A conversation with Ranzel X Kendrick about “Fubar”
Q: Hi! Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your EP “Fubar”?
A: Originally it started with my love Mia hearing me playing Love One Another, and saying, “You need to record that song now. People need to hear that song.” And I said, this song? Now? And she was adamant and she’s called the right song before so the spark was lit for putting together FUBAR at that moment.
Then it was a series of songs with the right openness to allow me bringing in some nice accompaniment on a minimalistic approach. Lke Father Song with Guitar, Cello and Vocal; Window of My Soul with Guitar, Bass, Flute and Vocals and the girls, and 8-Ball in the Corner Pocket with Guitar, Trombone, Trumpets and Vocal. A very all-in-all eclectic mixing of instrumentation and pleasant elusiveness of genre stylings.
Q: How does “Fubar” differ from your previous works?
A: The project was a self-fulfilling prophecy from start to finish: “F’d Up Beyond All Recognition” FUBAR. Originally a military term, became the perfect name for this release when I slipped on sloping wet grass wearing slippers on the mountaintop where I live at The Lodge @ Reventazon River Mountain Ranch overlooking Turrialba, Pavones Costa Rica. That little slip put me in a wheelchair for the next 5-months from October 2022 through February 2023. No more slippers outside at the Lodge for me.
I got a lot of reviews saying FUBAR represented Alias Wayne at the top of his game, or other such noteworthy compliments for this little EP, for getting to them more than any of my former releases. They spoke of how this 4-song EP was a highlight of a career moment. The EP debuted at #13 on NACC Charts, with Love One Another #8 NACC Streaming and won Song of the Year by international news online rag Warlock Asylum.
Q: What was your favorite song to write and record on the EP?
A: It’s a tossup between Father Song & Window of my Soul because I felt gratified at how well both the cello in Father Song, and the flute in Window of my Soul impacted the songs like I wanted them to. And my son Dallas actually wrote the Father Song lyrics, but I got the privilege of composing the music and putting the two together. When producing music, you make calls that sometimes turns an eyebrow by engineers you work with, or friends who know your project. Where they express doubt about your decision. So, those two instruments being added to those two songs was just fun to see come together so well for me. Just the right calls on both songs.
Q: How did you come up with the name for the EP?
A: Really, I was just keeping to the light-spirited Alias Wayne script like I started with in the first Alias release: SNAFU, meaning “Situation Normal All F’d Up.” Way back when, I think 2019. Then FAUX PAS, referring to the same mixed up, messed up in between-the-genres approach I take creating new music like I do.
I know for sure I don’t fit in because of how I cross lines and barriers in blending genres so commonly. So, I started separating all my music into 2-categories: 1. Texas Root & Americana by Ranzel X Kendrick, and …
2. for everything else NOT Texas Roots/Americana, “by Alias Wayne.” Part me and part band name, Alias Wayne knows no boundaries to come from in creating or releasing his/their music. It’s always a creative mishmash of who-knows-what styles I’ll be playing completely. The EP title FUBAR fell perfectly in place and time even becoming a prediction I was not expecting for the whole project. Taking longer than any release I’ve ever recorded to finally get it out and released.
Q: Can you describe the writing and recording process for “Fubar”?
A: The writing was a scattered-over-time affair with the songs all ending up in the same unreleased catalog of music I have from so many years of writing and creating new music continually. My favorite part of the whole music process is just that. Writing and arranging songs from nothing into something new. I recorded the basic tracts of FUBAR at Solfeggio Studios in Tres Rios, Costa Rica just south of San Jose on the way to Cartago with incredible talent Lui Mora who introduced me to the girls: Paola Banarello & Zay Dobles B. It proved to be a match made in heaven for this EP that was really a whole lot of fun to live and experience. Thanks always to Paola and Zay for the beautifully creative and powerful vocals!
Q: What message do you hope listeners take away from “Fubar”?
A: If things get F’d Up Beyond All Recognition in your life. Dig deep and hang tight, thank God and play right and true to yourself. Don’t give up at all but keep on keeping on. Live to release your passion for something that means a lot to your heart and soul. That’s most important. Don’t worry about how F’up things are, and focus on making positive changes like if you were mixing a great song in the studio. You have to cut some things out. Turn some parts down in volume, turn others up and refine it all to make the mix work best. Get over you’re FUBAR. It’s okay. Keep your chin up and keep moving forward with a glad heart and a smile.
Q: How has your music evolved since your earlier works?
A: My approach to music from a very early age was to let it impact me as much as I could. To take in the impact it had on me cognitively in thought, and more, to subconsciously feel it deeper than with just my ears. That is still how I approach music overall and there is always new music being made and shared we can draw this impact from. So, my music has grown in this indirect modern influence way as well as just being creatively willing to keep doing new things myself.
Q: What was the biggest challenge you faced while creating the EP”?
A: With all the terrible health injuries since the COVID jab started, and lots of heart attacks across many ages. The one person you never think it might happen to is you! I heard of vaxxed people shedding to unvaxxed people and I don’t know the details, but I do know that “I myself” had a heart attack the night of April 22, 2023. Right in the middle of releasing FUBAR. What timing! And I died on the gurney in the older of the two Turrialba, Costa Rica hospitals. And I got to see it all from outside my lifeless body, I got to see the team of doctors trying to revive me. Yelling at me in Spanish first. Then yelling in English, but I couldn’t respond. There was nothing I could do.
Then there was a pause when I couldn’t see them but I could still hear them. Then my eyes opened. And I was back in my body and they were surprised and happy to see me alive again. After they gave me two shots that only work 50% of the time, and fortunately unblocked my largest heart artery and restarted my heart. This was definitely a major hiccup challenge in releasing FUBAR for sure! And if it wasn’t miracle enough to come back from the dead so I could finish releasing FUBAR… Remarkably, I had no damage to my heart at all they said.
Q: Are there any specific artists or genres that influenced the sound of “Fubar”?
A: Yes, and it’s too broad of a scope to identify for me because it comes from a very deep place of consciousness like peripheral vision is not front and center. But it’s definitely there. One undercurrent influence nobody knows about is Stevie Wonder and his freedom with breaking genre rules and creating exciting, inspiring impactful songs with a newness of vibe in them.
Q: What are your plans for promoting and touring in support of “Fubar”?
A: I haven’t been cleared to travel out of the country of Costa Rica by my doctor. But I’ve been doing this remotely now for several years without playing live. Part of that is of course, my preference for creating the music compared to playing the same songs, from the same set of songs for many consecutive gigs, for consecutive weeks or months. Another part of not playing out is where I am. In the Central Valley Mountains of Costa Rica, 2+ to 6+ hours from any venues to play.
I’ve been expanding sharing my music through Tinderbox Music, with NCAA College & Community Radio, Spotify and YouTube campaigns all promoting the music and new videos my love Mia started creating since Window of My Soul. She really knocked that video out of the ballpark with great intuitive timing and lovely choices for imagery. I expect to start doing more short vids now, to show how I’m playing these songs, since I’m often using unconventional chordings and mixed compositional patterns. The songs are fun to play and sing.
One of my next big goals is to start inviting NACC fans from USA-CANADA Community & College Radio to visit our RRMR, Reventazon River Mountain Ranch. For a creative inspirational break from political US concerns and madness. Come enjoy a little mountain rain forest Pura Vida and feel renewed inside from the peace here. Cabins and RRMR tours half-price, like horseback riding, or birding, and more. We want to invite our creative fan base to bring paints or poetry, or an instrument or book. Take a break from it all, and come experience life in paradise in Costa Rica where you’ll get a positive shot to the heart from Me and Mia in person to encourage you on your path.
