[Digiview #4] An interview with UNCLE SQUIDZ

 Uncle Squidz is a producer as well as a vocalist, he has released over a dozen albums over a long period of time and is now experimenting more with using his own vocals on his new project "Magick Flavor Station" I had the pleasure of interviewing him recently

How did you come up with your artist name?

I came up with the name Uncle Squidz in middle school, my YouTube account name was Uncle Squid Kid cause of splatoon then I shortened it to Squidz at some point. (Have no clue where the Uncle part came from to be completely honest with you.) As for Magick Flavour Station, there was this spice rack in the cafeteria at the high school I went to call “the magic flavor station” so I stole that, dropped the “The” and spelled it funny. Let's hope I don’t have to deal with trademark issues later.

 What was it like performing Live?

I am not the best at it yet but I really really loved it. It was great to play my music in front of friends and strangers. Shoutout Walker for setting that gig up and hopefully more coming soon… I’d love to do shows under Magick Flavour Station in particular as I think that’d be a better project to do concerts with. I have so much ideas on how I’d do that live but I won’t say any here. (The live set was recorded in its entirety on a Hi8 camera and I plan on uploading a rip of it onto YouTube and Bandcamp this Friday)

How long have you been playing the banjo?

Ah yes, Banjo. I actually bought one last year specifically for what would become Magick Flavour Station. I bought a tenor because it’s way better for strumming. The next MFS project should have more banjo, I’m gonna become Vaporwave game, Kermit

What's your favorite brand of liquor?

I don’t drink actually, I haven’t even gotten drunk before, not yet anyway. I don’t judge people who are into it it’s just not for me I don’t think. Sorry that’s a lame answer lmao

I'm vibing with your album "Tell Someone I Love You Today" it has some really cool demos, are you working on anymore projects that feature your vocals?

You know I’m glad you said that cause I was thinking of deleting the record. That album came about from messing with my cassette recorder, I wanted to make something Daniel Johnston-esque. (Side note: MingKurray made a bomb ass remix of “Ono” that we’ll release someday…) As for singing, I’m kinda focusing more on Magick Flavour Station so expect more of that at some point soon I hope, N64 Love Songs is my favorite thing I’ve made so far and I wanna do more of that. (I can send you a track from the new MFS project if you want)

What was the first vaporwave album that you listened to?

I heard some tracks from Mac Plus first after randomly stumbling upon that vaporwave doc by WOSX like 5-6 years ago? I think I was 13 or 14 when I watched it and I knew I loved the genre then. However, the first album I listened to top to bottom was either Palm Mall or Late Nite Delight (LND was the first on cassette was the first vaporwave physical I ever bought). I hold both those albums, along with the artists behind them, near and dear to my heart.

Do you have a favorite indie artist?

I have a shit ton. If I had to choose one though, it’d probably be Daniel Johnston. I found his music when I was in the middle of my junior year of high school and instantly fell in love with it. He’s been a huge inspiration to me and I probably would’ve not started songwriting without him. The dude got me through hella tough times and will probably continue to do so until I’m in the grave. Aside from him I also am absolutely in love with Field Medic and his music, he and Daniel are the two biggest influences on Magick Flavour Station.

Is there anyone in the vaporwave scene you want to do a collab with?

There are a lot of artists I’d love to collaborate with. Like if I’m a Twitter mutual with you, I’d love to collaborate. I think the artist I’d love to collaborate the most within the scene would be Male Tears if he counts, I absolutely am in love with the gothic New Wave shit he does. If we’re talking a more vapor artist though, probably Luxury Elite. I’ve been listening to their music since middle school and would love to see what they’d do if I sent them loops/songs and shit to mess with.

If you were stranded on an island which 3 music-related items would you take with you?

Fuck that’s a hard one… probably my Cassette 4 track, a Casio keyboard from the 80s/90s (preferably my MT-520), and an SM57. If the mic doesn’t count I’d also bring my acoustic guitar.

Uncle Squid sent me a track recently under his other alias "Magick Flavour Station" titled "Bound 3" this track is very relaxing, it's something you would listen to when you're in the mood for just sitting back and unwinding after a long day. Melodic vocals will enter your mind while beautiful ambient melodies and heavy reverb guitar strums will calm you. "Bound 3" is a very unique track

Connect with uncle squidz

Twitter

Listen to uncle squidz music

Bandcamp

-VDMR