July 19, 2025 • 62 mins
It's a family affair as musician Órpheus Von Doom visits cousin Greg. This indie alt-rocker shares his background and what he has on the horizon across Austin and Houston. His vinyl is on the way and his creativity oozes from every orifice. Let's listen and learn about his madness.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
And we're here today with a very special guest, family, yes, but somebody I've alwayswanted to go ahead and interview, Justin Serrano.
Hey, how you doing?
They're doing good.
They better be.
(00:20):
I want to thank you for coming on today and joining me and being in this first set ofguests for together.
I wanted to like really, he's probably like, what is he going to say or do?
If you, if you're just listening to the podcast, my face went like, it did this thing.
but I'm not paying attention to my face.
(00:40):
So it's going to do all sorts of things all episode long.
But we're here today to talk to Justin about his music career.
He's a musician who's been in bands.
He's been solo and he makes so much music.
I think that's what's really special about highlighting him as a creative and a musicianentrepreneur is that he does create music weekly.
(01:04):
He's like always recording and always writing music.
And that's what we're talking about today is that music process and the creativity behindit.
So again, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
For people that don't know, a lot of people know me as Orpheus.
I'm kind of shocked that you used my real name because I know many people that know me bythat name.
So when this is out there, it's going to be funny because people are going to be like,your name is Justin?
(01:28):
I'm like, yeah.
But yeah.
What was David Bowie's real name?
I have no idea, honestly.
I have no idea.
It was Murph.
No, but that sounded dull enough to be like, gosh.
Don't worry, Justin doesn't sound dull.
I appreciate that no but what I'll say is that my artist name is Orpheus Von Doom that'swhat people know me as that's where I do all my music that's how my stuff is out there s
(01:57):
but I am excited to be on this show so what is up
When was the last time you got to play a gig?
Is recently right?
Yeah, last time I played a gig was at 8th wonder they a friend of mine that worked theirname Anna She was like, hey, she hit it up.
She was like you want to perform here and I was like, yeah yeah, so I performed that thinglike two weeks ago, I
(02:21):
Congratulations.
That's Eighth Wonder Brewery in Houston.
And that's where you are based out of.
So you get gigs all over Houston.
Yeah, the next show is gonna be sick.
I got invited.
Well, there's this huge show that I'm super excited that's happening August 16 that'sgonna be in Houston You can go to my Instagram or or respond doom official Which is gonna
(02:44):
be inside a ring a boxing ring and the layer is cool So I'm excited for that show and alsogot invited to perform For I don't know many people know this show but killed Tony
Not for kill Tony, but for Timmy no breaks.
I don't know if you know who that is, but it's like this in session right now.
(03:05):
eh No, no, it's Timmy no breaks.
like it's like the new.
It's literally it's literally like the new.
What's that?
What's his name?
That guy who goes, hey, hey, from back in the day, I do dice clay.
He's like the new Andrew Dice Clay.
Yeah.
(03:25):
Oh, wow.
got invited next month and I got asked to perform with a band, but my jury couldn't makeit.
But I said, hey, I'm down to just like perform and do like funny sounds and all that.
And then I got invited to perform on television in Austin next month too.
So that's exciting.
Yeah.
Yeah.
a start there.
What is this Austin opportunity?
(03:47):
They hit me up.
I forgot them of the company We kind of been back and forth to the scheduling but theyinvite me to perform and it's a local Austin television thing So I'm excited to see how
that goes.
The only problem right now It's just figuring out scheduling for everybody because atfirst they were like, hey, I'll do it on This day and then somebody in my band couldn't do
(04:08):
it And then I was like, this day and then they couldn't do it.
I was like, so we're just trying to figure out the scheduling So see how that goes
But other than that, just lot of opportunity has come out as of recent and I am I probablyshouldn't say this, but I am performing a festival, a big festival later this year.
I'll just keep it at that.
(04:29):
Alright, hey, if it sells tickets and if you did not sign an NDA, then share away.
But you didn't hear that from me.
That's not legal advice.
But yeah, it's exciting.
That's what's basically been going on on my end.
And and actually the biggest announcement of all, July 28, 2025, I'm releasing my album,1986, that will be available on all streaming platforms and on vinyl records.
(04:55):
I'm so excited for that.
1986.
Yes, that there isn't I called it 1986 is because I don't know if you knew this, but I hada stir named Valeria that passed away way back when and she was born in the year 1986,
November 28.
So it's my way of remembering her and commemorating her memory.
(05:17):
I don't think many people know that it's a beautiful name though.
So it's a good year to go ahead and use.
Yeah, and I'm so excited to finally see your creation.
Actually, I just got the message today right before this that the album, the test press,the test print, sorry, got sent out and shipped.
(05:39):
So I'm excited to get it soon.
And it's just it's going to be so cool.
So how long did that take?
What is it?
What is this?
It was a tick.
This is ticking, taking all 20 something years to get to this point.
Or has it just been like the past six months working on an album and getting it here?
hundred percent honest with you this album literally and captures From the moment I was inhigh school in regards to recordings around well, I mean not high school but post high
(06:07):
school so like 2018 2019 songs that I have created from then that I brought out from thearchives and Remakes and remastered literally yesterday.
So the new test print is gonna be like
It has this bonus track on it.
uh Even like a week ago that I created a song or like two weeks ago and I submitted it tothis vinyl pressing and they're like, yeah, fuck it.
(06:32):
Let's put that song in there.
So it's cool.
So it's literally it's been a few years of work for this album.
When you say print, what is the print?
So a test print means a usually you can order a test print of your vinyl record before itreleases like wherever like wherever it's gonna release or it releases everywhere it's
international which is also exciting.
(06:53):
in Mexico can also get and or Europe and so that's super exciting.
But a test print is basically a test copy of the vinyl of what it looks like what itsounds like what people will see before you accept it.
And it sounds good and you like you say, right, cool, like here it is.
Give it to the world.
Like now it's time for everybody.
(07:15):
There's just a test print.
but it's gonna be vinyl.
Yeah, vinyl record, to me, I don't know if you, I mean, I know you know this because yourfamily and your dad knows this.
Like a lot of people know this, but I am a huge vinyl collector.
So to finally see my own music being, I don't know, interlaced into this fucking likeplastic circular device that fucking has, I don't know, has been the, the, guess.
(07:46):
The introduction of so much music for so many people for so many years to me is afascinating and amazing experience.
That's honestly one of the few times or if not the last time I've been so proud of myselfor I actually like pat myself in the back is when I created all the images because I
create all the art and everything and all the DIY stuff.
I mix and produce and master and the write and everything you see in this is all me, eventhe art, everything.
(08:14):
Wow, that's substantial.
Thank you.
So seeing that from ground zero to now is absolutely beautiful.
Now, I have a couple of questions about that.
How is that different from somebody who's, guess, in Los Angeles, or maybe a deeper?
I don't know.
Maybe Los Angeles is a good place to use.
But how is that process different from what we might find out of the factory that is LosAngeles and the Hollywood music scene, you know?
(08:45):
I think personally from my own experience I am shocked beyond shocked at the people whoknow me and my name because of how I've introduced myself and put my stuff out there is I
think you have to be really smart with it I think I went with the mask because I knew I'mgonna catch attention and at this point it's become an icon when I go out or the name
(09:07):
itself too when I say introduce myself they don't recognize my face
most of the time because I'm always wearing the mask.
But the second I say Orpheus or I say the mask or they see the mask like, my God Orpheus,like I think honestly, one of the weirdest spots I've been recognized with that because of
the mask has been on top of a mountain at like three in the morning in Austin after seeinglike this like cult appear out of nowhere as a whole other story we can get into later.
(09:37):
But I feel like
that you'd see that in Austin.
Yeah, and it was freaky experience.
But anyway, there is I bring that.
It's a great feeling.
Exactly.
That's the reason I was going to bring it up.
But I was going to the other reason I was bringing that up.
Not not just to brag, because I'm not doing that, but more of just you have to be smartwith how you put yourself as your business out there or your brand image, because once it
(10:03):
sticks, it really sticks in the people's heads and it's easier to just stand out ratherthan just like.
I don't know, get drained in the sound of everything else just because you're notexceeding this idea or image.
So I feel that's always important because if you look really closely, I always say thislike Iggy Pop, you think about Iggy Pop, you think about a man who gets shirtless.
(10:25):
You think of something.
When you think about Ziggy Stardust, you think about
ginger hair and two different colored eyes or like red hair or whatever and whole outfitswhen you think about Jimi Hendrix you think about the Fendi guitar there's always some
something that stands out with artists so I always feel like people make it too gimmickylike kiss but I still like it but but again some people can say like me with the mask be
(10:50):
too gimmicky but then again it stands out and I feel good with you know
Well, I have a Funko Park.
This is it's hard to say.
You'll see here in a second.
It's all right.
It's fucking me up.
I have a Funko pop of Iggy pop.
And so if you have a Funko pop made of you one day, then it doesn't matter.
(11:11):
Okay.
be I already know exactly what it'll look like.
It's going to be I have this like leather trench coat that I use on stage with the maskand like it looks like amazing.
I think that's one of my favorite outfits.
And I think it's I think I used it in one of my singles, I think.
But I'm not remember if I'm being honest.
But yeah.
Well, people will go find it on YouTube.
(11:32):
I want to just highlight that idea for a second that you could have a Funko pop made aboutyou.
And I think anyone listening, if you've never imagined yourself as a Funko pop, then youdefinitely should now pause it, do it now or go ahead and do it later if you don't know
what a Funko pop is.
(11:53):
But that would be really cool.
I feel like that's the next step.
Just keep booking gigs and making albums and we'll get there.
No, think I believe you'll make it there one day.
I wanted to say that my Iggy Pop is shirtless.
So you're right about the symbol mattering.
People bake that into the image they have in their head to the point where when you havethe toy made out of you, it's a part of it.
(12:20):
Yeah, and I'm super excited for when that day comes.
I've actually I've thought about this a lot and I hope it manifests from this interview,but I've thought about it a lot because you know, you can see you can't tell I don't know
if you can tell my screen but like everything around me is just like collectibles.
I don't know if you can tell but it's kind of how the images produce but there's like abunch of oh actually if you want to know what a Funko pop looks like this is one of Jimi
(12:45):
Hendrix.
Nice.
Don't worry, the recording quality is actually better than what you see here while westream.
So if people will be able to tell a little bit more.
Now, the name or fierce, gosh, you could we break that down for days.
But I just I love Victor von doom.
And then there's MF doom.
(13:08):
So I just want to talk about or fierce because all the other dooms been done.
What is or fierce?
you the origin of Orpheus is actually wild.
think it's one of the few moments in my life, a couple of the moments I have experiencedin my life that made me say like, I'm in the right place in the right time.
Back in the day, I was in another band called Tides.
(13:29):
And within this band, I was a drummer.
But I remember I suggested the idea to the other band members saying, hey, I think it'd becool if we use other names and not our own real names.
I think it'd be cool to do something.
And I suggested maybe Greek names, Latin names, whatever it may be.
So it was crazy.
We all, it was three of us and we three sat down in front of a computer and I told them,search up a list of Greek mythology names from A through Z and scroll through it and I'll
(14:00):
tell you when to stop.
And I closed my eyes and my friend was like, all right, go for it.
And I closed my eyes and he kept scrolling, scrolling and scrolling.
And I said, stop and it landed in Orpheus.
And I remember I was like, whoa, I like that name.
What does it mean?
And then surprisingly it meant a God of music.
And I was like, whoa, out of all the names I could have chosen, it was that one.
(14:22):
yeah.
He's a musician.
He's in the Sandman comics.
He's the son of dream to endless.
He's his son of a God.
Technically is it a divine being?
God doesn't even do it justice, but he has a son and is during the Greek time.
So they like meld it together.
(14:43):
The orpheus of our Greek history is actually the son of this being.
And he's he's like this
divine musician.
He could create music that even the gods love, that even the like poutiest of gods whodon't like music and art love his music.
(15:03):
Yeah, and I love his story.
It's actually quite magical, that story, because when it comes to like, I'm not sayinglike the music I produced, but more like his love life.
His love life is also.
don't want to spoil it.
I know what happens to him in the comics, but what happens to him in history?
(15:26):
Greek mythology supposedly Orpheus was with Eurydice I don't know how to say it properlyso I'm missing it on my bad but that was his his girl his baby mama not he would he that
they'd have kids but that was his girl right and well I don't know actually I have tocheck if they had kids or not but anyways at some point she passes away or something
(15:50):
happens to her of illness and she passes away and she goes to
to Haiti like to hell basically the underworld yeah and so Orpheus is like I'm gonna goget my girl back like I need her in my life that's my day one so he goes yeah have we all
yeah that's a whole other story so we go in uh Orpheus goes into like uh the deep dungeonsof hell in the underworld and he's up with Hades and he's like her spirit and soul is like
(16:22):
swirling in this like pocket of
Right.
that are forever suffering and Hades is like hey bro I'm gonna do a deal with you you getout of hell out of underworld but don't look back but she will be there trust me she's
gonna be there when you get out just don't look back yet like trust me and or
(16:46):
and Gomorrah.
Yeah, and then Orpheus is like, all right, bro, got you.
Like, don't worry about it.
But Orpheus deep inside is like, nah, like I don't trust Hades.
Like, what if he's like fucking with me?
What if he's just trying to do?
I think they did like a deal or something.
Or the deal.
Actually, they didn't do a deal.
The deal was that if he turns around to see if Yuri Bae is there, then she goes back intointernal damnation.
(17:11):
Yeah.
And yeah.
But Orpheus climbs the depths of hell under world whatever it is and gets out.
And the last second, as soon as he's like, I'm out of here and he's walking out, he'slike, I don't trust Hades.
Like this motherfucker is like gonna fuck me up.
Like he's gonna like backstab me in the back end.
My girl's not gonna be there.
(17:31):
So last second, he like turns around.
She's there and then she's like, boom, like a vacuum gets sucked back into the other worldforever.
Yeah, and that's the story of Orpheus.
That's see, that's why you got to be careful with your deals with divine beings.
But I also, I like that story because of what it's, you know, all those stories havemorals, but that's a pretty good one.
(17:54):
That's still vague enough to make you think like, who, what does it mean?
Cause it has layers.
If you don't know.
I was gonna tell everyone at home that Hades is the god of the underworld.
I think he's Zeus is the god of the gods his brother.
So he I don't know why he got stuck with hell but you're gonna be a god and gosh I don'tknow if I would take hell over not being a god.
(18:22):
you think your meaning of that story is?
Like, mean, obviously, like, don't look back, like move forward.
Don't like all that.
I get that.
But the more deeper complex.
Yeah.
The more deeper complex level of it.
If you had to philosophize.
that I love that you framed it that way.
Justin says besides the literal don't look back because that is quite surface.
(18:45):
You it's about grief and you could go ahead and move on from it and work on moving on fromit in different ways.
you can't trust the process and you look back then you don't move on.
But then to me, it means more that
a person needs patience for a reason at times.
And when you break that patience, it can sometimes spoil what you've been working on andwaiting for.
(19:11):
It is not always this arbitrary waiting.
I think that's what people as humans forget that things don't take time just becausethings take time for a reason.
And even
each other take time for a reason.
If you think one person is slower than another, there's a reason for that.
(19:31):
So to me, it stands for the need for patience.
And if you just would have had a little bit more patience, he made it pretty far.
They would have made it together.
But the patients, the patients spoiled the lack of patience spoiled everything.
I like that.
That's a beautiful way of how I've encapsulated in that whole story.
Cause I didn't think about it like that.
(19:53):
So now that you've put it in that it's kind of like, shit, I changed my whole mindset ofit.
let's not go off on too much of a tangent, but I guess I'm I have that top of mind becauseI've I'm reading a lot of different literature and a lot of different stories right now of
different types of genres, but recently came across Chernobyl and Chernobyl's the disasterin Ukraine that was a nuclear accident.
(20:18):
Long story short, it was all due to like patience, human error and lie.
Yeah, it wouldn't have happened if the guy in charge at night had patience, wasn't lyingto himself.
And like it was kind to the staff and what was going on.
(20:39):
And it wasn't just trying to appease upper management, but all of that cascaded into anuclear disaster.
became it became Hades underworld that sucks that's wild
One man's Chernobyl's another man's...
Your DC is getting snatched away.
true it's messed up but it's true though that's what but but as you were saying yeah Ilove that that's a beautiful way of encapsulating that though appreciate you for answering
(21:06):
that
stories are important.
There's two parts of your process that I think everyone wants to hear about, learn aboutis one is a storytelling side.
So like, where do these like, where literally the words come from?
But then there's also speaking of patience, the process you put into making the music,which is different.
(21:29):
So you said you you're basically produced this album yourself.
Yeah, all the music that you hear, a hundred, let's say like 95 % of it.
I have gotten help with friends with one song called Red Cherry that I recorded at WonkyPower by my two friends, Hess, which is his artist name, Search Among.
(21:52):
I think the E has an accent on it.
He does like pop music.
And my friend,
Memo slash Guillermo Cardo say who has an album called Labia Labia.
Those two guys helped me out and I wanted to shout them out because they have helped me alot in regards to learning, making a lot better.
And shout out to Luis Parker, Luis Cantluz, which is my homie, who we did a song on thealbum actually called Vampire in his studio.
(22:18):
So there's two songs in that album.
that I did outside of my own doing that I actually did it in a more of a professionalenvironment.
The rest of the songs I did them indie, I did them DIY, literally using this microphonethat I'm using right now and the audio and the audio interface I am using right now to
(22:39):
record this interview.
Just one microphone can take you a long way people, so don't
think that there's this limitation of like, I don't have this.
There's literally some songs that I recorded in that album when I had no clue what I wasdoing mixing and sound wise I was just going crazy with sounds left and right.
(23:00):
But now that I gained so much experience and especially this last year and this time frameof like from January to now I've exceeded my own expectations of mixing
like songs and tracks like that, that I've gone back to archives and kind of searched thegold mines and found some treasure of old songs.
(23:21):
And I found the original mix of the first song I ever released as Orpheus Von Doom.
And I remixed it and remastered it literally yesterday.
And I was like, yeah, I'm definitely putting this as a bonus track on my vinyl.
And so it's like, it's just this, there's a different part to it.
To me personally, I've always liked recording DIY, especially as opposed to studio.
(23:47):
Like this last week, for example, I got invited to this studio called Lucky Run Studios.
Or I think Peso Puma even recorded there funny enough.
And so I was...
uh
everybody can afford a studio.
That's why I'm asking about it.
to well that's what I was gonna get to is that I Like I liked it I love going to likeprofessional studios because the emotion is exciting.
(24:11):
It's amazing or whatever But in regards to forming songs crafting them and just having abetter feel of them I record way better at my own home just with like an audio interface
one microphone or straight
to straight into the audio interface using all this stuff and just like having fun withthe mixing process of how to make it sound like real, how to make it sound better, how to
(24:37):
make it sound professional.
And I have so much more fun doing that because you don't have this pressure on you oflike, hey, you have two hours to record whatever you want.
You have to have a product by you have to have a product by the end of it.
And sometimes that limitation helps you out because diamonds become diamonds underpressure, but sometimes walking through a nice, flowing river is better than to like force
(25:03):
yourself in this like crazy, unharmonious level of like stress.
But maybe that's the difference because not everybody does the process you've done.
I think that a lot of people can pick up an instrument.
That doesn't mean they're going to record an album, let alone mix it themselves.
So you're telling me that you're able to go ahead and learn how to do those parts that arehanded off usually yourself just by sitting there and doing it like like like.
(25:33):
and right.
I'm gonna try it myself and then you just like open it up and you start working on it andtrying it.
That's that's that is literally exactly how I did it.
I remember I had this friend who back in the day I would go to his house just to recordstuff.
And then it got to a point where I'm like, what am I doing?
Like I'm like wasting time, like going over there.
I'm pretty sure this motherfucker doesn't want me here all the time.
(25:56):
So I'm kind of like I don't learn by myself.
And I remember like the first time I ever tried out was this like shitty mixer that Ifound in like some.
old garage that in the house I lived in in Austin when I lived over there by myself.
And that was like another thing that came out of luck that kind of just starts a line.
But I found this mixer and I'm not going to lie.
(26:17):
It was in mind.
I kind of robbed it from the I had roommates and I kind of robbed it when I moved out.
So my apologies.
But we're using it.
So long story short, I remember I remember I
tried it out and I mixed my own stuff and by mixing I like I don't know why this is theaudio but I like quotations mixing it was literally like doing it on my phone recording
(26:44):
some stuff on my phone then putting it on like files on this like DAW which is like forthe people that don't know it's like a I guess like the system like the app where you mix
stuff
Yeah.
Such as for example like garage band logic pro tools stuff like that, but
explanation.
I've been in a studio where, mean, it's just a computer and the soundboard set up giant,but you could sit there and you could create a whole song without having the individual
(27:13):
instruments.
And I don't think that's what people at home realize who are musicians and why it's such abig deal that you would do so much of the steps in making your own album.
Because you could sit in a studio and be like click, click, click, click.
I remember that explosion of acknowledging, wow, I can make so much music just like withone free app, which by the way, I use GarageBand.
(27:41):
I start on GarageBand and my phone and literally just like whatever I had, which at thetime was like this like $12 keyboard that I got at thrift shop that my friend like gave to
me.
His name is Dominic Wagner.
Actually, the person who sold me my first guitar, we became good friends after he sold me
Hit my first guitar and actually one day he came with a keyboard that was he's like, yeah,found for like $12 I want you to learn keyboard.
(28:06):
I think it's really good for you.
And then literally I had like yeah, I He's like, yeah, he was like take this like you'regonna use it in the future But this was years before I even like recorded my own music and
I was playing guitar a lot and had one guitar I had one guitar one amp The
fucking keyboard and one microphone.
(28:28):
That's it.
so from starting playing music?
How long did it take you to eventually record a song?
I started music performing like instrumentation like actually like work on instrument 2014when I was 14 and I did not start recording till 2019 2020 when COVID happened.
(28:49):
remember this is the crazy part.
I had no equipment.
had this.
Yeah, it was like five, six years and I remember COVID so much because
It's when I had this band called Three Eyes before COVID happened, who we were having agood start getting to be known traveling.
Yeah.
(29:09):
And so it was great as fuck.
And but it got to a point when COVID happened.
We all split up because there was no way of, you know, doing everything we want to becauseCOVID we were in lockdown.
And so that when I came up with the idea of I still want to create music, but like
I used to think like, I have to go to a studio.
I have people record me and this and that.
(29:31):
And then I got this idea of like, I'm just start recording my own stuff.
And then I started doing it and then Orpheus came out of that.
And that's when I started recording all this like random stuff that like I was just likehaving fun with.
Honestly, if I'm being honest with you, like the best part of that was having fun.
And I always tell people who
are just starting out or who have this like limitation on themselves.
(29:53):
It's like, no, but I have to be a professional studio to be like number one or whatever.
And I'm like, dude, like I literally was recording shit on my phone, like the shittiestquality, but make it as the song is like, like a good song.
Like people will like it regardless.
And, and that's the difference.
So you can have the best mix of a song and make it sound perfect.
(30:15):
but if it's a shitty song, like it's just not gonna hit, you know?
If it's a good song, it has shitty quality, it's gonna hit, you know what I mean?
where do your words come from then?
What do mean?
Yeah, when your lyrics for your music, if you haven't or if his music out there, it's thisgreat mix of indie fusion inspired by rock of all eras.
(30:42):
So when, when, when you, when you write the lyrics, right alongside your, your music forthat, where does it come from?
I it comes from a strong, actually I always say this because I've been asked this before,but I think the beautiful part about it is that I know I feel the emotions of what I'm
writing at the time, but I don't understand the complexity of what I'm talking about tilllike months later, like a year or two later.
(31:08):
Like it's happened to me where I write lyrics.
Then I'm like, this is sick like it's cool and I feel the emotion because I'm either goingthrough something or I experienced something or I'm feeling whatever whether it may be
euphoria happiness or it's same shit, but euphoria happiness sadness gloom, whatever it beright or anger or even confusion or Distraction or whatever, know, whatever this this
(31:29):
distress I write down the lyrics and a lot of my lyrics are heavily inspired by JimHendrix
or like artists like Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, MF Doom, like shit like that because it'sjust this flow of words that come out of me and it's happened to me when I write them
(31:51):
down.
I know I feel the emotion of the words I'm writing down, but I probably don't know exactlywhat I'm saying.
But I have an idea of it.
And then...
month or two later after the song releases or like a year afterwards if I really listen toa song I'm like, that's what I was talking about and it's weird it's the weirdest feeling
ever like Comprehending your own music like a year later and you're like, that makes totalsense Especially if you go through another experience and then you hear your song you're
(32:19):
like, that's what I meant when I was saying it's a weird experience It's kind of surreal
like premeditated jazz sounds like it's because you still have to capture the words andthen you still go perform what you wrote down a lot of the times you can change you can
change it up.
But I feel like I've seen your song you have I've seen many songs and a lot of them tellstories, right?
(32:42):
They've all got like, plenty full lyrics.
of, I remember I was, my God, this is crazy.
I was talking to this girl in college, her name was Valentine.
And I remember she was, yeah.
And she was, yeah.
I remember she told me this time, cause she liked music.
And I remember like, that's how I, whatever, the first thing she ever told me, she hit meup and she was like, hey, you do music?
(33:05):
And I was like, yeah.
And so,
I remember like weeks after we started like going places and heading out and hanging outor whatever.
remember I remember she was like, you know, your songs are very uplifting.
And I'm like, what do you mean?
And she was your lyrics are very like some some songs are very like you got this or you'revery vulnerable with your lyrics.
(33:33):
And I didn't I didn't notice it like I didn't realize I didn't pay attention to it asmuch.
But I will say that she's a big fan of Radiohead and I feel like Radiohead is good at inbeing this like sonic emotion like without you even knowing it, especially with like sound
and like stuff.
So she had a better, I guess, maturity in comprehending lyrics than I did myself,comprehending my own lyrics.
(33:55):
And I was just like,
she's not just a like yeah it was like she that's not just a genre that's a genre of woman
Yeah, she I will say this, though, she.
Analyzed the fuck out of me with those lyrics, and she did pretty well spot on with that.
(34:16):
And I was like, well, I kind of crazy.
It kind of caught me off guard because she was honestly, I kind of hate this becausethings didn't work out with her.
But I hate that.
It didn't work out because I wanted to produce an album with her because she was so goodwith like ideas.
Yeah, because it caught me off guard.
(34:36):
Yeah, it was, but it was like it was she was so fucking good at like giving details and Iremember I would like play like music around her and she would come to the house and we
would like jam out, just make music and stuff like just for the fun of it.
was your muse?
(34:57):
Actually, maybe, I don't know.
At the time, there is a song out there that I made that is heavily inspired by her.
I remember she would come over and she would give me these random ideas that were like,perfect.
Like she put me, I'm not even gonna lie, she put me on like to a whole other level ofartistry.
(35:18):
It didn't work out, but she...
Her effect on me and whatever happened between us she put me on a whole level of artistrythat has super come like I don't even know how you say it super seed my own expectations
of what I could produce in regards to who she showed me and how she read me and how shesaid like you should do this or this would be fun and I think that's when I introduced
(35:39):
more like electronic elements into my music such as like synthesizers keyboards a lot more
instead of just guitar, bass, and drums.
I think she changed my whole fucking level of like artistry.
That's a good reason why artists and creatives should be living outside of themselves indifferent ways.
(35:59):
Yeah.
You could always have posted your music and your art, your illustration work to theinternet.
But if you never go on a date or go hang out outside, right, you lose you you're missingout on stuff.
Oh yeah, 100%.
I agree with you.
I feel like the reason I have become who I am as an artist, even the album 1986, there'ssome, there's a lot of like, I wouldn't say break up songs, but a lot of songs about key
(36:27):
moments in my life and transitions of like, wow, like this is how I felt.
Like I have this song called Dead Weight.
Yeah, I guess, guess.
Yeah, I'm literally, I'm Tyler Swift, I guess, but yeah.
my gosh, I made so many faces already.
That face I made there on that Tyler Swift is like, Whoa.
(36:49):
I will say there's this one song that is like I did not hide at all.
Like again, talking about being vulnerable with my lyrics, there's this one song calledDead Weight.
There's a second song of that album and the first song is called 1986.
It opens up with the opener, the title of the song, and then it goes straight into hell.
Like I literally went into like the underworld of Hades.
(37:12):
Cause I'm like, fuck this person.
Like this person like fucked me over.
I don't say it specifically like that, but it is very like, yeah, you could tell I wasgoing through.
And then the other songs are like more philosophical in my lyrics and like this and that.
But it's funny cause there's like, I feel like in the, in the whole album, there's a goodlevel balance of direct like lyrical like, yeah, we know what he's talking about.
(37:39):
Hitting with this like
acid trip of a dream of like poetry, but there's also this like acid dream of poetrythroughout the lyrics.
Oh, you're like froze there for a second, but you're back.
No, it was was literally half a second.
We didn't miss anything you said.
It was perfect timing.
I am glad that you get it out there like that because I think that's what people aremissing.
(38:06):
The creativity is messy.
And it's okay.
I was looking at carpentry lately.
And a lot of people don't realize that
the beneath the veneer beneath the like whatever the framing is of what's carpenter carpetbuilt like let's say a mantle piece.
(38:27):
Yeah, it's it's often not as pretty as that outside.
And it had like chunks of wood like stuck together that just get the job done.
And then outside is beautiful.
And I feel like our good artists like that.
our own bodies.
I mean, even if you take it to an anatomy and physical side, it's like you cut upsomebody, you don't want to see those groins all over the place.
(38:50):
You're kind of fucking going to freak out.
But then if you put it under this like long sheet of skin and this like beautiful fuckingstructure of a person, you're like, it's not that bad.
But once you see those guts flying and cutting open, you're like, you know what I mean?
I do.
I think people need not be scared of the guts.
Eventually, it's actually, it's it's our nature.
(39:13):
So I'm not like talking down on anybody who's afraid of guts.
Figuratively speaking, I just, I just I'm a fan of behind the scenes.
I like to know how things are made.
And I want to, I want to tell people how things are made if they're interested.
And yeah, sometimes it's messy.
I think I read somewhere one of my favorite quotes when it comes to artists is I think anartist likes more explaining the process of how something was made instead of the actual
(39:44):
meaning of like a song.
At least for me, like the meaning of a song is like, it's cool, whatever.
But I can like explain it to you real quickly.
Whereas the process of it is what like makes my eyes like go wide open and have excitementand my like
blood starts to flow because I'm like, like, let me tell you, like, how I did this.
Like, such as example, when you asked me earlier, like, how did you start and all thatstuff?
(40:06):
It's like, if you like, tell me like individual songs in the future, like of that album,we have another interview.
I would love to talk about like individual stuff.
I will say I had this one girlfriend who I will not say her name, but there's onegirlfriend who would ask me like, because she thought it was cool.
Like when like listening to the process and why
(40:28):
like hidden elements like most of the time when you hear songs.
Oh, this is another tip for like people who really love music and are music enthusiasts orwant to create atmosphere in a song.
You'd be surprised how many hidden sounds are within in a song.
Like even if they're subtle, like for example, you put a Gorillaz album, Damon Albarn, whois the great Gorillaz.
(40:52):
Well, one of them.
The other is the drawer Jamie Hewlett.
But music wise, Damon Albarn.
If you listen to Gorilla's songs, the amount of layers that are those fucking songs amazeme to this day.
Like you might think like, it's a simple like bassline or a simple key or whatever, but hehas like a plethora of shit in the background playing.
(41:13):
And that's something that I really try to work on as of, I mean not as a lay, but I'vealways tried to do that in my music and implement that.
And that's why music and songs...
are so beautiful when they're fully cracked.
Because they're art pieces, honestly.
To me, songs are art pieces, especially like the mixing process, the producing process,the recording process, the ideology behind it.
(41:34):
yeah.
And it's beautiful.
And I was going to say that...
Sorry, my bad.
didn't mean to interrupt.
Oh, my bad.
I was just going to say that the beauty behind it all is like as you are creating thismastercraft of an art piece that eventually becomes yours and you solidify it like you
(41:57):
said earlier, you put it on top of this divine like structure or this divine like
aesthetic, whatever it may be, like the skin of it all, the hair, the blushes, eyebrows,the luscious eyes, whatever you may want to personify it as.
It becomes this like beautiful artistic craft that nobody like has ever thought about itbefore or think about it after because you made it in that time.
(42:26):
And I think that's why like the process of it is so beautiful, because it really goes toshow you like that fucking cliche line like
Oh, like, don't just think about the destination.
It's all about the journey.
Like, growing up, you're like, yeah, fuck that, right?
But then you think about it and then you're, you're a certain age, you're hit fucking 40and you're like, oh, I kind of should have not want to be an adult.
(42:48):
I should have enjoyed this process of being a kid and all that shit.
So I feel like,
people I guess aren't called to it.
When we were growing up, we learned of vocation.
And I went to a Catholic school.
And so the vocation was like, you could be called to become a priest.
So that's why we they use that word.
But I always took that off from that point on to be like what you're meant to do in life,like truly.
(43:12):
Now, it might be called a career.
But I think that's
a capitalistic way to look at it.
Nothing wrong with that.
But this the framing is a little too all about the money.
But what about the people who do the things for the process and for the love of the thingand the craft and the passion and
I think you brought this thing earlier that stood out to me, which was, you said that youas an artist should live outside of your art.
(43:41):
And I think the reason I bring that up is because that process that's still a fuckingprocess, regardless if you want to agree with it or not, that process of it, of it just
experiences bring you this whole glory.
of like ideas and shit that is so like, I don't know, so human.
(44:03):
And I feel we forget to be human because we kind of undermine that pain is this greatdrive in life.
And if we allow it to not be this drive, it brings us down to worst version of ourselves,which sometimes happens without even thinking.
(44:23):
But I feel the process of living life outside of your own heart.
Hematical because I don't know.
I feel like when you do something like for example when I started off and I just went forit I had no idea what I was doing.
Like I legit had no fucking clue but eventually like it took me six years to get to whereI am now regarding mixing and producing knowing what I know but I'm so happy to have
(44:50):
exhibit those mistakes that I did early on even if it sounded shitty or whatever like themixes and all that stuff.
because it brought me to where I am now in the recognition.
So I feel like I don't just live your life in it.
You fuck up, you fuck up.
You go on a date, you fuck up, you fuck up.
If something happens, you know, like just live it.
Just go through it.
You'll want it eventually.
(45:11):
I agree.
I just a big emphasis.
I want everyone to take away is there's the commitment to the craft, whatever it is thatyou're doing.
And then there's living and experience in life that just fuels the craft.
And you've been doing this for the great way to track that for about 11 to 12 years from,you know, it took you five to six years to record your first song he told us and
(45:38):
you just told us it's been a good five to six years that you've been working since thatpoint.
Well, people don't realize that it's 10,000 working hours, or 10 years that makes anexpert, which is why you're here today because you're an expert in music, actually.
And people they don't how do I become an expert in anything?
(46:02):
I feel like just don't I feel like a lot of people because I'll give you an example.
So I got invited to run studios, which is what I was talking about.
Where Pessoal Boomba played.
Yeah, exactly.
My boy Pessoal.
But.
just as a real quick there's this gas station I go to at the corner of Bissonette andHillcroft and they sell all kinds of shots keys and random ass stuff posters and there's
(46:29):
this everlasting poster of peso pluma hanging on one of the walls and it just won't selland it stays there.
think you should buy that.
You should buy that.
Just have a random...
You know, you should put on the wall, should put on the ceiling so when you go to sleepit's just like right there staring at you at night.
(46:51):
But uh...
hits, if this episode hits a certain amount of people in 24 hours and we drop it out bythe Pesso Pluma poster and I'll put it back here for every episode that comes after this
one.
What will be a good number for you?
Five.
If this hits 20 streams.
(47:14):
No, let's do a little bit like, let's 50.
Let's just be a little bit.
Let's be more optimistic.
Let's do 50 minimum.
You'll get the sublima.
numbers from the first couple episodes and that sounds like a good bit.
Okay, 50 streams, you get a Bessel Bluma and you hang it up on top.
(47:34):
I don't know, maybe I want it.
Yeah, maybe you want me to just give you an excuse to just be like, justify it.
baking in like, huh, maybe I should just get that.
Maybe I should just get out, yeah, that's so funny.
so you are a bilingual artist.
I am a violin artist.
What do you write music in?
(47:56):
I guess you probably don't.
It's probably back and forth, right?
When you play and you're like, creating and singing Do you ever do it in Spanish?
I've never performed or I've never like sung in Spanish.
I have sometimes it depends.
It's a tricky question.
But let me say something real quick before I forget.
So when I went to Lucky World Studios, they introduced me to the reason I was therebecause I got invited because they wanted me to perform so because they have classes
(48:28):
there.
But they wanted the students to practice on me.
and record me as they're doing a live session with a huge artist.
So it was really cool seeing like 20 students figuring shit out.
But I can't like the cool thing is that like I have another experience because I'm friendswith a lot of like people who do production and stuff who do all this stuff and I have an
(48:52):
idea of how works being in the studio and all that stuff, but they seem super nervous andsuper shy.
And I was trying to be like, hey, like you're good, like take it easy.
So anyway, the reason I was saying all that is just like, don't, don't put yourlimitations like, oh, I don't know this or that or whatever.
Like you can always learn and it's fine.
Not everybody knows their shit.
Like there were some professionals that probably like didn't know a hundred percent andprobably learned something that day or they, it's okay to ask questions.
(49:18):
But anyway, you were talking about before that, what was it again?
Cause I don't want to forget it cause I want to answer it.
Or you're going to tell me.
It was about whether you had my gosh just sang in Spanish before.
That's what we were talking about.
So we got on to
Yeah, okay, okay, but what are we gonna say?
I was gonna ask a totally different question again, which I will, I'll go ahead andcontinue because I was, it was coming off of the studio talk and you being in the studio,
(49:46):
just working with students and that's awesome.
Thank you for doing that work with them.
Everyone who is an expert should be like working with students somewhere.
If you aren't, then.
They teach you the most magnificent lessons.
Wow, that's great.
I love that sound bite.
lie.
I've learned so many things from like people who...
(50:08):
That's why I swear to you, one of my favorite things is to work with people who have neverworked like on anything professional before or anything like who are just new because
their minds are so fresh.
They have no idea and they're just like, oh, what if we try this?
And you're like, yeah, fuck it.
Let's try it.
And it sounds amazing.
that I bring them in in the focus group, but everyone's got their process.
(50:30):
No, I new ideas are important.
That's why I think a back ended benefit of helping the younger people and volunteering isthat you stay, you keep your finger on the pulse, you know what's going on.
creatives need that.
And honestly, it's just good for humanity to to
be connected and to learn what other people are up to and thinking and how they'refeeling.
(50:52):
So.
I agree with you 100%.
uh
you do I, I'm glad I wanted to just end on this sort of note coming off of the studio.
And you getting to help those kids and them learning.
Do you think that there that there's a lot of fear about learning to do something and not
(51:17):
being the best at it or being laughed at.
Do think people still have that sort of fear?
much, so much fucking fear when it comes to that.
The amount of fear that comes from people not scaring, scared of not succeeding or scaredof not exceeding themselves is beyond-
explainable sometimes.
I mean that's just normal life, know, everybody experiences.
(51:38):
Yeah, there's yeah, I was gonna say that there's there's a very taboo area and gray areato signify like this one specific fear.
But if I had to truly captivate all of that in one capsule, yeah, it happens a lot.
And I try to remind people that it's fine to fuck up.
Like there's many times I fucked up wherever these songs like example, I know there was athing called mastering.
(52:01):
I don't know if you know what that is, or to the common audience, mastering a song is thefinal version of song where you expand the wavelengths basically and make it sound loud,
professional, and it sounds equal to all other songs in the album or in radio.
I didn't know that existed.
I thought you just mixed the song and released it.
(52:21):
And I didn't know that there was that extra step.
So my first album that I ever released back in like 2021,
or 2022, I literally like just made songs and released them and every song was likedifferent loud, loudnesses.
So it was like all over the place.
And I remember like people love the songs.
Thankfully, that's why I was trying to tell you earlier, like, I'm glad.
(52:44):
I'm so appreciative that at that time had this artistic like, I don't know, whatever, likejust I could do that.
I'm really proud of myself for that.
But in regards to like
a professional level, I completely fucked that up.
And I remember people would come up to me and they're like, yeah, your songs, but like,why are they all different levels?
(53:04):
And I'm like, what do mean?
And they're like, yeah, like you listen to it, like one song is like loud, this song issuper low, blah, blah, blah.
And I was like, they're like, did you master them?
And I was like, what's that?
It's like, you just gotta fucking do those mistakes.
And even if you fuck up.
For our listeners, that's the key point.
That's right there is no matter what you're going to do or create, you're going to getcriticism.
(53:28):
think 95, 90 up to 99 % of people would stop at the criticism and never go on.
But in this process, you literally listen to the criticism of all these people after youmade this album and you just did it.
You just learned it.
You're like, all right, I have something to learn here and you did it.
(53:50):
And now we have an album coming out.
funny process.
Yeah, and album is fucking mastered and they're all equal levels.
So I'm proud of that.
So I'm like, but that aside, I was going to say you're completely right.
Like we'll stop at criticism.
And I feel like it's OK to be told like, hey, I've been told like when I perform or bust,there's this one memory of me busing.
(54:14):
don't know people know what that is, but it's like like
playing in the street or whatever.
And I remember the owner of this antique shop I was performing in front of literally cameup to me and said, hey, you kind of suck.
He's actually I'm not going to lie to you.
really bad.
You should probably go home and practice more and then come back or or like you'll findsomewhere else where people will like you.
(54:37):
And I was like, damn, like it was such a fucking lie.
It hurt.
Like, obviously that hurt like hell.
But a part of me this.
place was like, fuck you.
Like, I know, like, I can produce something well, but a part of me was also humble and tobe like, you know what, like maybe I messed up.
Maybe I didn't have something that would catch the crowd.
So I went home and was like, all right, let me work on it.
(54:59):
And that's when I started creating songs that are more well structured and said, it's justlike this flowy damn.
Cause that's another thing, another lesson.
So back today when I would perform songs, they were very flowy.
They didn't have this like structure.
They didn't have this chorus like where it hits or this like thing that somebody likesings over and over.
(55:22):
It was just like words, words, words, words.
And I still do that a lot with some of my songs.
But when I learned like I have to have a hook or whatever, it probably was from that day.
you escalated from that sort of free form to the formula that we see.
But, but also you, learned formula and you built upon formula, which is more and morepractical.
(55:47):
And I think that's what people are missing is like, they don't understand that there is.
there is a practicality to a lot of this in you find the practicality and repetition ofmaking mistakes and just doing it and trying out new things.
Yeah, I get that a lot in advertising where it's like, well, how do know how to do that?
I was like, I just 10 years ago started playing with Facebook ads.
(56:11):
Yeah.
And I feel like that was the day like as harsh as those that comment was.
I'll never forget it.
I was fucking crazy when I heard it the first.
was like, damn, bro, like fuck.
And I said I didn't say nothing about just like, yeah, sure.
Like I'll be out.
But I remember like that that fuck you.
Obviously that fuck you comes to mind first because you're human.
(56:33):
You know, I'm like, man, fuck you.
Right.
But then, you know, you think about it.
You know what?
I could make something more.
Yeah.
you heard it.
And he was an asshole.
But you consider you.
But you considered it.
Yeah, that's, that's like the important thing.
You like you had this affliction and then you just went ahead and said, despite who itwas, let me just listen for any truth in it and move on.
(56:58):
Yeah, 100%.
I remember there's a few times where I was so fucking egotistical that I put my head firstbefore realizing like, maybe they got a point.
Like I remember one time I wouldn't record songs on a tempo.
Usually when you record a song in studio or professionally, it's on a tempo.
(57:19):
But I used to always see like back in the 60s, like people would perform live and theywere just like, we'll perform a song, just record it one take.
But
One day I remember I needed a friend of mine to record drums on one of his songs because Iwanted him to perform on it and he was like, God damn bro, like, why?
Like, did you not use a fucking BPM, like a tempo on this shit?
(57:41):
Like it's all over the place.
And I'm like, well, I just recorded it live.
Like, a feeling, the feel.
helps you get the timing like a metronome.
yeah.
Metronome.
Yeah, exactly.
I didn't use a metronome and he was like, damn, bro, like you didn't use that shit.
And I remember I was like, nah, bro, like it's all feeling emotions.
And he was like, fuck your emotions, bro.
(58:01):
Like you need to put a fucking tempo on that.
And I was like, you know what?
Maybe he's right.
And then I did it and it sounded way better on tempo.
So was like, OK, that's a whole other lesson of like putting my ego aside.
And that helped out.
So sometimes put your fucking ego aside.
Trust me, it helps you so much in the long
your homies might have a metronome on them.
You never know.
m
(58:22):
they might they honestly I mean he's a drummer so it made sense there why he yeah, yeah,but he was like But he helped me out like it's a hundred percent.
He was a percent right.
I will say that
that's our time for today.
as we go ahead and close out on this episode, and we're going to be coming back around,Justin will be back, especially after the album.
(58:46):
That would be great.
But where can we go ahead and find you right now on socials website, anything you got?
I said earlier, Greg says my real name, Justin, which I'm so fucking not used to anymore,to be honest.
But not in a bad way, it just makes me laugh because he's family and obviously I'm notgoing to be like, hey bro, me Orpheus, bro.
But a lot of people know me as Orpheus and my artist name is Orpheus Von Doom.
(59:11):
On all streaming platforms, the O has an accent.
So O-R-E-H-E-U-S space V-O-N space D-O-O-M and then on social medias, it's just OrpheusVon Doom official.
And then YouTube, I think it's that too.
Orpheus Von Doom official.
go ahead and when we link a URL on this episode, I'll go ahead and link your Spotify.
(59:35):
It looks so good.
I imagine when that new album comes out, they can listen to it there or buy it, get thevinyl, which is what I'll do.
yeah, you right now what I have it I released it early on Bandcamp.
I don't know when you're going to release this episode, but I released it early onBandcamp so I can get some support if you want to purchase it earlier and get it comes
(01:00:00):
with the bonus track too.
So you get the whole like they get on vinyl.
But the album comes out July 28 on my 25th birthday.
That's why I released it, which is fucking crazy.
We'll go we might release this episode that week.
It's actually probably gonna come out the week before.
But if you're listening to it in three weeks from now, then go ahead and pick up thatalbum next week.
(01:00:25):
And of course.
Yeah, that's exciting.
I'm so fucking excited for that.
thank you.
And I was going to say thank you for having me as always.
And I am proud of you for doing what you have been doing as of late.
So keep doing at it and you'll go places.
to keep going.
I got it.
I got it.
I got it, pa.
Honestly, it's funny.
It's pretty.
(01:00:45):
I had a lot of fun of this interview.
I thought it was good.
Like, I didn't know what to expect, but it's cool because I'll end it with this note realquick.
Greg and I, he is how many years older than me?
15.
There's no fucking way you're fucking 50 years old.
older than you, I'm 33.
Okay, so Greg is eight years older than me.
(01:01:06):
So since we were kids, we just had this cool bond that was pretty badass.
I was like a kid and I remember like playing in his house with all his friends.
I was like a fucking kid and he was just like a teenager just hanging out with his homiesand I'd like like Xbox and show all.
But I don't know this bond formed and I guess I see him like an older brother and I guesshe sees like a younger brother.
(01:01:28):
So that dynamic just played out.
And there was time where we would talk a lot of philosophical shit like just back in theday when I would travel to Antonio or go to San Antonio for you when I was 18 and stuff.
So I forget that every now and then because you know life gets so busy.
But it's cool to see that that dynamic still here and still flourishing and it's cool likeI think it's badass like so it's cool.
(01:01:51):
you, dude.
I love you.
Go find Orpheus Von Doom everywhere.
Follow on Instagram and look out for the album on July 28th.
Go ahead and support and go ahead and share this episode if you liked hearing this storyand about creativity.
And if you know somebody who would be perfect for telling their story and sharing, goahead and let me know.
(01:02:18):
Yeah 50 students minimum for Pets.
Hahaha!
And we're here today with a very special guest, family, yes, but somebody I've alwayswanted to go ahead and interview, Justin Serrano.
Hey, how you doing?
They're doing good.
They better be.
(00:20):
I want to thank you for coming on today and joining me and being in this first set ofguests for together.
I wanted to like really, he's probably like, what is he going to say or do?
If you, if you're just listening to the podcast, my face went like, it did this thing.
but I'm not paying attention to my face.
(00:40):
So it's going to do all sorts of things all episode long.
But we're here today to talk to Justin about his music career.
He's a musician who's been in bands.
He's been solo and he makes so much music.
I think that's what's really special about highlighting him as a creative and a musicianentrepreneur is that he does create music weekly.
(01:04):
He's like always recording and always writing music.
And that's what we're talking about today is that music process and the creativity behindit.
So again, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
For people that don't know, a lot of people know me as Orpheus.
I'm kind of shocked that you used my real name because I know many people that know me bythat name.
So when this is out there, it's going to be funny because people are going to be like,your name is Justin?
(01:28):
I'm like, yeah.
But yeah.
What was David Bowie's real name?
I have no idea, honestly.
I have no idea.
It was Murph.
No, but that sounded dull enough to be like, gosh.
Don't worry, Justin doesn't sound dull.
I appreciate that no but what I'll say is that my artist name is Orpheus Von Doom that'swhat people know me as that's where I do all my music that's how my stuff is out there s
(01:57):
but I am excited to be on this show so what is up
When was the last time you got to play a gig?
Is recently right?
Yeah, last time I played a gig was at 8th wonder they a friend of mine that worked theirname Anna She was like, hey, she hit it up.
She was like you want to perform here and I was like, yeah yeah, so I performed that thinglike two weeks ago, I
(02:21):
Congratulations.
That's Eighth Wonder Brewery in Houston.
And that's where you are based out of.
So you get gigs all over Houston.
Yeah, the next show is gonna be sick.
I got invited.
Well, there's this huge show that I'm super excited that's happening August 16 that'sgonna be in Houston You can go to my Instagram or or respond doom official Which is gonna
(02:44):
be inside a ring a boxing ring and the layer is cool So I'm excited for that show and alsogot invited to perform For I don't know many people know this show but killed Tony
Not for kill Tony, but for Timmy no breaks.
I don't know if you know who that is, but it's like this in session right now.
(03:05):
eh No, no, it's Timmy no breaks.
like it's like the new.
It's literally it's literally like the new.
What's that?
What's his name?
That guy who goes, hey, hey, from back in the day, I do dice clay.
He's like the new Andrew Dice Clay.
Yeah.
(03:25):
Oh, wow.
got invited next month and I got asked to perform with a band, but my jury couldn't makeit.
But I said, hey, I'm down to just like perform and do like funny sounds and all that.
And then I got invited to perform on television in Austin next month too.
So that's exciting.
Yeah.
Yeah.
a start there.
What is this Austin opportunity?
(03:47):
They hit me up.
I forgot them of the company We kind of been back and forth to the scheduling but theyinvite me to perform and it's a local Austin television thing So I'm excited to see how
that goes.
The only problem right now It's just figuring out scheduling for everybody because atfirst they were like, hey, I'll do it on This day and then somebody in my band couldn't do
(04:08):
it And then I was like, this day and then they couldn't do it.
I was like, so we're just trying to figure out the scheduling So see how that goes
But other than that, just lot of opportunity has come out as of recent and I am I probablyshouldn't say this, but I am performing a festival, a big festival later this year.
I'll just keep it at that.
(04:29):
Alright, hey, if it sells tickets and if you did not sign an NDA, then share away.
But you didn't hear that from me.
That's not legal advice.
But yeah, it's exciting.
That's what's basically been going on on my end.
And and actually the biggest announcement of all, July 28, 2025, I'm releasing my album,1986, that will be available on all streaming platforms and on vinyl records.
(04:55):
I'm so excited for that.
1986.
Yes, that there isn't I called it 1986 is because I don't know if you knew this, but I hada stir named Valeria that passed away way back when and she was born in the year 1986,
November 28.
So it's my way of remembering her and commemorating her memory.
(05:17):
I don't think many people know that it's a beautiful name though.
So it's a good year to go ahead and use.
Yeah, and I'm so excited to finally see your creation.
Actually, I just got the message today right before this that the album, the test press,the test print, sorry, got sent out and shipped.
(05:39):
So I'm excited to get it soon.
And it's just it's going to be so cool.
So how long did that take?
What is it?
What is this?
It was a tick.
This is ticking, taking all 20 something years to get to this point.
Or has it just been like the past six months working on an album and getting it here?
hundred percent honest with you this album literally and captures From the moment I was inhigh school in regards to recordings around well, I mean not high school but post high
(06:07):
school so like 2018 2019 songs that I have created from then that I brought out from thearchives and Remakes and remastered literally yesterday.
So the new test print is gonna be like
It has this bonus track on it.
uh Even like a week ago that I created a song or like two weeks ago and I submitted it tothis vinyl pressing and they're like, yeah, fuck it.
(06:32):
Let's put that song in there.
So it's cool.
So it's literally it's been a few years of work for this album.
When you say print, what is the print?
So a test print means a usually you can order a test print of your vinyl record before itreleases like wherever like wherever it's gonna release or it releases everywhere it's
international which is also exciting.
(06:53):
in Mexico can also get and or Europe and so that's super exciting.
But a test print is basically a test copy of the vinyl of what it looks like what itsounds like what people will see before you accept it.
And it sounds good and you like you say, right, cool, like here it is.
Give it to the world.
Like now it's time for everybody.
(07:15):
There's just a test print.
but it's gonna be vinyl.
Yeah, vinyl record, to me, I don't know if you, I mean, I know you know this because yourfamily and your dad knows this.
Like a lot of people know this, but I am a huge vinyl collector.
So to finally see my own music being, I don't know, interlaced into this fucking likeplastic circular device that fucking has, I don't know, has been the, the, guess.
(07:46):
The introduction of so much music for so many people for so many years to me is afascinating and amazing experience.
That's honestly one of the few times or if not the last time I've been so proud of myselfor I actually like pat myself in the back is when I created all the images because I
create all the art and everything and all the DIY stuff.
I mix and produce and master and the write and everything you see in this is all me, eventhe art, everything.
(08:14):
Wow, that's substantial.
Thank you.
So seeing that from ground zero to now is absolutely beautiful.
Now, I have a couple of questions about that.
How is that different from somebody who's, guess, in Los Angeles, or maybe a deeper?
I don't know.
Maybe Los Angeles is a good place to use.
But how is that process different from what we might find out of the factory that is LosAngeles and the Hollywood music scene, you know?
(08:45):
I think personally from my own experience I am shocked beyond shocked at the people whoknow me and my name because of how I've introduced myself and put my stuff out there is I
think you have to be really smart with it I think I went with the mask because I knew I'mgonna catch attention and at this point it's become an icon when I go out or the name
(09:07):
itself too when I say introduce myself they don't recognize my face
most of the time because I'm always wearing the mask.
But the second I say Orpheus or I say the mask or they see the mask like, my God Orpheus,like I think honestly, one of the weirdest spots I've been recognized with that because of
the mask has been on top of a mountain at like three in the morning in Austin after seeinglike this like cult appear out of nowhere as a whole other story we can get into later.
(09:37):
But I feel like
that you'd see that in Austin.
Yeah, and it was freaky experience.
But anyway, there is I bring that.
It's a great feeling.
Exactly.
That's the reason I was going to bring it up.
But I was going to the other reason I was bringing that up.
Not not just to brag, because I'm not doing that, but more of just you have to be smartwith how you put yourself as your business out there or your brand image, because once it
(10:03):
sticks, it really sticks in the people's heads and it's easier to just stand out ratherthan just like.
I don't know, get drained in the sound of everything else just because you're notexceeding this idea or image.
So I feel that's always important because if you look really closely, I always say thislike Iggy Pop, you think about Iggy Pop, you think about a man who gets shirtless.
(10:25):
You think of something.
When you think about Ziggy Stardust, you think about
ginger hair and two different colored eyes or like red hair or whatever and whole outfitswhen you think about Jimi Hendrix you think about the Fendi guitar there's always some
something that stands out with artists so I always feel like people make it too gimmickylike kiss but I still like it but but again some people can say like me with the mask be
(10:50):
too gimmicky but then again it stands out and I feel good with you know
Well, I have a Funko Park.
This is it's hard to say.
You'll see here in a second.
It's all right.
It's fucking me up.
I have a Funko pop of Iggy pop.
And so if you have a Funko pop made of you one day, then it doesn't matter.
(11:11):
Okay.
be I already know exactly what it'll look like.
It's going to be I have this like leather trench coat that I use on stage with the maskand like it looks like amazing.
I think that's one of my favorite outfits.
And I think it's I think I used it in one of my singles, I think.
But I'm not remember if I'm being honest.
But yeah.
Well, people will go find it on YouTube.
(11:32):
I want to just highlight that idea for a second that you could have a Funko pop made aboutyou.
And I think anyone listening, if you've never imagined yourself as a Funko pop, then youdefinitely should now pause it, do it now or go ahead and do it later if you don't know
what a Funko pop is.
(11:53):
But that would be really cool.
I feel like that's the next step.
Just keep booking gigs and making albums and we'll get there.
No, think I believe you'll make it there one day.
I wanted to say that my Iggy Pop is shirtless.
So you're right about the symbol mattering.
People bake that into the image they have in their head to the point where when you havethe toy made out of you, it's a part of it.
(12:20):
Yeah, and I'm super excited for when that day comes.
I've actually I've thought about this a lot and I hope it manifests from this interview,but I've thought about it a lot because you know, you can see you can't tell I don't know
if you can tell my screen but like everything around me is just like collectibles.
I don't know if you can tell but it's kind of how the images produce but there's like abunch of oh actually if you want to know what a Funko pop looks like this is one of Jimi
(12:45):
Hendrix.
Nice.
Don't worry, the recording quality is actually better than what you see here while westream.
So if people will be able to tell a little bit more.
Now, the name or fierce, gosh, you could we break that down for days.
But I just I love Victor von doom.
And then there's MF doom.
(13:08):
So I just want to talk about or fierce because all the other dooms been done.
What is or fierce?
you the origin of Orpheus is actually wild.
think it's one of the few moments in my life, a couple of the moments I have experiencedin my life that made me say like, I'm in the right place in the right time.
Back in the day, I was in another band called Tides.
(13:29):
And within this band, I was a drummer.
But I remember I suggested the idea to the other band members saying, hey, I think it'd becool if we use other names and not our own real names.
I think it'd be cool to do something.
And I suggested maybe Greek names, Latin names, whatever it may be.
So it was crazy.
We all, it was three of us and we three sat down in front of a computer and I told them,search up a list of Greek mythology names from A through Z and scroll through it and I'll
(14:00):
tell you when to stop.
And I closed my eyes and my friend was like, all right, go for it.
And I closed my eyes and he kept scrolling, scrolling and scrolling.
And I said, stop and it landed in Orpheus.
And I remember I was like, whoa, I like that name.
What does it mean?
And then surprisingly it meant a God of music.
And I was like, whoa, out of all the names I could have chosen, it was that one.
(14:22):
yeah.
He's a musician.
He's in the Sandman comics.
He's the son of dream to endless.
He's his son of a God.
Technically is it a divine being?
God doesn't even do it justice, but he has a son and is during the Greek time.
So they like meld it together.
(14:43):
The orpheus of our Greek history is actually the son of this being.
And he's he's like this
divine musician.
He could create music that even the gods love, that even the like poutiest of gods whodon't like music and art love his music.
(15:03):
Yeah, and I love his story.
It's actually quite magical, that story, because when it comes to like, I'm not sayinglike the music I produced, but more like his love life.
His love life is also.
don't want to spoil it.
I know what happens to him in the comics, but what happens to him in history?
(15:26):
Greek mythology supposedly Orpheus was with Eurydice I don't know how to say it properlyso I'm missing it on my bad but that was his his girl his baby mama not he would he that
they'd have kids but that was his girl right and well I don't know actually I have tocheck if they had kids or not but anyways at some point she passes away or something
(15:50):
happens to her of illness and she passes away and she goes to
to Haiti like to hell basically the underworld yeah and so Orpheus is like I'm gonna goget my girl back like I need her in my life that's my day one so he goes yeah have we all
yeah that's a whole other story so we go in uh Orpheus goes into like uh the deep dungeonsof hell in the underworld and he's up with Hades and he's like her spirit and soul is like
(16:22):
swirling in this like pocket of
Right.
that are forever suffering and Hades is like hey bro I'm gonna do a deal with you you getout of hell out of underworld but don't look back but she will be there trust me she's
gonna be there when you get out just don't look back yet like trust me and or
(16:46):
and Gomorrah.
Yeah, and then Orpheus is like, all right, bro, got you.
Like, don't worry about it.
But Orpheus deep inside is like, nah, like I don't trust Hades.
Like, what if he's like fucking with me?
What if he's just trying to do?
I think they did like a deal or something.
Or the deal.
Actually, they didn't do a deal.
The deal was that if he turns around to see if Yuri Bae is there, then she goes back intointernal damnation.
(17:11):
Yeah.
And yeah.
But Orpheus climbs the depths of hell under world whatever it is and gets out.
And the last second, as soon as he's like, I'm out of here and he's walking out, he'slike, I don't trust Hades.
Like this motherfucker is like gonna fuck me up.
Like he's gonna like backstab me in the back end.
My girl's not gonna be there.
(17:31):
So last second, he like turns around.
She's there and then she's like, boom, like a vacuum gets sucked back into the other worldforever.
Yeah, and that's the story of Orpheus.
That's see, that's why you got to be careful with your deals with divine beings.
But I also, I like that story because of what it's, you know, all those stories havemorals, but that's a pretty good one.
(17:54):
That's still vague enough to make you think like, who, what does it mean?
Cause it has layers.
If you don't know.
I was gonna tell everyone at home that Hades is the god of the underworld.
I think he's Zeus is the god of the gods his brother.
So he I don't know why he got stuck with hell but you're gonna be a god and gosh I don'tknow if I would take hell over not being a god.
(18:22):
you think your meaning of that story is?
Like, mean, obviously, like, don't look back, like move forward.
Don't like all that.
I get that.
But the more deeper complex.
Yeah.
The more deeper complex level of it.
If you had to philosophize.
that I love that you framed it that way.
Justin says besides the literal don't look back because that is quite surface.
(18:45):
You it's about grief and you could go ahead and move on from it and work on moving on fromit in different ways.
you can't trust the process and you look back then you don't move on.
But then to me, it means more that
a person needs patience for a reason at times.
And when you break that patience, it can sometimes spoil what you've been working on andwaiting for.
(19:11):
It is not always this arbitrary waiting.
I think that's what people as humans forget that things don't take time just becausethings take time for a reason.
And even
each other take time for a reason.
If you think one person is slower than another, there's a reason for that.
(19:31):
So to me, it stands for the need for patience.
And if you just would have had a little bit more patience, he made it pretty far.
They would have made it together.
But the patients, the patients spoiled the lack of patience spoiled everything.
I like that.
That's a beautiful way of how I've encapsulated in that whole story.
Cause I didn't think about it like that.
(19:53):
So now that you've put it in that it's kind of like, shit, I changed my whole mindset ofit.
let's not go off on too much of a tangent, but I guess I'm I have that top of mind becauseI've I'm reading a lot of different literature and a lot of different stories right now of
different types of genres, but recently came across Chernobyl and Chernobyl's the disasterin Ukraine that was a nuclear accident.
(20:18):
Long story short, it was all due to like patience, human error and lie.
Yeah, it wouldn't have happened if the guy in charge at night had patience, wasn't lyingto himself.
And like it was kind to the staff and what was going on.
(20:39):
And it wasn't just trying to appease upper management, but all of that cascaded into anuclear disaster.
became it became Hades underworld that sucks that's wild
One man's Chernobyl's another man's...
Your DC is getting snatched away.
true it's messed up but it's true though that's what but but as you were saying yeah Ilove that that's a beautiful way of encapsulating that though appreciate you for answering
(21:06):
that
stories are important.
There's two parts of your process that I think everyone wants to hear about, learn aboutis one is a storytelling side.
So like, where do these like, where literally the words come from?
But then there's also speaking of patience, the process you put into making the music,which is different.
(21:29):
So you said you you're basically produced this album yourself.
Yeah, all the music that you hear, a hundred, let's say like 95 % of it.
I have gotten help with friends with one song called Red Cherry that I recorded at WonkyPower by my two friends, Hess, which is his artist name, Search Among.
(21:52):
I think the E has an accent on it.
He does like pop music.
And my friend,
Memo slash Guillermo Cardo say who has an album called Labia Labia.
Those two guys helped me out and I wanted to shout them out because they have helped me alot in regards to learning, making a lot better.
And shout out to Luis Parker, Luis Cantluz, which is my homie, who we did a song on thealbum actually called Vampire in his studio.
(22:18):
So there's two songs in that album.
that I did outside of my own doing that I actually did it in a more of a professionalenvironment.
The rest of the songs I did them indie, I did them DIY, literally using this microphonethat I'm using right now and the audio and the audio interface I am using right now to
(22:39):
record this interview.
Just one microphone can take you a long way people, so don't
think that there's this limitation of like, I don't have this.
There's literally some songs that I recorded in that album when I had no clue what I wasdoing mixing and sound wise I was just going crazy with sounds left and right.
(23:00):
But now that I gained so much experience and especially this last year and this time frameof like from January to now I've exceeded my own expectations of mixing
like songs and tracks like that, that I've gone back to archives and kind of searched thegold mines and found some treasure of old songs.
(23:21):
And I found the original mix of the first song I ever released as Orpheus Von Doom.
And I remixed it and remastered it literally yesterday.
And I was like, yeah, I'm definitely putting this as a bonus track on my vinyl.
And so it's like, it's just this, there's a different part to it.
To me personally, I've always liked recording DIY, especially as opposed to studio.
(23:47):
Like this last week, for example, I got invited to this studio called Lucky Run Studios.
Or I think Peso Puma even recorded there funny enough.
And so I was...
uh
everybody can afford a studio.
That's why I'm asking about it.
to well that's what I was gonna get to is that I Like I liked it I love going to likeprofessional studios because the emotion is exciting.
(24:11):
It's amazing or whatever But in regards to forming songs crafting them and just having abetter feel of them I record way better at my own home just with like an audio interface
one microphone or straight
to straight into the audio interface using all this stuff and just like having fun withthe mixing process of how to make it sound like real, how to make it sound better, how to
(24:37):
make it sound professional.
And I have so much more fun doing that because you don't have this pressure on you oflike, hey, you have two hours to record whatever you want.
You have to have a product by you have to have a product by the end of it.
And sometimes that limitation helps you out because diamonds become diamonds underpressure, but sometimes walking through a nice, flowing river is better than to like force
(25:03):
yourself in this like crazy, unharmonious level of like stress.
But maybe that's the difference because not everybody does the process you've done.
I think that a lot of people can pick up an instrument.
That doesn't mean they're going to record an album, let alone mix it themselves.
So you're telling me that you're able to go ahead and learn how to do those parts that arehanded off usually yourself just by sitting there and doing it like like like.
(25:33):
and right.
I'm gonna try it myself and then you just like open it up and you start working on it andtrying it.
That's that's that is literally exactly how I did it.
I remember I had this friend who back in the day I would go to his house just to recordstuff.
And then it got to a point where I'm like, what am I doing?
Like I'm like wasting time, like going over there.
I'm pretty sure this motherfucker doesn't want me here all the time.
(25:56):
So I'm kind of like I don't learn by myself.
And I remember like the first time I ever tried out was this like shitty mixer that Ifound in like some.
old garage that in the house I lived in in Austin when I lived over there by myself.
And that was like another thing that came out of luck that kind of just starts a line.
But I found this mixer and I'm not going to lie.
(26:17):
It was in mind.
I kind of robbed it from the I had roommates and I kind of robbed it when I moved out.
So my apologies.
But we're using it.
So long story short, I remember I remember I
tried it out and I mixed my own stuff and by mixing I like I don't know why this is theaudio but I like quotations mixing it was literally like doing it on my phone recording
(26:44):
some stuff on my phone then putting it on like files on this like DAW which is like forthe people that don't know it's like a I guess like the system like the app where you mix
stuff
Yeah.
Such as for example like garage band logic pro tools stuff like that, but
explanation.
I've been in a studio where, mean, it's just a computer and the soundboard set up giant,but you could sit there and you could create a whole song without having the individual
(27:13):
instruments.
And I don't think that's what people at home realize who are musicians and why it's such abig deal that you would do so much of the steps in making your own album.
Because you could sit in a studio and be like click, click, click, click.
I remember that explosion of acknowledging, wow, I can make so much music just like withone free app, which by the way, I use GarageBand.
(27:41):
I start on GarageBand and my phone and literally just like whatever I had, which at thetime was like this like $12 keyboard that I got at thrift shop that my friend like gave to
me.
His name is Dominic Wagner.
Actually, the person who sold me my first guitar, we became good friends after he sold me
Hit my first guitar and actually one day he came with a keyboard that was he's like, yeah,found for like $12 I want you to learn keyboard.
(28:06):
I think it's really good for you.
And then literally I had like yeah, I He's like, yeah, he was like take this like you'regonna use it in the future But this was years before I even like recorded my own music and
I was playing guitar a lot and had one guitar I had one guitar one amp The
fucking keyboard and one microphone.
(28:28):
That's it.
so from starting playing music?
How long did it take you to eventually record a song?
I started music performing like instrumentation like actually like work on instrument 2014when I was 14 and I did not start recording till 2019 2020 when COVID happened.
(28:49):
remember this is the crazy part.
I had no equipment.
had this.
Yeah, it was like five, six years and I remember COVID so much because
It's when I had this band called Three Eyes before COVID happened, who we were having agood start getting to be known traveling.
Yeah.
(29:09):
And so it was great as fuck.
And but it got to a point when COVID happened.
We all split up because there was no way of, you know, doing everything we want to becauseCOVID we were in lockdown.
And so that when I came up with the idea of I still want to create music, but like
I used to think like, I have to go to a studio.
I have people record me and this and that.
(29:31):
And then I got this idea of like, I'm just start recording my own stuff.
And then I started doing it and then Orpheus came out of that.
And that's when I started recording all this like random stuff that like I was just likehaving fun with.
Honestly, if I'm being honest with you, like the best part of that was having fun.
And I always tell people who
are just starting out or who have this like limitation on themselves.
(29:53):
It's like, no, but I have to be a professional studio to be like number one or whatever.
And I'm like, dude, like I literally was recording shit on my phone, like the shittiestquality, but make it as the song is like, like a good song.
Like people will like it regardless.
And, and that's the difference.
So you can have the best mix of a song and make it sound perfect.
(30:15):
but if it's a shitty song, like it's just not gonna hit, you know?
If it's a good song, it has shitty quality, it's gonna hit, you know what I mean?
where do your words come from then?
What do mean?
Yeah, when your lyrics for your music, if you haven't or if his music out there, it's thisgreat mix of indie fusion inspired by rock of all eras.
(30:42):
So when, when, when you, when you write the lyrics, right alongside your, your music forthat, where does it come from?
I it comes from a strong, actually I always say this because I've been asked this before,but I think the beautiful part about it is that I know I feel the emotions of what I'm
writing at the time, but I don't understand the complexity of what I'm talking about tilllike months later, like a year or two later.
(31:08):
Like it's happened to me where I write lyrics.
Then I'm like, this is sick like it's cool and I feel the emotion because I'm either goingthrough something or I experienced something or I'm feeling whatever whether it may be
euphoria happiness or it's same shit, but euphoria happiness sadness gloom, whatever it beright or anger or even confusion or Distraction or whatever, know, whatever this this
(31:29):
distress I write down the lyrics and a lot of my lyrics are heavily inspired by JimHendrix
or like artists like Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, MF Doom, like shit like that because it'sjust this flow of words that come out of me and it's happened to me when I write them
(31:51):
down.
I know I feel the emotion of the words I'm writing down, but I probably don't know exactlywhat I'm saying.
But I have an idea of it.
And then...
month or two later after the song releases or like a year afterwards if I really listen toa song I'm like, that's what I was talking about and it's weird it's the weirdest feeling
ever like Comprehending your own music like a year later and you're like, that makes totalsense Especially if you go through another experience and then you hear your song you're
(32:19):
like, that's what I meant when I was saying it's a weird experience It's kind of surreal
like premeditated jazz sounds like it's because you still have to capture the words andthen you still go perform what you wrote down a lot of the times you can change you can
change it up.
But I feel like I've seen your song you have I've seen many songs and a lot of them tellstories, right?
(32:42):
They've all got like, plenty full lyrics.
of, I remember I was, my God, this is crazy.
I was talking to this girl in college, her name was Valentine.
And I remember she was, yeah.
And she was, yeah.
I remember she told me this time, cause she liked music.
And I remember like, that's how I, whatever, the first thing she ever told me, she hit meup and she was like, hey, you do music?
(33:05):
And I was like, yeah.
And so,
I remember like weeks after we started like going places and heading out and hanging outor whatever.
remember I remember she was like, you know, your songs are very uplifting.
And I'm like, what do you mean?
And she was your lyrics are very like some some songs are very like you got this or you'revery vulnerable with your lyrics.
(33:33):
And I didn't I didn't notice it like I didn't realize I didn't pay attention to it asmuch.
But I will say that she's a big fan of Radiohead and I feel like Radiohead is good at inbeing this like sonic emotion like without you even knowing it, especially with like sound
and like stuff.
So she had a better, I guess, maturity in comprehending lyrics than I did myself,comprehending my own lyrics.
(33:55):
And I was just like,
she's not just a like yeah it was like she that's not just a genre that's a genre of woman
Yeah, she I will say this, though, she.
Analyzed the fuck out of me with those lyrics, and she did pretty well spot on with that.
(34:16):
And I was like, well, I kind of crazy.
It kind of caught me off guard because she was honestly, I kind of hate this becausethings didn't work out with her.
But I hate that.
It didn't work out because I wanted to produce an album with her because she was so goodwith like ideas.
Yeah, because it caught me off guard.
(34:36):
Yeah, it was, but it was like it was she was so fucking good at like giving details and Iremember I would like play like music around her and she would come to the house and we
would like jam out, just make music and stuff like just for the fun of it.
was your muse?
(34:57):
Actually, maybe, I don't know.
At the time, there is a song out there that I made that is heavily inspired by her.
I remember she would come over and she would give me these random ideas that were like,perfect.
Like she put me, I'm not even gonna lie, she put me on like to a whole other level ofartistry.
(35:18):
It didn't work out, but she...
Her effect on me and whatever happened between us she put me on a whole level of artistrythat has super come like I don't even know how you say it super seed my own expectations
of what I could produce in regards to who she showed me and how she read me and how shesaid like you should do this or this would be fun and I think that's when I introduced
(35:39):
more like electronic elements into my music such as like synthesizers keyboards a lot more
instead of just guitar, bass, and drums.
I think she changed my whole fucking level of like artistry.
That's a good reason why artists and creatives should be living outside of themselves indifferent ways.
(35:59):
Yeah.
You could always have posted your music and your art, your illustration work to theinternet.
But if you never go on a date or go hang out outside, right, you lose you you're missingout on stuff.
Oh yeah, 100%.
I agree with you.
I feel like the reason I have become who I am as an artist, even the album 1986, there'ssome, there's a lot of like, I wouldn't say break up songs, but a lot of songs about key
(36:27):
moments in my life and transitions of like, wow, like this is how I felt.
Like I have this song called Dead Weight.
Yeah, I guess, guess.
Yeah, I'm literally, I'm Tyler Swift, I guess, but yeah.
my gosh, I made so many faces already.
That face I made there on that Tyler Swift is like, Whoa.
(36:49):
I will say there's this one song that is like I did not hide at all.
Like again, talking about being vulnerable with my lyrics, there's this one song calledDead Weight.
There's a second song of that album and the first song is called 1986.
It opens up with the opener, the title of the song, and then it goes straight into hell.
Like I literally went into like the underworld of Hades.
(37:12):
Cause I'm like, fuck this person.
Like this person like fucked me over.
I don't say it specifically like that, but it is very like, yeah, you could tell I wasgoing through.
And then the other songs are like more philosophical in my lyrics and like this and that.
But it's funny cause there's like, I feel like in the, in the whole album, there's a goodlevel balance of direct like lyrical like, yeah, we know what he's talking about.
(37:39):
Hitting with this like
acid trip of a dream of like poetry, but there's also this like acid dream of poetrythroughout the lyrics.
Oh, you're like froze there for a second, but you're back.
No, it was was literally half a second.
We didn't miss anything you said.
It was perfect timing.
I am glad that you get it out there like that because I think that's what people aremissing.
(38:06):
The creativity is messy.
And it's okay.
I was looking at carpentry lately.
And a lot of people don't realize that
the beneath the veneer beneath the like whatever the framing is of what's carpenter carpetbuilt like let's say a mantle piece.
(38:27):
Yeah, it's it's often not as pretty as that outside.
And it had like chunks of wood like stuck together that just get the job done.
And then outside is beautiful.
And I feel like our good artists like that.
our own bodies.
I mean, even if you take it to an anatomy and physical side, it's like you cut upsomebody, you don't want to see those groins all over the place.
(38:50):
You're kind of fucking going to freak out.
But then if you put it under this like long sheet of skin and this like beautiful fuckingstructure of a person, you're like, it's not that bad.
But once you see those guts flying and cutting open, you're like, you know what I mean?
I do.
I think people need not be scared of the guts.
Eventually, it's actually, it's it's our nature.
(39:13):
So I'm not like talking down on anybody who's afraid of guts.
Figuratively speaking, I just, I just I'm a fan of behind the scenes.
I like to know how things are made.
And I want to, I want to tell people how things are made if they're interested.
And yeah, sometimes it's messy.
I think I read somewhere one of my favorite quotes when it comes to artists is I think anartist likes more explaining the process of how something was made instead of the actual
(39:44):
meaning of like a song.
At least for me, like the meaning of a song is like, it's cool, whatever.
But I can like explain it to you real quickly.
Whereas the process of it is what like makes my eyes like go wide open and have excitementand my like
blood starts to flow because I'm like, like, let me tell you, like, how I did this.
Like, such as example, when you asked me earlier, like, how did you start and all thatstuff?
(40:06):
It's like, if you like, tell me like individual songs in the future, like of that album,we have another interview.
I would love to talk about like individual stuff.
I will say I had this one girlfriend who I will not say her name, but there's onegirlfriend who would ask me like, because she thought it was cool.
Like when like listening to the process and why
(40:28):
like hidden elements like most of the time when you hear songs.
Oh, this is another tip for like people who really love music and are music enthusiasts orwant to create atmosphere in a song.
You'd be surprised how many hidden sounds are within in a song.
Like even if they're subtle, like for example, you put a Gorillaz album, Damon Albarn, whois the great Gorillaz.
(40:52):
Well, one of them.
The other is the drawer Jamie Hewlett.
But music wise, Damon Albarn.
If you listen to Gorilla's songs, the amount of layers that are those fucking songs amazeme to this day.
Like you might think like, it's a simple like bassline or a simple key or whatever, but hehas like a plethora of shit in the background playing.
(41:13):
And that's something that I really try to work on as of, I mean not as a lay, but I'vealways tried to do that in my music and implement that.
And that's why music and songs...
are so beautiful when they're fully cracked.
Because they're art pieces, honestly.
To me, songs are art pieces, especially like the mixing process, the producing process,the recording process, the ideology behind it.
(41:34):
yeah.
And it's beautiful.
And I was going to say that...
Sorry, my bad.
didn't mean to interrupt.
Oh, my bad.
I was just going to say that the beauty behind it all is like as you are creating thismastercraft of an art piece that eventually becomes yours and you solidify it like you
(41:57):
said earlier, you put it on top of this divine like structure or this divine like
aesthetic, whatever it may be, like the skin of it all, the hair, the blushes, eyebrows,the luscious eyes, whatever you may want to personify it as.
It becomes this like beautiful artistic craft that nobody like has ever thought about itbefore or think about it after because you made it in that time.
(42:26):
And I think that's why like the process of it is so beautiful, because it really goes toshow you like that fucking cliche line like
Oh, like, don't just think about the destination.
It's all about the journey.
Like, growing up, you're like, yeah, fuck that, right?
But then you think about it and then you're, you're a certain age, you're hit fucking 40and you're like, oh, I kind of should have not want to be an adult.
(42:48):
I should have enjoyed this process of being a kid and all that shit.
So I feel like,
people I guess aren't called to it.
When we were growing up, we learned of vocation.
And I went to a Catholic school.
And so the vocation was like, you could be called to become a priest.
So that's why we they use that word.
But I always took that off from that point on to be like what you're meant to do in life,like truly.
(43:12):
Now, it might be called a career.
But I think that's
a capitalistic way to look at it.
Nothing wrong with that.
But this the framing is a little too all about the money.
But what about the people who do the things for the process and for the love of the thingand the craft and the passion and
I think you brought this thing earlier that stood out to me, which was, you said that youas an artist should live outside of your art.
(43:41):
And I think the reason I bring that up is because that process that's still a fuckingprocess, regardless if you want to agree with it or not, that process of it, of it just
experiences bring you this whole glory.
of like ideas and shit that is so like, I don't know, so human.
(44:03):
And I feel we forget to be human because we kind of undermine that pain is this greatdrive in life.
And if we allow it to not be this drive, it brings us down to worst version of ourselves,which sometimes happens without even thinking.
(44:23):
But I feel the process of living life outside of your own heart.
Hematical because I don't know.
I feel like when you do something like for example when I started off and I just went forit I had no idea what I was doing.
Like I legit had no fucking clue but eventually like it took me six years to get to whereI am now regarding mixing and producing knowing what I know but I'm so happy to have
(44:50):
exhibit those mistakes that I did early on even if it sounded shitty or whatever like themixes and all that stuff.
because it brought me to where I am now in the recognition.
So I feel like I don't just live your life in it.
You fuck up, you fuck up.
You go on a date, you fuck up, you fuck up.
If something happens, you know, like just live it.
Just go through it.
You'll want it eventually.
(45:11):
I agree.
I just a big emphasis.
I want everyone to take away is there's the commitment to the craft, whatever it is thatyou're doing.
And then there's living and experience in life that just fuels the craft.
And you've been doing this for the great way to track that for about 11 to 12 years from,you know, it took you five to six years to record your first song he told us and
(45:38):
you just told us it's been a good five to six years that you've been working since thatpoint.
Well, people don't realize that it's 10,000 working hours, or 10 years that makes anexpert, which is why you're here today because you're an expert in music, actually.
And people they don't how do I become an expert in anything?
(46:02):
I feel like just don't I feel like a lot of people because I'll give you an example.
So I got invited to run studios, which is what I was talking about.
Where Pessoal Boomba played.
Yeah, exactly.
My boy Pessoal.
But.
just as a real quick there's this gas station I go to at the corner of Bissonette andHillcroft and they sell all kinds of shots keys and random ass stuff posters and there's
(46:29):
this everlasting poster of peso pluma hanging on one of the walls and it just won't selland it stays there.
think you should buy that.
You should buy that.
Just have a random...
You know, you should put on the wall, should put on the ceiling so when you go to sleepit's just like right there staring at you at night.
(46:51):
But uh...
hits, if this episode hits a certain amount of people in 24 hours and we drop it out bythe Pesso Pluma poster and I'll put it back here for every episode that comes after this
one.
What will be a good number for you?
Five.
If this hits 20 streams.
(47:14):
No, let's do a little bit like, let's 50.
Let's just be a little bit.
Let's be more optimistic.
Let's do 50 minimum.
You'll get the sublima.
numbers from the first couple episodes and that sounds like a good bit.
Okay, 50 streams, you get a Bessel Bluma and you hang it up on top.
(47:34):
I don't know, maybe I want it.
Yeah, maybe you want me to just give you an excuse to just be like, justify it.
baking in like, huh, maybe I should just get that.
Maybe I should just get out, yeah, that's so funny.
so you are a bilingual artist.
I am a violin artist.
What do you write music in?
(47:56):
I guess you probably don't.
It's probably back and forth, right?
When you play and you're like, creating and singing Do you ever do it in Spanish?
I've never performed or I've never like sung in Spanish.
I have sometimes it depends.
It's a tricky question.
But let me say something real quick before I forget.
So when I went to Lucky World Studios, they introduced me to the reason I was therebecause I got invited because they wanted me to perform so because they have classes
(48:28):
there.
But they wanted the students to practice on me.
and record me as they're doing a live session with a huge artist.
So it was really cool seeing like 20 students figuring shit out.
But I can't like the cool thing is that like I have another experience because I'm friendswith a lot of like people who do production and stuff who do all this stuff and I have an
(48:52):
idea of how works being in the studio and all that stuff, but they seem super nervous andsuper shy.
And I was trying to be like, hey, like you're good, like take it easy.
So anyway, the reason I was saying all that is just like, don't, don't put yourlimitations like, oh, I don't know this or that or whatever.
Like you can always learn and it's fine.
Not everybody knows their shit.
Like there were some professionals that probably like didn't know a hundred percent andprobably learned something that day or they, it's okay to ask questions.
(49:18):
But anyway, you were talking about before that, what was it again?
Cause I don't want to forget it cause I want to answer it.
Or you're going to tell me.
It was about whether you had my gosh just sang in Spanish before.
That's what we were talking about.
So we got on to
Yeah, okay, okay, but what are we gonna say?
I was gonna ask a totally different question again, which I will, I'll go ahead andcontinue because I was, it was coming off of the studio talk and you being in the studio,
(49:46):
just working with students and that's awesome.
Thank you for doing that work with them.
Everyone who is an expert should be like working with students somewhere.
If you aren't, then.
They teach you the most magnificent lessons.
Wow, that's great.
I love that sound bite.
lie.
I've learned so many things from like people who...
(50:08):
That's why I swear to you, one of my favorite things is to work with people who have neverworked like on anything professional before or anything like who are just new because
their minds are so fresh.
They have no idea and they're just like, oh, what if we try this?
And you're like, yeah, fuck it.
Let's try it.
And it sounds amazing.
that I bring them in in the focus group, but everyone's got their process.
(50:30):
No, I new ideas are important.
That's why I think a back ended benefit of helping the younger people and volunteering isthat you stay, you keep your finger on the pulse, you know what's going on.
creatives need that.
And honestly, it's just good for humanity to to
be connected and to learn what other people are up to and thinking and how they'refeeling.
(50:52):
So.
I agree with you 100%.
uh
you do I, I'm glad I wanted to just end on this sort of note coming off of the studio.
And you getting to help those kids and them learning.
Do you think that there that there's a lot of fear about learning to do something and not
(51:17):
being the best at it or being laughed at.
Do think people still have that sort of fear?
much, so much fucking fear when it comes to that.
The amount of fear that comes from people not scaring, scared of not succeeding or scaredof not exceeding themselves is beyond-
explainable sometimes.
I mean that's just normal life, know, everybody experiences.
(51:38):
Yeah, there's yeah, I was gonna say that there's there's a very taboo area and gray areato signify like this one specific fear.
But if I had to truly captivate all of that in one capsule, yeah, it happens a lot.
And I try to remind people that it's fine to fuck up.
Like there's many times I fucked up wherever these songs like example, I know there was athing called mastering.
(52:01):
I don't know if you know what that is, or to the common audience, mastering a song is thefinal version of song where you expand the wavelengths basically and make it sound loud,
professional, and it sounds equal to all other songs in the album or in radio.
I didn't know that existed.
I thought you just mixed the song and released it.
(52:21):
And I didn't know that there was that extra step.
So my first album that I ever released back in like 2021,
or 2022, I literally like just made songs and released them and every song was likedifferent loud, loudnesses.
So it was like all over the place.
And I remember like people love the songs.
Thankfully, that's why I was trying to tell you earlier, like, I'm glad.
(52:44):
I'm so appreciative that at that time had this artistic like, I don't know, whatever, likejust I could do that.
I'm really proud of myself for that.
But in regards to like
a professional level, I completely fucked that up.
And I remember people would come up to me and they're like, yeah, your songs, but like,why are they all different levels?
(53:04):
And I'm like, what do mean?
And they're like, yeah, like you listen to it, like one song is like loud, this song issuper low, blah, blah, blah.
And I was like, they're like, did you master them?
And I was like, what's that?
It's like, you just gotta fucking do those mistakes.
And even if you fuck up.
For our listeners, that's the key point.
That's right there is no matter what you're going to do or create, you're going to getcriticism.
(53:28):
think 95, 90 up to 99 % of people would stop at the criticism and never go on.
But in this process, you literally listen to the criticism of all these people after youmade this album and you just did it.
You just learned it.
You're like, all right, I have something to learn here and you did it.
(53:50):
And now we have an album coming out.
funny process.
Yeah, and album is fucking mastered and they're all equal levels.
So I'm proud of that.
So I'm like, but that aside, I was going to say you're completely right.
Like we'll stop at criticism.
And I feel like it's OK to be told like, hey, I've been told like when I perform or bust,there's this one memory of me busing.
(54:14):
don't know people know what that is, but it's like like
playing in the street or whatever.
And I remember the owner of this antique shop I was performing in front of literally cameup to me and said, hey, you kind of suck.
He's actually I'm not going to lie to you.
really bad.
You should probably go home and practice more and then come back or or like you'll findsomewhere else where people will like you.
(54:37):
And I was like, damn, like it was such a fucking lie.
It hurt.
Like, obviously that hurt like hell.
But a part of me this.
place was like, fuck you.
Like, I know, like, I can produce something well, but a part of me was also humble and tobe like, you know what, like maybe I messed up.
Maybe I didn't have something that would catch the crowd.
So I went home and was like, all right, let me work on it.
(54:59):
And that's when I started creating songs that are more well structured and said, it's justlike this flowy damn.
Cause that's another thing, another lesson.
So back today when I would perform songs, they were very flowy.
They didn't have this like structure.
They didn't have this chorus like where it hits or this like thing that somebody likesings over and over.
(55:22):
It was just like words, words, words, words.
And I still do that a lot with some of my songs.
But when I learned like I have to have a hook or whatever, it probably was from that day.
you escalated from that sort of free form to the formula that we see.
But, but also you, learned formula and you built upon formula, which is more and morepractical.
(55:47):
And I think that's what people are missing is like, they don't understand that there is.
there is a practicality to a lot of this in you find the practicality and repetition ofmaking mistakes and just doing it and trying out new things.
Yeah, I get that a lot in advertising where it's like, well, how do know how to do that?
I was like, I just 10 years ago started playing with Facebook ads.
(56:11):
Yeah.
And I feel like that was the day like as harsh as those that comment was.
I'll never forget it.
I was fucking crazy when I heard it the first.
was like, damn, bro, like fuck.
And I said I didn't say nothing about just like, yeah, sure.
Like I'll be out.
But I remember like that that fuck you.
Obviously that fuck you comes to mind first because you're human.
(56:33):
You know, I'm like, man, fuck you.
Right.
But then, you know, you think about it.
You know what?
I could make something more.
Yeah.
you heard it.
And he was an asshole.
But you consider you.
But you considered it.
Yeah, that's, that's like the important thing.
You like you had this affliction and then you just went ahead and said, despite who itwas, let me just listen for any truth in it and move on.
(56:58):
Yeah, 100%.
I remember there's a few times where I was so fucking egotistical that I put my head firstbefore realizing like, maybe they got a point.
Like I remember one time I wouldn't record songs on a tempo.
Usually when you record a song in studio or professionally, it's on a tempo.
(57:19):
But I used to always see like back in the 60s, like people would perform live and theywere just like, we'll perform a song, just record it one take.
But
One day I remember I needed a friend of mine to record drums on one of his songs because Iwanted him to perform on it and he was like, God damn bro, like, why?
Like, did you not use a fucking BPM, like a tempo on this shit?
(57:41):
Like it's all over the place.
And I'm like, well, I just recorded it live.
Like, a feeling, the feel.
helps you get the timing like a metronome.
yeah.
Metronome.
Yeah, exactly.
I didn't use a metronome and he was like, damn, bro, like you didn't use that shit.
And I remember I was like, nah, bro, like it's all feeling emotions.
And he was like, fuck your emotions, bro.
(58:01):
Like you need to put a fucking tempo on that.
And I was like, you know what?
Maybe he's right.
And then I did it and it sounded way better on tempo.
So was like, OK, that's a whole other lesson of like putting my ego aside.
And that helped out.
So sometimes put your fucking ego aside.
Trust me, it helps you so much in the long
your homies might have a metronome on them.
You never know.
m
(58:22):
they might they honestly I mean he's a drummer so it made sense there why he yeah, yeah,but he was like But he helped me out like it's a hundred percent.
He was a percent right.
I will say that
that's our time for today.
as we go ahead and close out on this episode, and we're going to be coming back around,Justin will be back, especially after the album.
(58:46):
That would be great.
But where can we go ahead and find you right now on socials website, anything you got?
I said earlier, Greg says my real name, Justin, which I'm so fucking not used to anymore,to be honest.
But not in a bad way, it just makes me laugh because he's family and obviously I'm notgoing to be like, hey bro, me Orpheus, bro.
But a lot of people know me as Orpheus and my artist name is Orpheus Von Doom.
(59:11):
On all streaming platforms, the O has an accent.
So O-R-E-H-E-U-S space V-O-N space D-O-O-M and then on social medias, it's just OrpheusVon Doom official.
And then YouTube, I think it's that too.
Orpheus Von Doom official.
go ahead and when we link a URL on this episode, I'll go ahead and link your Spotify.
(59:35):
It looks so good.
I imagine when that new album comes out, they can listen to it there or buy it, get thevinyl, which is what I'll do.
yeah, you right now what I have it I released it early on Bandcamp.
I don't know when you're going to release this episode, but I released it early onBandcamp so I can get some support if you want to purchase it earlier and get it comes
(01:00:00):
with the bonus track too.
So you get the whole like they get on vinyl.
But the album comes out July 28 on my 25th birthday.
That's why I released it, which is fucking crazy.
We'll go we might release this episode that week.
It's actually probably gonna come out the week before.
But if you're listening to it in three weeks from now, then go ahead and pick up thatalbum next week.
(01:00:25):
And of course.
Yeah, that's exciting.
I'm so fucking excited for that.
thank you.
And I was going to say thank you for having me as always.
And I am proud of you for doing what you have been doing as of late.
So keep doing at it and you'll go places.
to keep going.
I got it.
I got it.
I got it, pa.
Honestly, it's funny.
It's pretty.
(01:00:45):
I had a lot of fun of this interview.
I thought it was good.
Like, I didn't know what to expect, but it's cool because I'll end it with this note realquick.
Greg and I, he is how many years older than me?
15.
There's no fucking way you're fucking 50 years old.
older than you, I'm 33.
Okay, so Greg is eight years older than me.
(01:01:06):
So since we were kids, we just had this cool bond that was pretty badass.
I was like a kid and I remember like playing in his house with all his friends.
I was like a fucking kid and he was just like a teenager just hanging out with his homiesand I'd like like Xbox and show all.
But I don't know this bond formed and I guess I see him like an older brother and I guesshe sees like a younger brother.
(01:01:28):
So that dynamic just played out.
And there was time where we would talk a lot of philosophical shit like just back in theday when I would travel to Antonio or go to San Antonio for you when I was 18 and stuff.
So I forget that every now and then because you know life gets so busy.
But it's cool to see that that dynamic still here and still flourishing and it's cool likeI think it's badass like so it's cool.
(01:01:51):
you, dude.
I love you.
Go find Orpheus Von Doom everywhere.
Follow on Instagram and look out for the album on July 28th.
Go ahead and support and go ahead and share this episode if you liked hearing this storyand about creativity.
And if you know somebody who would be perfect for telling their story and sharing, goahead and let me know.
(01:02:18):
Yeah 50 students minimum for Pets.
Hahaha!
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