It's been a while since Deuce Ellis released something unique but lucky for us, his break from releasing music has come to an end. He explains his most recent release, Experiments in Electricity, as an open source instrumental project. The production of the project began in the Fall of 2015, a few months before his move to Hawaii. With Experiments in Electricity, Deuce aims to begin to paint the sonic picture to the world he's creating, while also inviting other MCs & artists to share and contribute their own unique visions.

Before we get into the music questions. How is the transition from NYC to Hawaii?

Crazy man. A lot of adjusting, but it was what we wanted and after getting set, just a dream come true. Part of the reason for going was place myself in a completely new environment and have to be on my toes. But it's way different from the mainland, and learning the culture and learning the islands has really helped expand my perspective. If you respect and love the island and plan your work and work your plan, you can hold magic in your hands.

What inspired you to create Experiments in Electricity?

Working furiously to create music for an album. The concept evolved and was really shaped by personal experiences and the books that I was reading. While "An Electric Ride" tells the various stories of all its passengers and why they'd be travelling the vast expanses of the universe to get to Electric City - I also become obsessed with fleshing out the world(s) that were these people's lives. The end result was an abundance of musical ideas, and some of the tracks seemed to fall into place to sort of set the scene for the story - without words. All the tracks just flowed together seamlessly and plus I thought it'd be cool to put it out to the world and let people vibe and other artists to rock to it as they pleased.

Is this instrumental album a preview of what is to come next from you?

The beats for the album are crazy yo! I'd say this instrumental project is a piece of the puzzle. Moving definitely expanded my perspective and long-term vision. It definitely begins the telling of the story and paints the scene a bit. I also did a lot of work on other artists projects and for some apps and commercials, and that stuff sounds completely different. I put all I had into the album though. I'm really excited about everything in the pipeline, oh and there's videos from this instrumental project too!

Why the break from Hip-Hop?

What is hip hop man? I just went in and made exactly what I wanted, I don't know what's more hip-hop than that. What, am I supposed to rehash boom bap? Make trap beats? I just focus on expressing an emotion, making you dance, or nodding your head. As an MC I'm at a level where I'm super confident in my skill set, but as a producer I still feel vulnerable, so this was a great way to expose myself, express myself, and really be in a position for exponential growth.

How would you describe Experiments in Electricity in 3 words?

Powerful, Sincere, and Electric.

Embed for Experiments in Electricity

Are you looking for artists to sing or rap over the instrumentals?

Yes, I encourage it, that'd be so cool, it's an open source project - so while it's totally awesome to just groove and vibe and rock with the music, the idea of it morphing and expanding and seeing other people's ideas flow to it is a really seductive idea to me.

What's next?

Videos from Experiments in Electricity, collaborations with some really dope artists, a free book of poetry in December, the album An Electric Ride for early 2017, and then a "Secret Location Art Party Tour" for the spring-summer. Lots of love and positive vibes man.

Connect with Deuce Ellis
www.deuceellis.com
Facebook.com/DeuceEllisMusic
Twitter.com/DeuceEllis
Soundcloud.com/deuceellis
Youtube.com/PyramidEntGroup