By COURTNEY GUTTENBERG
Staff Writer
The hip-hop scene in Albany is one that is not nearly as well-promoted as other genres, but it is incredibly rich and diverse. There are many up-and-coming underground artists who have migrated to Albany or are from Albany and are trying to make a name for themselves. This can be said about the label-collective Roundtable Records.
Founded officially in late summer of 2015, Saint Rose music industry senior Julien McCall (also known by his artist name, King Jules), Saint Rose alum and graduate student Brian Jay, and UAlbany student Devy Day are all the main members of Roundtable Records, a label collective based on forward progression in hip-hop. Each of the members of Roundtable Records are from New York City, but met up in Albany.
The label has a couple of releases, one being McCall’s EP, “Space Age Love.” The label has also released individual singles for both Brian Jay and Devy Day. I was able to sit down and talk to founder, artist and producer Julien McCall about the label-collective’s origins, their goals and their future, which involves migration from Albany to the city.
Q: How did Roundtable begin?
MCCALL: It started off as a collective, but now it’s geared towards more of an actual record label. It started off with a couple of creatives getting together and bouncing off each other’s ideas, artists, filmmakers, producers, photographers, PR and social media specialists — just everybody working together and chilling. One night, we were like, “Well, why aren’t we representing ourselves as a label? We’re already working in the form of a record label, why shouldn’t we put that into context and make it a thing?”
[The genres] span, but it was definitely based off of hip-hop and my love for hip-hop. It’s also deep-rooted in R&B, soul, we have a pop artist — it’s pretty saturated with what’s popular in today’s market. But we do try to maintain the idea that we are progressing into the future in music but also pay homage to what came before us, so old-school hip-hop, R&B and soul and trying to do that in a progressive way.
Q: Could you list off all of the artists you work with, other than yourself?
MCCALL: Brian Jay, Devy Day and I are the main three artists. We’re working with a couple of other artists and work with a lot of other artists in an unofficial label capacity. We’re all trying to work in the same direction and I’m willing to help anyone and everyone.
Q: What would you describe your style and your other artists’ styles as?
MCCALL: I’m deeply rooted in R&B and soul. I sing, but I also found recently that rapping is a different form of expression. It’s a combination between rap and R&B. Devy Day has a very similar style to mine, he’s a very forward-progressing person and it’s like that new sound coming around today, where they’re a rapper, but kind of a singer. Brian’s sound is truly reminiscent of old school hip-hop. He evolves with every track.
Q: How long have you personally been musically active?
MCCALL: I’ve been musically active since I was 3 months old. It’s been a long time. I started off as a drummer, and then that was my life up until I was like, 11 or 12. I decided then that I wanted to sing, and along the way I picked up a couple of instruments and got to college for music. That’s where I made that huge shift where I was like, “I want to be an artist and I want to work on my sound and develop.” It’s been all my life, practically.
Q: What are your main influences, personally?
MCCALL: I’m pretty influenced by everything. I’m a student of life. I listen to everything, from world music to hip-hop to R&B, I’m a huge jazz cat. I don’t want to be too close-minded in terms of the music that I listen to. I like a broad spectrum of everything.
Q: Who’s one of your favorite artists that has influenced your style the most?
MCCALL: Definitely Miles Davis. Not just stylistically, but his approach to music and his concept of continuously progressing and flowing with the changes of the time. That’s one of the fundamental theories of what we do at Roundtable, we are a group dedicated to progressing forward but we have to stay true to where we’ve come from. I’m also a huge Kanye West fan, he’s one of my biggest influences, especially as a producer and an artist. He’s always progressing, he’s always doing something different.
Q: What’s the biggest goal you’re looking to accomplish, personally with your own music, but also with Roundtable?
MCCALL: To help change the face of the music industry. I think the industry is always changing but there needs to be a positive change. I feel like the music that’s out there right now — there’s only a few select artists that are really doing things musically that are changing.
It’s sad that when you turn on the radio, you hear the same five or six songs. There’s nothing that’s standing out or being different. I feel like we’ve lost the essence of consistent, real artistry. A main goal for myself and for Roundtable is to portray true artistry. It’s not about the social media and having the star factor or something like that. It’s really about the music and making it art. That’s why you do it. You’re not doing it for a paycheck, you’re doing it to reflect life as you see it.
Music was meant to make a difference. For instance, Kendrick Lamar is really doing something with his work right now, because he’s making statements that people are afraid to make. Statements that people need to be making, he’s not afraid to say those things that we’ve been feeling but haven’t found a way or a voice to actually say it. As an artist, it’s your responsibility to stand out and use your voice to say things that people haven’t been able to say.
Q: What’s the biggest goal you think you’ve already accomplished?
MCCALL: So far, the biggest goal that we’ve accomplished is coming together and really bonding as a family. For a while, we were all different parts that were acting independently, but finally coming together and really seeing with the releases that we’ve had and the minor social media attraction that we’ve been getting; we’re starting to see everything come together. Seeing that is like, “Man, this could actually have the potential to be something bigger than all of us and bigger than something we imagined.”
The reason why we’re calling Roundtable is not because my artist name is King Jules, it’s because of King Arthur and his Roundtable, even if it’s a fable, the concept behind it is a really strong concept. The Roundtable was a group of individuals that was working with equal strength. Even though they had a king and a leader, they all had the same strength to sit at the table and there was no one person bigger than the other. So even though I run Roundtable and I have other people working with me, I’m not in charge of them. We’re working in the same capacity to get to the same product.
Q: What’s your writing process like, personally?
MCCALL: As a producer, my writing process starts with the beat. I just sit down and start playing something on piano and come up with the synth sounds and get the texture all together. Or, it can start from a really emotional place. The project I’m working on right now is my senior project but it’s my coming out album.
That album came from me sitting at a piano, pen and paper, chords — just from where my life experiences were. Sometimes I would sit down and just start playing a chord and then I would start talking about the things I’d been going through or the things that I had been seeing that had been bothering me.
Q: What’s your favorite kind of sound for the beats that you make, as a producer?
MCCALL: My favorite type of sound is very synth-based. I like the extra-terrestrial idea. I’m a very spacey person, and the concept of space is super out of this world. My previous project was called “Space Age Love,” and the whole idea behind that project was just experimenting with the sounds of space that occur in my head.
Musically, we haven’t opened a door to space so we don’t know what the sound of space is. Some of the sounds I created for that project were based off of the sound of the Quasars, like the pictures that they give off and the emotions and their vibrations.
Q: Do you think that the digital age has helped you?
MCCALL: Yes. It’s definitely helped me as a producer, but it’s also helped us as a label. If this was 10 years ago, we’d have to be on the street handing out flyers or doing shows every week for people to listen to us or get the attraction to come to events. The digital age makes it so easy to put stuff on social media to show that we’ve got a track coming out or a new event coming up. We’re trying to connect with our audience, so the digital age has helped us a lot.
Q: How do you think Saint Rose has helped you as an artist, or helped Roundtable as a whole?
MCCALL: I think the Saint Rose music program has been a great help for developing this. I was working with the Rose Record Label from the inception of it up until last semester. I think the structure of the program has helped me to get where I am right now. I feel I’m able to run the label the way I am, because I have the experience as an artist and as a producer, a marketing rep, a PR specialist, an artist manager… all of that knowledge, I’m using to develop the label.
Q: Do you think Albany has good hip-hop scene, or do you think it needs developing?
MCCALL: Oh, Albany hip-hop definitely needs developing. I’ve realized through experience that there isn’t really a huge market for hip-hop in Albany. I feel like the Albany music scene is very rock, pop, pop-punk… Albany has a really distinctive scene, which is really dope. I have so much respect for the people who work in the scene and the labels that are represented, but I feel like in terms of hip-hop, hip-hop has a bad rep in Albany.
That’s another reason why I wanted to do this [upcoming] show, to show that a hip-hop show is not going to be a Migos show, it’s not gonna get destroyed. There’s a new wave of hip-hop that’s very progressive and has a mutual respect that hip-hop initially started from. There’s a really distinctive underground hip-hop scene in Albany that really needs the exposure to get out through venues and showcases.
Q: Are you currently writing any new material?
MCCALL: Not currently writing. Everything for the new project has already been written. But I am working and have been since the last EP. The new project is called “Crown,” it’s supposed to follow this progression of my elevation to this metaphorical crown. I formed this persona based off a persona that I went through and I used it to bring myself up. I felt like my confidence level wasn’t there, emotionally, physically, mentally, and I used this persona to bring myself back up to this place. It’s supposed to be like a royal crowning day.
Q: Are any of the other Roundtable artists working on writing?
MCCALL: Oh, yeah. They’re always writing. If you drop a project, you’re always grinding to the next project. Brian Jay has been working on putting together an EP, same thing with Devy Day. We’re working on getting a few other things in line before we release those, but they’re always working, always dropping something. We’re always racking up tracks and getting stuff together for the next big project.
Q: What’s your favorite venue that you’ve ever played at?
MCCALL: I’m gonna have to give it up to Saint Rose with this one, for Jack’s Place. I feel like they really hit the nail on the head and really did a good job with Jack’s Place. It’s a good outlet for our artists and as an artist, most of my beginning shows were at Jack’s Place. It’s where I really started to build up my audience. It’s a really great venue and a really great space and I really love working with all of the people that work there and at MISA.
Q: What venue would you like to play at, dream-wise?
MCCALL: I’d love to sell out Madison Square Garden one day. But, like, realistically, I would love play Webster Hall [in New York City].
Q: What’s your favorite thing about the Albany scene?
MCCALL: My favorite thing is that everybody is really open-minded. There’s a crazy mutual respect for everything that goes on. For the last show we did, Albany Frequency [a local blog] picked up on a show we were doing. People are always going to spread the word and try to get out there to see you. If it’s a crowd of 10 people, 30 people, 50 people — there’s always that mutual respect where people are always looking to get out and hear live music.
You can check out Roundtable Records on Facebook at facebook.com/roundtablerecords, on instagram at @weareroundtable, and Twitter at @weareroundtable.
Their next show is April 21- at The Low Beat, and features Brian Jay, King Jules, Devy Day and friends. The event is hosted by Saint Rose Communications major Tiffany Lloyd. If anyone knows a DJ, they are looking for one, and if anyone is interested in joining the movement, they’re always looking for people to join.
I would like to thank Julien for sitting down with me and letting me interview him!
