VL MAG
- Mar 15, 2022
- 3 min read

FREEPLAY X burning bicycles

Updated: Mar 18, 2022

We recently shot with New York musical creative FREEPLAY, at a secret location in Boston Massachusetts, for this year 2022 upcoming album featuring his band burning bicycles. We asked him 10 questions to get to know more of an in-depth look into his process as an artist and what is burning bicycles.

WHAT'S YOUR MISSION AS AN ARTIST?

FREEPLAY : My personal goal as an artist is to break the stereotype of what success looks like, and inspire others artists to create their vision regardless of the benchmarks the industry and society sets for us as an indicator for being successful. I want to inspire artists to create for the sake of their art and because I believe our lives as creatives depends on it.

2. WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT BEING A MUSICIAN?

FREEPLAY : Freedom! I get express myself the best way I know how; through my music.

3. WHICH INSTRUMENT IS YOUR FAVORITE TO PLAY AND WHY?

FREEPLAY : I really enjoy the guitar. Some of my most memorable days start or end with me noodling on my travel-sized Martin acoustic.

4. HOW DID YOU CREATE THE NAME BURNING BICYCLES AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

FREEPLAY : I was walking through Bushwick in Brooklyn, NY and imagining I had a "rock band name generator" in my brain. The name 'burning bicycles' came up, amongst a couple of others, and my co-producer and bandmate Isaiah Parker and I both knew that was the one.

5. ARE THERE ANY MUSICIANS WHO INSPIRE YOU? WHAT QUALITIES DO YOU ADMIRE ABOUT THEM?

FREEPLAY : I have to many to name lol! I am inspired by individuals who are creative and relentless. In their pursuits of completing a vision and seeing it come through no matter what obstacles are thrown at them. In a world filled with pretenders what matters to me is seeing others bring their ideas into fruition and pushing it the the highest limits,

6. DO YOU FOLLOW A PROCESS OR RITUAL BEFORE A PERFORMANCE TO GET RID OF NERVES OR PERFORMANCE ANXIETY?

FREEPLAY : I meditate regularly and walk in prayer but, not to rid myself of any of those things. I also don't like doing anything the same way so. no rituals. My process is continuously evolving. I do remember a teacher in High School telling me that imaging the audience naked helps with that kind of stuff; I think that would actually just give me anxiety.

7. WHAT TYPE OF MUSICIANS WOULD YOU PREFER TO COLLABORATE WITH?

Freeplay : I am open to working with any type of musician that understands the vision beyond their ego and knows how to contribute to it becoming greater than themselves. It's about evolving as an individual and making who ever you work with push to be better.

8. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE MUSIC THAT YOU TYPICALLY CREATE?

FREEPLAY : I really don't have a description for my music because I don't label myself as a rapper or singer it's really about how I feel in that moment or what I am trying to express through the song, but, my desire is have my songs bring good vibrations to all my listeners.

9. IF YOU CAN CHANGE ANYTHING ABOUT THE INDUSTRY, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

FREEPLAY : "The gatekeeping and algorithms. It sucks that it feels like music just ends up in a blackhole on the internet unless a major label or strong independent-label is behind."

10. TELL US ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING ALBUM. WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO CREATE IT? AND HOW DO YOU BELIEVE IT WILL AFFECT YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE?

FREEPLAY : Once my bandmate Isaiah and I established the band, the songs just started pouring out. Eventually, we had enough records to call it a full album, I truly believe our fans etc., will" feel all the emotions that we have put into the music; A lot of it came from a place of approaching the nostalgic moments of our lives without trying to have such a tight grip on them. Almost like a sad but hopeful attitude to the trials of this journey we call life. I put my all into this album and we both had fun creating it.