Songwriter/Producer Z'cano is a Chicago-native artist who currently resides in Nashville, and composing a variety of mixes that speak to a versatile mix of music listeners.
Always shining the spotlight on catchy melodies and nostalgic soundscapes, Z'cano is all about striving for feel-good tracks that can easily inspire and uplift its subsequent listener.
Nagging those recurring swanky beats, the reputation of Z'cano lives on to be nothing but positive, and the high-energy producer never misses a chance to impress, especially with his latest single release.
Z'cano has released his hugely anticipated single, "Fine", and without any surprise, the track focuses on trendy melodies and harmonic chords in order to orchestrate the smooth quality vibe intrinsic to Z'cano's music.
"Fine" has a strong list of musical influences, ranging from Deep House/Pop inspirations which stem from the production, as well as outlining some faint elements of R&B styles within the vocals of the track.
Performed by A'Rose, a Tennessee Singer/Songwriter, "Fine" follows along with the modern-day narrative of the single life, and all of the factors (A.K.A the multitude of problems) that can result from such a status. Z'cano and A'Rose collaborated in order to share the harsh realities of dating around, but ultimately in order to highlight the many lessons that come from such experiences. The two are able to maintain the light-hearted energy of the track by focusing in on the projected ambiance, ensuring that listeners are consistently stimulated with the strong beat and layered vocals.
All in all, "Fine" appears to be more than its title, as Z'cano and A'Rose manifested a single that brought flavourful flairs to the music table.
Hello Z'cano and welcome to BuzzMusic. Your single "Fine" was able to produce that feel-good energy, regardless of its projected theme. Would you say that your music is innate to being inspirational, no matter what the message is you're trying to get across?
Yes, absolutely! I tend to write with a lot of female artists and writers and it has become a theme for me to write about feminist topics in a fun and empowering way. When A'Rose and I wrote “Fine”, it was our first write together ever and we spent the first 2 hours just talking about single life and how flaky guys can be with their intentions. The song is about knowing your worth and being confident enough to stand up for yourself. What kind of mindset did you have whilst undergoing the crafting of the mix for "Fine"? How do you typically approach the way you construct your mixes?
I had been listening to a lot of dancehall, reggeaton artists at the time. I showed examples of some of those songs during the write and we both decided to head in that direction. It didn’t hurt that both A'Rose and I have a Latin heritage! As far as how I approach the construction of my mixes, I typically begin producing the track as I write. I like to provide a basic beat/vibe, then let the melody steer where the song is heading naturally. Once we had the main framework down for "Fine", we were excited to share with close friends to get fresh ears on the track. One of those friends was Nathan Gamble, a fellow producer here in Nashville. He loved the song and asked if he could add some mixing elements to take it to another level, and that's exactly what he did. That's when we knew "Fine" would be something special and we're excited to collaborate on future projects together. As a music artist who has been heavily integrated into various music scenes around the world, such as Chicago, London, and Nashville, how would you describe the level of contrast between each location you've personally experienced, and would you say you feel more influenced by one location than another?
I was born in Chicago, but I feel like my musical palate really didn't begin forming until the early 2000s when my family and I moved to just outside of London. That was right around the time that EDM started to move from an underground genre mostly heard in European nightclubs to a global movement that took over the pop charts. I remember listening to Tiesto and David Guetta before they had global success, and then, after moving back to Chicago in high school, discovering artists like Zedd and Lido who broadened the sound spectrum of the genre to include more R&B and even Hip-Hop influences. I also listened to a lot of gospel and jazz around that time, so I suppose I sort of absorbed all of those sounds and influences like a sponge. When I moved to Nashville in college, I dove into country and folk, but the pinnacle moment for me was when I discovered songwriting. I've only been writing seriously for a few years now, but I've enjoyed the process immensely and I love the collaborative aspect of it. Now I co-write almost every day. Now that I’ve been here in Nashville the longest, I've really gotten to immerse myself in the music scene, and I’ve found that there really is room for everyone and every genre here. I think having the space to dip my toes in all the different pools of musical influence has been the most rewarding.
Can you explain the level of collaboration that went on for "Fine"? How would you describe the tone of your collaboration with music artists, and how did this collaboration contrast in regard to other collaborations you've completed?
I had been following A'Rose on social media for a while before I decided to reach out to collab with her. Nashville still has somewhat of a small-town feel, especially among people in the pop scene, so we already had a lot of mutual friends. When we got together to write for the first time, we hit it off instantly. Like I said earlier, we literally talked for 2 hours straight before we started writing anything, but once we did the concept for "Fine" came together effortlessly. A'Rose is at a point in her career where she’s ready for something outside of her norm and is seeking unique ways to express her writing style. This, paired with my own background and how I normally write with other artists, wound up being a seamless journey. I enjoy learning about who I am writing with and then helping them make those stories come to life through music. Being primarily a songwriter, I only recently began collaborating with other artists as an artist myself. I'd say the biggest contrast between this collaboration and others I've had would just be how fast and easy everything was. It was barely a month from the first time we sat down to write "Fine" to the day it released, and that is all thanks to A'Rose's incredible drive and work ethic. I remember while we were finishing the vocals, she was already working on the album art. She made the whole process so smooth and I am looking forward to working with her a lot more in the future. What has been keeping you inspired in 2020?
Honestly, it's been hard, haha! Between the pandemic and the social and political turmoil our country and the world are in, it's been harder and harder to get up every morning and write a song about a bad breakup or a summer bop. But knowing that everyone is in the same boat so to speak, has been oddly comforting to me, and the music community here in Nashville has really come together during all this. A lot of our friends and colleagues lost their livelihoods when live shows were canceled and there's been a trickle-down effect on the music business side of things too. That being said though, music thrives in desperate times and I have been working on some incredibly vulnerable and powerful songs with some amazing artists, and "Fine" is no exception. I know we'll all get through this!