:3LON has made a name for himself throughout Central Baltimore's music scene with his anime-inspired, dreamy R&B. In addition to singing, he typically handles most of his own production as well, which tends to the borrow the obscure vocal loops of Baltimore club and the airiness of anime theme songs. In Februrary, :3LON released his debut, Ronin, a silky, five-track EP. Today, we're premiering a video for the project's most popular song "Many Moons," which is produced by Alienood420 and has eclipsed the 10,000 play mark on Soundcloud. To understand the inspiration behind the song and video, we briefly spoke with :3LON. Watch "Many Moons" below.Noisey: In "Many Moons" you sing about someone you haven't seen for a long time. Is it about an old lover?
:3LON:For the Ronin EP, i wanted to conceptualize a tale of love, triumph, and courage. I envision three mages shrouded in a thick mist, preparing their rituals, while narrating the story. The antagonist would be an ex samurai that has decided to leave his life behind and start anew after a year of serving the syndicate. After years of being away from home, the samurai runs into an old friend that is being stalked by the syndicate. "Many Moons" is a song of urgency. It's the samurai wanting to rekindle memories and feeling concerned for their friend's life all at once.The video seems to be set in some futuristic planet. What was your vision going into making it?
We wanted to build a cyberspace oasis that would set the stage for my heartfelt soliloquy. Gabriel (the director) played with images and colors from the album art. I always want to find the medium between mysticism and technology, so we played with alchemical ideas as well.Where do you draw from when writing music?
I pull inspiration from all genres of music, especially music on the soulful spectrum. I love classic anime and video games! I grew up on TOONAMI and Playstation 1. Internet culture plays an important role as well. The accessibility that we have to information has changed the game. Also, being from Baltimore helps a lot. Our music scene has inspired me more than ever in recent years. The artists in Baltimore aren't afraid to use their music as a platform for their story to be heard. I also love concepts of afro futurism, and technology advancement. In my head, I live on Earth in year 2525 AD. I'm always thinking of ways to make future pop music.What can we look forward to from you as 2017 approaches?
I'm currently writing to several projects all at once. I have a close-knit group of collaborators I've been working with for my new music. I'm going to release some amazing visuals that will give the audience a more in-depth view into my perception of art. I'm going to release a work that I feel is worthy of a tour, then tour at least three times throughout the year. I want to expand and continue to work with artists I admire and respect.Photo: Sarah WangThis Sunday, :3LON will be performing at Den$e, which will be at MoMA PS1 at 2pm. Follow Noisey on Twitter.
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:3LON:For the Ronin EP, i wanted to conceptualize a tale of love, triumph, and courage. I envision three mages shrouded in a thick mist, preparing their rituals, while narrating the story. The antagonist would be an ex samurai that has decided to leave his life behind and start anew after a year of serving the syndicate. After years of being away from home, the samurai runs into an old friend that is being stalked by the syndicate. "Many Moons" is a song of urgency. It's the samurai wanting to rekindle memories and feeling concerned for their friend's life all at once.The video seems to be set in some futuristic planet. What was your vision going into making it?
We wanted to build a cyberspace oasis that would set the stage for my heartfelt soliloquy. Gabriel (the director) played with images and colors from the album art. I always want to find the medium between mysticism and technology, so we played with alchemical ideas as well.Where do you draw from when writing music?
I pull inspiration from all genres of music, especially music on the soulful spectrum. I love classic anime and video games! I grew up on TOONAMI and Playstation 1. Internet culture plays an important role as well. The accessibility that we have to information has changed the game. Also, being from Baltimore helps a lot. Our music scene has inspired me more than ever in recent years. The artists in Baltimore aren't afraid to use their music as a platform for their story to be heard. I also love concepts of afro futurism, and technology advancement. In my head, I live on Earth in year 2525 AD. I'm always thinking of ways to make future pop music.
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I'm currently writing to several projects all at once. I have a close-knit group of collaborators I've been working with for my new music. I'm going to release some amazing visuals that will give the audience a more in-depth view into my perception of art. I'm going to release a work that I feel is worthy of a tour, then tour at least three times throughout the year. I want to expand and continue to work with artists I admire and respect.Photo: Sarah WangThis Sunday, :3LON will be performing at Den$e, which will be at MoMA PS1 at 2pm. Follow Noisey on Twitter.