Today we’d like to introduce you to R.W. Enoch.
Hi R.W., so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up back East in Virginia and played the piano and saxophone before getting into songwriting, composing and arranging during high school. My first band was an instrumental trio that tried to combine improvisational jazz with the sounds of live drum’n’bass. We practiced weekly for an entire year but eventually gave up and never played a single show. From early on, you could say I was interested in the creative possibilities of mixing unlikely elements, which is a trend that has continued through my college years and into my professional career.
After getting a music degree from Princeton University, I moved to Los Angeles and started meeting musicians at local jam sessions and through friends of friends from various day jobs I picked up along the way. I knew I wanted to do something creatively involving hiphop and was nurturing the idea for a multi-genre big band when a coworker introduced me to a virtuoso freestyle rapper named Elmer Demond who had recently moved to L.A. In short order, I put together some musicians, tracked a three-song demo, and booked our first show. The Urban Renewal Project was born.
Since then, The Urban Renewal Project has been the main focus of my creative energy. It’s a sixteen-member group, replete with saxophones, trumpets and trombones, that plays an energetic blend of hiphop, soul, jazz and funk music, featuring singer Alex Nester and two rappers, Elmer Demond and Slim da Reazon. In the last ten years, we’ve released three full-length albums, toured internationally, played with other artists both on stage and in the studio, and had our music featured in several films and tv shows.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
A 16-piece band is an unwieldy monster both on and off the stage, so we’ve made things pretty hard for ourselves from the start. The pandemic certainly hasn’t helped, with singing and playing wind instruments being two of the most heavily restricted group activities per local guidance. It came at a particularly frustrating time for us because we were right in the middle of recording our fourth album when everything shut down last year. With our usual process being so group-oriented, we’ve had to put those recordings on ice for more than a year now.
That said, the extra free time allowed us to explore some new creative avenues, and over the course of the past 12 months, we worked remotely to develop a new multimedia concept called Posse Comitatvs that we’re really excited about.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
The first installment of our new project Posse Comitatvs is coming out June 12th as an exclusive release for Record Store Day. “Posse Comitatvs #1: Border’s Edge” is a deluxe 7-inch record that includes a brand new single from the band and the first chapter of an original manga story I crafted as a companion piece for the music.
This concept grew out of some beats I made at home using replicas of ancient Roman instruments that I bought at the beginning of the pandemic. As the tracks came together, I had the idea to incorporate our shared love of Japanese anime into the ancient Roman aesthetic and outlined some characters and a story for which this new music could serve as a soundtrack. I know it sounds like it would be weird, but I’m extremely pleased with the final product, and I actually think it’s the best music we’ve ever made.
We’ve been fortunate to work with some of the best in the business on this release, including the staff at Saturday AM—the world’s most diverse manga anthology—who assisted with illustration and comic book production; and Chicago rapper Vic Mensa, who contributed a verse to the A-side “Will To Survive.” I hope everyone will go support independent music, support local record retailers, and grab a copy on June 12th.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Unsplash.com is the best kept secret on the internet. If you do anything that uses social media or print media in any way, Unsplash is going to be a lifesaver for you.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: http://www.urpmusic.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/urpmusic
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/urpmusic
- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/urpmusic
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/urpmusic
- SoundCloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/urpmusic
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2CMI4roeGe1rFWrYAF3oGD?si=-1Rv4eU7Ra6Pb3Xo2A3EZg
Image Credits:
Andreas Branch, Didik S Darma, Eddy Navarro, Vance Crofoot, Rose Wang
