HCM. How did you come by your stage name?
Telephone Switches. The name Telephone Switches came from my obsession with Telephone culture. It seems like everybody has one in their pocket, it holds nearly everything of value on it, and when you have something important to say it seems like the original method of relaying a message.
HCM. When did you discover your love for music and what made you realize you wanted to pursuit a career in music?
Telephone Switches. Well I grew up rockin’ rap on an old tape player when I was just a young kid, and I have been in the music industry for nearly my whole adult life with different bands and genres. I decided to take Telephone Switches to the next level when I finally got off the street and was called to preach a message of things like revolt, anti-authority, classism, and a general disruptiveness inside a broken society.
HCM. To what or whom do you accredit your sense of style?
Telephone Switches. I am always inspired by really poetic rappers and wordsmiths. The English language is a code of symbols and sounds that if fit together properly, can portray a message in a unique way that has never been done before. I get OCD about rhymes and language to the point that I dream in poems and wake up spittin’ verses.
HCM. On your current album… How did you come up with the concept for this project?
Telephone Switches. The last album Hip Hop Telephony was inspired by a more 90’s darkened “boom bap” feel, while the newer songs coming out are kind of more “current”. I’m looking forward to making an album in the future that is all 80’s style electro funk with lo-fi beats and that classic sweet electro robot voice.
HCM. What are some of your greatest challenges as an artist, and what is your greatest attribute when it comes to your work ethic?
Telephone Switches. I think the greatest challenge as an artist is the promotion. It seems like you need a whole team of people to cover every corner of artist development and most of the time it ends up being just one person. Instead of spending the time creating new projects artists are bound to a computer sending links to people who sometimes read it, and sometimes reply.
HCM. What impression would you like listeners to be left with after hearing your music?
Telephone Switches. I want the average listener to feel that Telephone Switches is not just a rapper or poet, but a modern brick through society’s window. I am a preacher of end times and a channeling of lyrical consciousness.
I would like to have people listen, be saved, and join the Church of the Telephone to experience the message and what it feels like to be part of a movement of people who may not be fully content with the way the world is right now.
HCM. What are your plans for the near future?
Telephone Switches. I am working with a secret new DJ and producer and we will be booking some tours for next year. I am currently working on a music video to be released as a single off of the new album that will be released in the near future. Also we will be seeing you guys at some night clubs and music festivals very soon.
HCM. Is there anyone you’d like to thank, any shout outs?
Telephone Switches. I would like to thank everyone who ever kicked me down a couple bucks while I was squeegee-ing windows, or bought my albums off of a blanket on the street. All of those drops kept me alive long enough to dig my way off the streets and be able to speak my message to as many as I can before I die.
I’d like to also thank any and all of the producers I have ever got beats from, their creative contribution to my music is an important aspect of the finished sound.
Email Contact and Social Media:
Contact:
churchofthetelephone@gmail.com
telephoneswitches@protonmail.com
Social Media:
https://telephoneswitches.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/telephoneswitches
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