Follow Grim Singmuf, your psychedelic Hip-Hop specialist for a mind-altering music that will take you on a hallucinatory journey.
Bio: Listen to the psychedelic sound of the mind-bending beats and rhymes. From the tripped-out creativity of Grim Singmuf combines his eclectic taste in music with a massive zest for life. With an ever-growing collection of singles, remixes, and full-length albums. Hip-Hop psychedelic specialist Grim Singmuf is ready to grasp the highest plateau of musical accomplishment. With his ever-evolving unique signature sound, innovative beats, and thought-provoking lyrics Grim Singmuf brings a captivating one-man show wherever his journey takes him.
First off, what’s the story behind the name?
Well, “Grim” is actually an acronym. It stands for “God Remains Inside Me.” It represents a part of my personal spirituality. What it means to me is that divinity is within all things. I feel like I should not submit to an imaginary “Sky Daddy.” We all have the ability to become a “god” or a “devil”; we also have the ability to be subservient to gods and devils. I find the divine within. “Singmuf” is a sound I discovered when backmasking different words and phrases. I recorded the word “fungus,” reversed it, and the sound that came from it was “Singmuf.” To me, fungus is an important thing. It is the great soil generator. It is the intrepid space traveler. Without it, our planet would not have been sculpted the same. So to break it down the name represents the “holy fungus” as well as the “divine within.”
Tell us about your musical past, would you tell us about your early years?
Music has always been a part of my life. I feel like musicians know this. We listen to music differently than most. As a youth, I was raised in the Fairmount housing projects in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Hip hop was the lifeblood of the streets. Seldomly heard in the home, where my mom was all about classic rock and R&B, my pops was into Folk, Motown, as well as Classic Rock. I was always surrounded by different genres. Eventually taken away from my home, I was forced into group homes. The state moved me to Providence because I got caught smoking ganja inside my middle school. There I eventually learned about AS220, an art studio that pledged to help my particular group home “turning the corner.” I was given a Dumbek, my first instrument that was not a child’s toy. They created a misfit orchestra called “Broad Street Orchestra,” Where I played hand drums. At their main studio on Empire Street in Providence, they had Hip Hop 220. This is where I was exposed to the raw elements of Hip Hop; I fell in love.
How would you describe your sound?
Abstract, expressive, my soul immortalized. This is a hard one for me. I do a few different things, like mixing analog instruments with digital sound. Some tracks are made completely with digital and synthesized instrumentation. I’d say its unique to me. Most of my lyrics stem from life experience.
Which artists have the biggest influence on your sound?
I love the experimental, free form, jam style of the Grateful Dead. I really dig Mr. Bungle, Mike Patton’s unique approach has always been influential. Probably most of all is Sun Ra. His music was not about “music theory” or some structured viewpoint. It was about feeling. I believe a lot of my experimentation comes from these types of artists.
What’s the last song you listened to?
A track by the duet Giolì & Assia called “Emptiness.” I believe these ladies are lovers; they have awesome energy. I highly recommend checking them out. They mix a lot of analog and digital vibes.
What’s your source for hearing new music?
Typically traveling. I get turned on to a lot of music on the road. I think it is because I have a large acceptance for most anything musical. I keep an open mind and show interest in what others are hearing. I lived in a commune in central California for a while. We would get visitors from all over the world. I kept a hard drive and copied everyone’s music. I am no slave to a genre.
Who is your dream producer?
I’d have to say Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler. His music is constantly on my playlist. I love his combo of Jazz and Hip Hop. That would be a dream come true.
If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
The unknown cat reading this that has a grip of talent but lacks positive motivation from friends and family. I’m down to help humans break out of their shells. Support the underdogs. Other than that, I may have to say, Ishmael Butler.
What led you to music, and what motivates you to keep making it?
Aside from my childhood, being surrounded by different genres. Also, aside from AS220. My aunt Lori, my mother’s sister, helped motivate me to create a poem in the third grade. It was a homework assignment. I was complaining about how hard it was. Immediately she broke out a poetry book; it was poems from her, my mom, and grandmother. She told me, “it’s in your blood” and gave me some tips. I ended up with the best poem in class; this prompted me to begin writing. Eventually, many years past, I had just gotten out of jail and was riding a bike through my hometown. I was stopped by a young kid who was trying to sell me some bud. We eventually became good friends; we talked about music, and one day, he told me he wanted to show me a track he was working on. He played a techno style remix of Bob Dylans “Mighty Quinn” that blew my mind. I asked if he would teach me to use the program he created music with. From then on its been nonstop for me. Its more than a hobby; it is part of who I am. I still make music with him; he goes by the name “Tone Dizzy.” My main motivation is life, I truly feel like I need to create. I am a creator sent here to create. Releasing the divine within.
Tell us about the songwriting process. How does it all come together?
Different scenarios at different times. I’ve always had things come to me in lyric form. Sometimes I’ve been lucky enough to write down before I forget. I’ve written on my arms, napkins, school books, etc. I like to keep these as extra fuel. Sometimes they develop into full songs. That is some sort of divine inspiration that is sparked by life at the moment. Other times its the instrumental, as I’m creating it, or listening to another’s production; the words just come to me. It used to be that Tone Dizzy and I would create a beat after developing a concept then we build on the concept lyrically. It really is different for each scenario. Sometimes when collaborating, I’ll send an artist a beat I produced, and it will have a file name. The file name was probably something I typed quickly; it could have been a word my son said as I was saving my work. When the artist receives the file, they start to build off that file name. It gets interesting when the topic is decided in that way.
How do you connect with your audience? What is the easiest way for them to connect with you?
Typically on the internet, but sometimes in person through a casual meeting. Others have found my music through mutual friends. In fact, my logo was created after a friend of a friend, whom I’ve not met, was given DMT while listening to my music. After their experience, they drew what is now my logo. I believe most of my discovery has occurred on the internet, as well as through my travels.
Connect with Grim Singmuf via Earworm Entertainment Website, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube, Cesspool Asylum Bandcamp, The Cataclysmic Variable Bandcamp, Apple/Itunes, Deezer, iHeart Radio, and Reverbnation.
Your sounds are very unique. Please, tell us about how you create your own unique sounds?
I like to record audio, any sounds and then manipulate them in a digital audio workstation. I also enjoy sound synthesis, using my DAW and soft synths to create various sounds from basic soundwaves. I get really creative and test every knob, tweaking different parameters. I feel this is one of the aspects that make my music unique. I don’t buy sound packs, I create them!
Where do you find potential sources for your sounds?
When it comes to sampling, it could be a song stuck in my head. Or a song I hear some sound in I’d like to isolate. The influences have come from my childhood and keep growing. I get inspired by a lot of different tunes. Like hearing the boom-bap drums in “When the Levee Breaks” by Led Zepplin, I’m like “damn I need those drums!” so I’ll make a loop from that track, then chop it up, isolating each hit, then play them how I want on my Maschine MK3. I find the sounds by listening for them.
How do you know if they’ll work?
It starts with a feeling. I just feel the sounds, then I find a place for them. I even challenge my self. Sometimes I a challenge to break up the monotony in life. I’ll start by thinking of different genre’s then find a way to combine them after isolating sounds from each track and recontextualizing them into a new track, creating a sort of “sound collage.” It’s hardly ever, most likely never, that it doesn’t work. I know at the very least I can take any random sounds and Create a perfect cacophony.
Have you ever worked on a sound and found it didn’t end up working?
This has not yet happened! I’ve always been able to create many new sounds from one sound by manipulating the frequencies.
How do you know the sound is ready for a track?
Its a feeling, hard to describe. I suppose it is when it sounds appropriate to my entire being. There have been times when I’d have an intention for a particular sound, but it becomes something completely different than I’d imagine. So I find a new purpose for it.
What is Earworm Entertainment, and what is it like working with them?
Earworm Entertainment is an artist collective based out of New England. Many unique artists are a part of EWE. Working with them is a blast. We connected over the internet after I was searching for people making unique forms of Hip Hop in the New England area. Long story short, I eventually got invited to do a spring tour with them. We became great friends, and they invited me to perform at their annual campout in Vermont. It was there that Canna CDK, the owner, invited me to join them.
You write articles on Earwormentertainment.com. Which one was the most fun for you to write?
I wrote an article on psilocybin mushrooms that brought up a lot of cool memories of me traveling the United States looking for different mushrooms. The article was mainly about my battle with depression and how the mushrooms have helped, and how they became a part of my life.
If people wanted to make their own sounds from samples, would they be able to find a guide on how to do that on the website?
Yes, I just started to make articles on this subject. There are three articles right now. They are each a continuation of each other. I begin by recording myself saying “Buh” in my mic, then I manipulate the sound to create drums from it. The next article details how to easily synthesize a bass sound, and the third how to sample and use the samples. Its been a lot of fun. I will definitely be creating more articles like that.
Your most popular song is “Musical Medicinals.” What’s the song about?
Musical Medicinals is a track about using music as a tool for therapy. More specifically, it is about self-medicating through the creation of music. You see music has always been my best friend; it was always there when others were not. Even if I did not have a source to listen outside my own head, I could always create it. Mickey Hart and Babatunde Olatunji created a song called “Jewe” that is based on body percussion. It has inspired the belief I have that our bodies are musical instruments. Creating music has always been the greatest medicine for me. I like to keep a harmonica around for this reason. It is a great tool to use the breath of life. No matter if you exhale or inhale, you are creating sound.
Where did the sounds come from?
The drums on this track are from a kit I made called “Cataclysmic Drum Kit.” It’s available on our website in a pack with a lot of other drums and loops. There is what sounds like keys, but that is actually an isolated sound from my bell drum which I further modified. The shaker sound is actually a shekere that my brother Jayf gifted me. It is a gourd with shells on it. I just messed with the ADSR and added a reverb plate to an isolated shake. It kinda reminds me of a rattlesnake. Other sounds like the bass and pad I synthesized in FL Studio, those sounds, as well as, presets for specific VSTIs can be purchased on the Earworm Entertainment website.
On “Musical Medicinals,” you work with Daniac, KaiJai, and Nekro G. Who did what?
KaiJai kicks the track off with a few bars before the hook, about being uplifted by creating. Daniac comes through with the hook in a very dope sing/rap style that really sets the tone for the verse’s that Nekro G and I spit, and then KaiJai adds on in the outro. I believe it is an honest look at the mind of an artist that is creating as a way of life. We are a different breed. I feel like what we really did with that track was relate to those who use music as an escape from everything else in life. Even more so, I believe it is relatable to any creator who creates. I feel like each one of us that blessed that track believe music is more than a hobby. It is our life essence solidified.
What was it like working with all that talent?
Great, I love collaborating. Nekro G and I have at least 4/5 tracks together, this was the second to last we created. I dig his drive, and he is super talented. Daniac is a dope artist from Canada, I like to collab with artists outside the U.S. and the internet helps with that. I picked KaiJai for this track because he creates a different genre of hip hop, one that really is the music of the youth. He says “this trap shit my medicine like a pill you pop”. A lot of young cats are out here overdosing on pills. They need to hear that. I’m super down to work with any of them again at any time.
What’s next for you?
In the works is a collaborative E.P. with Canna CDK. That’s in the writing and recording stage. I also got this “Earworm Cypher” mixtape in the works, looking forward to getting a lot of collaborations from lyricists all over the globe on that one. My third musical focus is a solo album “Deviant Dialect.” Though one track is complete for that project, it is still in a brainstorming process. On the back burner is “Dusty Bumps,” which will be sort of LoFi/Plunderphonic style. Aside from that, there is a project called “The Doctrine of the Worm” that’s going to include other EWE artists, as well as singles from collabs and instrumentals I’ll be releasing.
Anything else you’d like to add or let us know about?
Stop by our website, we got a ton of different articles on varying subjects, there is a lot of DIY merch, sound packs, etc. Be sure to peep the other cats on Earworm Entertainment. My homie Canna CDK is creating an album called “Sinister Intent” that is worth keeping an eye out for. It is based on his roots and laced with Norwegian mythology. Thanks for having me!
