Cisco Adler : The Action Recon Interview

Cisco Adler is a musician, a man who makes music because that is what he wants to do and what he needs to do. His talents range from producer, rapper, musician, DJ and song writer. He has roots in rock and roll, Hip Hop, jazz and many other things in between. Cisco is one of the most positive people I have ever had the pleasure of speaking with, he is intelligent and well spoken and just an all round good human being. Check out the interview below, listen to some of his music and be sure to support him in all his endeavors.

1) AR: I would love to start off with asking you what you have been up to as of late, but that answer would take up this whole interview. So lets get an update on your solo album that you have been working on!

Cisco: Well, I am always constantly writing music and records on the side. Even when I’m doing Shwayze stuff or whatever else I am doing, I always have new music; but not always an outlet to release it on. I have been producing a lot and have had that producer hat on for a long time and not since Whitestarr, have I had the chance to just be the artist. It is the perfect time for me to release some solo things that I have been working on for a while.

2) AR: The musical difference from your first group Whitestarr to what you are doing now is quite different. Has hip-hop always been something that you wanted to venture into and where did this vast array of musical interest come from?

Cisco: Ya, I grew up on hip-hop and really got into it when I was like 14 or 15. I kind of liken it to the same way my parents must have felt when they first found rock and roll. I always liked making beats to rap to and would say I was defiantly a student of hip-hop for a long time. Really the whole way it started was when Mickey Avalon opened up for Whitestarr one night and I thought wow this is exactly the type of hip hop I’d like to make. From there Mickey’s manager kind of got us together and I then really got back into making more hip hop as opposed to the rock & roll mission I had been on with Whitestarr. I think that I am almost more hip hop then rock, rock music is just in my blood because I grew up in the studios and around it, but hip hop is where I’m at for sure.

Whitestarr

3) AR: Are you ever going to go back to Whitestarr or is that over for you?

Cisco: No, no I would not say I am never going to play with those guys again, like do a few shows or something like that. The thing is I found myself looking at Whitestarr like this has all been done before. At its core it was a classic rock band and that is nothing new at all. When the Shwayze thing started I thought “wow” this is new and exciting and something that kids are going to look back at and think that was original not be just sort of treading the same old tracks.

Check some music from Whitestarr and Shwayze below.

4) AR: Can you tell us the story on how you got linked up with Aaron Smith to form Shwayze and how that original meeting turned into a group?

Cisco: You know, he just sort of started showing up at my house and sleeping on my couch (laughter). My house is sort of like a party pad around where I live and he just kept showing up and saying that we had to make music together. So when I had time in between what I was doing, Aaron and I would just make music and we vibed really well together and then next thing you know we had the first Shwayze record.

Aaron Smith and Cisco Adler of Shwayze

5) AR: You are running a record label called Banana Beat Records, what is the story behind that and what are some of the acts that you have singed to that banner?

Cisco: I mean what is a record label? (Laughs) I look at it more as a place where I can develop artists and help them out. Now if that sounds more like a management company then a label, I don’t really know; because now a day the lines between the two have become blurred. Really I am all about finding new talent that comes across my path, kind of like how I found Aaron on my couch. Just linking up with people that I like and think are special and trying to nurture that into good music and not necessarily go through all the traditional platforms of finding new talent.

Chris Young The Rapper is actually the first artist that I have singed to the label and he is out of San Diego. He has a mix tape out right now called 1991 and my band The Pigeons will be on the label as well. The last Shwayze record was on Banana Beat and our next one will be as well.

6) AR: When is the next Shwayze record coming out?

Cisco: Ah we will probably start work on the album in late January or February and would like to have that out for summer 2011.

7) AR: Many of the lyrical themes that you deal with touch on life in California, both the good and the bad. How has life in California shaped your career and the way you view the world as a whole?

Cisco: Ya, I don’t think it is something that I would notice until you put all my lyrics in front on me and I was able to see how it has shaped me. Living here is like no where else, I mean it can be mid December; you’re sitting on the beach and its beautiful, that’s got to have some sort of effect on you. I think that is what a lot of people have been able to relate to with my music, even if their from Milwaukie. It acts as a little escape from life sometimes and they can feel like they just took a quick trip out to California. It’s the same way that the Chili Peppers and Van Halen were and I think it’s the same for New York bands. If you’re from New York you’re a fucking New York band.

8 AR: I read a quote from you that read, “I make music all day everyday because if I didn’t I would go insane.” Has music always been this important to you and how did you develop such a passion for it?

Cisco: Music was always important to me even on the other side as a fan and then when I started making it, the music just sort of became lifeblood. It’s my therapy it’s my communication, so if I don’t make the music then my outlet is stopped up and shits going to go wrong. (Laughs)

9) AR: Lets talk about your new group the Pigeons. What type of musical influences can we expect from this project and what music is available from you and the Pigeons so far?

Cisco: The Pigeons are sort of like a smorgasbord of everything that I have ever done. It’s a little more rock then hip-hop where the Shwayze stuff was a little more hip-hop then rock. Its got hip hop sensibility with big pop hooks, its got riffs I’m trying to put all these things together and turn it into the futuristic rock & roll sound. I don’t want to go back and I want to go forward.

10) AR: You have worked with a lot of people and bands, what are some of your favorite collaborations that you have been involved in?

Cisco: Wow that is crazy, its kind of a crazy thought; but you know what it’s got to be Shwayze. That project as a whole, because it was just so easy and it just worked, it just seemed so easy when I sang on the tracks and Aaron would rap and it came together so perfectly. I also love all the random ones as well; I love Brown Eyes with The Pricks. I love being able to give music a little imprint of me, but still having it be someone’s else’s song and their sound.

The Pricks feat. Cisco Adler – Brown Eyes

11) AR: You just recently dropped a song with Chris Yong called “For All The Girls” which is available on iTunes right?

Cisco: Yes, we just did that track and got it up on iTunes and we are in the process of shooting a video for it as well. It was good timing because it gave me a chance to sort of test out all the online distribution platforms and figure out which ones are best. Because its not like it was, its not about physical copies anymore and its become more about the quality of the actual music and I think the cream is going to start rising to the top again because of that.

12) AR: If you could work with one artist right now who would that be? Is there anyone that you feel would be a perfect fit with your current sound and ideas?

Cisco: Hmm you know what, I would love to go write with the Chili Peppers or do something with Anthony on a solo side of things. We bump into each other every now and then and it just hasn’t happened yet, but hopefully it will.

13) AR: Outside of music what else do you get up to? What are your hobbies outside of the studio?

Cisco: I’m an artist and I love to paint and I love to draw. Other then the creative stuff I really like business and I love opening new businesses. I am really into cooking right now, but I think music, painting and cooking are all very similar as they are all a creative outlet much like surfing and skateboarding.

14) AR: You seem to have quite the taste for Hollywood starlets, has this been something that has led you to write songs like Heart And Soul? That song really seems to focus on the not so great side of fame and fortune as told from an almost first person perspective.

Cisco: Ya that song was written exactly from a first person perspective. I’ve had a strange vantage point over the last five or so years of this celebrity craze amongst people. It was really strange for me because I was just hanging out with girls l liked. You know what mean? That song was not about that though, it was more about the idiotically of it all and the world being so obsessed with the wrong things. It was about how I don’t blame any of those girls for what ends up happening to them, because if you hand a 19 year old girl a million dollars and a bag of cocaine what do you think she’s going to do?

Heart and Soul by Shwayze from the Let It Beat album out now.

15) AR: Can we expect to see a full tour from Cisco Adler and Pigeons? Most of the shows you play seem to be in and around California, are you anticipating hitting the road on an international level any time soon?

Cisco: The Pigeons is an infant, its new and we really played are first show during the Sunset Strip Festival because it just happened at the right time. I thought you know what I’m just going to book the show and make myself do this, not give myself any real choice, because I work better under pressure. So after we played that show and it went really well, I felt this is something that I really wanted to devote some serious time and energy to. From there we went back in the studio and I started writing specifically for that project and jamming. Things have been going so well that I definitely want to take the Pigeons to the road and get out there and see as many people as possible.

Check out the song Fly Out The Window from Cisco Adler And The Pigeons below.

16) AR: The world these days is a big ol mess, what insight or solutions do you have that might make things better? What would you like to relay to the kids and youth today in order to make a positive difference?

Cisco: I like to stay positive and act that way because I’m blessed, so if I didn’t act that way I would feel like an asshole. I think that now more then ever because of the economy, the world and all the bullshit going on that I need to write my music as an escape for people. That is why we see so many of those dumb dance floor pop anthems doing so well right now, because people just need some time to have fun and not think about life for a while. But what I want to do is make people think about life and realize that life is actually beautiful and if they cannot focus on the negative for just a few minutes then they too may find a bit of happiness. I think that right there is the key for anyone to live better and get through all the bad.

Well there you have it folks, hope you all enjoyed the interview and please be sure to follow the links below for additional information on Cisco Adler.

CISCO ADLER FACEBOOK PAGE

SHWAYZE FACEBOOK PAGE

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