Check out Retro Hills’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Retro Hills.

Retro, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
My story began in Paramount, a city just south of Los Angeles. I was born two months premature, with immediate lung complications so I was rushed to Memorial Medical Care Center in Long Beach, where I was raised and am currently living there today. I’m grateful to the Long Beach hospital because my mom always tells me that if she had given birth to me in her homeland, I probably wouldn’t be here. My mother and father have the typical immigrant backstory, their journey to the states wasn’t easy and it’s sometimes hard to hear, but it’s inspiring. Never the less, they were able to buy a home in North Long Beach and raised my siblings and I. My dad is Mexican and my mom is Salvadoran so I was able to experience both Hispanic cultures growing up. I went through the K-12 school system just like any other kid, but was never really social or outgoing. Due to that, I kept busy on my family’s home computer and experimented with music. Long story short, Youtube was slowly becoming a mark in pop culture. This is where: I learned photoshop, how to produce and record songs, plus, the video sharing site helped me discover underground hip hop and a community of artists like me. I finally found a place where I fit in, so I spent all of my time sharing my songs, graphics, and beats on the internet.

We’d love to hear more about your music. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
It’s hard to put a label on myself as an artist, but first and foremost, I am rapper and producer who presents himself under the stage name, “Retro Hills”. At its roots, I create hip-hop with heavy melodic production and vocals. I love to create, and in this lifetime my passion happened to be music. My tools of the trade include the infamous Garageband, FL Studio, Maschine and the Adobe Creative Suite. The top artists that come to my mind for inspiration are Drake, Bones, Nav, Kanye and Mike Shinoda. To also compliment on my creative music by visual standards, I’ve delved into graphic design and video editing. On a daily basis, my day one homies: Demi Athens, Shyboii Guero and Lyfewithdereck are a source of inspiration, we feed off each others creative passion for music and art. Visually, my aesthetic includes vintage retro styles. I have several influences like the film, Drive, WWF’s Attitude Era, Bone’s unique style of branding and the general pop essence from the 80s. I like that vibrant pink & purple shit, shout out Bret Hart and Jeff Hardy. My overall message is ‘one love’, and to just be happy with what you’re doing everyday. If you’re not finding yourself enjoying whatever it is you want to pursue you need to find out the cause of it all. The only thing people should take away from my art is self sufficiency. If I am able to do all this by myself; the songs, the beats ,the artwork, the clothes, then you can too. One love

The stereotype of a starving artist scares away many potentially talented artists from pursuing art – any advice or thoughts about how to deal with the financial concerns an aspiring artist might be concerned about?
There is no excuse. If you experience financial challenges, they should only be setbacks, not permanent barriers. As for local rappers & producers, the brand new main Long Beach public library has a studio, if I’m not mistaken . For others, try to squeeze in a second job or maybe skip out on the club this weekend, save money. Do what you gotta do, in order to do what you love. I strongly believe it’s possible, you just have to make sacrifices.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
You can find me on all major music streaming platforms under “Retro Hills'” and @retrohills on social media. As for public appearances, me and my click plan to have a show this summer, hopefully in Long Beach, which will be brought to you by 5EYE5. Check out their website and my social media for updates.

Contact Info:

• Website: gerryroque.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: instagram.com/retrohills
• Twitter: twitter.com/retrohills
• Other: 5eye5.com

Image Credit:
Demi Athens, Dhina Hak

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