XoVos

The show was about to start, and various bands were slowly bringing in all of their equipment into the Pegasus Ballroom at the UCF Student Union. For most, this consisted of guitars, a drum set and some speakers. But for XoVos, a laptop and a DJ Controller (twitch) will do. His performance was complete with a slideshow featuring scenes from disaster movies and even Star Trek. A proud nerd, XoVos attended Arizona State University for computer systems engineering and theater before moving to Orlando about 5 years ago. Thanks to the internet and his genre, most of his work is collaboration with people whom he has never met in person. He’s currently working with a European group called Copenhagen Sound System. “It’s a very organic process with no rhyme or reason,” he explains. “We use Dropbox and then combine the music from there. Nothing gets disposed of, but sometimes songs will go unfinished for a long time.”  Another collaborator is CRU5H3R, from Argentina. “We’ve worked together for 3 years. He’s my go-to producer and right hand man for my newest album Xalted.” Other artists he has collaborated with include Spol and NIGHTkilla. For the large part, he identifies as an electronic vocalist. “Some artists create great tracks but don’t know what to put for vocals. That’s where I come in.” Due to the electronic nature of his music, he must remain cautious. There is a chance that computer viruses will corrupt a few files, or some other related problem will occur. “I’ll be performing and someone could spill their drinks on my equipment and I’ll lose a few tracks because of it. Skrillex lost an entire album when his hard drive was stolen.”  

 Musical inspiration began in the dark ages of middle school. “I heard Eminem for the first time in 1997, and his music helped me get through a tough period of my life. When I first considered creating music, I kinda laughed it off and thought it wasn’t possible. So I started off rapping cause I thought I couldn’t sing, but then I bought a piano, and time stood still.” He spoke of his ability to get lost in the music, sometimes not eating or talking to anyone for 24 hours without noticing. “After all the experiences I’ve had, it’s music that moves me emotionally and allows me to express anything I’m feeling, like a moody bitch.” He also mentioned that a student organization at UCF, the Unsigned Club, has helped develop him as an artist, morphing from a hobbyist to a performer.

Related sites:

http://www.facebook.com/xovos?fref=ts

http://www.youtube.com/user/XoVosOfficial