BMP (Buffalo Music Players) BREAKING EPISODE: Fredhead

Hi listeners!

Thanks for listening to the BMP podcast. In this episode we have Fredhead talking about making beats and the Buffalo music scene in general. With a ton of unreleased material, Fredhead talked about working with artists around the city and attending various events as a participant and spectator, including a backyard party called the Shenanigans and the Operation Infinity open mics at Area 54.

Unfortunately, because of air quality, the Backyard Shenanigans were canceled for Saturday, but that's not the only thing the producer has going on. You'll see him around the music spaces in Buffalo curating the sound.

A great episode with a great guest. Take a listen.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:08

It's a B parkhead if you want to know what it is playing. Well, we're even gonna keep it. We all gotta EM is a way of helping us. Everybody gotta be quite on this. I'm gonna be there. I'm not designed um to play if we'll talk in on the dumb if you're rolling and do it. I sure can I've never focused all I've got the upper hand. If you're rolling and do it, I sure can I've never fought the store, so I've got the upper hand pocket. I feel like the world I don't have a way to follow it. I wish there was some way to go. Wow, that sounds great.

SPEAKER_02 2:18

More about Buffalo Creative Workshop can be found at Buffalo.creative Workshop on Instagram.

SPEAKER_06 2:27

Hello, BMP listeners. This is Benjamin Joe. And I'm Max. And with us is the Illustrious, the amazing Fredhead.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

Yo, yo, what up, what up, what up?

SPEAKER_06 2:37

Um happy, man. Hell yeah. Really happy to see you here. Um I've been listening to Beach for a long time.

SPEAKER_03 2:43

Um how did you get the name Fredhead? Let's get right into it. So And here's your name Fred.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

Yeah, yeah. So sorry to bring up your name. No, no, no, that's fine. So, yeah, my my name is Fred. Um, I actually got the name Fredhead from an uncle of mine um who has since passed on.

SPEAKER_07 3:01

Alright, cool.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

Thank you, thank you. Um it was just an endearing, you know, kinda kinda name nickname that he gave me. And over the years, it was just in the back of my head when I first started producing and releasing stuff, I actually went by not psycho.

SPEAKER_06 3:19

Because you are right, yeah, and you are not not you are not N A U T, like Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:24

So are you a psycho? And I was like a psycho knot.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

Yeah, yeah. So it was like I was I at the time I was heavily into psychedelics and spirituality and finding myself, so I just took psychonaut and flipped it, but pronounced it like not psycho, like I'm not crazy. But um essentially it was you could st I'm pretty sure my SoundCloud, yeah, my SoundCloud is still under that name. Yeah, I was listening to it a minute ago. I don't know if you can even ch I think you can change it, but I don't know if the URL changes, so I I might be bugging about that. Like I just have to make a new one because I think I hit my track limit on that one anyway, and I don't want to upgrade to get the magic number that you can go SoundCloud Go or SoundCloud Pro or Pro Plus or whatever it is now.

SPEAKER_06 4:12

Um you take your life in your hand and you try to go and download something from SoundCloud. There's SoundCloud downloaders all over the place, but each of them are filled with ads and so many things that you can use. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 4:24

Yeah. Um but I'd say it was probably about four years ago now that I started going by Fredhead. Maybe maybe a little longer. Um, but yeah.

SPEAKER_06 4:36

Is there a reason why you went from Not Psycho to Fredhead? Because Not Psycho was pretty chill, like to say in.

SPEAKER_01 4:41

Yeah, so I kind of just saw it as a one uh a step in in my personal personal like evolution. Um my sound was changing, I was taking it more serious, I really wanted to collaborate more and and release more, even though you know I still have way more in the vault than I do released. Yeah, that's a good problem to have, right? Yeah, um it was yeah, it was really just like you know what? Because even though I did put a lot of thought into Naz Psycho, it kind of felt like just a younger version of me, I guess, to put it simply.

SPEAKER_06 5:25

I guess that.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Even though Fred had came from a nickname from when I was a much younger child, that makes sense. It's almost like that feels a like a truer, like a better torch to continue to pass on.

SPEAKER_06 5:36

Like yeah, it's getting back down to basics. You gotta take it apart before you can put it back together, you know. Right, right. Yeah. That's uh can you tell me about your music? Like, tell me like what evolution are you in now? Like, it might require some preamble as to where you were before, but like, you know, what's the newest thing?

SPEAKER_01 5:54

Yeah, so um, I mean, in terms of very recent news, I think it was just last Friday or last Saturday, the uh backpack beat battle, backpack mafia B battle. Um, that was crazy. I was that was my first B battle um that I participated in and anything like that really. And it was just it was crazy, it was an experience.

SPEAKER_06 6:23

Um I missed it. I mean I feel bad now. Um how good was it? Like when are they doing it again? Do I have another one?

SPEAKER_01 6:31

I believe October. October. Yeah, it's kind of like a every few months thing. Um But yeah, I went up against Scott Summers, amazing producer. Do have me shook, honestly, at first with the switch ups. Um, but I ended up winning my round.

SPEAKER_03 6:52

Whoa.

SPEAKER_01 6:53

Yeah, that was pretty crazy. Umers, but yeah. Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Shout out to everybody that was there. Fee, uh Cash the Screen, the hosts, like everybody that showed up. Yeah, it was it was crazy. I really I like to think that I have an original sort of sound at this point. I don't necessarily know what to call it. It's kind of like very old school hip-hop influence, but also very underground modern hip-hop influence, but also a ton of other stuff and just experimental stuff. Um yeah, I just I like bringing something different. Um I have a very specific sort of taste with melody and emotion that I like to try to bring through and and hopefully pass on to other people. That makes sense.

SPEAKER_04 7:53

What are um some of your influences and um like beyond music as well? Like, do you incorporate like are you like some favorite films or stuff? Do you have like a big impact on you that helped you create music or books or anything like that?

SPEAKER_01 8:05

Absolutely. I mean that's I don't even really know where to begin with that because yeah, I feel like there's really there's so much that that has influenced it over the years. Like, I love to bring uh an element of surprise, an element of humor. You know, like there's um I love real old school, like shout out to uh it's a mad, mad, mad, mad world.

SPEAKER_04 8:34

Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

You heard of that? You seen that?

SPEAKER_04 8:37

Is that the movie?

SPEAKER_01 8:38

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's um I believe it came out in the 60s, and the humor is so crazy, it holds up uh to to modern day. That's that's one example I can think of off the top of my head where it's just like it it just has you so like what what the hell is going on? Like, and then there's some resolution, you know. So I love I love to bring that. Um I mean this classic sort of like jazz stuff of like dissonance and resolution or tension and resolution um so it's very cool, it's very cool.

SPEAKER_06 9:15

Yeah. Um tell me about your your process, like what do you do you record every day, or do you like make or do or is it like uh is there a ritual behind it, or is it like because I don't know, you're dealing with like a lot of like psychic webs here and a lot that you're pulling at.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

So number one, I've been slacking. I'd like to give yourself a break. Haven't been as consistent with it as I'd like to be. Um still like with with doing certain events like the the Operation Infinity Ciphers, Friday Night Ciphers, the um the backpack mafia beat battle, it was a huge inspiration and motivation for me. Even not even that I necessarily had to make new stuff. Right because I again I've been sending out a lot of stuff that I know people haven't heard, but I'm like, if I'm gonna be going to certain events, I wanna bring new stuff, I want to see what I can do, and it's just like damn. Before this beat battle, I made like a solid 20 in like a week or two, which is a lot more than I've been making. I know I can make more.

SPEAKER_06 10:22

Is that like a a night? A night of of uh like till you know five or more day in the night.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll prioritize that over eating if I have to. Oh I'll take a break. But yeah, you gotta be uh well nurse that you're creating, yeah. Exactly, exactly. When the when it hits it hits though, yeah, exactly. Um but yeah, it that's the other thing, and when it hits, it hits like I don't always sample. Um I'd say like really 50-50, maybe like 60-40 of my music involves samples, or it's just from scratch. So, like, whether that's from digging through vinyl records, CDs, cassette tapes, YouTube, SoundCloud, anything you can think of, or when I'm not even in, oh I want to find something mode, and I'm just watching a show or a movie, and I just hear it could be a two-second clip, a uh an intro, outro, a little something in between scenes, and I'm like, hold on, I pull up Audacity, I I change you know, go to my settings on my computer and I record it, save that for later. So there's it's just like a constant process of inspiration wherever I can get it, and it's just like playing with the tools at hand. That's how I see it. It's just so fun to me. Like, yeah, I don't do it for the release aspect or the money aspect. Of course, I want to, and you know, that's that's a beautiful uh lane to get into, but it's really just so fun to break stuff down and do like um shouts out to Bumble. Yeah, the one time he called me because he seen me make a he seen me play with my NPC a lot and just just really like break stuff down. And the one time he was like, yo, it's really like you're doing like a like an audio collage, like a I was like, that's a cool I never I've never heard it described that way.

SPEAKER_06 12:17

So it's awesome. I mean, creative is gotta create. You um you consider yourself like an artist? Like you're like like that's your purpose in life, is to go and do this kind of thing. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 12:27

Awesome. Have you always been kind of like instantaneously creative? Like you just see something, it's like, oh, I gotta incorporate this. Yeah, yeah. Or it was like a skill that you kind of have to build up to. You're in terms of like all the different forms of yeah, like when you were a kid, like could you just see like um maybe like read a comic book or something like that and be like, man, I want to incorporate this into my life. Yeah. Or like did it take you a few did it take you a while, like a few years to be like, I don't really know how to incorporate stuff, and then you've kind of figured out your own thing to do.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

That's a great question. Um because I've definitely felt that from a young age. In terms of maturing and and actualizing it and bringing it into physical world consistently, that's another qu you know, that's another thing. Um that definitely took took some years to to really get into. Um but yeah, like even nature, like I have a audio recorder kind of similar to to this. Oh, it's great. And I've gone out and recorded birds, incorporated that into my music and and stuff like that, and I want to do that more. So nice.

SPEAKER_05 13:35

Do you you grew up in Buffalo? Are you are you native? Yeah, yeah, Tanawanda.

SPEAKER_01 13:40

So went to Kenton School District and then Yeah, hell football stadium.

SPEAKER_06 13:47

Yeah. Always biked around to downtown and uh Well Canton is like literally like right next to University Heights.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

Like Yeah, I actually lived right by the border of Tanawanda, Amherst, and uh Buffalo. Wow, yeah. Right by what's that intersection? Like like Niagara Falls Boulevard, Main Street, Niger Falls Boulevard, and and uh and Bailey, like that area.

SPEAKER_06 14:19

Oh, okay. Yeah, so like right by the uh 499. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I know that neighborhood. I live in that neighborhood for like 20 years. Yeah. Like, you know, but exactly. It's it's a it's definitely an amalgamation of stuff of people. People are strange, that's for sure. How do you feel?

SPEAKER_01 14:35

Conversations are fun.

SPEAKER_04 14:37

How do you feel about the Buffalo music stream? Do you feel like it's in a good spot? Or do you think it has room to grow?

SPEAKER_01 14:43

Oh man, up until like two years ago, I I thought I was alone out here. I was like, dang, it's really where's everybody at? But that was just my ignorance. Like, yeah, I it's popping. That's that's my point. Is it is thriving, it is it is definitely growing. I I'm amazed by it. Yeah, I'm I'm honored to be a part of it, really.

SPEAKER_04 15:08

What um what made you realize that it was popping? Because like you said you didn't know anybody or you didn't really feel like it was. What was the moment to be like, oh man, like I'm in the right spot?

SPEAKER_01 15:18

Honestly, it might have been I don't know, there's been a few key events, like when I first went to I want to say it was 2022 Music Gaza or 2023. I'm not sure which year it was. It was one of those years though. Um it was at Riverworks, and they had I mean, for I I'm sure you guys know about music, like artists, like it really felt like an overwhelming amount of stages, which is again a great problem to have. I love having that problem in life of being overwhelmed by new music to get into.

SPEAKER_05 15:58

I always feel like it's happening all at once. I'm like, ah, how can I really both I want to take it all of it and just be like and start eating?

SPEAKER_06 16:05

You know, you don't think it's just steps when you go there because they have to walk all the time.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

Yeah, exactly. Yo, it's a real it's a real festival experience, it's crazy. So I was just going from one to the next, to the next, to the next, and then I got to the hip-hop cipher that they had near the end that that year, and it was just like all these people I'd never heard of, just bars at their bars at their bars at their bars, and I was just like, what the fuck? This is oh man, what did that change how you he you made music? Yeah, that was one of the catalysts. Did it change how I made music? Yeah, yeah. Not necessarily I'm not I'm not sure at that time if it did. Um I definitely it may have put a seed in my mind in terms of cipher beats because that wasn't necessarily something I've I've always been focused on. Like that's all right, it's kind of a start for interrupting. No, no, no, not at all, not at all. Um, and then my boy Jazeb with Operation Infinity. Shout out Jazeb. Um, when his events really started to take off, I was like, alright, what is going on? Who are all these amazing people? Where are they coming from? I did not know Buffalo had all these amazing artists, like wow. Um and yeah, there was the uh Operation Infinity Somewhat Rise collaboration event at Highlights. Shout out to Talia and Kelly. Shout out to them. Yeah, um they had me as a DJ at that event, and that was kind of like my first real getting involved with in terms of DJing or anything at that time. So that was like that was the first real big catalyst.

SPEAKER_06 17:56

How was it like showing your music like you know, off the online store or whatever, and like playing live, like in front of people? How did that feel?

SPEAKER_01 18:05

Yeah, I was I was nervous at first. I walked in and I instantly energy is real, that's for sure. So I felt that energy and I was like, alright, where this is I already knew it was gonna go well because I knew what to play at that point. Um so it was just amazing to be able to help get the vibe of the room further amplified, and then it was not even planned for at all, but there was like an impromptu cipher that happened. Like nice, I can't even see. I had some, it wasn't even my beats, it was like some Kev Brown and like I don't even know who else.

SPEAKER_04 18:42

Subconsciously, was that like the creation of the Sacred Cypher?

SPEAKER_01 18:45

Oh, yeah, that was that was the first Sacred Cypher. Oh yeah, like unofficially, um, definitely. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 18:55

That's really cool. So so um just uh to pivot off of that, um what what is life in Buffalo for you just in general? I mean, it doesn't have to be like music or anything like that. Um I think that we forget like what a great place it is that we live here, like not just as like filled with people who want to go and hear more music, but like you know, really living their lives and like supporting one another. Like is there uh you know, well what what do you do? Like what do you dig?

SPEAKER_01 19:23

So I really I love biking, nature, gardening, anything, anything nature related really. Nice, um, yeah, as well as uh like connections and and galleries and that sort of that sort of thing, you know, like uh shouts out to Bika. I don't know if you're gonna be able to do it, yes. I only went there for the first time uh a couple months ago. It's definitely spots yeah, spots like that really uh remind me why I love Buffalo.

SPEAKER_06 20:01

Yeah, it's a great place. Um I was uh thinking just the other day, so many people have told me that Buffalo is a very segregated place. Like people, like there's a lot of obstacles between artists, even to get to know that there is another artist. Like you had that that transformation, that that that catalyst when you found out that you know the world was a bigger place here in Buffalo. How do you think we can address like that that that that happened to somebody else? Like, how do we get make that aha wake-up moment for other people that may be out there ready to go and like make some music but are just completely unaware that they have any outlet here in Buffalo to do that?

SPEAKER_01 20:37

Yeah, yeah. Um and I think that even connects to other facets of life in Buffalo. Like it's such a it has so much potential. Yeah really, like, and there's definitely quite a few people. It's it yeah, it's a small town, but it's the kind of town where it's like every time you go to the store you see a different person. So it's still you know, to at least that's how I feel. I don't always go to the store at the same time, but like um I like Uberies, it's really hard. Um in terms of yeah, like I don't want to just say the the the result or the answer is you you just have to make your own space because there just has to there just have to be enough spaces with availability if that makes sense. So not everybody has to make their own space, but they do have to know where they can show themselves.

SPEAKER_06 21:39

I mean 'cause it's chill making your own music after a little for f by yourself for a long time and just you know putting it up on SoundCloud. So you I'm sure you relate, but like like, you know, there's nothing quite like it's just like, Oh, this is actually people that want to listen to this music, like, oh they're right around the corner right now. Like, oh, I'll have to do is bring my deck over there and Right, right. And like, um I guess like have ha has Do you think it could backfire? Is there any like part of the Buffalo scene that maybe like a dark side of the scene that you that you're aware of? Or that like Hmm. I don't know. I'm I'm becoming more philosophical as a podcast.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

I would say I mean to slightly switch gears and just kinda humor where you're going with that. I would say yes. Just because I'd say look, I'm a very silly individual, but I also have at the core I'm very serious. Like I I really want to bring change about in this world and and at least catalyze if it's a little, you know, a little plain a little C here and it makes that butterfly effect, you know. So um I don't see everyone else with uh as pure of a of a intention.

SPEAKER_04 23:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:05

But that's that comes with everything. That's that's the individual. Right. So it's like I'm not gonna I'm not gonna really trip about it. Like I still enjoy, I still play, you know, some less conscious music when I'm in my car, you know, if the beats banging and I don't really pay attention to the lyrics because I don't know, I just I feel like I need some different stuff sometimes, but when it comes down to it, the conscious, conscious, conscious shit is really what I'm about. And shit that will make you feel or or contemplate or cry or laugh or what something like that.

SPEAKER_06 23:49

That's very cool. Yeah, good. So is there a uh is there a particular track that you think um you know kind of like embodies that that idea of uh planting a seed and like watching something grow? Because if there is one, then we're gonna go home and play it on the show right now.

SPEAKER_04 24:17

I've we had a song, but I wouldn't really call it a conscious one, so I wouldn't bring it out.

SPEAKER_06 24:22

Oh man. I'm sorry, it could be any kind of song.

SPEAKER_01 24:31

They're definitely Yeah, I don't know. There's gotta be one off of um Me and Gizev have a a collab album that I that I produced all all the songs on. Honestly, it might be the first track on there. I'm forgetting what it's what it's called. Um but he Yeah, he said some some crazy stuff. The album is called How Life Flows.

SPEAKER_05 25:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 25:13

How Life Flows Correct. Um it's there's a title track with the same name.

unknown 25:22

Cool.

SPEAKER_01 25:22

Yeah, I believe it's the first track, Float Through. Float Through, alright.

SPEAKER_06 25:28

We'll we'll uh cue that right up.

SPEAKER_04 26:23

The bringer of life, the bringer of unimaginable joy, the cause of catastrophic destruction. Knowing that you have something so powerful, wouldn't you want the best to take care of it? Pardon me for saying this. I am just a humble announcer. But if I had a gooey, I'd probably get it waxed at Cheyenne's waxing studio on 830 M would have. You have power in between your legs. So why not have it taken care of by the best?

SPEAKER_06 26:59

And welcome back. I hope you listeners like that song. Um uh Breadhead, why don't you uh tell us like what's going on? What's coming up in your world next couple?

SPEAKER_01 27:08

Yeah, so we got the Backyard Shenanigans um Operation Infinity Sun Will Rise event this Saturday, July 18th. Nice from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. I believe it's basically an all-day extravaganza. Um there's gonna be free plants, there's gonna be free music, free love, free hugs, everything you can imagine.

SPEAKER_04 27:36

Everybody needs a hug for a while. Let's do it.

SPEAKER_01 27:40

Yeah, and then uh last Sunday of every month is the uh Operation Infinity open mic, uh, as well as the Sacred Cypher for the last hour. Um, which the Sacred Cipher is usually just all my beats, and anyone who wants to come up and rap in freestyle, you know, just pass the mic and and vibe out. So that is I believe there's a chance it's actually happening early August instead of the last Sunday of July. So yeah, you know, just just check the socials, we'll be updated on that. Operation Infinity, frethead, you know. Cool.

SPEAKER_06 28:24

Well, I'm really excited about that. Three to ten on a Saturday, it sounds like a really good way to go and uh Yeah, we need more summer events like that.

SPEAKER_01 28:32

You know how it is in Buffalo. Everybody pops out, comes out the woodwork for these three months that we I possibly can enjoy the outside, and then it gets brick and it gets poisonous outside. The air becomes unbreathable, you can't even walk outside without your skin cracking. So yeah, we it's a vibe, you know. I'm gonna be um there's nothing official yet, but there's definitely gonna be some outdoor ciphers, very cool outdoor concerts wherever we can while it's still warm out as well.

SPEAKER_03 29:04

People keep your eyes out for those.

SPEAKER_01 29:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 29:07

And um, I guess that's the end of our show for today. Max, do you want to say anything?

SPEAKER_03 29:10

No, it's just been a pleasure talking to you, Mr. Fred Hud. Nice to meet you in person, bro.

SPEAKER_06 29:14

Appreciate it. Yeah, and um, hopefully, we'll see you uh listeners at the uh shenanigans, and um, yeah, peace. May the sauce be with you guys.

SPEAKER_04 29:25

Peace. After a long day, it's hard to turn off. That's why I go to Mammoth Cannabis on 212 Ohio Street. Their stuff I have you laid out flatter than a mammoth's foot. From flour to pre-rolls, vaporizers to concentrate. You can rest assured that something big is waiting for you at Mammoth Dispensary. Just keep in mind, if you smell cereal from the General Mills factory nearby, they can't help you. You have to go home and get a bowl yourself. It's a dispensary. Max the cup, we try the best. So here we go. Like, why you got a podcast? Everybody got the to be quite honest. I'm got a job. Living at prospects like a woman gone rock. Thank Joe for the pot. I'm not designed to crap. I'm too pretty for present. But talking off the dome, I'm finna make a kill. If Joe Rogan can do it, I sure can. I've never fucked a stool, so I've got the upper hand. If Joe Rogan can do it, I sure can. I've never fucked a stool, so I've got the upper hand, it's the BMP pocket.

unknown 31:02

It's the BMP pocket. It's the BMP pocket.