on MTV . . .until Michael Jackson . . I think . .Is that true? Domingos: That's completely true . . he kind of broke down the door . .so there is a lot to owe him . .especially me being Black . .there is a lot I owe him . .just for what he did . . with music . . . Azur Mag: Yeah . . I like Michael Jackson . . he's cool. . . He was a cool guy . . .so . ."X-Men" was a real good video . . .In fact, I like all of your videos . .especially the two I just mentioned . . .and . .who is Astra Creative? How did you find them . . .and how did they film the video . . or what are they all about . .Astra Creative? Domingos: Thay are a company out in Richmond . . .and it's actually run by one of my best friends . .Christopher Parris . . .so . .he hit me up and he was like. . .do you want to shoot a video in Richmond . .and I was like . . yeah . . .it was him and his friend. . .Christian Ross . . or Dixon . .and he, basically, asked me if we wanted to shoot the video on location . . .and we went out and we did a little thing for it . . .and it came out pretty well . . . Azur Mag: Yeah. . it came out really well. . . That's a really good video . . .Do you mind me asking . .was it shoe string budget or . . .was it real expensive to film? Domingos: It was, actually, not expensive at all to film . . .He just had . . like . . .a couple ideas . . .and he had some equipment that he wanted to use, basically. . . and take advantage of . . and I don't think we spent that much on it at all . . .It was cool that it came out that well . . but it was pretty cheap to do . . . Azur Mag: Right . . .that's amazing . . It turned out really well. . .It's amazing what you can do, now, with cameras and technology . . .It was a good video . . .I noticed the video "Can't Hold Us" was produced under your real name, Domingos . . .How did you come up with the name Starranko? Domingos: Well. . ."Can't Hold Us" . . that was a Mackelmore song we covered . . but we did a kind of rock twist on it . . .but . .with Starranko . .that was . .. there was a guy . . who was in Marvel comics . . .because I'm a big comic book guy . . .so . . .he was an illustrator with Marvel comics . .and he came in . .and he was a lightening rod in the industry . . .and he had a big effect on it . . .for a couple of years . .and then he just kind of left . . .and . . the way I would invision . . .the perfect trajectory for my career . . .would be for me to come in . . .and make some noise while I can . . while I'm young. . .and stuff . . .and then . .kind of . . .on my own back off . .you know . . .like maybe go into like a Dre role where I'm just kinda like finding people and producing music. . but I wouldn't want to be on stage . . .like . .Jay-Z at 50 . . . Azur Mag: I see your point . . . Domingos: I mean I like the name . . Starranko . .I think it like . . pops out at you . . .more . . .My previous name, before that, was D-22 . . so I like Starranko better . . . Azur Mag: Oh . . you had a name called 22? Domingos: It was D-22 . . . Azur Mag: D-22? . . .so D-22 was the name of your band . . .but. . .what was it about D-22 you didn't like? Domingos: Basically . . that was under . . .cause I was in a band . . .and it was called DC Flag . . and . .basically . .we had some complications . . .and stuff . . and . . we couldn't get on the same page. . . but I was with one of my best friends . . .and basically the executive producer of one . .or both of my albums . . .Adam Pagol . . .and we stuck together when I went solo . . .but I didn't want to . . .I wanted, basically, to clean the slate and make something completely different with Starranko . . .I just changed my name up . . and we went from there . . . Azur Mag: What made you decide to name the new album . ."Odd Ass City"? Where did that name come from? Domingos: There was a line . ..in one of the songs from my first album, "Push to Start" . . .and it gave me the audacity to make my own odd ass city . . .and then . .that line just stuck with me . . .and I was like . .alright . .I'm going to make the new album "Odd Ass City" Azur Mag: Oh . . .AUDACITY . . . .That's genius . . I like that . . .Alright . . .I mentioned in the blogspot article that Joey Coli sounded like Sean Lennon . . .How did you meet Joey Coli and do you agree with me on that . . or do you think he sounds like someone else? Domingos: The one with me? Azur Mag: On the song "You Know" . . . Domingos: Oh . .I actually sang that one . .but . . .he was doing the guitar in that . . . Azur Mag: Oh . . that was you? Domingos: Yeah . .that was me (laughs) . . . Azur Mag: Oh my goodness. . .I've gotta write that down . . . Domingos: Yeah . . well . .when you said Sean Lennon. . I said . .well . .that was cool . . . Azur Mag: Yeah . . .I like Sean Lennon . . Domingos: That was cool that you made that reference because I like him . . .so . .(laughs) . . Azur Mag: I like that singing style, for some reason . .it reminds me of Sean Lennon . . .and . .I thought it was Joey Coli who was singing . . .I just couldn't relate the voice to you . . .but it's really cool that was you, also . .so . . .in the article I mentioned it was Joey Coli . . but I was wrong . . .so I apologize for that . . . Domingos: Oh . . no problem . . . Azur Mag: In D.O.A Down and Out featuring Anneliese . . .that was a real nice cut, too . . .How did you meet Anneliese? Domingos: It's like fate . . how we met . .it was like . . .One of our mutual friends . . Jameson Magen . . .he filmed a video for her. . . and then he was going to do a video for me . . .I saw her music video that he did for her . . and I just liked her voice . . .and then . .I went to her album . .and there was a specific song . . .that jumped out at me . . .and I was like . .Jaime what's her number . . .because I need to make a song with her . . .so . .he gave me her number . . I reached out to her . . .I let her know I liked the music. . .and I wanted to make a song with her . .and she was like . . yeah . .no problem . . .so . .she was really cool . . .so . .when we were recording she was very chill . .she was fun to be with . . .she's a great writer . .a great singer . . .she's just a true artist . .it's really fun to work with people like her . . I love working with people like her . . .so . .that's how we met . . .she helped me make three songs so . . .that was great . . Azur Mag: Were you living down in Richmond when you met her? Domingos: No . .I lived here . .but I went down to Richmond all the time because. . .my friends went to college there . . .I was like in Richmond every weekend . . .at one point . .so. . . Azur Mag: Alright. . .ok. . . The song "Growing Pains" featuring Joey Coli and Anneliese . .that was a good song, too . . .That one reminded me of Massive Attack meets Kanye West meets Pink Floyd . . .Are you a fan of any of these groups I just mentioned . . or none of these groups are your style . .or . . .? Domingos: No . .it's funny that you picked up on all of my influences . . .Pink Floyd was a direct influence of that song. . . but also Jay-Z from Reasonable Doubt . . .there was one song . .but I can't remember the name . . but it had these horns in it. . .that stuck out . . .and that's where the idea came for the horns to become a prominent . .I guess fixture in the song . . .but . .when she started singing in the beginning . .that was very Pink Floyd and I loved it. . .and I actually didn't ask her to do that. . .she just did it on her own . . . Azur Mag: (Laughs) . . That's cool . . . Domingos: It's funny . . I turned to Adam and said . . .that's Pink Floyd . . . Azur Mag: Yeah. . .that's like some Pink floyd going on in that song . . .That's cool, though . .I really liked that song . . .and . what about Massive Attack . . how do you feel about them? Domingos: I . .actually don't know their stuff . . .I haven't heard their stuff . .but I guess I should listen to them. . . Azur Mag: Yeah . . get on the youtube and look up Massive Attack . . .They've got an album full of youtubes you can watch . . .and your stuff sounds so much like their stuff . . .you'll be amazed . . .Especially with Anneliese . .you guys sound like Massive Attack . .but you still have your own sound, though. . .so . .it's not like your copying from Massive Attack . .. but once you hear Massive Attack . .you'll know that direction is definitely making money . . .or at least it was making money . .their one of my most favorite bands. . . Ahh . .how do you feel about Tricky? Domingos: Oh . .I haven't heard their stuff, either . . Azur Mag: Ahh. . .Tricky! You've got to check out Tricky! He's got a female background singer, too . . .Well . . let me take you off microphone . ..because you're cool. .. . . . .so . .I took Domingos off microphone and we discussed his sound or recordings and how they relate to bands like Pink Floyd and Jay-Z's production. There are a lot of influences on his concept album . . .but Domingos is unique and seems to focus on the main strem while incorporating eclectic samples and philiosphies from the past. I look forward to hearing his next album. . . .this one was excellent . . .
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