Mertz

"Tell us a little about yourself. Where you are from? How long have you been making Hip Hop?"

I am a producer & lyricist from Burlington, Vermont. I am not a rapper. That title doesn’t accurately represent what I do. As a lyricists, my main objective is providing listeners with subject matter that expresses my thoughts & is based in my reality. I’m more about creatively sharing my experiences than bragging & rapping about fads & trends.

I’ve been making Hip-Hop music since 2001, originally as a member of the group Present Rhymes. I’ve released 3 projects so far & I am just getting started. My first effort was a solo release in 2009 called, “The Rise Above It EP.” In 2010 I worked as executive producer on fellow Vermont-emcee Aleck Woogmaster’s debut “The Woogmatic LP”.

I left Vermont in 2010 & relocated to Providence, Rhode Island to unite with my Present Rhymes group mates & we released our debut album, “Livin’ The Mission” in 2011. Since then, the group has been less productive than I had hoped, so I made the decision to seriously focus on building a career as a solo artist. My first full-length solo album, “The Good in The Bad” is definitely my best work thus far.

"What influences you in making Hip Hop?"

I am influenced by the world around me & artists of all mediums. I try to surround myself with creative people who can’t just sit still & let time pass; people who feel an undying drive to create something. I have friends who are artistic in many different ways, all of whom share a common desire to contribute their art to the world. By surrounding myself with creativity, I am inspired to continue to create & in turn, I inspire others to do the same.

Musically, I am heavily influenced by other musicians who make truthful music. I have & always will identify with art that is based in truth. The music industry is over saturated with artists who create facades to hide behind, projecting an image that they think will help them make money. It’s both refreshing & inspiring when I see artists who are not afraid to be themselves & make art that is personal to them. Artists like that inspires me to make music that is real & personal to me.

Describe your music, and what separates you from other MCs?
I would describe my music as emotionally charged Boom-Bap. It’s definitely a unique sound in today’s music scene. There are certain elements of it that pay homage to the pioneers that came before me, & at the same time, there are experimental elements that express my individualism as an artist.

I’ve always felt like my generation has constantly existed in a transitional time period. We’ve seen so many advances in technologies & transformations in musical styles & popular culture. I think living in this never-ending period of transition has manifested itself in my music sounding like a mixture of old school classic Hip-Hop mixed with new age experimental Hip-Hop.

What separates me from other emcees is the realism & honesty that I put into my music. I use storytelling as a tool to make points & make people think about topics that are important to me, but even when I use characters to tell stories, I am talking about things that I’ve witnessed or experienced in my time on this world. Another aspect of my lyricism that sets me apart from other emcees is that I make positive music. I have a tendency to make music that is appropriate for all ages & even though I do use profanity, I use it sparingly, giving it a stronger impact when I choose to use it.

"Who have you collaborated with? Who would you like to collab with in the near future?"

Thus far, I have kept my collaborative work very minimal. I have worked with a handful of Vermont-based artists whom I know personally & respect creativity including: Aleck Woogmaster, Zach Crawford, Habit & a few others.

One of my favorite collaborative experiences I’ve had was while working on my first project, “The Rise Above It EP.” I recorded a violinist that I had met while performing at an open mic on a song that I had produced. This was the first time I had ever collaborated with an instrumentalist & it was an incredible learning experience for me. The violinist definitely added a dynamic to the song that I had not achieved myself & it took the song to the next level.

In the future, I would like to collaborate with more instrumentalists & singers, as I think they provide elements that I can’t create myself. As far as emcees go, I want to expand my network & eventually would like to collaborate with bigger artists. Currently I’m at a point where I’m focused on building with people who I already know & respect.

I definitely want to collaborate with the following like-minded artists in the near future: The Aztext (VT), Andy Lugo (VT), The Lynguistic Civilians (VT), Chachi Carvalho (RI), Cynikl (NY), Political Animals (CT) & (X)hristopher Holmes (MA).

"Your definition of “Underground Hip Hop”?"

Underground Hip-Hop is a complex term to define. On it’s surface, it’s used to describe an artists exposure level; underground artists being those that are not well-known outside of their niches. Yet, the term also has a deeper meaning when we look closer at the artists we describe as “underground” & begin to see how the term also qualitatively describes the music they make.

On the whole, artists that are considered “underground” make music that is more truthful & meaningful than mainstream artists. I believe this is largely due to the fact that underground artists make music to express themselves & they are not pressured by outside forces to make music that will appeal to the masses.

When we think about the term “Underground Hip-Hop” in this way, it takes on a much deeper meaning than just describing an artists’ exposure level because it’s actually describing the music & not the artist. To me, “Underground Hip-Hop” is a beautiful form of artistic self-expression & it is vastly different than Rap music. “Underground Hip-Hop” is powerful soul-music that describes an artists thoughts & feelings about the world around them.

A good way for me to describe the difference in the way I view “Underground Hip-Hop” & Rap music is to use the analogy of Rappers vs. Lyricists. Rappers are verbally skilled at rhyming words & stringing them together in a flowing pattern. Lyricists, too, are verbally skilled at rhyming words & flowing them together, but the main difference is that Lyricists say something that has a deeper value & meaning with their rhymes, where Rappers are just rhyming.

To me, “Underground Hip-Hop” is poetic & truthful expression that is based on life & love & has a deeper meaning than it may seem from the surface.

"Production wise, who are your influences? Who does your production? And who would you like to work with?"

I’ve always been heavily influenced by producers who are also instrumentalists. Some of my favorite producers are Ant (of Atmosphere), Classified, Sabzi (Blue Scholars/Common Market), Eligh (Living Legends) & DiViNCi (Solillaquists of Sound). I love the depth that they all build in their instrumentals. I also feel like, though they all have used samples in their production, they add so many other elements to their beats that they truly create something of their own, rather than just depending on the sample to lead the melody.

I do most of my own production myself. I have been producing just as long as I have been writing lyrics. On my first 2 projects, I did all the production with my long time homie/DJ/business partner, Rico (collectively, we are Mertz & Sun Productions). I didn’t work with any other producers until my latest album.

I produced 5 out of the 10 songs on “The Good in The Bad” & worked with 3 other producers that I know personally & met while living in Vermont. Nastee (producer of “Life & Love”) is the most well known producer I worked with. He’s also a seasoned audio engineer who has platinum plaques on his wall for working with Mobb Deep, Big Pun, T.I. & more. He’s been a mentor to me for as long as I’ve known him, & we mixed my entire album together at his Brooklyn studio last year.

The other 2 producers that I worked with on my new album are both up-&-coming artists from Vermont; SkySplitterInk (producer of “Move On” & “Beautiful Something”) & SXMPLELIFE (producer of “Madame Butterfly” & “I Know It Well”). Both have been working towards making music their soul occupation in recent years & they have been working with a lot of really talented up-&-coming artists as of late. Look out for these two to be making some big noise in the near future.

I feel the same way about working with producers as I do about collaborating with other emcees, I don’t have aspirations to work with big name artists right now. I’m more focused on working with the musicians that I have met along my way so far & come to respect. I would like to do work with the following producers: Loupo, Es-K, E-Train & Touchphonics, all of whom are from Vermont & do amazing work. I would also like to collaborate with live bands more than anything.

"Any current or future projects you are promoting?"

I am currently working on 2 collaborative projects that I am really excited about. One is with a guitarist that I have been life-long friends with & it’s completely different than any music I have worked on thus far. We started producing beats together with him playing his guitar & me drumming on my MPC. The music we have made has much more of a live feel because each beat we’ve produced started from us just jamming out together. Even though it’s still very young, I’m really excited about this project!

The other project I am working on is an EP with an incredibly gifted producer that I met while living in Providence, RI by the name of Wattz. Of all the producers I know personally, Wattz is by far the best. He blessed me with some beats to write to & I’m really excited about the project, not only because his beats are the best I’ve ever written to, but also because this is the first project that I’ll work on as just a lyricist.

"Can you give us a brief description of the creative process of “The Good In The Bad” Album LP? Also/ what was the idea or concept description about your Album Art Cover."

In the process of making “The Good in The Bad” I pushed myself to do as many things differently as possible. On the production side of things, I backed away from using melodic samples & I gravitated back towards producing original compositions. I put a major focus on my drum sounds & grooves, as this was the first project I produced since switching to using an MPC as my main sequencer.

I also challenged myself to fully build my instrumentals before writing lyrics to them. In the past I would have started writing lyrics before the instrumentals were finished & consequently, I would usually copy large portions of my beats to make them longer. I think this new approach led me to having more interesting song structures & making my instrumentals stand on their own.

On the songwriting side, this was my first project that featured guest producers, allowing me to focus more on my lyrics. I also put more effort into thinking through my song concepts before diving in & writing lyrics. I did a lot more storytelling on this album than I have done in the past & I think the result is much more entertaining for the listener. By telling stories, I was still able to speak on subjects that are important to me, but by using characters as vehicles to present larger points, I was able to make my points resonate more with listeners. On the whole, I was able to step outside of my comfort zone & continue making music that is true to what I believe while not talking about myself as much or my experience directly.

The album artwork was created from a photo taken of me that was originally for a photography project that my friend, Jayme Allard, did. It was shot on film & developed in a darkroom, but the process she used to develop it created the messy & partially developed effects. When I was putting together the album artwork I chose those photos because I thought they represented the idea that I was presenting something positive out of the madness of the world. I really like the photo on the back cover because there is a pocket of light that looks like it’s sitting inside my hands. It looks like I’m presenting this tiny pocket of light amongst the mess of reality.

"Where can we find your music and info?"

You can find me at MertzMusic.com or on Facebook/Twitter/Soundcloud/etc as @MertzMusic. If you connect with my music, the best way to stay up to date with news, shows & new releases is to sign up for my email list, which you can do at my website. My email list is comprised of my biggest supporters & I like to show my appreciation for them by giving them the first look & listen to my new material. Sign up at MertzMusic.com

"Any shout outs?"

I’d like to give a shout out to every artist who is making music that is real to them & isn’t afraid to let who they really are show through their art. The world needs more honest artists. Also, shout out to everyone who knows what they want to achieve & isn’t too lazy to pursue it. My sincerest gratitude goes out to everyone who has supported my music thus far. It’s people like you who make it possible for me to continue chasing my dream & make me feel like the art that I make matters to others.

Peace & Love! - UndergroundHipHopBlog.com

In 2009, then-Burlington-based rapper Mertz released his debut recording, The Rise Above It EP. Though not without its flaws, the EP suggested the next generation of local hip-hop was in capable hands. Then he promptly left the Green Mountains for Providence, R.I. There he focused on another outlet, Present Rhymes, a band that had formed in Vermont but relocated to the smallest state in the union.

But Mertz found his adopted pasture to be less green than the one he left behind. Frustrated with his group's lack of productivity, he began working on new material, collaborating with old Vermont friends and fellow expats, including producers SkysplitterInk, SXMPLELIFE and the VT Union's Nastee. The result is the rapper's first solo full-length, The Good in The Bad.

The best moments on Mertz's 2009 EP were those in which the rapper used his considerable natural gifts to tell compelling stories — rather than, say, telling us how good he is at rapping. The same is true is on The Good in The Bad. The difference is that those moments are far more abundant on his new record. Perhaps because he's a little older and wiser, or maybe just because he's better at his craft, Mertz has plenty of good stories to tell.

Redemption is a central theme of the record. Nowhere is this clearer than on the album's Nastee-produced lead single, "Life & Love." Here, Mertz rumbles atop a lean, insistent beat. Despite its brash, almost confrontational tone, it's an introspective look at the real work it takes to be a real working artist. But Mertz's funk-rock-flecked sermon is less an attempt at proselytizing — a point of annoyance on his 2009 EP — than a statement of personal intent and self-realization. "Actually, don't listen to me, do what you like / Me, I put my head to the grindstone," he spits with a cool detachment.

"Move On" follows a similar thematic tack as the MC ruminates on stepping out on his own. Mertz unleashes his most fluid verses, bending subtly incisive lines around chill, shimmering beats from Burlington's SkySplitterInk.

Even when tackling lighter subject matter, Mertz is thoughtful. On "What Comes Down Must Go Up," for example, he examines the nerve-wracking experience of proposing marriage. But rather than indulging in wistful romanticism, the rapper cunningly frames his musings in the context of a young couple struggling to make ends meet. The desire of the would-be groom to provide, and his uncertainty in his ability to do so, is brought to life in small, gritty details — a crummy bathroom, a sparsely furnished bedroom. It's both honest and moving, and evidence that Mertz has come into his own.

The Good in The Bad by Mertz is available at mertzhiphop.bandcamp.com. Mertz celebrates the release of his new album with a show at ArtsRiot in Burlington this Saturday, March 15, alongside locals the Lynguistic Civilians, Somewhere in the Solution, Bless the Child and Learic. - Dan Bolles - Seven Days

Mertz takes on life and love with 'The Good In the Bad'

PVD lyricist/producer Mertz recently dropped his official debut solo platter titled The Good In the Bad. He sidesteps rap cliches in favor of a conscious, reflective, and matured outlook on life and love, with some unlikely inspiration along the way thanks to his day job working with autistic children as a teaching assistant at the Groden Center’s preschool in Providence. April is Autism Awareness Month, and Mertz will headline the “Rocks for Autism Awareness” event at the Parlour on Saturday (the 12th), along with a wide range of musical acts comprised of Mertz’s co-workers at the Groden Center.

Rob Mertz relocated to Providence from Burlington, Vermont four years ago with the intention of taking the next step in his musical career as a member of Present Rhymes. The trio released Livin’ the Mission in 2011, but Mertz ultimately decided to part ways with his rhyme brethren and make moves on his own as a solo artist.

“We were living in the same apartment but we weren’t spending a lot of time working on music together,” said Mertz (his surname doubles as a great MC handle). “I was still creating beats and writing lyrics, but I finally got sick of waiting on other people while holding myself back creatively.

“I decided that I was no longer going to let my success be hindered by other peoples’ lack of motivation,” he told me earlier this week.

The Good In the Bad marks a more professional approach for Mertz and a number of firsts in his musical career; he enlisted outside producers, connected with notable engineer Nastee (whose credits include Mobb Deep’s Murda Muzik and Big Pun’s Capital Punishment) on the first single “Life & Love,” and recorded the album at Beatbox Studios in Pawtucket with help from studio mastermind Vertygo.

“I’m not the type of emcee that’ll tell you I’m the hardest,” Mertz confidently declares on “Life & Love” and the hook represents a mission statement: “I keep my music based on life and love, not death and hate — we rise above.”

Mertz’s previous experience working at an early childhood program while living up north would lead to a richly fulfilling position at the Livingston Center Preschool (part of the larger Groden Center network).

“I am so thankful for the opportunity. It has definitely been one of the best experiences of my life,” said Mertz.

The children in his class also provided the inspiration for the unique standout track “Madame Butterfly,” and star in the heartwarming video.

“The best shots we got came from the kids playing organically, with little instruction from us,” Mertz said. “The parents and families loved it when we showed the video at the preschool graduation ceremony, which means a lot to me.”

Personal growth is a common theme throughout The Good In the Bad. “They dragged me through the thick and the thin, but I came out with a twisted grin,” Mertz sneers on the second single, “Move On,” and “I Know It Well” (produced by SXMPLELIFE) is a smooth slow-burner. The album closes strongly with “Growth” (“Grow like you’re never gonna stop and don’t count the years”) and “Beautiful Something.”

The Good In the Bad is available for streaming and download free-of-charge, and the CD will be on sale at the show (and at mertzhiphop.bandcamp.com). - Chris Conti - The Providence Phoenix

Mertz is definitely bringing back some real Underground Hip Hop that is desperately needed for 2014. Listening to this unique 10 Track LP titled “The Good In The Bad” made me truly appreciate Mertz’s Rhyme cadence, Pattern, Delivery and storytelling abilities coming out of the Vermont area. Previously featuring “Life & Love” on the BLOG which is a featured song on this project, We were definitely looking forward to the whole thing. There are a few memorable samples on this project that are really dope too.

The songs that we will remember the most are “Life & Love“, “Spiral” & “Beautiful Something“. All these songs really express the whole concept and title of this LP. Overall Mertz is a Quality Hip Hop artist truly on the rise along side having great knowledge on his Branding, Presentation, Visuals & Grind in this game……………UndergroundHipHopBLOG.com

“The Good In The Bad” Album Link: http://mertzhiphop.bandcamp.com/album/the-good-in-the-bad-3
http://www.mertzmusic.com
https://twitter.com/MertzMusic
https://www.facebook.com/MertzMusic
http://www.mertzhiphop.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/mertzmusic - UndergroundHipHopBLOG.com

Thirtyseven: Is Present Rhymes on hiatus in 2013?

Mertz: For those that don't know, Present Rhymes is the group I started making music with. My 3 best friends & I began experimenting in the worlds of music production & writing lyrics back in 2002. One of our original members left the group before we even released our first project in 2011. Since our debut album, Livin' The Mission, the group has been less productive than I had hoped.

Now, more than ever, I am completely focused on making music. I never thought I would be a solo artist, I always had the group mentality from the very beginning. But, over the years, it's become clear to me that if I really want to turn music making into my life's work, I have to make that commitment by myself. I can't let anyone else's actions dictate my success. This realization has been a really hard thing for me to deal with. Ultimately though, I just want to make music, so that's what I'm doing.

The truth is, I don't know what the deal with Present Rhymes is. We didn't break up & I certainly never said I was leaving the group to go solo. We just got to a point where we were all living in the same house & spending a lot of time not working on music together. We have a lot of really good songs written that our fans haven't ever heard, but as a group, we lack the motivation to really put in the effort it takes to make those songs great.

Now, my mind is focused on building a fan base as a solo artist.

Thirtyseven: How has your approach to songwriting and production changed since your early releases like the Rise Above It EP?

Mertz: For my new album, The Good in The Bad, I gravitated back towards original production & away from sampling. I produced 5 out of the 10 songs on the album & only 1 of my beats is sample based. Production-wise, for this project I put a major focus on the drums & the overall dynamics of the instrumentals. In the past, I would write most of my lyrics before the beat was finished. Then, I would end up copying large sections of the beat & pasting them to make the beat longer, & I think this approach led me to making songs that felt very repetitive.

On my new project, I tried to make my instrumentals stand on their own before I wrote lyrics to them. I also made a conscious effort to stay away from the all too easy verse-chorus-verse-chorus-verse-chorus classic rap song structure. I think this approach enables me to keep the listener's attention more because they're presented with something different than they might be expecting. I've also focused a lot of my energy on creating more realistic sounding, harder hitting drums.

On the songwriting side of things, I utilized the talents of other producers for the first time on this project. Nastee, SXMPLELIFE & SkySplitterInk contributed production to the album, all of whom I met while living in BVT. Using other people's beats has let me focus more on my lyrics. I did a lot more storytelling than I have in the past. One criticism that has always stuck with me was from my first release, when Dan Bolles said that I am much more effective when I "show" than when I "tell". I like the approach of storytelling because I think it's fun to make a point without coming right out & saying it. To me, it feels like the storytelling aspect to lyricism has been scarce as of late, & by telling more stories, I'm able to keep things more interesting for the listener while still saying something of substance.

Thirtyseven: What was your introduction to Vermont's hip hop scene?

Mertz: The first CD that I had that was local Hip-Hop was Burnt MD's Burnt Underground Radio. It was a compilation that featured a lot of local talent on it, introducing me to The Loyalists, Wombaticus Rex, Sin, The Aztext & Fattie B. I was young at the time & I remember it blew my mind to find out that there were artists living in the same city as me who were making this music. From there I became a huge fan of The Loyalists in particular, & began paying more attention to the local scene.

As a performer, it all started on that 3-inch elevated platform in the corner at Manhattan's Pizza. I started performing at Andy Lugo's open mic in 2009 when I put out my first project. That's where I really found out what it was like to perform my music for people. Lugo help me immensely by coaching me & giving me tips, but mostly, by believing in me.

From there, I became tight with a few other local artists who performed at the open mics & we began putting on shows of our own. The crew that I really came up in the local scene with was Aleck Woog, Somewhere In The Solution, Habit, B Honest, The Lynguistic Civilians & a few others. After that I got the rest of Present Rhymes into doing live performances & we started doing a lot of shows with acts like Funkwagon, A-Dog & Nastee, Burnt MD & opening up for some people I never imagined.

Thirtyseven: How was your experience moving several states away and starting from scratch? Has the RI scene been receptive to your sound?

Mertz: The decision to move away from BVT was made because we were working on the Present Rhymes album, but it was too hard to make a collective effort without being together. When we first moved to Providence, we spent the majority of our time in the studio finishing the album, but we were still booking shows in VT & making trips up to perform.

Our group dynamic was on point because of how much we were rehearsing together, & we were getting really good responses when we played live. We didn't really put an emphasis on playing live in RI tho, because after we finished up our album, we went right back to work in the studio writing new songs.

I will say, of the shows that we have done in RI, we definitely bring a different sound to the table. Providence is a bigger city than BVT (duh) & so with that comes a higher regard for mainstream culture & music. A lot of the local artists I have seen in RI seem to strive for more of a mainstream sound, which isn't really my style. I like to make songs that are based in my reality & express the way I think & feel about different aspects of life.

Most of the time, when I play live in RI, I get a pretty good response. There are fans here that are receptive to my style, but I haven't put enough emphasis on playing live here to establish a local fan base.

I think the best move for someone like me is to link up with the local artists in the area who are like-minded. There are a lot of artists out here who are making very good music & who have very supportive local fans. I think a lot of them would be well received by VT Hip-Hop fans. Ultimately, I feel like you can find fans everywhere who will appreciate your music, it's just about finding them.

You can catch Mertz at Ri-Ra's on November 16th with the Lynguistic Civilians for their "Tossin' Turkeys Tour" -- which is awesome. - Vermont Hip-Hop News