Unfiltered Africa: Full Interview with Tasha Baxter

Unfiltered Africa is BACK with another episode featuring South African singer, songwriter, producer and label owner , Tasha Baxter! 🔊🔥 With this video series, we chat with some amazing Symphonic artists and get a closer look at everything they’re working on, personal stories, passion projects and so much more. Read the full Tasha Baxter interview below…

Unfiltered Africa: Full Tasha Baxter Interview

Daphne Barquin (DB):

“You created a full album, Full Moon Flex, with your Twitch community. What surprised you most about this collaborative process and how did it impact the final product?”

Tasha Baxter (TB):

“So I think what surprised us the most was that it actually became a 17 track album. And it was something that started during COVID, you know, and we were all just clinging onto something, each other, creation, music, you know, trying to survive what was a crazy time with COVID. And, you know, we were just shooting the shit really, and just, I was improv -ing live on Twitch and I invited my producer community to come and send me their tunes and then I’d like hit play and hear the tunes for the first time and then hit record on Ableton and then just sing or play guitar or play whatever. And then I would let them keep any of the stems that I recorded from that session. And of course it was on a full moon, hence the name full moon flex. So it was like a flex on a full moon.

And yeah, and so, you know, from that to then releasing an album and then to then starting Polyoto, the label. And another thing that came from that community was the band of Insanity Challenge that I did with my Discord server and Kill the Noises server, which later became one of our most awesome releases as Above So Below, which won Music Video of the Year at the Symphonic Awards. So yeah, what surprised us actually was that so much came from that time that we thought was a barren wasteland.”

(DB):

“I love that, that is so cool. I think it’s such a… like an innovative thing, like I’ve never seen something like that before.”

(TB):

“Yeah, it was. I mean, it shocked me. I was like, how am I? How is this actually happening? It’s pretty crazy.”

(DB):

“How long was the process?”

(TB):

“We had five full moon flexes. So one a month, obviously on a full moon.

And I think really only the last two flex, the last flexes, flex four and five is where most of the songs came from. And I think we finished that in about six weeks. So I then sat with each of the, the point was to kind of promote up and coming producers, you know? Not that I’m like flipping Kanye West or anything, but you know, I wanted to give them an opportunity.to be heard and I wanted to work together with these people who later became friends. And so once we’d got the gold from the live streams, because that’s the thing, it’s this weird like crazy serendipitous, you know, stars align. Every time I would have a full moon flex stream, it would rain. So there was always like rain and thunder and chaos outside. I would always have technical issues.which is really hard when you’re live on stream recording writing and like on the spot but yeah we we would then I sat down with all the producers we further produced the songs added whatever we needed to you know and then we had a body of work

And obviously a lot of the sort of, I mean, the whole theme of the album, it’s in the background, you can’t really see, but…

Each moon had a certain name, so like blood moon, wolf moon, sugar moon, whatever it was. And then we used those as, because it’s two records with each, with A and B sides. And those correspond with the moons. So there was a whole theme and then everyone had their star signs and I made little characters. I met with some incredible 3D artists. And then we made the actual like masks.of their star signs. And it was just like a whole weird world. And that I can really just go on and talk your ear off for like 10 hours. So let’s not go there too much. Yeah, it was an incredible feat. Very proud of like what we accomplished in a short space of time and made it this photo. I coined this phrase, photosonic time capsule, because it’s like an image and sonic this like memory and there it is like forever you know which is yeah thank you yeah

(DB):

“All right, question number two. We’ve heard that there was a record label that was birthed out of your Twitch success. Tell us about your label, Polyoto. Can we expect any new music in 2024?”

(TB):

“100%. Yeah, so nice little segue there. As I was saying, those, you know, the full moon flex streams and everything else that came from it, Band of Insanity with Kill the Noise and As Above So Below, it was just like begging for it. We just, it was like, if you don’t start a label, you know, so we were very forced by the universe. And yes, we did. It’s just myself and my partner.

And of course, the first release from that was the Full Moon Flex album. Then we had incredible releases from the Full Moon Flex album. Then we had As Above So Below, the original and the Band of Insanity remix, which did really well. We cracked our first million the other day, which was a big achievement for all of us. So coming this year, I’m going to put some focus on myself because I keep saying I’m going to do that and I don’t. And I get swept up in  collabs or whatever. So my EP that I’ve been sitting on for a long time is finally going to be coming out and then I’m going to do a re -release of my Ebb and Flow EP which never came out as an EP, it was just singles. And I’ve got a few collabs happening and some new artists but that will be like third and fourth quarter. Just need to focus on one thing at a time so that I don’t give up. ”

(DB):

“From the artists that you like, you know, streamed with on Twitch, did you sign most of them to your label?”

(TB):

“Yes. Well, we had non -exclusive deals with all of them, obviously, but we had signed one in particular, which was Shadow Wonderer, and we did a release with him after that in a city, and we had planned to do more. So yeah, I just, I got swept up in an incredible tech job and a startup for the last two years, so I was full speed community director, which, as you have an idea because it’s all of that, was very demanding. So I really couldn’t flex, you know, I couldn’t do anything else other than that. But now that I’ve had, you know, I’m taking a break from that to pursue this because life is short and this is my purpose. So I’m going to do that more. ”

(DB):

“Alright, so next question. Between your music career, your record label, being a mom, you seem to have a very entrepreneurial spirit. Tell us about working on Sound Better as a full -stack vocalist.”

(TB):

“So the first thing I wanted to say was I wasn’t sure if anyone would get the full stack reference, but being from the environment I was in, it made total sense because you’re a full stack engineer, front end, back end, all of the things. And for me, I find it very hard to pigeonhole myself to being one thing, I’m many things, which is both a blessing and a curse, but I never treated my sort of singing songwriting as a business. So I, well, when I say it’s like a, you know, that’s a, it’s like a swear word. The minute you start turning your arts and your creations into business, then you become like, you know, you’re married and you have marital issues, which I had a lot of with my music career slash husband. So yeah.

I decided to go on there as a full stack vocalist and be a gun for hire, so to speak, because there was a demand for it. So I’d always get, you know, whether it’s DMs or emails or whatever. And I was a bit of a purist in that way. I you know, I only wanted to work on stuff that I vibed with or people that I vibed with. And the reality is that’s not a reality. So I did it, I’ve never done it, I’ve never done that before. It’s a first for me and I’ve just started on the platform. I’m trying to get to premium memberships that I can be visible and I can do like split deals and obviously just get more work through there and add more of my reels because I only have like one drum and bass reel at the moment. Some people don’t know that I also do like a lot of voiceover work and voice acting and in pretty diverse genres, you know, from like indie rock, you know, metal, whatever, to all the way to wherever. So I thought that was the perfect place for it. And I found some incredible producers and mixing engineers for my own work from Sound Better, like for my EP. So I think it’s a fantastic platform. So yes, go there. Let’s work together.”

(DB):

“We know you played in a Christian metal band as a teenager. How did those early musical experiences influence the artist you are today, especially considering your electronic leanings now?”

(TB):

“Yeah, I’ve been in the band scene since I was 12. I got my guitar when I was 12 and that was me. I was writing music, singing songs, listening to, you know, metal from Sepultura and like Living Sacrifice and all kinds of things, Meshuggah, whatever, all the way to the grunge scene because I was in love with Kurt Cobain, who wasn’t, when you were a 90s teenager. I wanted to be Courtney Love. So, you know, I lived vicariously through that. And I mean, there was always, you know, I guess in the same way with my bipolar, there’s always the polarities and I love the extremes. So, you know, going into like heavy, heavy music, metal, whatever, that same kind of energy existed very much in what came later in drum and bass, as well as the blend between, you know, Massive Attack, Poor Disciple, Head, Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, these were all sort of fused, you know, between the two worlds and that’s my happy place.”

(DB):

“All right. Next question. You’re clearly a gifted musician, but do you have any hidden talents or hobbies that might surprise your fans?”

(TB):

“Thank you for saying that. Well, in a past life, I’m certain I was, because my mother and my grandmother are from Egypt, so I was a bit obsessed with the whole Egyptian culture. So I’m convinced I was a soothsayer, which is not necessarily a good thing. But I think I have those tended, what’s the word, things. Anyway, now, and then like I also feel like somewhat of a detective, you know, so I have like a passion for watching true crime documentaries and just anything murder or crime or that stuff. I don’t know if I can swear.

Yeah, I’m obsessed with also like interior design and like I love to DIY projects. So like these panels in the background, I made those. You know, I mean, it’s not rocket science, but those things I love to do. And I have a weird little secret, which is to go to sleep at night, I have this little ritual and it is watching my Korean and Japanese housewives, homemakers. They just clean and they cook like incredible meals and they craft things and they make things and they just have these ingenious ideas of like stuff. So yeah, Plan D, Honey Jubu, Hammy Mommy. I’m like that. That’s a weird, that’s a little thing that I have, which I love. So yeah. Yeah, it’s a bit of a weird one.”

(DB):

“I feel like that’s very cultural though like Like I remember once for the World Cup a few years ago Japan had a match against Colombia and after the match, you know The cameras just like caught all the Japanese people like picking up their trash and like everything they cleaned the whole stadium I was like, oh my god Wow, we could be like them. We should be like them.”

(TB):

“You know? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very different. I know. Can definitely learn a thing or two. Yeah. I’ll try and bring some peace and meditative vibe into my home. It’s chaos. It’s chaos. You know, it’s the opposite, which is why I love it. You know?”

(DB):

“All right, last question. We kind of touched on this a little bit already, but if you want to just make it, you know, say it again. What can your fans expect from you this year?”

(TB):

“This year, I can finally promise that I’m releasing my EP, Unsent Letters. some of which was written like deep in my manic psychoses in 2012, which is very important to me that I get that off my chest and art into the world. Others have been around from like 2007. So it’s just, it’s something I need to do. And yeah, some really cool stuff. I’m very excited because I think I’m gonna have the time to do it this year. I’m going to potentially and she’d get back to Twitch and lots of stuff from Polyoto. Yeah, so stay tuned and do all the things, follow all the stuff. My website is down, I’m sorry, it’s broken. But it will be back in the meantime. Slide into my DMs or join my Discord if you wanna hang.

I’m also working on some cool collabs with Flux Pavilion and Imanu. I’ve worked with each of them in the past and we did two very different songs. So I’m looking forward to what’s to come with the Menage -A -Toire.

Thanks for tuning in. I’m Tasha Baxter and you’ve been watching Unfiltered. You know where to find me in all the places. Thanks.”

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