Freccero sees the ‘Light’ on the roadDate: 2/5/2015 EAST LONGMEADOW – For 10 months in 2014, Marc Freccero traveled across the country, living entirely out of his car, while producing tracks for his electronic music album project “The Light Nearby.”
Freccero, a 25-year-old resident who graduated from East Longmeadow High School in 2008, told Reminder Publications the 11-track album, The Light Nearby, was inspired by visiting 10 different cities, including Miami, Las Vegas, and San Francisco.
“I produced a song about each city that I visited that reflects my personal take on that city's ambiance, culture, [and] musical influence,” he added.
Growing up in East Longmeadow, Freccero said he played piano for 10 years and saxophone for seven years and initially began listening to electronic music when he was in the third or fourth grade.
“The one thing about electronic music that I really like is the energy and the element,” he added. “Music to me is not meant to be played, it’s meant to be experienced and so when I’d go to these DJ shows and electronic festivals, not only the artists on stage perform but the crowd itself as well is very high vibing. The energy was something that I’d never seen in any genre of music, nowhere even close.”
Sometime after graduating from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2012, Freccero stated on his blog on www.LightNearby.com that he was working at a major accounting firm in Boston while producing music at night – sleeping three to four hours each night and taking five to ten micro naps in the bathroom stalls at his work each day.
“After two months at the accounting firm, I realized no more time can be wasted and quit to fully chase my dreams,” he added. “As you can imagine, I received numerous negative responses about leaving, but it didn’t matter. In life, you always need to ask yourself, ‘When I am lying on my deathbed, minutes from the end, am I going to look back and be happy about the way I lived?’”
Freccero said The Light Nearby project tour began Feb. 1, 2014 and ended in November 2014. Before the tour, he traded in his 2012 Honda Civic and bought a Ford Transit and also loaded his car with items such as a Shikibuton tri-fold foam mattress, 27 inches wide by 75 inches long, as well as an assortment of other essentials for daily living.
The music itself was produced entirely on Freccero’s computer. “Some more upbeat like a club, some were more relaxing and meditative. It really depends on each city,” he added.
"The song for Miami was a very upbeat kind of a raging party type club track to emulate Miami's vibe,” he added. “The synthesizer that I used was a very cliché type synthesizer that they use here in Miami, which is a very high-pitched bouncing kind of synthesizer.”
By comparison, a song written for Boulder, CO, “Escalate” is a meditative soundscape track with a hip-hop groove inspired by Freccero’s experience doing parkour in the city.
“The song from Columbus, OH, [Day Drink] was a very heavy beasty hip-hop/rap song," he added. Freccero compared the song to “The Harlem Shake” by Baauer.
“I think inevitably [and] personally I’m influenced by classical and jazz because that’s how I originally got into music,” Freccero said. “It’s sort of inevitable with the way I actually produce. I think for the most part it really depends on the city. For example, the [song inspired by New York City, “Dirty Grind,”] was almost a combination of dub step type sounds, obviously very heavy low-end, low-bass on the side sound combined jazz.”
Another song, “Liquify,” was the most melodic of the tracks compiled for The Light Nearby, he added. That song is the closest Freccero comes to being influenced by Classical music.
During his typical days on the tour, Freccero would produce music on his laptop at various Starbucks locations. For showering, exercise, and general health up-keep he would go to Snap Fitness, a 24-hour gym franchise.
Freccero also said he would produce videos for his YouTube channel or DJ during his days. He often slept in free parking spaces overnight in his car.
“In terms of money, I just did random side jobs,” he added. “I saved up an okay amount of money. I got some money from my parents. They helped support me, but for the most part I’m very good at saving money. There would be days where I just wouldn't eat.”
Freccero said he played various club and festival gigs such a festival in Florida on Halloween called “Suwannee Hulaween.”
“It was my best performance I've ever done and I still have people contacting me to this day saying that they tried to find me and that they love my set at the festival on Halloween,” he added.
The Light Nearby is anticipated to be released sometime in the beginning of March. For more information visit www.facebook.com/MarcFreccero or Freccero’s website, http://marcfreccero.com.
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