Honestly, It started as an accident…

Back in 2008 I was frustrated with the prospects of producing for other artists. At the same time Seon was about a year and a half into learning the guitar. Seon and I both work together, so we constantly talked music. There was always a back and forth between us when it came to our musical tastes. Seon preferred rock, folk, and mid 90′s hip hop. I was more into soul, afrobeat, southern hip hop and classical music. Looking back it was a pretty eclectic mix of influences from the start.

One day I invited Seon over to my apartment to chill before going out drinking. He just so happened to have his guitar with him. After a couple of pre-party drinks I suggested that we go into my home studio and try to record something. 30 minutes in, we came up with the skeleton of a track that would eventually become “Legacy”. After that, I knew that we had something.

The birth of Audiocentric…

The recording process stuck to that same initial formula. Seon would come to my home studio twice week for recording sessions. During these sessions we would brainstorm ideas on the piano and guitar an record them into Pro-Tools. Afterwords I would take the ideas and produce them into semi flushed out songs. This would involve me sequencing drums and percussion, adding other instruments (bass, piano, synths) and developing the overall song arrangement. Then Seon would come back and record the finishing touches on the guitar and percussion. I would also arrange for other musicians to play on the tracks when needed. I would compare the recording process to piecing together a massive jigsaw puzzle. It was a labor of love. After awhile our varied influences began to show up in the album. We began to hear all the music that we grew up listening to in the project. So after 8 months of hard work, various recording sessions, additional musicians, mixing and mastering we finally had… Audiocentric.

Enter Laid Back…

At the time we didn’t realize that finishing an album is only half the battle. Getting our music heard turned out to be the real challenge. I came across Laid Back Radio’s website in October of 2009 while I was emailing various blogs for press. I really liked the overall vibe of what they were doing, so I sent Laid Back an email. Within a couple of days Julius responded and suggested that we get in contact with Brooklyn based Photographer Carlito Brigante for his Streets of Philadelphia project.

The Streets of Philadelphia from Charles le Brigand.

One thing lead to another and eventually the idea for the Audiocentric [Unplugged] Project was born. As we continued to promote the album we knew we wanted to get physical cd’s made. We wanted the physical cd’s to become collectors items that would supplement the digital release. This is why we chose to go with a complete artwork redesign and add a bonus track to Audiocentric[Deluxe Edition]. It just so happened that Carlito knew a very talented graphic designer named Felipe Villarreal who was up to the task. From that point on ,we all worked together tirelessly to make the Audiocentric[Deluxe Edition] cd’s come to life.

The end…

So here we are, 9 months after the the digital release of the Audiocentric and a year and a half after we first started recording. Its a very bitter sweet moment. Audiocentric has been a child to both of us. The project has been the source of many highs and lows. Audiocentric has also allowed us to meet, connect and collaborate with new friends from all around the world. But at the end of the day in order to move on you have to let go. So this is it, the final chapter of our project. We proudly present to you Audiocentric[Deluxe Edition] and we hope you enjoy it!

-Jason “Classicbeatz” Minnis

Purchase Info: Bandcamp - CD Baby - iTunes

Article Photo’s
Photographer: Sonya Freeman
Model: Bilen Gaga

Audiocentric[Deluxe Edition]
Photographer : Carlito Brigante
Graphic Design: Felipe Villarreal