After multiple attempts at forming their own band, Guidomaria and Slackerman decided to just start making music by sending each other recordings of their musical ideas. The result is a collection of guitar-driven, rock-influenced, electronically-inspired music.

The Beautiful Impossible is a collection of inspiring short stories that form an overarching narrative based on snapshots of everyday life, ranging from relationships, introspection, traveling, and the cycle of life and death.

In this interview spotlight, I chat with Guidomaria and Slackerman about the music, challenges, technology and more.

Full Q&A along with links and music below.

Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)

Guidomaria: We’re both born and raised in the Philippines and are currently based in Dubai, UAE.

Slackerman: The best way I could describe my music is, Rock-oriented, Lo-Fi, Electronic music, that has hints of Funk and Hip Hop. It’s a mix of every genre that I am into, but I try to keep it as simple as I possibly can.

Guidomaria: Finger-style guitar heavily influenced by early Acoustic Alchemy records, Earl Klugh, and Russ Freeman of the Rippingtones. Technically, Smooth Jazz.

What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?

Guidomaria: I started playing when I was 8 years old, just chords, nothing serious. Although my appreciation for Jazz music started much earlier through my brother’s record collection. I got serious at playing around 16 although I never had any formal music education my entire life. Everything I know is self-taught.

I took up fine arts in college and I used music as an extension of my creativity.
Working in the advertising industry, I would always pick up a guitar everytime I would conceptualize for a project. Writing songs has always been my passion.

Slackerman: I started writing and performing music during my teens and has been dipping my toe in and out of it since. I was struggling to find a job pre-pandemic, but when everything went south, I just decided, “Oh what the hell… just get on it and do it.”  My main motivation is just to be able to build a body of work that is unique to me. I just want to be able to say: “I made this… and this is what happened… and this is what I’ve learned…” Where it will take me, I don’t really know to be honest, but I have been having so much fun to be able to express myself creatively this way.

How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?

Slackerman: For this project, I wanted to highlight Guidomaria’s guitar playing style and surround it with sounds that I like.

Guidomaria: It’s my first attempt at making an album. I wanted to tell stories through music. And try to capture as much emotional context through guitar melodies and without the aid of lyrics. I try to express abstract ideas using only the song titles as a framework.

Slackerman: We have known each other for a long time, and I have always been a fan of his guitar playing. We have had many attempts at forming our own band, but nothing seems to work out. But, it has always been a mutual understanding that we should both make a music project someday. We just wanted to blend our music ideas really. So when he told me he had written some songs, I immediately knew how it would sound and what direction we should take it to. We also want the album to have some kind of “experience.” Like it’s telling a little story from a TV episode or a movie, or a novel. The process was very smooth and relaxed. He just surprised me with his writing, I kind of surprised him with my ideas. And we are just both very pleased with the results.  

Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this over saturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?

Slackerman: Trying to figure out where I should fit in is my biggest challenge really. The music has changed so much over the past few years. It has become wider and more vast, trying to figure out where you are in the spectrum has become quite challenging. There are times that I cannot believe that a lot of my ideas are already outdated. It’s been weird that I cannot really find half of the genres I think I am in in the drop down menus when trying to pitch to reviewers and curators. I am quite thankful that I have found your website and your openness to accepting our music.

What’s amazing about the technologies available is you can self-publish, anytime, from anywhere. You can also do collaborations with people from across the globe. And you almost don’t need to pay for studio time anymore if you want to make your own music. There are even times when you may not even need an instrument! Even half of the tools that you need to help you promote and market your music is almost free. All you need is a laptop, an internet connection and a lot of creativity and imagination. The only downside that I see from the advancement of the technologies is, the interest in learning how to play real instruments has gone down.

Guidomaria: We’re not really here to compete with anyone. Although to be recognized will be amazing. We just want to make music. It was amazing that I was able to finish my part of the project using an iPad pro and being to able to publish it easily. I’m also grateful that social media allows you to create your own fan-base. And it helps you connect with like-minded individuals.

What was the last song you listened to?

Slackerman: Heavy by Anna Luther. I would go as far as to say, Auto-tune done right.
 
Guidomario: Steppin’ Out by Joe Jackson. The piano reminds me of my guitar-playing.

Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?

Slackerman: Cassettes and MP3s. Cassettes because, Highly Compact, highly stackable, and lasts longer than both Vinyl and CDs. Easy to store and manage too. MP3s because 50 albums in your pocket.

Guidomaria: Any. Each have their own quality and experience.

How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?

Guidomaria: I use Spotify and Apple music. I don’t think I need more.

Slackerman: I like all 3 of them. But I will say this… Spotify and Apple,I wish you have more control over it’s SEO. Bandcamp, I wish it was easier to navigate.

Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?

www.slackerman.me. Hopefully you find some fun stuff over there.

Anything else before we sign off?

Guidomaria: Close your eyes and let the music take you where you want to go.

Slackerman: Always look up. Always look forward to Another Day.