Today we’d like to introduce you to Floco Torres.
Floco, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I began writing, drawing, playing instruments & sports, & just learning to express myself at a young age through encouragement from my parents. I’ve always been a pretty active person from a young age because we moved around a lot, & I experienced different walks of life & different triumphs & hardships. When you combine all of those things, I think that’s how I became the artist that I am today.
Music was something that I started to enjoy in High School so I just kept working at it step by step. I wanted to be able to walk into a room & understand every role that was taking place, so wherever I could learn, that’s what I did. Graphic Design came into play when I didn’t like the way my early album covers were coming out. Who knows how this cover should look better than me right? So I took a design internship to learn the basics & kept working from there.
I took what I learned through Journalism & added a subset to my career by getting more involved in the communities I’m a part of. My goal has always just been to keep evolving & putting ideas out into the world until there’s no more.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Not at all, but I suppose that’s how it was meant to go. I’ve tried to take my struggles & put them in the music because I know I’m not the only one that has experienced certain things. If I didn’t experience addiction issues through my family, I wouldn’t know what to stay away from or where my limits are. If I didn’t move around as a child, touring may not have been as exciting for me as it was when I started. If I wasn’t homeless as a kid & a teenager, I may not appreciate things in the way that I do now.
I’ve managed 97% of my own career up until this point which has been an issue when it comes to how far I can reach as an artist. When you write, produce, & record the song, while making the artwork while it’s being mixed, to then create the promo materials & book your own shows to promote the song, something always slips through the cracks. Championships aren’t won by one player. But I’ve just continued to push forward & try to develop a foundation for when I build a team, we hit the ground running.
I feel like if we can keep a decent perspective on things, the outcome will always be in our favor.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a Hip-Hop Musician, Producer, Graphic Designer, 1/2 of the Hip-Hop duo Free Black! & a Community Outreach Director. I’ve been releasing work independently (30+ albums) since about 2007. I think above all throughout these things, I specialize in being able to take a project from 0-100 on any budget haha. I think I’m mainly known for my music, but also how it’s been used as a vehicle to get people more engaged in their community. I’d like to think I’m also known for consistency & quality in whatever I release or whatever project I’m a part of.
My consistency & intention sets me apart I believe. In the last few years, I’ve been able to create meaningful albums that tie our past history to our current state of things. I’m by no means the first one to do it, but with my project Free Black!, our last two albums have explored current events & how they connect to a crappy cycle in American history. One of those albums being ‘Freedom Summer!’, a call back to the Freedom Summer Project of 1964 where volunteers attempted to register as many Black voters as they could. The other album is called ‘Black Tuesday!’, a call back to The Great Depression & the day the Stock Market crashed on October 29, 1929. I also have my creative umbrella called ‘Nobody Cares News’ that works as a Creative Agency for all my ideas.
I say all that to say I’m proud of just still being here & being able to do what I love to do.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
I’d say try any & everything that interests you. You never know how that skill will help you in the long run. I’ve played the hindsight game too many times so I’d say my story is going the way that it’s supposed to, & altering that might change who I am right now. So we’ll keep it as is.
Contact Info:
- Email: flocotorres@gmail.com
- Website: nobodycaresnews.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/FlocoTorres
- Facebook: facebook.com/FlocoTorres
- Twitter: twitter.com/FlocoTorres
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxle50e8Yt97s4RnTlpV7fg
- SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/flocotorres
- Other: freeblack.bandcamp.com
