Today we’d like to introduce you to SPCMN CJ Serrato.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I’ve lived in Fort Worth my whole life, I was that Pastor’s grandkid who just loved banging on the drums in the middle of a sermon while my mom would rush over to get me of the drums. I was always surrounded by music, with my dad always playing his guitar and my mom constantly singing at church or at home, music was everywhere and I loved every bit of it. Music became serious when I started to learn various instruments such as the drums, the clarinet, bass, piano, the ukulele and I’ve even meddled around with an accordion a few times.
Then my dad gave me an iPod Touch for my 13th birthday, and I decided to find some music apps to try and make music. I discover iMaschine and I would make sample beats on my iPod Touch. It became an everyday thing to where I was teaching myself music production in an almost unorthodox way. I would then figure out how to make full songs and put them out on the internet little by little for the next 4 years, just learning how to make different sounds and samples. At that point I knew how to make different types of music on an iPad that I would carry around at school, and I was known as the kid who would “make beats off of his iPad”.
I knew that I wanted to be a music producer or even a DJ, but it was during my freshman year where I decided to try and see where this road would take me. I kept making a lot of electronic and hip-hop music, and I would even make covers and use some of my unorthodox methods with my friends or at church with a worship band. Eventually I ended up scoring a gig for s youth conference in Baylor University and I had the chance to DJ in front of a few thousand people. But I didn’t want to go as just “CJ Serrato”. I wanted to make a persona that could do so much for young people like me, and as a friend was helping me out with the process of figuring out what to name this persona, he said, “Well, what about ‘spaceman’? Try saying it a few times and see what you think.” And instantly, it clicked.
I’ve always loved the idea of space, that there’s so much that we don’t know, and that’s what I think about music. We know a lot, but there’s still so many sounds to create and I want to be someone who helps find those sounds.
So as ‘spaceman’ was created in San Antonio, where I was going to school at the time, two years later I would move back to Fort Worth, and ‘SPCMN’ was born when I released my first single in the spring of 2017 called ‘Windbreaker’. From there, everything slowly started taking off.
Please tell us about your art.
I am both a DJ and a music producer. I mostly make electronic and hip-hop music, but I meddle around with many different types of music. I work on all of my music through my computer and work with different musicians, singers, rappers and just artists in general, whether it’s working on my own music, or on other artist’s projects. My inspiration for everything is honestly God. He has saved me in so many moments and has showed me so many lessons that have impacted me in my musical career. And when it comes to my music, I try to write about love, hardships, and just about life in general.
In my newest album, ‘Infinity’, I tell a concept story about someone who goes through a rough life of heartbreak and depression, and the idea of suicide has a huge presence in the album. The album is me being upfront about my depression and wanting to kill myself, until God saved me and shows me that there’s so much more to do in this life. What I try to show in my music is the most related music that people can not only jam out too, but have lyrics that people can listen and related to. Honestly, I want to have someone listen to my music and decided to not take their life.
I want someone to know through my music that yes, life can be very harsh, but there’s so much good things in this life and that we need to love each other for who we are. No self-discrimination, just love. What I would tell people about what my music consist of would be…. a fusion of electronic music, with some 80s sounds and modern sounds.
As an artist, how do you define success and what quality or characteristic do you feel is essential to success as an artist?
To me, making someone react in a positive way, letting the music speak to them is success. Even having just one person be impacted by my music would mean that I have succeeded. The art of just talking to people through music just…. makes me feel like I have a lot to give.
The most important characteristic as an artist would be integrity. When I meet with other people, whether it’s someone I’m collaborating with, or someone who just loves my music, I always want to connect with all types of people. The people that I have met in this city will always be the same people I will go to for working on music or just to hang out. I wouldn’t let any type of success stop me from being with the people who have helped me come up as an artist in the first place. I will always be that kid from Fort Worth who loves making music with his friends.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I can be found on all music platforms such as Apple Music and Spotify! I even post a lot on my Instagram page ‘@spcmn_’. I also post video content on my YouTube channel ‘SPCMN Official’ and IG TV on my Instagram page.
Contact Info:
- Email: officialspaceman441@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spcmn_/
Image Credit:
Alberto Gonzales, Kassandra Muñoz, Davey Newton, Jeremy Wilson.
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