Hi Let’s break the ice. Who are you? Where are you from? What style of music do you create?

My name is Mychal. I’m the lead vocalist and head producer of Tracey Quake. I’m from Wilmington, DE, about thirty miles east of Philadelphia. I like to classify my style of music as Urban Theatre music. When I produce, I try to create an atmosphere for the theme, similar to the setting or scenery in a movie. In theatre, there are three to four parts in the script; 1) The inciting incident, 2) the struggle to finding information to achieve, 3) Near death, and 4) revelation. In Urban Theatre, I orchestrate my music to challenge the artist to tackle each of the necessary steps to creating a great story by using transitions similar to that of a screenplay. I classify as urban because it’s a mixture of urban genres from the 60’s till now. On ‘Happy Halloween’, I produced in the styles of Motown, World, Hip-hop, pop, jazz, and rock and roll.

You have a very unique presence and I dig the way you have broken down the pillars that make you….you. Let’s get into that. Tell me about Tracey Quake, The Artist.

I’m a regular person living a regular life. My writings are of things that I think about at work, the things I talk about with my friends, my interpretations of books I’ve read, movies I’ve seen, problems I’m having. I believe life inspires art, and vice verse. I think what makes me unique as an artist is my ability too see one thing and the many entities of it, then compare it to something completely different, and find a correlation in their entities.

Tell us about The Producer.

I was in college when I began to seriously explore the art of music production. I was taking classes in both video production and acting when I realized how closely music and movies correlate. I try to replicate the structure of screenplays in my production, and orchestrate a relative environment for the artists portraying it’s character. If my artist is writing or trying to write about making love in a barn, I want him to hear chickens in the background of the beat and a guitar in reminisce of that country lifestyle​.

Tell us about The Future and your plans to work with kids, specifically those affected by poverty and restricted access to resources.

In the future, I have plans to teach children the art of production. The children of our time are intuitive and creative, but now, more than ever, they need to learn structure, planning, and precision. Production allows the children to learn these necessary qualities and continue to be creative at the same time. A lot of our children living below the poverty line are the same children having issues with discipline in school . I believe alot of disciplinary issues with children stem from the inability to express themselves. In the future, I want provide opportunities for children with limited resources to use music as a way of self expression. Helping kids manifest their creativity is key in our country’s success in the next generation. Creativity begets ideas, ideas beget business, and in our capitalistic society few things could be more socially relevant to the future of our children.

How did the Happy Halloween project come about? Who all did you work with on this? Or is it a solo venture?

The idea of ‘Happy Halloween,’ actually came from a script I’ve been writing for a future project of mine. One of the scenes in the story I was writing took place on a Halloween night. I was trying to get into the mood of Halloween because at the time it was the middle of August and I wanted the script to feel realistic. So to capture the feeling of Halloween, I pulled up an old Rugrats episode of Halloween and began to make an upbeat song to the vibe I felt watching it. After doing a little more research on typical Halloween traditions, myths, and influences, I used the information I found to create a unique song relevant to our times. It felt making a short project for Halloween would help showcase my talents as a writer and producer so I worked on 5 more songs to add to my catalog of songs.

My team has definitely helped me with the pre-production aspects of my music. When it comes to approaching a project with a marketing mindset, and creating plots in songs, I have a very skilled support system. My guy’s think of the small things that could help make my songs more unique, more marketable, more universal, and more relevant… Ideas like making a positive vibe for a Halloween song using a Motown swing because of it’s potential shock value, or not cursing because kids are the majority of the Halloween market. The, “what do you have to lose anyways?” ideas, that as a writer, you never think about.

What inspired and/or motivated you to travel down this path known as music?

I love music. After graduating i had a decision to make; I could work for someones company and forget about my dreams, or make my own company and do everything I’ve always wanted to do. I chose to be free.

What was the last song you listened to?

The last song I listened to was a song I was engineering called Gunpowder. Other than when I’m engineering I hardly ever listen to music. I scroll down my ‘recently played’ playlist and I see nothing but audio books and Eric Thomas. Does that count?

Has the Internet helped you connect with fans and expand your fan base? Any specific challenges you have had to overcome?

The internet has been a great tool for networking. But in my experiences, the best relationships I have developed started in person. Meeting people in studios, open mics, on campus, and in barbershops have been the best relationships for me. They feel more genuine, but networking is networking and you’ve got to do it in whatever industry you do business in. The internet makes that more possible than ever. The greatest tool a man has ever made.

What projects are you currently working on? What’s next for Tracey Quake?

Right now, I’m in the process of finishing up another Urban Theatre project called, “The Gunpowder Plot”. It’ll be out in November. I mentioned earlier that I was writing a script for my album CANANY 60 (California In A New York Minute). I’m doing executive production for John Tanner’s album. I’m working on a few R&B projects for a few different artists I’m building around. I’m working with a few producers, Alexander The Great and Teddy Mercury to name a couple. I’m maintaining a website, visit that at Traceyquake.com for beats, music, or just to say whats up on the guestlist. I’m just focusing on consistency and discipline. Building relationships and maintaining my resources. Making my team impermeable.

Any last thoughts? Shout outs?

To my friend Dev Still: Keep your head up. It takes a strong man to go through what you’re going through and an even stronger man to handle it the way that you are. Paulo Coehlo once said the secret to happiness is being able to see all the wonders of the world and never spill the two drops of oil in your spoon. I’m proud you dog. Leah is going to be OK because she has a caring and supportive father by her side who has never left her side. You’ve been a great example of a good father in our culture. Keep your head up bro. -Pray for Leah