It started with a fun idea expressed at a cross country banquet and evolved into a serious project that was released in September of this year. Seniors Anthony Staples and Will Harvey decided to make an album together in order to display their talent and express themselves in a different way. Harvey and Staples have been best friends since first grade, so when the idea of an album came into existence, they knew that both of them had what it took to make this album successful and worth listening to.
“We decided to release the album because we are both musically talented and we just wanted to express our talent for other people to hear. The idea came up suddenly, and we decided we just wanted to do the album for fun. But then down the road we kept going and going and we became serious about it,” Staples said.
The recording of the album took place in Staples’ house where their studio is located. A program called FL Studio was used to make beats for the album and then one of Staples’ cousins gave them a microphone and that’s how they got into recording. As time went on, the duo bought more software and kept upgrading it, which caused their music ability to progress as time went on. However, the duo did face some difficulty during the production of the album.
“We were suppose to release the album during the summer, but things happened with our computer and it malfunctioned, and we lost all of our songs. We had to restart everything again, but luckily we already had some of the tracks recorded,” Harvey said.
The story of the album title “3022” is about Harvey and Staples finding a time machine and traveling to the year 3022 where everything is futuristic and new. They are stuck in this new world as mentioned in their last song “ No Return,” however they are with one another. In this new world, they plan to grow and learn about the new world they live in now.
Producing this album has taught both Harvey and Staples about the production process and how networking can truly have an impact on an artist’s success. The two have also had the opportunity to communicate with two of their inspirations, KZ and Lakey. KZ and Lakey are underground rappers and producers that make similar music . Throughout the making of their album, they kept in close contact with these two men.
“They are really nice people and we have talked to them a couple of times. They really do support us. KZ told us that we could do anything a long as you put your mind to it, and here we are now,” Harvey said.
Staples and Harvey have received much support from not only their inspirations KZ and Lakey, but also from their cross country teammates and friends at LN, as well as their family members. Without the support of their fans and the cross country team, their album wouldn’t have been successful, according to Staples.
“We have ton of support and I’m really grateful for it. Most of the cross country team really supports it because we are like family. Will’s cousins, Ethan and Cameron, they also are big supporters. They actually helped with the artwork of the album. My cousin gave me a microphone and that’s how I got into recording,” Staples said.
Julio Valdez is a member of the cross country team and also a friend to Harvey and Staples. Valdez is one of the people that has supported them from the very beginning.
“Will first told me about it when they started making it in June and I really love the album. I play it every single day. ‘No Return’ is my favorite song from the album,” Valdez said.
Staples also has expressed that his favorite song from the album is ‘No Return’ because of the style and originality of the song. Recording this song was an enjoyable experience and it tested his musically abilities as well.
“The song kind of has two parts to it. The song is about six minutes, but making that song was really fun and the last beat is so cool because its like an altro almost, so it’s a send off to the album,” Staples said
Another person that has supported Harvey and Staples is senior Martin Myers. Myers is also a part of the cross country team has shown his support for the album.
“Anthony was the one that told me about the album and I support their career because they are my friends. My favorite song from the album is ‘Discovery’ because I like the instrumental part,” Myers said.
Throughout the entire process, both Staples and Harvey felt that their friendship became stronger and that musically they evolved and improved in many areas.
“Our friendship grew closer because we spent time with each other. I couldn’t have asked for a better time over the summer,” Harvey said.
Right now, the album is on Soundcloud, but the duo hopes to extend their album to another music outlet like Spotify in order to increase their fan and popularity.
“We are trying to get it on Spotify but it’s kind of difficult. I think we have to pay in order to for it to be on Spotify,” Staples said.
On Nov. 17, Staples and Harvey will release an extended play (EP) entitled “Dream Cast.” The EP has six songs altogether with four of the songs being singles and two being instrumentals. Both Staples and Harvey have high hopes for the EP coming up and they both want this project to be as successful as their album.
“Hopefully our EP would turn out as good as the album. I have high expectations for this EP though,” Harvey said.