In this week's episode, hosts Wes & John take a few minutes to share the back story of their brand, Soul Surplus.  They've been able to carve out a significant place in the original music composition community, and speak on their next steps moving forward to grow the brand.

Website - soulsurplus.com
Social Media - @SoulSurplus

The Pixels & Pads Podcast is powered by Soul Surplus

The Pixels & Pads Podcast

Episode7: Soul Surplus, E-Commerce, Digital Goods

“The artists that I look up to are built on ‘authenticity’; hip-hop is built on ‘authenticity.’ That’s why  ghostwriting is frowned upon, it’s like write your own rhymes, be yourself. The goal is just to be myself and the story that I’ve told of my trajectory in music is that I’m a church kid. I didn’t grow up on the organ bench [...], I just grew up next to it. So at this point in the game I’m settling into my age; I’m not old yet but I’m definitely not the ‘young whipper snapper’ and it's just like I’m not trying to be anybody but Swoope (13:27).” 

In this week’s special new music episode we have artist, producer and musician extraordinaire “Swoope”  join us to talk about his new acclaimed album “Sonshine.” He also gives us some details on his sound pack the “Swoope Sample Pack Vol 1,” that he has partnered with Soul Surplus to create. Swoope breaks down the album as a project that culminates in an unapologetic portrayal of his experiences in music and in life. “It’s about what it makes people feel instead of it trying to be the perfect album, I’m glad that’s what is coming across sonically (19:47).”  

We also get the pleasure of hearing Swoope’s approach and thought process behind the creation for the Swoope Sample Pack Vol 1. “I want to make samples that I think my favorite producers would pick […] if Dilla was alive, if Kanye was in the room, or if I ran into Pete Rock and could only play him three samples of mine, would they pick any of them? […] that was where my brain was when creating these samples (26:23).” 

This conversation was full of golden wisdom from a seasoned creative who is running free and confident in who he is and what he has to say. We talk about everything from producer collaboration, to growing with an indie label, Will Smith and Jazzy Jeff sample influence, to ultimately thinking about playing the long game to leave a legacy. You don’t want to miss out on this episode! 

Check out “Sonshine” by Swoope on all digital media outlets. Also follow him on Social media: @MrSwoope

If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and/ or write a review on iTunes. Also show your support by following us on social media.

The Pixels & Pads Podcast is powered by Soul Surplus

New Music Episode: Swoope

In the 8th episode of The Pixels & Pads Podcast, Wes sits down with long time friend, and creative director, Donald Martin.  Donald is the creator of The Most Unruly (formerly Noisy Images), a popular and ever growing YouTube channel that showcases video essays exploring popular music, artists and pop culture.  Donald breaks down his career, starting out in the creative agency world, and transitioning into a self-employed juggernaut in motion graphics.

You can follow The Most Unruly on YouTube here -
 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVHeqpJWysWdIevel7_znyQ/featured

The Pixels & Pads Podcast is powered by Soul Surplus.

The Pixels & Pads Podcast // Powered by Soul Surplus

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Episode 8: Donald Martin, The Most Unruly

“[...] Just me putting out content consistently has been a part of my strategy to bring the most attention to my brand. Constantly seeing my name over and over is going to in the long run make people remember me and my brand [...] I’ve really just been focusing on being offensive versus being defensive; a lot of creatives say, ‘what happens if I don’t make this money this month or I can’t pay rent,’ or whatever, I try to think of everything as more of like I’m on offense, I’m trying to go score a touchdown, like how can I be on offense right now and pick up the next thing…” (30:15)

On this week’s episode we have producer, musician and entrepreneur Derrick “Homage” Simpson, join us to speak about his grind growing from a beat maker living in a basement to now having a successful production brand with over 50 thousand subscribers on YouTube with new music posts going up almost everyday. We talk about brand strategy, work ethic, SEO and the self discipline of patience. Derrick has no problem sharing with us about how early on he has capitalized off of including “keywords” in the titles of his work to get more traffic and sales in a continual fashion that now has a whole online community and industry functioning in this way.


Homage is an important guest for us; not only does he use our Soul Surplus products in an amazing way, but he is a prime example of the shift that has occurred in the music industry in the last couple of years with e-commerce happening more often via social media. We really think his story is immensely valuable to any creative trying to build an impactful and effective brand. Check it out!

Follow Homage - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbavHy2_zVCMCvVdR8qp2UQ

Instagram & Twitter  - @HomageBeats

Web - http://www.homageproductions.com/

Episode 9: Derek "Homage" Simpson, Music Producer, Entrepreneur

A podcast for the multidisciplinary creative. Powered by Soul Surplus.

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