Anoop Desai has been on his grind after his appearance on season 8 of American Idol. He released his first project last year, an EP titled All Is Fair, but he's not slowing down anytime soon. He has a series of EPs coming this year, the first of which, Zero.0, will be available for free for a month and is available for download on Billboard.com.
We were able to catch up with Anoop as he embarks on what he calls an aggressive promotional campaign for Zero.0. He talked about his new music, life as an indie artist and the changes he's gone through since getting his foot in the music industry, thanks to the Idol platform.
Q: So you're giving away your new album Zero.0 first and then selling it on iTunes on April 20th. How did you come up with this model for distributing your work?
A: It started as a mixtape project with DJ Trauma, and to me, it was an opportunity to experiment with some of my music and really further my own goals as a writer and a producer. I want people to be a part of that, organically, and the best way I knew how to do that is allow my fans to spread it.
Q: Last time we spoke, you were gearing up to release your first EP, All Is Fair. What did you learn from that EP? What did you learn from that process and how is it different now?
A: Looking back at All Is Fair, I still love it because it was my first project and I did learn a lot, but I think the biggest difference is the music is better on this one. And it will continue to get better. My style will continue to evolve and the writing has definitely changed cause most of the music on the album I wrote myself. It's interesting because this album is much more varied in its approach. It's an album you can listen to all the way and not get tired of.
Worth The Wait
Q: The material on Zero sounds a lot more contemporary and modern, flirting with electronica-tinged pop which is all the rage in pop music today. Was what you were hearing on the radio influencing your sound?
A: Some of it definitely was just because when you hear something on the radio or hear something on a blog that's hot, that's music. It's the ability to take what others do well and adapt it to your own purpose. My ear and what I do is much more geared toward contemporary music. The songs are a lot more listenable and a lot more repeatable.
Q: In addition to your increased songwriting, you've also stepped up as a co-producer and found yourself working with Sak Pase, the producer of Rihanna's "Man Down." How did that collaboration come about?
A: I was introduced to him by DJ Trauma, who's hosting this series, and immediately when we met, we started talking and he played me some of his stuff and I played him some of my stuff. Not only did we vibe personally, musically I think that he really gets the type of sound that I'm going for. For people that have heard "Man Down," it's an amazing song, but I think the best part of that song and the best trait that he has and that we share is that we're both very feel based producers.
The first song we started working on is "Want Your Love." That's actually a song that I produced almost completely and he added some drums on. And then I've been cutting some tracks that I had nothing to do with writing wise and he's been producing tracks that he had nothing to do with writing wise. So it's become a fruitful relationship, definitely.
Want Your Love
Q: How important are visuals to you as an artist? It seems like branding is an inescapable element of being a pop star in this day and age.
A: Branding is a very important concept to me and I think that visually, it's gonna be the same type of look that I've done in the past which is refined, with a little bit of urban influence, with that preppy thing first and foremost. I will say that I have a better understanding of who I am as an artist and what musical space I occupy. So that's only gonna help when I go out on the road and do appearances, to be true to that.
At the end of the day, the biggest visual I want people to have is not really of me but of themselves. What I mean by that is that the whole Zero concept is really about pinpointing the source of a particular emotion, whether it's a day you remember or just a feeling that you can't put into words. That's a very visual concept to me. I want my music to inspire visuals in others. That's my goal.
Q: The new era of the music industry scares a lot of people, with record sales drying up. But you seem to be interested and open to experimenting with these new models. How can fans get involved?
A: I do have a Kickstarter campaign going right now so if people want a physical copy of the album, they can pre-order it on Kickstarter and there are a variety of other funding levels too that I hope people will check out and become involved with the project.
At the end of the day, it's about music. Music is what I do and it's what my fans love, but you can't escape that it's the music industry. So my team and I are just trying to navigate that to the best of our ability.
Follow Anoop on Twitter at @AnoopDoggDesai. Listen to and download his new EP Zero.0 at Billboard, and check out his Kickstarter page to help fund the project.
