Hello Beautiful People,
I’m so thrilled to be able to introduce you to these two artists – Janet Krupin and Alex Caraballo of Trillium. They are the type of creatives that inspire others to just jump after dreams, ideas, and work that fuels your soul.
MM: First things first, can you tell our readers what type of music you create?
Janet Krupin: Trillium is dance music with integrity and consciousness and diversity. We make electronic music and aim to infuse it with our unique blend of story and substance. I am always seeking music and artists I can believe in.
Alex Caraballo: We make an eclectic mix of EDM that pulls from various styles such as electro house, dubstep, and drum n’ bass. I would say that our bread and butter is prog house with an electro twist.
MM: How did you become collaborators?
A: I was wearing this giant lit up Mau5head to a secret warehouse rave with Skrillex. Janet asked to take a picture and we started talking and it all came together from there. We had an EP out 4 months later and put together a release party.
MM: What is your writing and rehearsal process like?
J: We joke about our dynamic that I’m Kirk and Alex is Spock lol, but it’s actually pretty accurate. I’m on voice with melody and lyric and Alex is on the track. He’s an incredible computer engineer. We can work pretty fast together, I have a mic at my dressing room at If/Then and sometimes sketch out a vocal idea between shows and shoot it to Alex and he’ll have it back to me by the time I’m out for the night.
A: The biggest thing about our process is the real lack of a one. All of our songs have been written in different manners and can take as little as a night or as much as a few months to create. Sometimes I’ll send Janet an instrumental song and she’ll come back with a few vocal ideas. Other times, she’ll send me a complete song and I rework it into something new and build the beat around it. There really is no set process in how we make our music. Other than that, I tend to write the most music when I’m stressed which is usually around when I have exams. It’s not that helpful to my grades. As for rehearsal, we usually meet a few times during the week before a show and run through a planned set. Due to the nature of our music, it’s easy to practice independently of one another and still get things right.
MM: Just for fun, if you were an instrument, which one would you want to be?
J: Haha… Um… Can I be that expensive DJ equipment we need? Then we’d already have it! Just kidding. I would want to be a violin. Whenever I listen to classical music I just get so into the lovely tension and release in the violin.
A: I think I would be Moog mini. Those things are just absolutely fascinating and there’s a near infinite number of possible sounds that it can create.
MM: Just for fun, what books are permanently on your bookshelf?
A: What If? by Randall Munroe, the writer of the XKCD online comic strip. I have ADHD and I’m a huge nerd so I often find myself wondering most of the weirdest questions asked in that book such as what would happen if a mol of moles suddenly appeared or if you attempted to hit a baseball travelling at .99c (99% speed of light).
J: Great question! To me, great books are like great friends. I carried Tom Robbins’ Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates with me the whole time I was on tour. Haha, and I wrote about how Harry Potter changed my life in my college entrance essay. Plus Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness books, those are literally in my apartment right now.
MM: Just for fun, what sound do you love, and what sound do you hate?
A: I absolutely love the sound of a Cello, it’s one of the most soothing instruments out there. I absolutely hate the squarey/siney synth stabs in deep house, fuck that noise.
J: Ha, hello James Lipton thank you for having us. I love a lot of sounds… the sound of rain would have to be a favorite. I don’t love some of the scream singing Alex likes lol 🙂
MM: What’s next for Trillium?
J: Our next EP “Circuit”! Coming early 2015. I’m excited to create a whole album and keep pushing the integration of story and art with our music.
A: Taking over the world. In all honesty, we’re working towards booking the main stage at Webster Hall and getting festival slots. It’s ambitious but attainable.
MM: What would you say to a school board who’s looking to cut a music education program?
J: Id say “these are not the droids you’re looking for”. And Jedi mind trick them into making gym a time for music and dance and community building. Can you imagine? Turn dodgeball into dance and music therapy with influences from around the world… Now that’s a physical activity I wouldn’t have skipped in high school.
A: Why don’t you cut your own salaries first? Music education is always the first on the chopping block for school boards but they are one of the most vital programs. Music has shown to be consistently positive for academic achievement by raising test scores, class participation etc. Why cut something so vital to student success?
MM: Who is/was your greatest teacher?
A: The internet. I am extremely curious about everything. I’ve learned everything from the basics of quantum mechanics to how to produce our awesome music through it. Never before has there been such a free flow of information that has allowed people to learn whatever they want whenever they want.
J: Parmer Fuller, the head of the musical theatre dept at USC. His class changed the way I saw myself and what I had the power to do. He is like a sensei, calm, speaks slowly and with purpose, always demands the best but without pretension or insult. Without his instruction I have no idea who I would be today.
Live, Love, Learn,