Magazine
Spotlight Canada
Shaun Paul McGrath, London Daily Post The Business Of Beats-A Common Sense Guide For Selling Beats, DJ Iceman, DBY BOSS, EP DB,
Spotlight Lyati: Mechanical Engineer Leading Automobile Innovation
HOW CAN LYATI'S MASTERY OF MOTOR VEHICLES BENEFIT A NORTH AMERICA CONSUMER? HE WILL TELL US.
Being a Mechanical Engineer with years of experience on hybrid engines. I believe the biggest need of North Americans, including the whole world is an affordable, pollution-free engine capable of giving the same power as a gasoline one.
My research on hybrid engines which I called Hybrid Bayesian Network specifically targeted this question. The research clearly says that it is possible to build an engine as powerful as a normal gasoline engine but at the same time will cause half of the carbon emission to our fragile environment.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT MOTOR VEHICLES THAT FIRST EXCITED YOU?
Well, There was no specific thing that excited me about motor vehicles. I can write a list of things, I love about cars. But if you ask me: What brought you into this industry? I would say passion. My passion was the one that decided my direction. I had made this decision at a very early stage of my life that I will go into the motor vehicle industry.
In 2016 I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Jeddah College of Technology. But to me, that degree was just the first step toward success. I didn’t stop there. I continued my struggle towards a better future for our society, working day and night on making engines better and more affordable.
My research and findings from these efforts were admired by the whole world, Even I have won many prizes on them. The most famous one was the Science award from the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation. But that didn’t sate my appetite either. I still believe that there is a lot more to discover in making engines efficient and more environment friendly.
WHAT CAN PEOPLE DO RIGHT NOW TO PREPARE FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES?
I would say before talking of EVs. We first need to understand, why we need EVs in the first place. Most of the population is still not agreeing on switching gasoline engines from their lives. To my understanding. The biggest reason behind that is our years of exposure to gasoline machines. The gasoline engines have become part of our culture. And changing the culture is one of the hardest tasks.
As a researcher and a Mechanical Engineer. I advise people to shift to hybrid engines instead of going fully electric. Hybrid engines are one that uses HEV for city drive and ICE on highways. Only this way people can build a room in their lives for Electrical Vehicles. The bottom line is that EVs will replace conventional gasoline engines sooner or later. We can’t deny that. They will be the only guardian of our planet against carbon emissions. So instead of resisting the change, people should embrace them.
IN LAYMEN'S TERMS, TELL US ABOUT YOUR BREAKTHROUGH IN ELECTRICAL CARS.
Public and private transport plays a significant role in the economy, development, and progress of a country. A well-functioning transportation system gives expansion and strength to existing markets while an inefficient system causes commute congestion and a decrease in productivity.
The objective of my study was to show the world that, with proper strategy and implementation, Electrical cars can make our commute systems cheaper and better. My findings proved that energy that we always considered as a by-product like the heat produced while braking can be utilized to power batteries in electric cars. In this way, the efficiency of a conventional engine can be improved dramatically and we can make our environment pollution free.
SHARE HIGHLIGHTS OF YOUR JOURNEY AND ANY DIFFICULTIES OR CHALLENGES ON YOUR PATH TO ACHIEVE GREAT SUCCESS!
All great thing takes some time and efforts. They don’t happen instantly. You have to work hard over a certain period of time to enjoy the fruit of your hard work and personally, I think this is quite good because only that way we can understand the true value of success.
In my struggle, there were many ups and downs. The biggest obstacle in my way was the culture. Talking about EVs when no one was ready to listen was one of the hardest challenges of my life. At many moments I heard voices of self-doubts inside me and sometimes I also felt like quitting. But the only thing that supported me on this path was my passion and my desire to serve. That desire kept me working tirelessly day and night and finally took me to the position where I am today.
Muneer Lyati, Thank you for joining us from Mecca, Saudi Arabia. And Thank you to the audience for tuning in. I'm Dyonne Lewis.
Spotlight DBY Boss: Rapper
DBY BOSS is a versatile Rapper and recording artist. His rich discography presents a soul-stirring cultural fusion of rhythmic African sounds combined with contemporary Rap and traditional Rumba.
Originally from Republic of the Congo capital city of Brazzaville, he is now based out of Montreal, Canada.
This former semi-finalist of the Ford Rising Stars Francophile de Montréal, has established his name with a string of solid records including Mwana, Mboka and Loketo.
Magazine Spotlight Canada caught up with DBY Boss for a Music interview.
Question: Welcome to Spotlight! What can you tell us about “DB” your new EP and the specialty Afro-beats featured throughout the tracks?
Answer: DB is a continuity of my evolution. I enjoyed working on this project and instantly I tried new things like more sung choruses and I think it's the start of a new color that I wanted to give to my musical identity.
Question: DBY BOSS, tell us about your beginnings in music.
Answer: I started around 2009, after having liked the beauty of the words which rhyme: the works of Oxmo Puccino, Passi or Mob Deep to quote only a few. With relatives who practiced rap I think it was natural.
Question: And why did you choose this direction?
Answer: Because being young, that's what spoke to me the most.
Question: Tell us about some of the challenges you overcame throughout your musical journey?
Answer. One of the biggest challenges is having the means to carry out your works. As a self-produced [recording artist] it's not easy. Today is better for me than before--I have surrounded myself well.
Question: Why did you choose DBY BOSS as an artist name?
DBYBOSS, DBY is an acronym that contains my names in civil status which is Diabaka Yvon, and Boss is more for the ego trip side in rap. Then I needed an atypical name for [reflecting] the artistic direction [of my music].
Question: What is the source of your lyrical texts? They are based on what precisely?
Answer: I draw my inspiration from lived experience, from what I see, real facts, every day [life], whether in my life or that of others, from what we experience [collectively] on a daily basis.
Question: Do you self-produce or are you with a record label?
Answer: No I'm into "indie" production with production partners, like Uchawi Beat who is my music producer now.
Question :What are the Spotify and Apple links to your new EP?
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/2tlo9dMiVeBcLMBrbuhBG8?si=jGd3bv-jRg-0a5Fh9nIrmg&dl_branch=1
Apple music :
https://music.apple.com/us/album/db-single/1586979689
Thank you, DBY Boss for joining us on Magazine Spotlight Canada—All the best!
Spotlight Hitman: Not My Circus Not My Monkey
Russell “Hitman” Alexander's life-long love affair with music as a bandleader, guitarist, and lead vocalist for Hitman Blues Band is the stuff artistic dreams are made of minus the circus and the monkey.
No “somebody done somebody wrong,” song will ever make its way into their set—mind you. Hitman’s artistic manifesto is about dispensing hope and journaling real life.
Magazine Spotlight Canada caught up with Hitman and did a deep dive into the reality of show business for independent artists.
Q. Talk about doing anything and everything to keep playing the blues while also making sure that the lights stay on, and your family is fed.
A I played “club dates”, which are weddings, corporate affairs, quadrilles, coming out parties (yes, rich people still have those), pretty much anything. I would also play any and every blues gig I could get, including running countless jam sessions.
For fun, I explored computers - until the gigs started drying up and I took the advice of friends and started working with computers for money. But I never took a steady job-it would get in the way of gigs! So there was a lot of “feast or famine” times.
Q. When did you realize that if the blues was worth living for it was also worth dying for? What was that reckoning that you would never give it up despite everything that it may cost you?
A. I never felt the blues was worth dying for. That wouldn’t make sense. Living is a lot harder than dying - you only die once. But it did make many aspects of living more difficult.
There’s financial uncertainty, rejection, criticism, and many dark nights. The main thing is: do you feel the music? Is your life better because of it? Can you make other people’s lives better through it? If the answers are “yes”, then you really don’t have much choice.
You play music because that’s what you do, you might focus on a particular genre because that’s what reaches you.
Q. The Clive Davis Netflix documentary is called The Soundtrack Of Our Lives. That is an apt title. How would you personalize that memorable phrase with a couple examples from your own life?
A. An old friend of mine, who I hadn’t heard from in many years, called one day out of the blue. She said “I always know how your life is going by your albums.”
Music is definitely the soundtrack of our lives, and this has been proven by studies which show that even patients with advanced Alzheimer’s react to certain music. I’ve seen that myself, when I used to play at homes for the elderly and other institutions for the mentally disabled.
A song can take you back to specific incident, or period of your life. When my father died, one song that helped me was Great Big Sea’s “Ordinary Day”. When my best friend died in my mid-20s, for some reason The Who’s “Five Fifteen” resonated with me.
You never know which song will bring you comfort or solace, or even why, but we are fortunate to have access to so much music.
Q. You are the son of famed jazz vibist [ a musician who plays the vibraphone ]—Ray Alexander. How did being exposed to music from childhood wire you for the rigours of the industry?
My father, Ray Alexander, was first a drummer and then a jazz vibist (not violist). I saw firsthand how uncertain the industry was, as well as the comprises you have to make in order to make a living. I saw the unfairness of it, but I also saw the beauty and connection with something bigger than yourself when you play. I saw how people react to music (and how some DON’T react), and I learned that above all, music is communication.
Q. You have spoken about your early memories, which include your father’s jam sessions with luminaries such as Tal Farlow, Major Holley, Oliver Jackson, and many others. What live performance, most, transformed or informed your songwriting, vocals or guitar-playing or your psychology as a bandleader?
A. When I was quite young, a neighborhood guy heard me singing with a local group and said “you sound like a guy who sings at weddings.” This was years before the movie The Wedding Singer came out, or Bill Murray’s “Nick the Lounge Singer”.
He actually meant it as a compliment, but right then I decided I sure as hell was going to fix that. And I became VERY critical of my vocal performances, but made sure I fixed the things I didn’t like. I also took vocal lessons for quite a few years with different teachers, with the goal of getting the sound I wanted.
I worked with many, many bandleaders as a sideman. Some were great, some were horrible. I learned from all of them. It’s just as important to know what to avoid as it is to know what to do. Again, when I was pretty young, I was leading a gig at a local bar - I was probably about 16. I was being a jerk on stage, yelling at guys for screwing up. And the drummer, who was the absolute nicest guy in the world, came up to me during a break and said “In you previous life you must have been a hemorrhoid, because you’re a pain in the ass!”
And I thought “Wow, if I pissed HIM off, I must really be a jerk!”. And I never yelled or criticized anyone on stage after that. And I was always very, very careful about how I spoke to band members regarding their parts during rehearsals. Sometime after that, I happened to see a band where the bandleader was acting the way I used to, and thought “If not for my friend, that could be me.” I’ve told him this story a few times (we’re still friends), and he doesn’t really remember it - but I do.
Q. Having over 40 years experience as a professional musician/bandleader, songwriter, publisher, and record company owner, Hitman you’ve been steeped in many sides of the music business. Royalties and mechanical licensing is something emerging “beat” Producers of today lack knowledge concerning, and as a result lose out big time. Can you talk on the importance of taking care of the business side?
A. Oprah Winfrey said “Make sure you sign every check”, meaning “know every detail about where your money is going”. That means learn something about the business end of music. Sometimes you’re going to get ripped off, but at least walk into it with your eyes wide open.
A guy named Moses Avalon wrote a book called “Confessions Of A Record Producer”. At the end, he gives an annotated example of a standard record contract. It’s absolutely fantastic, it explains everything. Using that, I managed to get my father out of a horrible record contract he had signed.
There are a lot of great books and courses out there, but learning the essentials - what are mechanical royalties, what are copyright splits, how do you co-write with others, what are Performing Rights Organizations (PRO) and why do you need them, what does “notwithstanding the foregoing” mean (a BIG one in any contract), are all vitally important if you’re seriously thinking of music as a career.
Q. Hitman, your experience is robust—performing on the road—worldwide, first playing with “society" orchestras (Lester Lanin, Peter Duchin, Roger Stanley, and many others), with the progressive rock act “Childhood’s End” then the new wave band, Candy—now leading The Hitman Blues Band—what type of mental health hygiene practice does it take to help to ensure that self-employed musicians do not lose out financially going into retirement?
A. I’m very pro-union. Yes, the musician’s union is a shadow of its former self, but having been management and having been labor, I say “Thank G-d for unions”. Nobody else will be on your side. Our union (the American Federation Of Musicians) actually has a mental health program to help musicians address the many demons that come with the territory - lack of self esteem, depression, drug and alcohol abuse, and poor financial skills. It is important to set aside money for retirement, but that is SO much easier said than done.
This is true of any small business - everyone gets paid before you do. The best thing you can do is keep as much stuff on the books as you can, so you can contribute to Social Security, and try to invest at least SOMETHING into a safe investment. $25 a week, $50 a month, whatever. Anything. You might die before you hit 30, but if you don’t you’re going to need some money later on in life!
If I may quote you, “The Hitman Blues Band plays original Modern/Alternative Blues. Everything that's come before—rock, traditional blues, jazz, funk - their music is a combination of everything. The common thread for every tune is the blues, the music of hope. No matter what your situation is, whether good or bad, someone has not only gone through it, but wrote a song about it, recorded it, and knows what you're going through now.”
True story. My daughter tried to get me to comment on a situation that was a double bind. I was on Twitter when I noticed your Cover Art for the song,
Not My Circus, Not My Monkey. Then I watched the YouTube video which I enjoyed. After that I sent my youngest child a text that said, “Not my circus. Not my monkey—adding a monkey emoji, of course. Why are all of your original songs inspired by real life?
A. I believe that if you want to communicate, you have to be honest about it. I read about a famous author telling an aspiring author “write about what you know”. I feel the same way about songs. There’s no shame in writing about something you heard about, or dreamed about, but it has to be personal to you in some way. Of course, this doesn’t apply to pop songs about dancing the night away, but even that must have a root somewhere in the writer’s life.
I’m not talking about commercial success here - if you want success, give the people what THEY want, which is often sex and oblivion. But the problem with that is: if you do that and it doesn’t work, what did you just spend all your effort on? You’ll never get that time and money back. If you do what you feel strongly about, and it doesn’t work, you can say “I gave it my best shot. And I’ll keep giving it my best shot. Because I believe in what I’m doing.”
That’s why I wrote the song “Go Down Fighting”. I was feeling sorry for myself, and I let myself wallow in self pity for about five minutes, and then a voice in my head said “That’s enough, asshole. Nobody made you do this. If you’re going to do go down, go down fighting.” And the other voice in my head said “Hey, that’s a good title for a song!”
"Also, the saying “Not My Circus” came in handy! It’s become my go-to phrase, because it seems to fit so many situations!"