World Music

Elevated Focusion returns to A&R Factory carrying the kind of creative restlessness that refuses to stay in one lane for long. In this interview, we get into the thinking behind the fourth LP, a record shaped by multilingual textures, cross-cultural collaboration and an urge to treat language as sound rather than signpost. From the unexpected rise of Trash as a statement single to the influence of New York’s street-level soundscape, Elevated Focusion opens up about composing by feel, chasing a fully immersive sonic experience and creating music that lets listeners write their own meaning into it. We also touch on the role of visual identity, underground fashion, anonymity, and the collaborative ethos at the centre of the project, before looking ahead to where the next album could push things next.

Elevated Focusion, welcome back to A&R Factory, we’re buzzing to have you here again, this time to talk about the new LP and the world you’re building around it.

One of the standout singles from the LP, Trash, feels like a proper line in the sand, dark, rhythmic, confrontational, and wildly international. When you were putting this track together, did you know it would land as the ultimate statement piece?

I definitely did not think so at first. I liked the song but it is alot heavier than the rest of the album. I honestly just played my album for a long time friend and this is what stood out to him as a radio song. I listen to these songs so much while I am making and mixing them that I honestly forget that they are in other languages. It just felt like a song that could grab someone’s attention.

When i mix these different languages together, the intent is not so much to mix cultural elements. I consider all of these things to be tools or instruments to create sounds. A language fits in a song just as much as vocal timbre. I make a song and I will hear a language just as much as I would hear that the song needs a guitar.

It is like trying to fit pieces of a puzzle. By themselves the color or shape of each piece defines each piece as a stand alone thing. But once the puzzle is together all that matters is the artwork as a whole. I feel that way about using any language or any instrument. Every sound is equally important to the overall identity, and no single piece is meant to be identified by itself.

This is your fourth album, and you’ve said you pushed further into world music and let yourself be as adventurous as possible. What opened up in your writing once you gave yourself permission to stretch the project that bit further?

My heart has always been in the emotion and feeling of a song. Sometimes the words can get in the way of that. I want people to be able to write their own story to the music.

I really like the idea of using the singer as an instrument. Having the lyrics in other languages definitely helps accomplish that. I personally like to zone out alot, so I like to create music that you just get lost in.

I love watching movies I’ve already seen or movies that focus on more of a visual experience.

Obviously, if you speak the language the song will give you more direction. But my intention is to create a sonic experience.

Your music has always pulled from a lot of different places, but this album sounds especially committed to crossing borders without sanding anything down. What matters most to you when bringing different genres, influences, and cultural textures into the same body of work?

Ten years ago I went to see the artist Yanni at Radio City. On all of his songs he had singers and instruments from all over the world. I remember him speaking about the history and origin of some of the singing styles and instruments.

To me it was just so fascinating to think of. Almost like knowing we walk the earth with animals that been around since the beginning of our known existence. The music felt like traveling through time. It is something that stayed with me and would like to explore more.

Originally i was not planning on making another album after this. So my intention with this project was to make this my Opus. My last creation. That was me trying to pour every musical obsession into one final project. Of course, I’m already mixing my next album so that didn’t last very long….lol

Collaboration feels central to this phase of Elevated Focusion, especially with artists from different backgrounds and languages. What have other people brought to your music that you know you couldn’t have reached entirely on your own?

I never really wanted this to be about me personally which is why I initially put out the music anonymously and still stay mostly in the shadows. The collaboritive spirit is at the heart of the Elevated Focusion brand. I always wanted to create a free space to bring artists and musicians together.

With this album, at first I was hoping for various live instruments to bring a technical element to my songs. But they brought so much more. They brought passion and life experience to every song.

A huge moment for me was getting Aleks De Carvalho on guitars for ‘Acid Moon’. He is the owner of No Mystery studio where I record. So working with him in the studio together was a really cool moment for me.

There’s a lot of sonic risk in your catalogue, but it never feels messy for the sake of it. How do you know when a track has the right amount of friction, movement, and contrast?

I never force anything and just go with whatever I hear naturally. I have so many different sounds so it allows my music to be ever changing. I don’t really do the same thing twice so it allows me a lot of freedom artistically.

Growing up in New York you are exposed to alot of cultural sounds. Walking into a deli, or passing through various neighborhoods and hearing the music or languages being spoken. These sounds have just as much value to me creatively as all of the music I have listened to over the years.

You have to understand I have explored almost every artist of every music genre I could find. So after a while everything just blends together. I have also been around a bit in New York over the years so I have seen and heard alot. These sounds are a part of me. That is just how I see the world. Sonically.

You’ve also tied Elevated Focusion to alternative fashion and a broader visual identity. How important is the full aesthetic world around the music to the way you express yourself?

I grew up in the 80s and 90s with such cool visuals whether in 80s horror effects, graffiti, trippy cartoons like ren & stimpy, and tattoo art. I just felt for me growing up there were so many cool underground clothing brands that you could tell put alot of passion and creativity into the designs. I wanted to bring it all back in my own way.

I love collaborating with these artists to create the designs and music. The thrill of it all, watching the ideas come to life and all the back and forth in between. For me it’s like a drug. I can really get lost in it just like any addict. If I could live in this world I would.

I really want this to just be about art and music. Not about me or any other artist in particular. I just want to make cool art and music. That’s the message.

Looking at this fourth album as a whole, what do you feel it says about where Elevated Focusion is right now, and where you still want to push it?

As an artist I feel I am becoming more confident and I have definitely made some good artistic connections for music and clothing. I have worked with some extremely talented people that I can always reach out to if I feel I have the right project.

My next album dives further into using more cultural instruments and diverse languages. I definitely explored more on the composing side as well. I feel like the compositions are more complex so it is better to have less focus on the words.

I think using languages as an instrument will always be a part of my music. It just depends how everything comes together.

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Find out more about Elevated Focusion via his official website. 

Interview by Amelia Vandergast