DJ T-Rock and Squashy Nice - 'Getting Through' Album Release:
Releasing: 27th November 2012:
Why Records:
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After five years of silence the American producer duo consisting of DJ T-Rock (Travis Eller) and Squashy Nice (Joshua
Montcalm) emerge with an exciting new album entitled ‘Getting Through’. The boys have spent many hours locked in dusty
basements, digging through stacks of scratchy rare grooves, chopping and splicing retro beats late into the night.
For fan’s of the duo’s previous two releases ‘Rock and Squash -Techniques’ in 2005 and ‘Outloud’ released in 2007 - The
new offering entitled ‘Getting Through’ has plenty of what we have come to ‘know and love’ of Rock and Squash -
‘creative sample-based backing tracks. A strong jazz, funk and soul vibe intertwined with Spoken-word collisions’.
‘Getting Through’ tells the story of two producers working on opposite sides of the USA picking up retro beats, and
fusing them to construct their ‘signature’ chopping instrumentals, while adding their own T Rock and Squashy Nice vibe -
delivering timeless musical pieces that will resonate with fans and newcomers alike.
On ‘Getting Through’ Rock and Squash take the listener on a rambling melodic journey from the heart of Americana. In
places, the music conjures images of dusty expansive landscapes, on lost and lonesome highways.
Both Southern boys originally - Squashy Nice now calls New York city home, and DJ T-Rock has lived in Los Angeles for
many years. Drawing from Southern roots have continued to add interesting flavours to T-Rock and Squashy’s music.
‘Getting Through’ features full-length tracks mixed with shorter interludes. The single ‘Why Should I go on’ features a
compelling and catchy vocal with a strong Southern feel. Another Southern-pop-fused standout is ‘Your Expression’ with
it’s nice take-home message ‘Your expression should reveal what you really feel..’
“..We wanted ‘Getting Through’ to have a retro feel - from us using vintage technology to keeping the production
minimal. For the most-part we sample from vinyl, so where we found vinyl scratches, we kept them. Vinyl scratches become
part of the recordings originality. Music now is so over-produced – Our album is about keeping things quite minimalist –
This record also strongly reflects our passion for ‘the preservation of vinyl”.... “If we can make the things we feel
strongly about into good art, and there’s an audience who ‘feel it along with us’, then that’s the ultimate in creative
satisfaction really.”
“..We encourage people to listen to ‘Getting Through’ from start to finish’. That’s the way we intended it. We paid
special attention to the track order & the different moods this album takes you through. It run’s like a book - Intro, poppy, upbeat, summertime tunes in the
middle, and a zen more chill vibe towards the end. Yet another area where we have worked on bringing an old school vibe
back”.
‘Getting Through’ will be the third release for Rock & Squash on Auckland New Zealand label Why Records . A hook which began between Dom of Why Records when she met DJ T-Rock
in New York city some years ago. The Rock and Squash duo were at that time unsigned. Dom and Label partner Kevin
McAvinue found what ‘Rock and Squash’ were doing to be innovative and inspiring – and hence this was the pebble that
kicked-off the Why Records label. Over the years the label has grown from laptop’s sitting on knees in the Why living
room to some pleasing global gains.
The track ‘Pretty Girl With a Crooked Smile’ from T-Rock & Squashy Nice ‘Techniques’ 2005 album was selected by London label Ministry of Sound to feature on a Kandi Lounge
compilation in 2009. ‘Pretty Girl’ then continued to be featured on several other global compilations from Italy
‘Streets Of Fashion Tokyo’ and ‘Sunset Paradise’ out of Greece. The track has also been popular on Youtube with fan’s
choosing to make their own videos to the rather heartfelt lyrics the song expresses. The track has been known as ‘one of
the most perfect songs to fall in love to’.
Aside from music both T-Rock and Squashy Nice spend their time independently involved in producing music for film and
television. T-Rock has composed music for Cartoon Network, Zune MP3, & MTV. They also share an additional interest for both film and photography. T-Rock has quite a talent for writing,
producing starring in his own western films and also works as a videographer for ‘Dubspot’ the premiere New York based
school for electronic music production.
DJ T Rock and Squashy Nice new album “Getting Through” album is out Nov 27th 2012 via itunes & CD's available via Smokecds.com or emailing info@whyrecords.com for more information. 'Like' 'Why Records' on Facebook
to enter 'Getting Through' release celebrations.
ENDS