Last fall, Mixtape Atlanta talked with Anoop Desai about his musical influences, performance style, American Idol, and his then new album. Well a lot has happened in a few months, and we recently caught back up with Anoop to talk about his recent move to Atlanta and new EP, Zero.0. In honor of Zero.0's release, Anoop is taking Atlanta by storm with weeklong events and promotion, check out the schedule here.
Anoop, you recently moved to Atlanta earlier this year. How are you liking it?
I love it! Atlanta is such a great city with incredible energy. I was born and raised in the south, so having a city like ATL close to home is amazing. I'm also getting great work done here--the creative community has embraced me with open arms and I couldn't be more grateful.
Do you have any favorite Atlanta music venues to either see shows at or perform in?
I love Variety Playhouse. Haven't gotten a chance to check out Fox Theater, etc. but I'm sure I will in due time. Upstairs at Smith's Olde Bar is a favorite venue of mine to perform in. If you can get people packed in there, it's always a party.
So tell us a little bit about Zero.0. How is this EP different from All Is Fair?
I think the material on Zero.0 is more refined and more diverse. The plan with the Zero Trilogy is to release three Zero albums this year, so you're going to see an evolution and a refinement from album to album. Overall, I'm just much happier with the music I'm writing and producing now.
You cover Sam Cooke's "I'll Come Running" on Zero.0. What made you decide to cover that particular song?
On each of the Zero albums, I'll be covering a song that really serves as my "zero point" for the album. The Sam Cooke song is one of my favorites and really encompassed the story I was trying to tell on Zero.0.
Your songs on Zero.0 vacillate between intimate soul sounds to R&B infused dance beats. Are these two different sounds accurate reflections of your musical personality or are there other genres you'd like to experiment with too, like hard rock or even country?
I did want to definitely experiment on this album. The track "Wait," which will only be available on the iTunes release, even goes into a little dubstep. I'm influenced by so many different types of music that I wanted this record to represent that variety and breadth. I think that's one of the strengths of Zero.0. As for country or hard rock, I'm not hearing that any time soon.
Purchase Anoop Desai's Zero.0 now on iTunes. If you are still on the fence, listen to "OoWee" below; the fun dance beats and catchy chorus will be a staple for any pool party or summer drive.
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