For our lucky 7th VIBE.QUEST we are excited to have Mario a.k.a. Telescope Thieves bless our eager eardrums. Hailing from Florida, Mr. Thieves is part of an emerging collective of artists from the area who are pushing the electronic music boundaries. In his mix he showcases some emerging talent as well as his own magic. We had a chance to ask him about his background, his future, and his hidden talents…
How did the dude we know as Mario De Los Santos become Telescope Thieves?
Well I ventured into music in middle school via rapping actually lol. I started making beats so I’d have something original to rap over in high school, I soon realized I’d rather produce than rap (fortunately for the world) and then I took a break from production and played in bands for some years. At some point Telescope Thieves started as a side project from my band and was a place where I could be more free to explore only the ideas that I wanted to and eventually the band broke up and I took up the thieves project full time.
What inspires your sound?
My first love when it comes to music was hiphop, I think it’s at the root of everything I do till this day. The Sounds of House music, Soul, R&B & Jazz are all things that I try to melt but Hiphop is definitely a huge influence. Specifically right now Kaytranada is huge to me, as well as Jacques Greene and guys like Chris McClenney, Aywy, Sh?M and Sango, every time these dudes make a new track I’m like damn I gotta step my game up! These guys inspire me because their music makes me want to get in the studio and make something that would impress them.
I noticed that you share your stems on “the_Amulets”, a soundcloud page you created. Very cool that you are keeping music open and accessible to anyone who wants to get into the fun. Have you had any surprisingly awesome collaborations or new songs come out of this shared material?
Mostly the songs have been remixed by guys who are just starting out on SoundCloud but it’s been a cool experience having my stems out there. Some guys have been very thankful since it’s helped them get the ball rolling into original work and if my stems help people out I think that’s pretty cool. Nowadays music is mostly free and artist talk directly to their fans via twitter and Instagram and I thought why not take the transparency a step further and have stems out for all my originals and allow anyone to remix them. I thought of it as a way to create a connection and a conversation with people I’d never have otherwise.
Lots of musicians say that one of the hardest things about making music is knowing when a song is complete. How do you know when you’ve finished a song?
I had that problem when I started off making music, nowadays if I can’t finish a song I interpret it as not being good enough and I abandon the project. I think it’s hard to let go of songs when you spend a lot of time working on them but it’s healthy to just be like “I can do better, fuck this” sometimes lol.
Besides music, what are your hidden talents?
Sandwiches and basketball! lol, I make some mean sandwiches and I’m a decent point guard.
If you could play at any location in the world, where would it be?
I’ve always wanted to play in Tokyo but London might be #1 just because I think they’d receive the music best. The UK is always ahead on new artists.
What was your grand vision for this VIBE.QUEST mix?
I really tried finding artists who didn’t have huge followings for the most part. I figured if I had this platform it’s only right to showcase a few homies who I think deserve exposure. I also dropped a few tracks from some of my personal Miami friends (Pazmal, Kai Zen, The Gamma Bot & Tidur) who are part of a local collective of producers called XYZA which I’m part of as well.
What’s in the future for Telescope Thieves? Any new releases, albums, things we should get excited about?
Nothing too specific right now, I’m planning and continuing to release singles and remixes for the remainder of this year and then working on another EP in 2015. The only solid project I’m doing right now is a song for a short film, so look out for that!
Anything else you want to share with the world? Shoutouts, philosophical messages….
I guess just, Be Kind. There’s been some deaths in my life this year and I’ve just come away the philosophy of being Kinder. We get so little time and our planet is so tiny and there’s way too much terror and negativity out there.
You can find Telescope Thieves here:
