Supporting each other is as prevalent now as it has ever been. This broad, sorta generalized statement can apply to any pursuit or profession…but you know how we roll here at Moved by Music. Supporting music and art is the core of my writing, and I’ve been so blessed to tap into and communicate with various types of multi-dimensional musicians/artists.
At times, networks can turn into messy and often forgotten strings of webbing that simply...hang there. They aren’t climbed on or built off of, and soon result in those neglected strands falling out like fragile silk that whispers emptiness before colliding with the ground.
Without getting too awfully poetic here, what I’m trying to say is what I’ve been telling those I wish to write about.
"If I want to write about you, I believe in what you're doing." I support you. I want to coexist together in creative spaces that transcend mere words.
Emmanuel Harrison, or as he’s professionally known, Mystro Productions became one of those people back in March of this year (2023). Remember my being a part of that panel for Rahm Academy cohorts? Well, Mystro was also in that bunch of folks! He was the first person that day, other than my pal the president (of Rahm Academy, Cam), that I struck up a convo with.
“You must be one of the cohorts, I take it?”
“Yessirrr!” Mystro said as we shook hands and introduced ourselves.
I wound up having to cut our initial conversation short (I wasn’t technically supposed to be talking too in depth with him yet, as I needed to…as Cam said… “save it for the interview!” haha). However, once the gauntlet was underway and Mystro had circled back to the table where myself and one Sam Skold were sitting, we essentially picked up where we left off. Sam and I both agreed that Mystro had fervor and flare when it came to his pursuit in music. Thinking back, if my memory beseeches me, I believe Sam also gave Mystro a similar note to that of his pastor (catch that story here); that being (akin to the message), “keep striving for more.”
Finishing a project and obtaining goals (no matter how big or small) is always satisfying. However, once some have been achieved, others must be set. It’s all a part of the success (and insanity) of creative vision.
If there’s any artist I’ve had the pleasure of knowing, as of late, that surely embodies what it means to have creative vision…it is certainly Mystro!
Enough of my babble for now! Come one…come all…and be mystified by the one, the great, the mighty… MYSTROOOOO!
MBM: This is certainly becoming my classic first question…when did you first realize that music moved you beyond being a simple interest?
MYSTRO: To me music, from birth, (music) has always been a humongous thing. From breaking hangers and playing drums with them, to learning to (actually) play drums at seven, to my mom putting me in piano lessons at thirteen, it’s always been a part of my life. But it changed when I was like, “okay, now, what am I gonna do as a career,” ya’know? It was always a fun thing to do…like, I applied it at church but it really changed when I was like, “okay, I’m about to go to college…what am I gonna go to college for?” And then I had to decide on something. I have a lot of abilities, normal things that I CAN do…but it's not gonna be as fun or interesting or lifelong as it would be if I just picked something I loved. In college, I finally went for piano (to go with a major in Music Worship & Leadership); just to grow in my musical abilities, and probably about the second year of college I was like, “okay, this is definitely what I want to do.” I started making my own music at that point, learned how to produce, and started to be able to create my own thoughts and ideas and implement them in music. That’s when I knew this was it.
MBM: Unpack Mystro Productions some, what key elements go into your curation process?
MYSTRO: I feel like, from my background, I had started out in church so I started with the gospel scene, and then it flowed into the Christian hip-hop scene. Then as I grew up I started pulling from jazz, I started pulling from rock music, surprisingly; some people look at me and be like, “you listen to rock?” And I’ll be like, “I listen to metal. Like, HEAVY metal!” (we then proceeded to both thoroughly enjoy the fact that we are both metalheads, haha). I didn’t know ABOUT it though, see, I was like, when I was younger, I was like “okay heavy metal, that’s probably crazy, a whole bunch of screaming, that’s cool…” but then my friend got me into it and it started coming out in how I produce. I was just like, oh my gosh…I started listening to this a lot more than I thought I did.
MBM: I’m totally biased because I love that kinda music, but like…the production side of that kinda music is NUTS. Like, [if you don’t know] you will be shocked by what people can do in that realm of music.
MYSTRO: Bro absolutely, all like… seven guitar layers, all three drum layers… [laughter and more friendliness was shared here]; but I got around different people and started listening to R&B, listening to Soul, listening to a whole lot more hip-hop spaces in the mainstream and then that all comes together and when I get in a space where I’m about to create, I pull from all those spaces. It all comes under this umbrella of hip-hop, the majority of the times, but you’ll feel the rock, you’ll feel the R&B, in places; I’ve dabbled in different genres and (just) pulled them into the hip-hop world but it all comes out in different ways.
MBM: The Symphony was raw and emotive, I feel like God was definitely placed in it…sonically, where do you feel like the Lord is moving you?
MYSTRO: So, I just (now) started working on new stuff, (and when) The Symphony dropped, (about) a month later, I was like… “don’t touch the dial, don’t touch it at all; give yourself the moment to breath it in!” Then afterwards, I gave myself permission to work again and so many new things came out. Like, there was (some) hip-hop, and then there was (some) R&B, and then there was Pop, and then there was like slightly rock, and it was like…you can tell that I could pull from it (other genres) but then it (the production) started getting blatant. Like, “Oh, this ROCK!” So my sound is different (but) the motive is still the same. The message (goes) a little bit deeper, like…I started Symphony because I wanted to start this idea of our lives being like this beautiful tale. This beautiful story and, like, symphonic FEEL that has dissonance, harmony, joy...it has low moments, it has high moments...(something) that’s really engaging and really big, but then sometimes…it’s really low. It’s impact but it’s like you’re in this valley and you don’t know what’s happening. I wanted it to feel that way but then I was like, “there are so many more complexities to it than just one album.” So in this next project, I feel like I’m gonna go with (something like) The Symphony but I wanna go deeper and explore more ideas with that. I want to explore new challenges that we face by telling my own challenges. Like, in the past six months...I feel like I got beat up haha…life has been kicking butt(s) and I feel like that’s where everybody's at and I wanna be able to tell that tale better. I wanna give out (more), that’s what I always try to allude to. In all of my songs, regardless of how deep or low the song is, regardless of how it feels, I always want to allude to hope…”
MBM: Any genres or styles of songwriting you haven’t explored that sound most interesting to you?
MYSTRO: My biggest goal was to get into live arrangements. Like, bigger things that people can listen to and (that I can have) literally in front of me…I have some music right now that I’m working on with live parts. Usually (now) a lot of stuff is analog and from a computer but I wanna get into more live sounds. Symphonically, it’s gonna be very off putting. Like, “oh, this is different!” I wanna (move) more out of rapping at some point. I would love to explore other things, y’know what I’m sayin’? It really can (be more of a box sometimes) because people have this expectation of, “Awh, he’s not rapping in this song? Where’s the rap at?” I’m trying to get into lofi stuff, lofi is really fun to me. When I did that partial lofi-feel with “Abide,” it felt like home to me. I wanna also get into doing music for movies. Like with the strings, the orchestra, the composing…that would be dope. That would be a cool challenge for me!
MBM: What sort of advice would you give to yourself, other artists, or anyone looking to round out 2023 and head into an inspiring 2024?
MYSTRO: The biggest thing I’ve learned this year, and (this) is gonna change the way I do things from now on, is to constantly be prepared to LEARN. One more (thing) is (that) the music industry changes *snaps with fingers* quick. Like, from early 2023 to now (even), the music industry and how you promote yourself has changed. From now into 2024, the algorithm(s) of social media change, the algorithm of what is and isn’t pushed changes…just learning (more) nuances of what works now and what (hasn’t) worked then. There’s things I’m reading (saying) “music videos are dead, don’t do them anymore…” and they’re not completely wrong, because people’s attention spans don’t last anymore so you gotta grab (people) while you can.
Without being as long-winded as my intro (or as I usually am), I leave the Moved with this snippet from mine and Mystro’s recorded meet up. It wasn’t transcribed into the above interview, but it was an incredible point he made that I just could not help but include. Follow Mystro on his social platforms and do keep your eyes and ears peeled for more.
This is only his beginning!
“I think that was my goal [hope]. I think that the biggest thing that I really (want) out of my music was it to be something that you connect with. Something that, regardless of what you’re into, you enjoyed something in it that felt true to you; and the biggest thing in my music, in every part of my music, regardless what era it was…whether it was the This Is Me era, whether it's The Symphony era, whether it’s the future era(s) that come…I want there to be a message. I want there to be something you can learn. Something you can grow in. Something you can connect to. Something you feel like (makes you say), ‘Oh, he’s human too...’”
- Emmanuel Harrison (Mystro Productions), 2023
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