E-Conomy | ‘I Wish It Would Rain Today’
Ingrained in jazz, funk, UK garage, hip-hop, and soul, E-Conomy‘s I Wish It Would Rain Today serves as an open book for those who feel discouraged by their progression in life. Likewise, the album is a forum for others to show their competitors who’s the last one standing. From stacking up paper to opening up about pursuing hopes and dreams, E-Conomy provides the soundscape for musicians like IvoryTHREE, Dom Giovanni, andReg Mason , to name a few, to find a moment of peace. The themes at hand speak about their “all gas no brakes” work ethic, self-assurance, and profound thoughts.
He adds,
“My life before and during creating the album inspired the theme. I was in a job moving up the ladder that I didn’t have the passion for. I felt almost trapped and stuck, but I was the reason no change was being made.
I consciously continued choosing the devil I knew rather than the one I didn’t. So that brought on feelings of depression and complete burnout. In some ways, I still haven’t recovered because I went from working for someone else nonstop to working on this album nonstop. The album cover is me screaming from the same bedroom that I was working from home and making music in.”
Songs like “Praying For Rain To Come (feat. The IZM)” and “CrySomeMo (feat. Dom Giavonni)” explore the battlefield life throws us in. The other songs without features mostly explore E-Conomy’s solid producing skills. Tracks like “Stuck (feat Reg Mason)” and “WaveRunner (feat. IvoryTHREE),” give others leeway to tells peers that “copyright won’t save you in the booth.”
“WaveRunner (feat. IvoryTHREE)” is a hip-hop offering that finds the rapper taking pride in their excellence.
“I’m the realest living/Off the dribble nigga triple double no assist/Made my splash on this net,”
IvoryTHREE spits along with
“Holy water all in my drip/Its in the stars/You can beat all the odds/Just touch the helm of my shit/Nigga we came to conquer/With the midas touch its the gold standard/In I we trust.”
Listen to I Wish It Would Rain Today:
Read our interview below:
How does your new project differ from your previous work?
This album is a bit darker but more well-rounded than the debut album I released “The Moon Keeps Following Me”. That first project, was much more light-hearted, and upbeat, with comedy clips in between the tracks that help tell the story, and was very sampled-based. In this project, outside of one track (#3 Renew), there aren’t any samples. I wanted to keep the sound design mostly analog and have a more realistic drum feel. Also on this one I have other featured vocalists along with me as well that brought this project together, I couldn’t have done it without them, they all told the story I wanted to tell from their perspective. This was amazing because I gave them minimal direction and for the most part didn’t even explain the theme or album title to them, so in a way this album is a social experiment as well. So special thanks to Iv, Dom, Reg, IZM., and Caroline, appreciate you.
Three things you need while in the studio:
Beyond my equipment (my Korg Minilogue is a must-have for every session), I would say the only tangible things I need while in the studio are water and a comfortable chair, because I lock in for hours, so definitely need to stay hydrated and don’t want a bad back lol.
What kind of ‘sound’, production-wise, did you have in the back of your mind, prior to entering the studio?
Unless some type of inspiration hits me before I hit the studio, I usually just let the universe take the wheel when it comes to the sound I’m going for. Old me used to go in with a particular sound in mind and not be quite happy with the results or get that feeling of “producers block”, now I just go in with an open mind that whatever is going to happen in this session is going to come out great no matter what direction it takes me.
Favorite track to record off your new project?
I do have so many favorites because all the artists featured here delivered and as this project continues to sit and grow that favorite changes for me, but my favorite would be “How Do You Color A Sound? (Ft. Caroline Maya)”, it’s formatted like a jam session and mashes two eras together. The first half was improvised on an analog synth, very 80s based. It almost sounds like a marching band stuck in a digital world. Then the 2nd half of the song goes into a switch-up that goes full-on 70s funk/soul. Caroline adding in her vocals helped me give it a choir-like effect, but it was just me and her doing all the vocal work on that second half. It’s just so free-flowing and fun to listen to and gives you a great experience all the way through.
What do you hope people take from it?
I hope people take away that there is beauty in madness and we all have to take this life thing one day at a time, ultimately just striving to become the best version of ourselves. Don’t be afraid to change and pivot in life, we have one life to live, don’t get stuck doing things that make you unhappy, make healthy selfish choices, and make something meaningful of your existence in your way.
Explain your creative process:
When making things from scratch, I usually start with the drums. I try to find an interesting pocket that I haven’t done before and work on getting that groove correct. Once that’s down then I start to bring in other elements that pop into my head whether that be playing the keys to come up with the chords, finding a lead melody, or simply adding background noise to fill the emptiness until I find the right elements. This can take a couple of hours or it could take a couple of weeks. There are ideas that I will shelve for weeks just because I wasn’t fully hearing or expressing feelings that need to be conveyed on the track, whether that be instrumentation-wise or vocally.
For the sample-based stuff though, I try to pull out emotions from the track that are waiting to be pulled out. Sampling is a beautiful art form and it’s almost like this song was made for you to repurpose into something out of this world. I can never sample without adding instrumentation of my own though. I try my best to match the existing instruments and blend the new ones to make it feel like those sounds were there in the original recording.
Highlight of 2022 thus far?
I would say the highlight of my 2022 would be finishing this project, to be honest. I haven’t been releasing much at all or doing any shows before the completion of this project, kind of been cooped up in my hole at home, so finally saying the project that you obsessed over the last 9 months is finally done was probably my favorite moment. The year is halfway done, but I hope this album and the other things I have lined up for the year bring more highlights for me that I can share.
If you had one message to give your fans what would it be?
Life is short and fleeting, so if you’ve taken a moment of it to listen to my music, I don’t take it for granted one bit; I hope this latest piece of work touches you, this is just the start of something special.