Singled Out: Voli's All The Same

"All The Same" was made mostly without anyone around. It started out as a template with the main rhythmic drums you hear throughout and the synth lines prominent in the hook. Definitely had a reflective vibe to it going in. My guitarist, Gavidia, is a genius. We weren't physically in the studio together for this one. I sent him what I had over the World Wide Web, explaining I needed something that would people in a trance, but then explode when the chorus came in. I have a tendency to want people to feel like they're on a roller coaster while listening to music. So, hopefully you guys throw your hands up, screaming, rather than throwing up all over the poor a**holes behind you. Anyway, an hour later, Gavidia sent back some pretty wild material. My typical process is to have the music 90% done before I start recording, so I gave it a decent sequence, threw it in Pro Tools and got to work.

For those familiar with my stuff and those just being introduced, my music is like an ugly mutt with no clear lines as to the genre I am as an artist. I sing and rap, with tinges of alternative, reggae, neo soul, rock, andIcouldkeepgoingonnnnnn. It's great but sometimes I don't know what the hell to do on a track. I started out trying to rap, but stopped being stubborn and threw on what I felt was unexpected. I wanted to talk about the struggles of not only being an artist. but of anyone who maintains an obsessive attitude towards a passion, when most of the people around you don't get why you're even doing it.

Right before the hook, I solo'd the strummed chords and made the hook massive (that moment before the roller coaster takes that first dive.) "Do you love me?" really pertained to the notion that we all lose a bit of ourselves tying to please others on our route to success. We want family/friend/stranger approval because we not only want acceptance; we want genuine love. The post is a moment of schizophrenia where I put the middle finger up to the ones who don't approve now, but will once Voli becomes a success story. None will get it, until all get it...right?

2nd verse is a real stream of consciousness and I threw in some light reggae, rap, then some heavy reggae to throw the audience for a loop. The content really expands the idea that we're all going through the idea we need to be socially accepted: The need to make money with an acceptable job, marrying the right girl, the girl picked on in school for being intelligent, the homosexual kid bullied for not being "normal", etc. So ultimately, we're ALL the same through the struggles of wanting to be the same. How bout we celebrate our differences...