Graphic by Me
Sean ‘Unda’ Carter has been a true inspiration to me over the years; His hunger, ambition and drive are unstoppable; CEO/Sound Designer/Producer/Composer/Rapper at Generation Me-X entertainment, but on top of them all he is an artist. A gifted artist with a hunger for sound, for music, for the art. To him, music is more than just the basic dictionary definition that music is “an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color.”
Music is his life [literally] and its paying off, because this young musical genius [Sorry Sean, I insist.] is going places. He is currently attending Savannah College of Art and Design, and on top of juggling his studies he manages to uphold and expand, an impressive, solid resume not to mention various projects such as fashion shows, commercials, short films, radio, and sound installation for art exhibitions.
Fashion shows [and obviously music] are actually why I asked Sean to do this interview for Perfectism. Working in the fashion industry and going to fashion shows I have more than a few times come across a fashion show with a bad choice of “fashion show music”, and it would comprehensively ruin a collection for me. Music is not only sound, it’s the bearing of the soul, and therefore it accomodates a fashion collection perfectly because the music is meant to mirror and inspire the essence of the collection.
Sean ‘Unda’ Carter’s has such a wide variety of music, such a wide variety of soul that it is so easy to connect. His music is alive, it truly provokes and enlivens emotion. Due to this, his music is nothing less than perfect for fashion show music for almost any designer and any collection. You can listen to his music at: http://www.genmx.com
First thing’s first. Describe your music in 5 words or less.
Honesty. Unorthodox. Passion. Inspiration. Love.
When and/or how did you gain interest in music and keeps you inspired now?
Music has always been a staple in my household. One of my earliest memories is
when my dad and I would sit and listen to George Clinton & The Funkadelic, Stevie
Wonder, & Earth Wind & Fire when I would come home from school in the 1st grade.
We did our homework to classical music, and after I started playing the violin and
the saxophone in middle school I started to compose my own pieces. I started
writing rhymes when I was 9, and I started making beats when I turned 12. Music is
therapy to me, I’ve been doing it for so long and habitually, that it’s like breathing in
a way. When I don’t make music for a couple of days, I have withdrawal symptoms.
When I say music is my life, I literally mean my day is filled with either making
music, editing music, recording, etc. It really IS my life. Living, traveling, partying,
reading, writing, and just talking with people keeps me inspired. I find it funny when
musicians say they’re not inspired anymore. There’s inspiration everywhere, you
just have to look at things differently. Go experience something you haven’t before,
go outside your comfort zone.
Has growing up as a Third-Culture Kid have any effect on your growth as an artist? and if so, how?
Absolutely. Being raised around so many different cultures you get a chance to hear
different types of music, musicians, genres, & sounds. You get to see how people
perceive different types of music as well. It definitely gave me an open mind, and as
an artist I feel that’s a valuable thing to have. I can safely say that my music doesn’t
sound like anybody else’s, due to the fact that I fuse genres, ideas, & stories together
from growing up in Thailand. That turns a lot of people off (major label execs
especially). They tell me it’s too different and say, “You should sound more like
(insert your Top 40 cookie cutter pop singer here)”. Most importantly as a TCK, I
started to realize that America is not the only music market on the planet. The world
for some reason is more progressive thinking towards music than America is.
I know as a someone who’s involved in the fashion world i’ve always had your music picked out, very specifically too. Is that something you would like to get into? Producing/Preforming or having your music used at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week possibly?
Hell no. Nope. I got beef with Mercedes and Fashion. It’s not going down like
that. I’m just joking though, I’m open to any and all venues. It would have to
be ridiculously wack for me to say no to a project. Doing work for Mercedes
Benz Fashion Week would be huge for me. I’ve done work for fashion shows,
commercials, short films, radio, and sound installation for art exhibitions. Hit me up
and I’ll be there.
If, as a designer, I come to you with a line/collection,
and I tell you what is behind the specific collection and how I see it? would you be able/willing to transform it into music?
Without a doubt. I like to sit down with a client and get as much information and detail as possible. Communication is key! As they’re telling me about the project, the music is playing in my head, so its easy to create. I have a lot of fun doing music for collections or fashion, because the designer is usually as passionate about her craft as I am about mine.
It’s great to be surrounded by people like that. Plus, there’s beautiful women in gorgeous outfits walking to your music. Boom.
What would you describe as the most important element in music?
The melody. The melody is what gives a song characteristics. Whether it be sexy,
sad, soulful, etc. The melody is going to stick in the listeners head if it’s done right.,
just as a good character would in a film. I’m a sucker for harmonies too, especially
60s soul harmonies. For example, listen to Jimmy James & The Vagabond’s cover
song of “Ain’t No Big Thing”. I’ve been listening to that song a lot recently and the
background female harmonies make me melt.
When producing a peice, do you set out with the intention of acheiving a
reflection of your inspiration,or is it usually more free spirited than that?
It depends really. A lot of times I’ll just sit down and start playing on the keys and
it’ll evolve to a full song. Sometimes I’ll be writing or freestyling through out the day,
just sentences at a time and I can hear the music that would compliment them in my
head.
How does your family feel about having a musical genius in their midst?
Haha, I don’t think that they feel I’m a musical genius. For anything that you do for
a long time, your going to get good at it. I remember in high school my parents and
teachers were always like, “If you only spent as much time on your school work as
you do on your music, you would have straight A’s”. Well, all that time I spent on
my music and sound engineering is paying off and is opening doors all the time.
It is funny though, to play piano in front of my parents or play them a song and
have them shocked like, “We had no idea you were making music like this” or “This
is you? Where did you learn to play like this?” I was teaching myself when I was
supposed to be in school being taught.
Tell me a bit about your plans and goals for the future in terms of your musical
career?
I’m working very hard to take my music & sound production company Generation
Me-X Entertainment to another level. I want to improve marketing, distribution, and
promotion so that’s my main goal as of now. Another goal is to re-vamp my radio
show Café Del Unda in NYC, to a full fledged show with more dialog, interviews,
and dope music from around the globe. The show was in the top 4 most listened to
programs at the station (Art International Radio) and our goal for 2011 is to reach 1
million listeners (In 2010 we had 250,000).
I’m working on my sophomore album titled It All Happens For A Reason, and I’m
working with my blunt brother P Villa on a collab project titled Unda Tha Villa. Our
Blunt Guts Nation collective will be collaborating with Cascade Records in Paris,
France for a project as well. I acted and scored a film that will be released this year,
directed by Mike Ellwood. I’m also working with the beautiful Jazz Richardson who
is a talented singer, rapper, & multi-instrumentalist. My brother J.Carter & I released
an album titled The Me – X Factor right before the New Year and it’s getting great
reviews. Life is too short to live it in a daydream. I’m playing for keeps.
Sean ‘Unda’ Carter, and J.Carter worked on the album “The Me-X Factor” together. Everything is originally produced, written, composed, and recorded. Have a listen to the digital release here:
http://genmx.com/
