| Ceschi Session | |
| Violitionist Sessions |
Session Date: March 20, 2012
Posting Date: September 10, 2012
Artist Hometown: New Haven, CT
Links: Facebook, Fake Four
Recorded by: Michael Briggs
3 QUESTIONS
ONE: What goes through your mind when you’re writing a song?
Ceschi Ramos: My songwriting process is pretty slow. I write a lot of little pieces, and sort of piece together a collage of ideas that I like and that are kind of cohesive, and then try to make it all work. So, I don’t really have a specific thing that goes through my mind. It’s a lot of feelings. My last record was sort of a concept record. It was called The One Man Band Broke Up, and so, I did have this sort of underlying concept behind everything, even though some of the songs were written before I came up with the concept, I sort of molded stuff to work around what I was trying to say.
TWO: How do you find the time to pursue your own music while running your record label, Fake Four?
Ceschi: It’s been harder and harder to find time to record these days. Well, I run…luckily, I have a really awesome label manager and a great guy who’s doing artist accounting for us, and someone who’s running the website. So, we’ve gotten bigger as far as the amount of help over the years. At one point, it was just me, and I was trying to do music…really slowly. Yeah, time is scarce.
DJ: It’s all about delegation.
Ceschi: Right. It’s all about organizing properly and giving yourself some time. I usually record from, you know, 11 PM to 3 in the morning or something, if I do have time. My days are pretty much dedicated to the label, or touring. I tour a lot, too, so…
DJ: Which is your favorite artist on the label?
Ceschi: On the label? Ah man, that’s such a bad question to ask! I love them. I love all of these artists. I mean, that’s why I asked them to be on the label. Um, they all have different qualities. I really can’t say I have a favorite one.
DJ: What do you look for when you’re thinking about new artists for the label?
Ceschi: Well, obviously, I have to really like what they’re doing musically, but I’m also really interested in artists who work for themselves a lot and are willing to grind, get on the road and push themselves, because, especially nowadays, a label can’t save you. It can’t save your career. Some people think that it’s just like, ‘Oh, I’m on this label now. I’m all set.’ It’s just not like that. I’m the same way. I’m constantly touring and, you know, even if I sell like two copies a week, that’s something. I want that to happen. I don’t want it to come to a standstill with my music, ever. I try to work with like-minded artists.
DJ: It’s all about delegation.
Ceschi: Right. It’s all about organizing properly and giving yourself some time. I usually record from, you know, 11 PM to 3 in the morning or something, if I do have time. My days are pretty much dedicated to the label, or touring. I tour a lot, too, so…
DJ: Which is your favorite artist on the label?
Ceschi: On the label? Ah man, that’s such a bad question to ask! I love them. I love all of these artists. I mean, that’s why I asked them to be on the label. Um, they all have different qualities. I really can’t say I have a favorite one.
DJ: What do you look for when you’re thinking about new artists for the label?
Ceschi: Well, obviously, I have to really like what they’re doing musically, but I’m also really interested in artists who work for themselves a lot and are willing to grind, get on the road and push themselves, because, especially nowadays, a label can’t save you. It can’t save your career. Some people think that it’s just like, ‘Oh, I’m on this label now. I’m all set.’ It’s just not like that. I’m the same way. I’m constantly touring and, you know, even if I sell like two copies a week, that’s something. I want that to happen. I don’t want it to come to a standstill with my music, ever. I try to work with like-minded artists.
THREE: You do most of your recording at night…?
Ceschi: It’s kind of a long story, but, my cousin…I record at my cousin’s studio space…that a reality TV show built for him. So…
DJ: A reality TV show?
Ceschi: Yeah. My cousin, he’s on a lot of reality TV shows. Like, he’s been on a bunch of talk show and everything. It’s just kind of like this…He’s kind of on the list or something of actors that they choose to be on reality TV. It’s really a lot less real than you’d expect. So, he’s been on Discovery Channel Oddities. He’s been on Rachael Ray, The Tyra Banks Show, he’s been on dating shows, and this one show called Doorknockers on the DIY Network. He applied for them to come to his house— It’s actually our friend Eric’s house. They had sort of a messed-up garage, and this show rebuilt it into a studio space. It’s been soundproofed, you know, rooms inside of rooms. It looks really nice. That’s where I’ve moved all my recording equipment. It’s pretty cool, and it’s five minutes from my house, too.
DJ: A reality TV show?
Ceschi: Yeah. My cousin, he’s on a lot of reality TV shows. Like, he’s been on a bunch of talk show and everything. It’s just kind of like this…He’s kind of on the list or something of actors that they choose to be on reality TV. It’s really a lot less real than you’d expect. So, he’s been on Discovery Channel Oddities. He’s been on Rachael Ray, The Tyra Banks Show, he’s been on dating shows, and this one show called Doorknockers on the DIY Network. He applied for them to come to his house— It’s actually our friend Eric’s house. They had sort of a messed-up garage, and this show rebuilt it into a studio space. It’s been soundproofed, you know, rooms inside of rooms. It looks really nice. That’s where I’ve moved all my recording equipment. It’s pretty cool, and it’s five minutes from my house, too.
– Interview and transcription by Dale Jones