CHICAGO – Chicago musician and producer Bardo is doing them thangs in a creative way, delivering his signature fresh flow and elaborate arrangements in a new video and audio track titled, “Do Them Thangs.” Released earlier this month, the new single and video are available at whereisbardo.com and SoundCloud (audio version).
The fresh single is the first piece of a euphonic puzzle Bardo is creating. After the release of his last full-length project, Game Tape, the charismatic artist made the decision to take a step back from actively recording to study some of the greats in Black music. Upon researching classic soul, funk, reggae, blues and neo-soul music genres, and experimenting in the studio, he began to fall in love with earlier forms of Black music outside of traditional hip-hop. With his baritone voice and smooth delivery, Bardo is fusing everything he loves about these classic sounds with his expansive knowledge of hip-hop and his unique, worldly perspective.
“I went back to albums that my parents loved when I was a young kid living in Japan like Omar’s For Pleasure, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and Street Songs by Rick James,” explained Bardo, who spent several of his formative years in Asia. “At the time, this music was too slow and mellow for my taste, but for my parents it represented comfort and familiarity in Japan’s seemingly homogenous society where we were obvious outsiders. I didn’t know it at the time, but those songs would cement themselves deep into my memory and subconscious. So much so that 15 years later, they produce emotions and reactions inside me that are so strong they’re almost impossible to control or explain.”
Rolling out recently sat down with Bardo for a Q-and-A. Check it out below:
Who inspires your creative style? I draw a lot of inspiration from musicians who have a lot of soul and warmth in their music. Artists like Rick James, Omar Lye-Fook and Janelle Monae who are able to make you feel something through their music, whether it’s elation, empathy, or just wanting to dance. I actually just saw a super soulful band from Australia called Hiatus Kaiyote at SXSW that really inspired me, so shout-out to them.
When you’re not on stage performing, what are you doing? When I’m not performing, I’m either recording or I’m listening. For the past couple of years, I’ve really tried to expand my musical palate and learn as much as I can about great musicians of the past, while still being very conscious of the kind of music that I listen to on a regular basis and let seep into my subconscious. I’m a firm believer in the idea that your diet is much more than what you eat and drink. I tend to gravitate toward music that has some sort of message and a warmth that’s almost tangible.
What can we expect next from Bardo? I don’t want to give too much away, but you can expect lots of new content. New songs, new videos, and a couple of surprises here and there. I’ve made some major changes to my sound and overall aesthetic since the last time people heard from me, and those changes are going to become more clear and cohesive with each release.
Is there a specific message that you would like to convey? If there’s one thing that I want to convey it’s that there’s not a whole lot that separates us as people. Regardless of color, gender, nationality, we all go through similar experiences and deal with similar emotions and some point or another. I want people to be able to connect over the themes and emotions that I express in my songs and through the feelings that they get from the music and instrumentation, and ultimately start to dissolve the barriers that divide us.
To find out more about Bardo, go to:
Where Is Bardo https://whereisbardo.com and peep his latest video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/LeLEtFBHJL0
