Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Salerno and Jacob Grabb. Them and their team share their story with us below:
We both played in the Palos Verdes High School Jazz band together (Jacob on drums Paul on guitar), but were two years apart in age so never really connected until after college. Jacob went to UC Santa Cruz and dove head first into electronic music production and DJ’ing while Paul went to USC to study Jazz guitar. After college, Jacob moved to Bogota, Colombia where he began producing heavy downtempo house and bass music under the Alias “OSOTYT” and Paul quickly found himself composing and producing music for films, video games, and TV. In 2018, Jacob made a Facebook post asking if anyone wanted to jam, Paul came over, and we’ve been making music together ever since.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Probably our most obvious obstacle has been trying to make a cohesive style out of our various influences. Paul being a jazz guitarist and working as a film composer has influences ranging everywhere from Ravel to John Coltrane to Robert Johnson and so on. Jacob was much more into funk, house, and bass music. The challenge has been weaving together cinematic sections, classical harmonies, and jazz chords with driving electronic beats to create a natural hybrid sound.
Another challenge, which ended up being a catalyst for our creativity, was the Pandemic. 2019 was going to be our year to finally start playing shows. When that plan went to hell, we revved up into high gear and started writing our debut album “Artificial Dreams.” Being the perfectionists that we are, this album was a far greater undertaking than we had imagined and it ended up taking us over two years to finish. We re-wrote, re-recorded, re-mixed, and re-mastered the damn thing over and over until both of our stubborn asses were satisfied with it. Which took a very long time.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We are a live electronic duo and specialize in combining house music with various influences. What sets us apart is that we were musicians first. Many electronic and EDM artists don’t play any instruments well, if at all. Their lack of music knowledge limits their creative potential. You hear the same basslines, chord progressions, etc., over and over again. With us maybe we’re hearing a Bach Chorale, or a Bill Evans chord sequence, or a James Brown funk groove. Between the two of us, we’ll be able to pull it off and then put our own spin on it.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
We incessantly bicker like an old married couple. At this point, we have debated everything from the blueberries at Trader Joes to deontology.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tonosomusic.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonosomusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonosomusic/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/tonosomusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLWFx_P7yoVKLUHrDKrX9Uw
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/tonosomusic
- Other: https://linktr.ee/tonoso
