Recap for new visitors: I started my website in 2015 and released DIAMONDBACK Demo in 2017. DIAMONDBACK Demo was recorded in Northeastern’s Snell Library and with an iPhone, while I attended classes full time. Later, I released a compilation of free tracks on my website called 2018 Freebies Bangers. It changes languages a few times. I’m a polyglot, so I change my mind a lot lol.
I released RAWR mixtape for streaming in January 2019 and I have a great EP coming in May (but more on that later).
“I didn’t speak French when I wrote Un Photo de Toi Nu”
I wanted to talk about this song because I think it’s fun and quirky. I didn’t spend too much time on it, so it has a carefree vibe to it. I used a drum machine that hyped that low sounds, then I used my microkorg for higher pitches. I also recorded guitar. I want my music to have it’s own unique sound and as a result, I have trouble keeping my sound in one genre lol.
Lately, I have been forming my sound. ElectroPapi EP will be a great
representation of that and I love hearing the more experimental electro alt pop on RAWR mixtape.
“So how did you write it?”
I didn’t speak French back then, but I understood most of written French from romance languages. I was talking to a follower on Twitter in France and they kept asking me for nudes. I said no, because my artistry is too important for me to be doing that, but they still insisted.
I didn’t want them to be upset and I liked the way some of their French messages sounded. “This is kind of cute,” I thought, “I could make this a song.” I added a few lines with Google Translate and now that I am learning a little French from a Scottish podcast, I feel a little embarrassed with just a tad bit of the pronunciation (mostly just when I say “le”). My French followers seem to enjoy this song though. It is quirky and has that je ne sais pas.
As a polyglot, I find it very interesting that the lyrics of Un Photo de Toi Nu sound cute in French, but are more practical with an English connotation. You need look no further than the title of the song than to understand this.
Un Photo de Toi Nu = Nudes (nude photos)
So like it sounds way cuter in French to ask someone for nudes. Next time you hit up your crush, try sending them this song 😉
When I Started Sage Suede, My Vision was Rough & Edgy
I was just a kid in college, learning to create music on my own. I made beats starting in middle school, but wasn’t amazing at it. It took a lot of trial and error, which has led me to improve substantially over the years. I had a lot of musical experience from playing instruments as a kid, but I wasn’t an expert on any of the instruments I played. I also started creating poetry at a young age. I thought that I wanted to be rough, yet smooth and that’s why I chose Suede as my last name.
Acoustic & Electronic Tracks
I started writing many of the tracks on DIAMONDBACK Demo, using an acoustic guitar. A few of the songs, such as Bird Girl, Cleopatra, and How Can I, were later made into electro-alternative tracks. Others were created entirely electronically; I started with electronic beats and then I added vocals with an iPhone.
Not all of them were created with the same amount of care and polish. I rushed to finish the demo by an arbitrary deadline and some tracks probably should have been excluded. It’s rare to ever hear a demo that spans 13 tracks or has so much variety. On 2018 Freebies & Bangers, I tried to release as many tracks as I could. However, a lot of people still haven’t heard my music and switching languages so many times on one release is confusing.
I decided to release a new compilation, just to showcase the best tracks from DIAMONDBACK Demo and 2018 Freebies & Bangers. It is called RAWR and all of the tracks were chosen by my fans. They are so smart and I really appreciate their help!
My New Release RAWR
I have already submitted this track for distribution but copyright for the tracks on DIAMONDBACK Demo has slowed down the process. RAWR will be in all music stores soon. I am not taking down the free releases on my website either!
Vocal Experimentation
When I started out, I didn’t have much vocal experience at all. I even started doing musical theatre for some free vocal training. I enjoyed performing in musical theatre and the people I met, but a lot of the music made me gag. I love rock music, so generally I avoid the cheesier, artificial happiness of many musical numbers (no offense). I actually dropped out of a musical production because of it, Sorry Julia.
Me, being cheesy:
Mumble Rap & Rock Vocals
I don’t consider myself to be a rapper, but as a lyrical poet, I did talk over several of my earlier tracks. I was given feedback by some that it was under-whelming, but I created several tracks with the intention of sounding apathetic. The old Sage Suede, was trying to create music that was still rough around the edges; I wanted to be punky and I don’t like to sound boring, so a bit weird too. I have been influenced by shoe-gaze and mumble rappers started becoming a popular thing while I was working on the demo, so a few of the tracks sound like apathetic raps. I later realized that this wasn’t the best sound for me. I love hip hop and rap, so both genres continue to influence me a lot, but they aren’t a great description of my sound. I like to use some of the vocals I learned through musical theatre, but with a rougher style.
Somewhat during DIAMONDBACK and also afterwards, I started with rock vocals,. The roughest were in “At Mo Power.” I yelled a little too much in that song, but it also helped me to push the envelope and add a little more aggression in my vocals. This was a bigger step in the direction of learning rock vocals, but it also taught me when they my voice was too strong.
On some of the early versions of ElectroPapi EP, I even did a low heavy metal growl, but I’ve decided not to include that in the final version, because it scared a few of the sensitive acoustic artists at an open mic that I performed at. Kind of pathetic for people to be scared of hard rock vocals, I know, but I still want them to listen to my music.
As a result, my current vocal style is essentially a form of alt rock, but nothing too strong like heavy metal. I hope that people will appreciate my voice some day. I have never wanted to sound like anyone else and I’m constantly throwing myself into the cold (so to speak), in order to improve myself as a musician and break new ground at the same time.
Why Are There So Many Languages?
I love learning foreign languages and some of that poetry came about, while I was in classes learning those languages. Because I started college as a sophomore with 32 credit hours, I had room in my schedule to pursue my love of foreign languages outside of classwork. I am going to move away from creating so many foreign language tracks in the future, simply because it isn’t practical. I still live in the USA, so initially, I will need to focus on English and Spanish. I still plan to make songs in other languages in the coming years, definitely in Portuguese too. Please let me know which languages you are interested in.
No One Is Helping Me With Anything
In the modern music industry, you have to form your sound and crowd, before anyone will consider you for a label. You can pay a producer to get your sound to that level, but honestly, I can’t afford it. I went to college to have a modest income, that barely sustains my rent and certainly doesn’t leave room for excessive music costs. A professional music producer will easily cost you $500 or more per song. Countless artists have created their entire careers with quality producers, when they lacked any musical talent to get there on their own.
I am the opposite of a trust fund baby. I’m still working towards my goals, entirely of my own merit. I had a lot of mistakes along the way and chose to be experimental starting out. I am starting to form my own unique sound, as a result of taking so many risks. I look forward to sharing it with everyone.
I would classify Myself as Electro-rock or Electro-pop. I have changed my style a lot over the past few years but I am finally starting to find a sound that makes me happy and fits my personal style. You will hear the fruits of my labor in ElectroPapi EP.
ElectroPapi EP is Well on Its Way
I am currently reviewing the lyrics in ElectroPapi EP, to make sure everything is the best that it can possibly be! I have improved monumentally on audio editing and I know that ElectroPapi EP will be mind-blowing, when it’s finally completed.
I can’t wait to share my hard work with everyone! Thanks for following me.
Toilet Kitties Ahoy: please close the lid after each use, or they will drink & bathe in the water.
My Two New Kittens – Nolan & Ryan
You may have noticed 2 kitties on my instagram feed, any of my other social media, or my Free Halloween Single. They were named after the baseball player Ryan Nolan, by a previous owner. She had to give them away, while undergoing cancer treatment. I found them in a PetSmart and they were super sweet towards me and one of my best friends, so I decided to get them. I am happy to have found such great cats, even though the adoption process was difficult.
I Avoided The Hardest Kitty Phases
By getting cats that were already 7 months old, I didn’t have to train them as much. Kittens meow much more often than adult cats and they are basically teenagers now, at about 10 months old. They were already litter box trained, when I got them.
Click on the image above.i
Cats Want To Be Loved & A Part of The Pride
They don’t ask me for all that much. I try to play with them sometimes, but since I have two cats, they will usually play-fight when I am busy. Most of the time, they just want to be able to snuggle for a little bit. One of them values having his tail stroked more than anything else and the other one wants to lick my neck and ears. They both have different personalities and your cat may want something different. Some cats will never want to cuddle, while others will want it all the time. Oftentimes, mine will meow if I am behind a closed door for a few minutes. They want to feel included and loved, so even just taking a nap with them nearby is enough for them to be happy.
The first track on ElectroPapi EP mentions my kittens, so I felt like I should tell you more about them. The first 4 tracks are almost done, so I am planning to release my EP in early 2019.
Excerpted from author Corie Johnson, Lead Designer of ZenBusiness
Join us today as we interview one of our users, a multi-talented artist named Sage Suede. Listen to his music on Soundcloud here: https://soundcloud.com/sagesuede
“My name is Corie, and I’m with ZenBusiness. Today I’m here with Sage Suede. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?”
Hi, my name’s Sage Suede. I’m a local musician and model in Austin, Texas. I’ve had my brand for a few years now. I started in 2015 and I just started a fashion brand for it. I formalized my business recently as an LLC with ZenBusiness.
“That’s really cool. You said that you were doing clothes, as well, so is this kind of like a lifestyle brand that you’re working on?”
I’d say it’s a lifestyle brand. I do a kind of a streetwear style because I want more of that fusion, and I have a lot of inspiration when it comes to casual clothing. I feel like I have a pretty good perspective as someone that’s been involved in modeling, and most of my clothes from thrift stores; that actually gives me a very variable style.
“What were you doing before you started your business?”
Before I started my business I was in college. I made a demo while I was in college at the recording studio there, and currently I’m still working full time in marketing because I jumped into this, without so much capital. I’m learning on my way since I do pretty much everything myself.
“That’s how things go sometimes. So, your business as Sage Suede, what inspired you to start this business? You said you were in marketing and then you were doing some modeling, but what really made you think, ‘Oh, man, this is where I want to head?'”
It’s kind of always been my long-term pursuit and a passion project of mine. As a kid I played drums and piano and guitar and clarinet and I started teaching myself beat production in sixth grade. It’s just something I’ve been doing for my whole life, and it’s reached a point where it sounds a lot better than it used to. I have reached a lot of challenges along the way with developing the music. With most artists nowadays on the radio, they have 40 people on an album or more and everybody’s expecting you to be at this quality level and it’s really a challenge to get there. I do feel I’m very close to that level, if not at that level. Now after having made my demo my new EP is going to be really good because I really honed in on those skills.
“I think that artists these days almost have a task force behind them. There’s all the social media aspects and the online aspects, so it’s really hard to do by yourself. So I think it’s very admirable that you’re doing that.”
Nowadays they kind of expect artists to reach a pretty big level before they’ll even sign them on or consider them anymore.
“You were talking about how this was something you’ve done for quite a while in your life. What made you decide to formalize it? You formed an LLC with us, right? What made you think: ‘This project is something that I should actually formalize and get the business.’ I don’t know if you got an EIN, but did you open a bank account and everything? What made you decide, ‘This is the moment I need to formalize my business?'”
There’s more than a few reasons. One of the main reasons was I’ve been Sage Suede online for about two years… I chose an LLC because I didn’t want my personal assets to be incorporated in the business. I’m starting a business, and I have to take a loss while I’m starting it and I can’t tie my entire life to it.
“Do you have a full digital storefront or do you sell anywhere in person in Austin?”
It’s all digital at the moment. I’m going to start selling it as merch at performances, but I’m waiting on the performances ’til I finish my EP. I did a lot when I was still in Boston, but when I moved back to Austin I didn’t even have a car, so I had to take off more time. Now I want to finish the EP first because it’s so much higher quality. Then I will I start performing again.
“That’s understandable. We kind of talked about what inspired you, but did you have any particular people or artists that inspired you when you started to get into music?”
That’s a hard question because there are so many different kinds of artists. My perspective is very global because I’m a polyglot, so I speak German, Portuguese, Spanish, a little Russian, and I’m all over the place with that. Languages have always been a passion of mine since I was a kid. A lot of my favorite artists are foreign bands, and I listen to music from all over the place. My perspective is very different from where most people perceive music.
There’s a lot of aspects that I really want to incorporate in my music. I do really enjoy hip-hop because the drums are very good. I would love to incorporate some more of that Brazilian style of drumming. I really like electronic music, so I’m very influenced by French electro, German electro house, and all kinds of stuff all over the world and that just all comes together as what I ended up putting out.
“What were you most afraid of when you started this venture? What really was scary for you?”
That’s a hard question. It’s changed a lot over time. When I first started I was pretty scared of performing. I had a lot of stage fright. I did some classical music training as a kid. I was in band and I made it to area band for two years. I ended up quitting after my sophomore year of high school, but I was very serious about it. I practiced for five hours a day, but the problem was that I would get really nervous in front of people. Everybody always told me I was a state-quality musician, but I would always choke at the performances on stage. What I realized over time is that I actually do have a lot of performance experience. It’s not really something for me to be worried about. It’s still something to be a little bit nervous about, but it’s just because I actually care about how well I’m doing.
“I think even super famous people who go on stage still get that moment of anxiety. At least I hope they do. Otherwise, they’re god level; they’re too cool.”
That adrenaline is a good thing.
“Maybe they can focus on it and use that. For you what was the most difficult part of starting your business?”
I’ve had to do just about everything. It’s really challenging because I work full time in marketing and I’ve learned how to build websites during my marketing internships. I started audio editing really young, so I’ve gotten pretty good at it by now, but if you look at my demo, there’s still errors. I’ve gotten to this point by just consistently working towards it. Web design did take me awhile. I’m still having some issues with it.
“It is hard, let me tell you. As a designer myself! It is a long road.”
I had to learn graphic design. The new clothes I’m doing, I’m designing them. It is taking some time. I think it’s a time commitment, always additional time in my day. I really love doing it, so it’s worth the time, and I really want more people to see it. That’s part of the challenge, getting that open and available to everyone.
“Can you tell me what advice would you give to other entrepreneurs or other people who are just starting out their own businesses? In music or otherwise.”
I’d say, especially in music, don’t give up on what you’re doing because the business is really just a combination of all your time and your effort and everything you’re doing. Being all about the profit isn’t really correct for your business because most new businesses don’t profit for three years to five years after the formation. As you’re starting don’t let anybody talk you down, especially if you’re a musician. Your music isn’t going to suit everybody’s tastes, even if you’re the biggest musician in the world! You really have to let people say whatever they want about your stuff, but don’t take it personally because a lot of them will probably change their minds at times, or they might like another song of yours.
How has your life changed since you started this business?
I’ve had it informally for a long time. I’m happier with it now that it’s formalized, it shows how serious I am and that it is a full thing that I’m investing in and it’s not just a side project when I have the money behind it. It’s motivated me more to keep working towards it just because of the additional costs. And I have about 50,000 followers already so…
“WHAT! I didn’t know that. That’s crazy. Congratulations.”
It’s mostly Instagram. Part of the challenge is getting people that are on different social sites to see what else I have or to go to my shop and all that. They want to like you as much as they can when they’re around on your social sites, but they don’t necessarily see anything else you make. So that’s part of the challenge.
“Especially Instagram because it’s so visual, and, as an artist or as a music artist, that’s a whole other issue. But I guess they have video now, too.”
I’m still trying to find good ways to schedule videos. It’s always been difficult.
“What’s the next thing for your business – your artistic vision?”
I’m finishing up my EP; it’s called Electro Papi EP. It’s almost done. I’m about halfway done. I haven’t figured out how many tracks I’m going to do, but I’m thinking probably six tracks. I have a demo that’s already out. If you want to download that, that’s on my website.I also have 15 other free songs you get if you join my email list. I’m going to send one of the songs that’s from the upcoming EP so you guys can listen to it in this interview. I also have a YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/user/ALittleShock. So listen to my music there. I have a comedy series, and I talk about magic from different cultures all over the world, if that’s something that interests you. It’s something that interests me.
“You have another whole section on YouTube that’s about magic, and a comedy series?”
One of them is a superhero parody series where I’m a superhero, but he’s super petty, so he doesn’t really save people very often. I’m also going to start doing clothing giveaways as I add new products to my website. I’ll give away one item of clothing to someone that wins the raffle.
“Is there anything else you wanted to share with us today or anybody listening to this podcast? Maybe young artists, anything else you want to tell them?”
Definitely don’t give up on your dreams if you are a person in music. I do think it’s worth it to get an LLC just to separate your personal assets. ZenBusiness can be a really good way to do that since they’re a local Austin business and they don’t charge you a filing fee.
“Thank you so much for coming in today. I really appreciate it. And everybody who is out there please make sure you check out Sage Suede.”
This is a fun halloween song. I just kind of threw together some poetic musings from my Halloween experiences and it’s a free download!
I spent more than a few hours on this and actually came up with most of the lyrics and half of the track last year. Then I wanted to finish it this year, so I dedicated a lot of time to improving and polishing it. Listen on SoundCloud and download in my store – NO SECRET CODE REQUIRED!
Listen Here:
Sage Suede – Be My Boo Lyrics
Let’s go to our old haunts
Have us something sweet
Maybe crash a party and
Then go out to eat
You have a nice star sign
Our planets are in sync
I wanna take you out tonight
Already Halloween
I just want you
I just want you
I just want you to be my boo
I just want you
I just want you
I always knew you were ghoul
Haters be sleepin on me
Cause they like my material
Wanna smooth the cover
and find it’s for real
Streets fillin up with
Candy hustlers
Watch your back it’s
Witchin Hour
There’s too many flavors to choose from
And the candy’s so free
Got a sweet tooth
And you’re looking at me
Let’s go to our old haunts
Have us something sweet
Maybe crash a party and
Then go out to eat
You have a nice star sign
Our planets are in sync
I wanna take you out tonight
Already Halloween
I just want you
I just want you
I just want you to be my boo
I just want you
I just want you
I always knew you were ghoul
(candy hustlers)
This candy corn is so hard
Whatever, I’m still gonna eat it
(lookin at me)
At that bougie party
making out in the closet
and even in that room that’s
probably haunted it
ruined your makeup but
we were so lovin
Had a vampire look
rubbed off before morning
Made up my mind
Honey you lookin so fine
Got a wordplay so nice
really brownin my rice
Imma cheese it so good
’til beats bangin in your hood
Won’t be misunderstandin
that we vibin so good
Let’s go to our old haunts
Have us something sweet
Maybe crash a party and
Then go out to eat
You have a nice star sign
Our planets are in sync
I wanna take you out tonight
Already Halloween
I just want you
I just want you
I just want you to be my boo
I just want you
I just want you
I always knew you were ghoul
Sage Suede Snapback
I designed a snapback hat, which you can purchase in Sage Suede Shop. I like snapbacks and think they are a more modern baseball cap.
If you like baseball caps, trucker hats, etc, then let me know in the comments and I may add them to the store as well!
I am working on a beanie too. It might take a few weeks for me to complete the new products and versions.
WIN THE SNAPBACK FREE!
You can enter a raffle for new items through my email list. There will be one winner for each product.
To Receive Contest Info, You Have to Join My Mailing List.
This is just so that I have a way to get in touch with you and know you are interested to receive free products.
Click the image below to sign up for my email list. You will also get the secret code for 2018 Freebies & Bangers upon signup.
Earn Additional Entries in Sage Suede Product Giveaways
I am finishing up a referral program for everyone, so that you can earn additional entries in giveaway contests.
I will provide details soon. Basically, here is how things work:
Initial Entry in product sweepstakes, when you express interest in a product through Sage Suede email newsletter. You Need to be on my mailing list to obtain free giveaway information!
Second Entry, when you submit a friend’s email to the referral program
Third Entry, if your friend agrees to receive emails
When I Was Younger, I Didn’t Have Abs, Because People Don’t Need Them
Ab workouts will help to tone you core, which helps with general movement and heart health. Strong abs can make aerobic exercises easier too, but abs aren’t necessary.
I focused on martial arts and running as my primary forms of exercise when I was younger. Martial arts taught me some ab movements that worked well but I didn’t use them often enough.
I changed the focus of my workout to problem areas. I noticed that my weight falls a lot in my lower back and ab areas.
I got a gym membership and I have found the ab rotations, crunches and rows to be effective. I won’t specify an amount because it depends on your physiology, but try to do 4 reps for the ab machines and at least a 15 minute row. Aim for a medium rep count on ab sets. I eventually moved up to full weight on ab rotations and about 135 on crunches, but you can probably start with around half your body weight.
My Diet For Abs
When people talk about muscle growth, they emphasize bulking but bulking doesn’t do much for toning and definition. Yoga can help with these things too, if you practice poses like planking. I’ve found the biggest change to be in the way I eat. I started IMF or intermittent fasting a few years ago, so that I can get more done during the workday. I used to eat two meals in the evening and one meal in the morning, now I normally don’t eat until after four and I might just have 1 taco for lunch. In the evening I have 2-2.5 portions of food and I feel better during the day. This won’t work for everyone, because it’s dependent on your body size (adult vs. child, etc) and eating habits. I will still eat a larger lunch sometimes with people.
How Often Should I Go To The Gym?
Your muscles need rest days and you can cycle on body targets, but I have never cared that much. I usually just focus on abs and then arms.
I don’t feel much need for variation but it depends on what you want to go for. I don’t want to be a body builder, I just try to stay fit and this fits my lifestyle.
Protein Powder Warning
For me, I found cutting to be more important than bulking. All of the protein powders I used made me feel bloated all the time, because their main ingredients were things like beans and milk. They have high protein to help with muscle growth, but I also had candida growth as a result of the excess protein. Candida is a naturally occurring yeast in the human intestinal track but it can become overgrown by eating wheat, sugar, or fats. So for some people, candida may cause a lot of bloating and you could try goldenseal extract in water to detox your stomach. I only noticed it because it caused my eyelashes to become irritated and start falling out, then I self-diagnosed with an herbal medicine dictionary.
Don’t Feel Like You Need to Look Like a Magazine
It’s well known that magazines utilize photo editing suites for their productions and you shouldn’t feel like you have to be a different person.
Clothing Giveaways!
The Sage Suede Shop will be holding free giveaways with each new product! Get Fast Pass Access to be considered.
Details will be announced via the exclusive newsletter.
I want to encourage and enable people that follow my online content and I hope that these tips can help y’all!
Let me know if you want to know more ab tips in the comments.
SUPER PETTY IS A SUPER HERO PARODY SERIES ON YOUTUBE
Super Petty is a super hero. He like so totally has immense power at his disposal (sort of like superman), but he is also super petty.
This YouTube comedy series is a super hero parody. He like totally saves tons of lives when he has time but as a super hero, he doesn’t actually have that much time.
He has super speed, but running really fast makes him tired and he has priorities, like looking good on TV when he saves people.
Super Hero or Super Villain?
Super Petty can be a bit problematic and difficult to work with. He has super good social skills and other super talents that should make it easy, but his personality often gets in the way of his crime fighting. He has good intentions and he doesn’t seek to harm anyone but he doesn’t put other people’s needs above his own.
This could be perceived as un-heroic and probably should be, but he isn’t cruel or violent, he is just petty. As such, it can be open to interpretation and sometimes his decisions will result in casualties because he’s too lazy to leave the house. He is frequently in need of mental health rest days and beauty sleep, among other quirky scenarios.
Super Petty includes a cast of kooky characters, including:
Hoe Mo’ Sapien – a powerful super hero who describes herself as “mo’ than a hoe” after obtaining super powers in a freak accident
Big THOT – a career criminal, most often robbing a bank or doing something else heinous. He might be dating Super Petty, but it’s ambiguous.
True Goth – another Sage Suede series where I am a goth. He doesn’t make a full cameo in Super Petty, but in episode 4 he steals Super Petty’s table.
“Yo Boy” Tobias – likely a hitman, he performs odd jobs that are perceived by most as unsightly. Super Petty hires him to plant a bug in an antagonist’s salad for “snitching on his secret identity.”
Police Officer – tbh I forgot if I gave him a full name yet, but he calls Super Petty to get help with police work. Super Petty likes him a lot, but doesn’t necessarily follow through on all of the favors. Technically, he has an obligation to do something, because he is employed by the city government, but you’ll see how that works out.
Comedic YouTube Skit Series – Watch the First 7 Episodes!
Please Subscribe to My YouTube Channel!
Voice Acting & Fan Art Submissions
I do all of the characters on this show. I would like to have guests. If you’re interested, please contact Sage_Suede@SageSuede.com
You can still send art for my Fan Art page – Submit art to FanArt@SageSuede.com.
The Super Petty Theme Song
This song is perfect for Super Petty because it is about butts. Super Petty usually dances while answering his emergency hotline and the song helps set the mood for the conversations afterwards. It’s meant to be silly and not taken too seriously.
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I Have Read a Little Bit About Astrology, so I Thought I’d Share Some Magic
As an example, here is my natal chart. It has tidbits for anyone that is skilled in reading them. The outer rings are astrological signs and the inner symbols are the planets in each degree. There are also some sub-planets like Chiron, which represents deeply-rooted pain. I don’t want to go into excessive detail, but I will post about this again if people ask for it.
When it comes to astrology, there are a lot of different kinds of charts. I don’t believe in tropical astrology, because it was based on charting of the planets 2 millenia ago. Instead, I use sidereal astrology. I understand why some people prefer to go by tropical and that’s why I’ll explain how I felt about it when learning about sidereal. I didn’t understand that a different system might be more accurate in terms of the position of the planets and for me, the periodic influences of planets should be based on their real, astronomical position. Your astrological sign is like the reference point for how to interpret planetary influences as the planets travel through signs throughout the year.
You might even be considered Ophiuchus or, “the new 13th sign”. It’s not a new sign at all, actually and that’s not a bad thing. It’s because there are more than 12 signs in the sky, but the sun only travels through 13 signs. Ophiuchus was likely removed to round downand simplify math, or maybe because multiples of 3 are holy. I’m sure it was easier to make an astrological wheel with 12 signs too, since 360 is divisible by 12. There are ~365.242199 days in a year though, so things were bound to get funky.
The most popular form of astrology is tropical astrology. It’s so much more domineering that if you look up astrology that’s what you will find by default. When I first learned about it, I didn’t get it. I always thought I was an Aquarius and felt that the sign described me well. So anyways, I checked a real astronomical charting program and that’s when I saw that at the time of my birth, my sun was in Capricorn.
Learning more about Capricorn has shown me that I have a lot of those traits. I won’t go into detail but a lot of great musicians have been Capricorns, like Elvis. Here are some of the planetary symbols from NASA’s website:
I know it’s a little hard to understand, but I can make some videos to help y’all with it. I think it’s important to understand which planets are in your home sign, so that you’ll know how the position of the planets is relative to your person. It’s kind of superstitious and up to interpretation, but I love foreign languages, magic, esotericism and spirituality so I include aspects of this in my music and want to share it with people, since it’s fun to learn about.
Important concepts to understand about your planets
1. You are ruled by the planets that are in your sign. In a general sense, that means that the characteristics of each planet may have some effect on you.
2. Your sign is determined by your sun sign.
3. The position of the planets changes as they orbit the sun and their influences change accordingly. This is on a case by case basis based on where and when you were born. I don’t want to go into too much detail about astrology but leave a comment if you’re interested and I’ll help you learn more.
You Obtain 15 Free Songs When You Join and Yes, It’s Exclusive!
No one else can see the free item’s details without the secret code. The songs stay in your account on SageSuede.com forever and you can download them an unlimited number of times.
I haven’t finished adding the mastered version of DIAMONDBACK Demo to stores yet, so please don’t buy it off of other websites. It’s cheaper on my shop anyway.
This blog post talks a lot about magic. You can learn more about how to connect with planets in this video.
Magic Squares are just one method of connecting with planets and generally mantras are based on deities. You can choose your own mantra, deity or say the planets name directly.
This type of magic is primarily based on intention. The video below is based on the sun. The sign your sun is in determines your astrological sign at birth and it is the primary planet of wealth.
I read this in a book on dark magic, but it’s not dark. It is borrowed from Hindu traditions and you can re-frame it to your beliefs as appropriate. I am just talking about aligning with planets and recommend having a practice to align with all of the planets in your home sign.
Believe in Yourself When No One Else Will & You Will Succeed
I’ve been a musician for my entire life. No one has ever handed me a song on a silver platter with pre-recorded vocals and instrumental tracks.
How many albums were made this way in 2018?
I have been the only person working on Sage Suede, except for my collaborations. I actually only started modeling because I thought it would help me as a musician and it’s helped a bit with my online presence, but that hasn’t always been a part of my life. I like modeling, but as a child I thought it was too shallow to even consider it. I thought ageism reduced it’s viability greatly and didn’t live in a big city where gigs are. It became something that I did independently. I’ve organized many of my photoshoots with indie photographers and cut my hair in almost all of my photoshoots.
Now that I’m older, I realize how toxic our youth-centric culture is. Wrinkles are actually beautiful – don’t @ me with phrases used to sell beauty products.
I just want y’all to know that I am really dedicated to what I’m doing and I know about most of the mistakes I’ve made along the way. I don’t think that those mistakes invalidate any of the music I’ve released online, even though I am always working towards perfection.
Releasing my music online has resulted in a lot of backlash for me, I’ve been even more isolated than I tend to be and it’s been stressful for me emotionally. Still, it’s what I love and I can’t imagine a life without it. I hope that someday I can make this my entire life, but for now, I’m still slaving away at work, before creating things in my free time. I love what I create and those imperfections are just where I was at in becoming the person I am today. I had to make mistakes to keep growing and I am still working towards my goals.
If you want to be something, then keep working towards it. No one can tell you that you’re wrong for following your heart.
You’ll like the smooth synths and the deep bass in ElectroPapi EP. My vocals have improved very noticeably.
On DIAMONDBACK Demo, my vocal style had a lot of variation and my rhythms were mostly metered. I did use off-beat and syncopated rhythms on DIAMONDBACK Demo, but the vocals were intended to be more apathetic than ElectroPapi EP.
I’ve learned a lot more about myself and my limitations. I’ve also been surprised and pleased with how well my musical style is developing.
I’ve been working on Takin a Sip all weekend; it will likely be the third track on ElectroPapi EP.
So far, it seems like the EP will be in English, but I am a polyglot so depends on how my brain is thinking.
I decided to give away another free music package in my store. It’s called 2018 Freebies & Bangers and it includes over a dozen tracks. There is music in Russian, Portuguese and English. You can only obtain these free tracks with a secret password from Saucy Posse Fast Pass access (Sign Up Here). I guess you could ask a friend for the password too, but it’s not going to be the only secret password! You can share the sign up link with friends if they ask you for too many passwords.
Get Free Bangers & B Sides:
Click the banner above to visit the Free Bangers & B Sides download page
Are You a Photographer, Dancer, Model, Videographer or Artist in ATX?
I am always working on new projects and seeking collaborators. You can view my modeling portfolio here.
For modeling, or musical performance inquiries, please contact BookingAgent@SageSuede.com. For Dancing, Photography, or Videography, please contact Sage_Suede@SageSuede.com.
Please note that I have a limited budget and may not have time to respond to all possibilities. I offer TFP and collaborative modeling, in exchange for giving photographers free publicity. This may not be free forever and I also do paid modeling on occasions. At the moment, I offer free publicity for fan art too and if you make any Sage Suede art, please send it to FanArt@SageSuede.com.
Sage Suede is a Musician & Model in Austin, Texas
I live in Austin, TX. I have performed more than a few shows, on radio and live, but most of them were in Boston, MA. I moved back to Austin, TX after college without a car and didn’t have transportation for a few months, so I couldn’t continue performing. During that period of time, I decided that I could make higher quality tracks and started ElectroPapi EP in November, 2017. I’m giving everything extra time to get done, since I’m held to the standard of “artists” with 50 people on an album.
That being said, I will be performing again in the next few months. I just want to finish up the EP first, because those tracks are so much better. I really want at least 2 backup dancers, and you can contact me to apply.
I have practiced my club-style dance hybrid thing a lot, so I am better than I used to be. I’m not a pro dancer, but I have done martial arts for years (which is still a form of choreo), ballroom dance and musical theatre. It’s not all relevant but the way my brain remembers the movements, it comes together with a flow to it. I mostly draw from elements of club dancing and try to incorporate other movements. I would want to work with dancers on routines and would also give them independence for soloing on some songs.
I’m uploading DIAMONDBACK Demo (Re-Mastered) to Stores
I had distribution for DIAMONDBACK Demo, but I released all of the tracks un-mastered in May 2017. This was really just because I couldn’t afford mastering and hadn’t found a solution yet. It also didn’t help that I had no idea what I was doing. I’ve made beats since I was in middle school, so it’s been a long time but there are so many audio concepts that I’ve improved since then. I’ve learned a ton about songwriting and my vocal inflection is world’s better. I am so excited to share ElectroPapi EP with y’all!
I will be uploading the re-mastered version of DIAMONDBACK Demo to sites like iTunes, Amazon MP3, Tidal, Deezer, Spotify and maybe a few others I’m forgetting. I want the mastered version to be available for streaming because I realize that it is more important than selling albums nowadays. I will still offer it on this site for cheaper, because when you buy my music through any other store, I get a small fraction of the full price. I would rather offer it a little cheaper for people on my site, because then I only lose money to taxes. I may need to raise the price a dollar or 2, but only because I have to pay for the song masters to export as WAVs and I can’t upload MP3s for distribution.
That’s All For Now Folks
I am still working on my logo re-design and things are coming together nicely. I am providing the designer with too much feedback and we are constantly re-making the concept.
I’ve improved a lot at coding too and recently made a lot of stylistic, CSS updates to the website. Leave a comment and let me know how you like my site.
I’m doing my best to get y’all new products soon. After I complete the new logo, I’ll just need to speak with suppliers. Then I’ll be able to put more on the store!
If you haven’t obtained all this free music yet, all you need to do is join Saucy Posse Fast Access. Then you will have the password for this page:
If you like this content, please share! It is so hard to get noticed as an independent musician and this is what I’ve been doing my entire life. It’s just been long enough that I’ve worked to be at this point. Sage Suede is officially registered as an LLC now and I am so happy that everything is coming together. 😀
I will be adding fashion, street wear, music, accessories and other wonderful things to the store. I am currently working with suppliers on setting this up.
ElectroPapi EP
I am working on a new release called ElectroPapi EP. It will be 4-6 tracks and features a futuristic electro-pop sound. I have evolved significantly since DIAMONDBACK Demo, as you can probably tell. When I released DIAMONDBACK, it was just me every step of the way. My music continues to rely solely on my personal growth and my drive to succeed.
I really wouldn’t have been able to make this site without choosing a career in marketing. I have years of experience with designing sites, sending emails and all that jazz from work and that has made all the difference. Because I didn’t have an online presence at the onset, I have had to focus more on the marketing than the music component and there are still outstanding issues with DIAMONDBACK Demo. I released it in all music stores un-mastered, because I didn’t know any better. I used almost no vocal comping, etc..
Check out the mirrored dance video for DIAMONDBACK. I made it of course, with my okay video editing and dancing abilities.
However, My Mistakes Are Good News For You!
I don’t want anyone to pay full price for the demo anymore, especially since I didn’t master it before release. As a result, DIAMONDBACK Demo is 100% free un-mastered through this site. You can also get the mastered version of DIAMONDBACK Demo for only $3 in Shop Sage Suede. I am very generous about sharing with my fans, because your support is very important to me. I am charging $3 for the mastered demo, because it is much cheaper than the un-mastered version and that’s essentially the cost of a single song including tax and yes, the state of Texas is taking a cut of that $3, so I’m not actually earning anything. I was just hoping that I could get enough to cover the mastering fee.
Note: I will be uploading the mastered version of DIAMONDBACK Demo to replace the un-mastered version in other stores.
More About ElectroPapi EP
I am almost done with the first few tracks of my EP. The lead track is called Soft Serve Chillin and you can find the preview below:
Skirt Flirt is another track on the EP, but I haven’t shared a preview yet.
If you dig deep, you can probably find it in one of my recent Live.me streams.
I also shared 2 previews of Takin a Sip (this is the least finished, so it has a lot of potential to change).
I haven’t decided if I will remix or re-make any tracks on DIAMONDBACK Demo yet. I am considering doing a new version of Shaky Lips (Lazy Sunday with You). If there is a track that you really love and you would like me to improve on the EP, then please let me know!
I learned a lot from DIAMONDBACK Demo, mostly about audio editing, but also all about sharing my music. It’s not easy at all and it’s really hard to get any support from people.
If you’re someone that really values my work, I highly encourage you to share it! I won’t be able to do touring, until things scale up further. That being said…
Sage Suede Has Grown a Lot.
When I started this website in May 2015, Sage Suede didn’t exist. I didn’t have any music online, except for under a myspace persona called T.D. Maurader (spelling?). I don’t even remember and it was the name I was calling myself. Before Sage Suede, I also briefly went by the name AJ Bluejay. That’s why you can find an image or two on this site with that name.
I finished DIAMONDBACK Demo in March 2017. In retrospect, it definitely wasn’t finished without mastering, but I had to be thoroughly criticized and maligned to acknowledge that I’m held to a multi-billion dollar industry standard that really isn’t achievable for anyone. I really do mean that, because it’s rare to find independent artists that even make it to my current musical quality, without paying $300/song for each mix and that same price again for every master + 50 other people that make minor edits to all of their tracks. Unfortunately, that’s what people think music is and they laud mega-celebrities to the point of desperation. I wish I could be respected for what I’ve made, but most of the time it’s just a comparison to somebody else.
Since all of that, I now have social media across the internet. I’ve completed a lot more modeling experiences, which is a passion of mine, and I started up my YouTube channel. I really want to help provide people with the cool stuff they’re working on and I’m doing the best I can with what I can afford. I hope that y’all can keep things in perspective, but don’t worry about ElectroPapi EP – it is up to the standards of the music industry, but only because I’ve gotten much better at audio editing, singing, and more! I already have it stuck in my head every day lol.
I’m at ~50K followers now, but I feel like too many of those are for a followback. I wish I had time to look through everyone’s posts, but I don’t and I try my best to be present when I am online (note: if you engage with me, I do my best to look at your profile afterwards ;)). As of late, I’ve been holding off on followbacks because that kind of makes me sad. I try so hard and struggle to get visibility, like the last time I promoted a video on my primary social profiles, it only got 15 more views. That’s awful and it is a trend in social media that it becomes more and more like an advertising platform, as they shift their algorithms to remove all of your friend’s content from your newsfeed. You can blame Facebook for that, because they started it and it’s still happening across social platforms. I’ve never been happy about it as an indie artist.
Anyways, after much self-debate, I have decided to continue following back on Twitter for the time being. My reasoning is that it’s better to have people that follow me for the followback than to lose people that have a genuine interest in my hard work. I would rather followback people that won’t engage than lose out on an opportunity to get to know people that genuinely care. I am not following back on other social platforms because they have low follow limits.
It Was So Hard to Make Everything on This Site
I’ve lost a lot of friends while pursuing these goals. I’ve lost relationships and been berated by others for having an online presence. People used to respect my intelligence more before I got good at styling my hair and I enjoy modeling too. I don’t do this because I’m a narcissist. I don’t need to share my modeling photos and I really don’t need people to acknowledge what I look like. I am working to materialize a goal that I’ve always had and that’s to be a musician full-time. I’ve learned to improve everything at a very fast pace, while constantly being told I’m not good enough, but I know that my main skills are in music. I am a multi-instrumentalist, although I had to focus on the audio production aspects for a while. I didn’t pick up marketing until internships in college and I really learned most of my skills by working (I only took one course in marketing in college). It’s been a really long ride and in many ways, a constant struggle.
I am looking forward to a day when I can be respected for who I am. That might not happen until I die. I don’t really care anymore. I’m tired of people trying to write me off, because they bought into a person that was sold to them for millions of dollars. I don’t have that kind of money and I don’t want to be compared to them. Few of them have any of the skills that I have through working so hard towards my goals. Pretty much everything I do for Sage Suede is outside of my work hours, so it’s like a full-time job and I just want to share my art with people.
I am really excited to share the new store with y’all!
You may or may not know this, but I have good taste in clothes and I am carefully curating every item for the new store. It may not be until next week or so that I get the first new item on the store, but that’s only because I am in the process of re-designing my logo. You will love it, I’m sure. I have design experience but the designer I’m working with is much better than me with illustration and clean images. I want it to be high quality for y’all and I can’t wait for the products to start getting released! In the meantime, you’ll probably start to see some prodfucts without logos.
The style of the new store can be described as street wear that is actually cool. I don’t want to give much detail, because if it’s anything like the last time I got a pair of glasses, 15 people will imitate me the second they see it. I have an innate eye for style that can’t be imitated though and I know that I have a lot to offer the world of fashion. At some point, you will also be able to purchase these products at my concerts.
I look forward to sharing more with everyone! Download the free version of DIAMONDBACK in my store, or help me cover the small fee of getting it mastered. I’ve come a long way since debating my name two years ago and struggling to finish my Demo during college. I am so happy to have you with me on this journey and I hope you’ll check back soon. You can also subscribe to my new email list for access to blog posts and new content one week before everyone else! It’s the tab/pop-up in the bottom right of the screen called Saucy Posse Fast Access.
