Baamogetswe: My first question would be, When was your first encounter with hip hop, what made you fall in love with the culture?
J.Marx: I was raised in Brooklyn, New York and everybody I knew basically had their own style as far as MC'ing. Some people say I have a golden era style but that era is actually way before my time, I was raised in the "bling bling" generation not the 90's. It wasn't really music that inspired me, but game designers like Hideo Kojima & Ken Levine. A lot of MC's inspired me though since I was into both street styles and intellectual styles.
I always thought True Master & El-P were exceptional producers.
Baamogetswe: Please tell us a little more about Torchbearer Records, the artists signed, just a general breakdown of when it started, your involvement/role in the Company.
J.Marx: I founded Torchbearer Records in 2012 after my mother passed. My family scattered her ashes at the Statue of Liberty. I launched the label with the album "Seven Trumpets Sound" which features UG, Chief Kamachi, Reef the Lost Cause and more. The concept is in a world of darkness you've got to learn to light your path, to illuminate yourself. Optics @ falconiphotography.com does the majority of the visual work, and Naomi H. is the manager. In 2015 Torchbearer Records released:
Endless Winter (June Marx & Resolute)
Legendary Tactics
VVV1: Love & War
I basically run the label and do 90% of the production work at Trinity Site Studios.
Baamogetswe: Realized thru my discovery of your music that you have a large amount of followers in South Africa, do you at any point see yourself touring the continent?
J.Marx: I've received a lot of emails from Africa & I definitely see myself touring that country. I can't wait to finally link with the African fan base. I've been to Asia, the Middle East & Germany in my life. Asia, Africa & Europe are the focus for the next tour. The Heavy Artillery tour was the latest US tour.
Baamogetswe: "Love & War" being your latest project available on Bandcamp released in 2015, can we expect another project soon? who else from torchbearer can we look forward to releasing?
J.Marx: I have a lot of unreleased material that I refine here & there, Love & War took upwards of a year and some months to finish. It was being worked on slowly through the holidays, the Heavy Artillery Tour, my recent stay in the Midwest etc. I'm currently building/producing an album for an unannounced artist that will release through Torchbearer Records, I'll reveal details soon.
Baamogetswe: On the issue of the latest project, are there artist you aspire to work with?
J.Marx: There's nobody on my radar I want to work with really. On "Love & War" I featured JMega the God on a track called "Power", we've built on a few occasions as far as tracks. I produced "The War is On" featuring Merc Versus, an artist that's socially/politically conscious. I continued the military theme with tracks like "Focus" & "Tanks", both featuring Resolute. DJ TMB did scratch work on "High Voltage".
I do think producers like L'Orange, Black Milk & my brother Elhuana are talented though.
Baamogetswe: I know every artist believes their sound adds a different flavor to the Cult, how would you describe sound in one word?
J.Marx: One word? Pure. I think it's just the raw outcome of my experiences as a Man, an Iraq Veteran, a New Yorker, and an Artist.
Baamogetswe: Found work with you and Resolute, you featured on his latest album and worked together on the "Love & War" project, please explain the relationship you have with the artist
J.Marx: Resolute is from my 2nd home state, Illinois. I have family in the Midwest. I built a track "The Last of Us" for his debut album "The Last Horizon", & we also did the Heavy Artillery US tour this year. In Chicago we recorded "Endless Winter" during a snowstorm right before hitting the road for the tour which took us from Colorado's flat iron mountains all the way to Juarez city, Mexico.
Baamogetswe: Respect to J.Marx and Torchbearer for the inside Scoop please be sure to peep "Love and War" on Bandcamp, See link below..
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