![G-Space Presents a Revival with ‘The Second Renaissance’ [Exclusive Interview]](https://theelectrichawk.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/scaa.jpeg)
Without a doubt one of the most free and funky guys in the game, G-Space is coming at us with another fantastic album, The Second Renaissance. Debuting on June 9th, this album features many beloved artists like Tiedye Ky and Wreckno, not to mention a few other special guests. G-Space also expands upon a couple of his older works, further proving his creative talents.
Currently traveling on The Second Renaissance Tour until the end of July, you do not want to miss the chance to see him! I was lucky enough to get a chance to speak to him before his set in Bellingham, Washington, where we talked about the tour, the new album, and a few surprises.
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Nix (Electric Hawk): How were the first few stops of The Second Renaissance Tour?
G–Space: It’s been awesome, it has beat my expectations. I was kind of nervous because I didn’t know how I would handle DJing and playing instruments while running around. Every night is different, too, because it’ll be a slightly different keyboard or guitar – the promoters rent the equipment for me, which is awesome. And it’s a different room, different sound engineer running the sound. A lot of sound check has to go into it. I’m not just DJing, which I freestyle usually, but the tour kind of snuck up on me, too. Before I knew it, I didn’t have a set plan, and I just improvised the first night, and that was Grand Rapids, and it went so much better than I thought.
N: I know it’s pretty early on, but are there any fond memories that stick out to you of people that have opened for you, or moments that you’ve had traveling?
G-Space: Every stop has been amazing. Dallas was really cool, it was at The Green Elephant. They have a backyard stage. I was supposed to be inside, and they pushed the show outside last minute, and that was a vibe. It was an awesome venue. And I got to put my cousin Finneh on direct support in Gainsville and Orlando. RAN2CCIO was in Gainsville on support too, we have a side project called MiDi GANG. And then Freddy Todd joined me in Tampa during my set. He plays keytar and he stayed an extra couple of nights so he could play with me. And we just improvised. We’ve never jammed with the keytar really like that and I was on the keys and it was awesome.
N: That sounds really special.
G-Space: Yeah! And then Cervantes was amazing. I actually got to pick the whole lineup for that one and curated the main room. Ruku opened with an acoustic set. She killed it. She sang and played guitar and had a merch pop-up, too. People got there at doors for her set and the merch, so that was awesome. Finneh played right after her, and then Mythic Rogue back to back Quite Possibly. They’re also Denver locals, too, and they’re awesome. And then Zone Drums and Starfox were after them. That was sweet. And they ended up jamming with me during my set for some random songs and even just live improv, like with no electronic music and just jamming. And then I got vide to be direct support. He just released the sick EP, and he’s killing it.
N: I absolutely love “Carousel” with Tiedye Ky, that’s one of my favorite songs off the new album. I’m curious, what do the studio sessions look like when the two of you get together?
G-Space: They’re so random. That song actually was made when I was supposed to be finishing up my last album, The Path of Least Resistance, and he was like, yo, come to my studio and just finish your album. And he also just wanted to see me. This was like, I don’t know, like two years ago or three years ago. And I got there with that as my mission. But then we immediately started making music instead of me finishing my album. And we made three songs, which was cool because that’s not always the case – We usually just hang out and just do whatever. The other song was “Not Sorry” which came out on his album Hound.
For “Carousel,” he has this synth called the Mini Log and he made this weird ARP, which is most of the song. We recorded a 15-minute take of both of us just turning knobs and effects. I went through the 15 minutes and just found my favorite parts and loops of it. Then he made the breaks and the drums. I made the baseline and the wobbles and then stemmed that back to his computer on Ableton and then played some chords on the synth and stuff. And then he found some random arcade vocal packs which are like all the vocals in the background, like the ethereal stuff. It came together really organically, we made that whole song in a day and now it’s one of my favorite songs.
N: You make a lot of fun collabs with your homies. How do your friendships influence your sound?
G-Space: I mean, Kyle’s a huge influence for one because he kind of inspired me to use my voice more in my songs and play guitar more because I’m mostly piano based. Wreckno inspires me to rap. A lot of people don’t know this, but I didn’t even know this either, but I was the first person to convince him to rap. We made “WHO GON CHEQ ME” years ago. One night, me, him, Ruku, and lysn were at Renee’s and Freestyle rapping, and I was like, let’s make a rap song. And he had already written the chorus written on his phone in memories. But he was always like, oh, I don’t know, my voice is annoying. And I’m like, dude, you need to rap. I can hear it now. And then we debuted Okeechobee, like, a year later. And then he and Griz made that first song “Medusa” together soon after that, and it actually came out before “WHO GON CHEQ ME” which was funny.
N: Are you experimenting with any new genres for the new album, which ones have inspired you lately?
G-Space: There are so many different genres on the album, of course. Even drill music. I’ve got into drill music recently, and I tried to make a dubstep drill song on the album, and I rap over it. There’s also a lot of guitar solos over it. The album’s all types of genres. I feel like I’m starting to just be so genreless, but you can still hear my sound and everything. So it’s like creating its own genre, I guess. I’ve always tried to have no genres. Fuck a genre, as Mija would say.
N: I feel like the new album encapsulates your unique sound, but it also expands upon older works of yours. I am curious about the song “Yo-Yo Remaster,” the saxophone in it is incredible. What is the backstory behind it?
G-Space: So that’s my high school music teacher, Mr. Cardone. Mike Cardone. We haven’t recorded in a while, since around 2012, but we stay in touch a little bit. I have so many recordings of him, and that was just me resampling one of our takes. He’s definitely a huge inspiration to me. He showed me a lot in high school because I’m all self-taught, but he was one of the first people to give me some other ideas and feedback. Also he is just one of the first people I recorded that wasn’t myself on the track. And he’s literally the best sax player ever. He can play clarinet, too, and he can write symphonies. He’s, like, a genius.
He was also on Lucid Retreat, in my song “Basics,” and you can really hear him at the end. He literally rips the sax the whole song and then tears into a solo. When the song ends he’s like, oh, I messed up. It’s so classic. He thinks he’s the worst, too, which is also why he’s, like, one of the best, I think.
N: That’s incredible! And then this is my last question. Nothing to do with music, but have you been working on any new martial arts tricks lately?
G-Space: Not really, no. I want to though. It’s not as fun in the cold weather. I’ve been in Massachusetts basically since my last tour ended in December, and I’ve been there since the end of March. Those were the coldest months of the year up there. I kind of do it just to stay limber here and there. But I just do basic tricks.
But I’m still part of the community. Last summer was the first tricking event I’ve ever thrown. It was in upstate New York and it was actually at a music festival that my friend Spencer runs called The Circus of Life. He let me partner with him in the festival and I helped curate the lineup and then flew out a bunch of trickers from around the country in the world. Galaxy Gathering was the name of the tricking portion of it. We had a spring floor like a gymnastic floor by my stage.
And then I have a label called Iceberg Productions and I don’t really push it much, but I use it to self-release for myself and my friends. And it originally started as a label for trickers because a lot of my Tricking friends produce music.
I just want to show people tricking and blend my two favorite worlds, the music scene and tricking. So it was so magical. It was like a dream come true.
G-Space
N: Is there anything that you wanted to add either about the new album or the tour or anything personal that’s going on with you that you’d like to share?
G-Space: You can preorder the album on vinyl right now, which is cool. That’s on my website, Gspacemusic.com, as well as all my tour dates. And we have like a couple more singles we’re going to drop before the album. The album comes out on June 9th, I think. But we’ll have a couple more singles before then.
N: Yeah? Are there any more collaborations?
G Space: I have another one with Finneh coming out, my friend Scott, and then the rest are all originals. I think it’s like eight or nine tracks. And shout out to my manager, Jonathan. He put the whole tour together and the album rollout plan because I have so much unreleased music and he really helped me pick a good album!
I don’t know about you, but I am beyond excited about the incoming release of this new album. Releasing June 9th, this body of work is sure to keep you happy and dancing throughout the summer. And if you get a chance to catch one of his live sets, we absolutely suggest you send it!
Keep up with G-Space and The Second Renaissance Tour:
Twitter | Instagram | SoundCloud | Website
If you’re looking for new music, keep up with our weekly Spotify Playlist, Fresh Hunts. Whether it’s something new from your favorite artists, some old school, or underground—we just want you to hear it!
