CUSCINO - "Only The Beginning"

Release Date: October 29, 2013
Contact: alyssa at teamclermont dot com
Info / Press materials: teamclermont.com/roster/16582/cuscino

CUSCINO’s debut EP, Eternality, gives you the feeling that life is an infinite, layered mystery. CUSCINO is a Los Angeles-based artist and film composer who has scored numerous festival-bound films starring lead talent such as Adrienne Lovette (Sunlight, Jr.), hip-hop artist Buddy Lofton (NYC), Rod Hunt (Harry Potter franchise, Law & Order: UK) and Edwin Bravo (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End), with more on deck for directors in LA, NYC and the UK.

CUSCINO’s career writing, recording, producing and performing music spans nearly two decades. A classically trained guitarist from a young age, his penchant for dark, layered soundscapes stems from an early fascination with Spanish pieces from master players like Segovia. With classical in one ear, and everything from Prince to early Underworld, Goldie and Massive Attack in the other, experimenting with pianos, drum machines and turntables was a natural progression as he delved into more textural options – all while keeping in touch with a distinctly human sound. CUSCINO has since remained steady in his writing and performing, always in pursuit of that experimental-yet-accessible edge, absorbing every progressive sound that comes his way. From John Coltrane to Hudson Mohawke, early F.S.O.L. and Underworld to Flying Lotus, from Herbie Hancock to J Dilla, Madlib and beyond, his influences intentionally cast a wide net, and that’s why he’s never limited himself to any genre boundary. The sum of these influences is a constant thread throughout his entire body of work, a body of work that’s prolific yet precise.

CUSCINO’s debut outing takes listeners on a six-song journey filled with rhythmic twists and turns, ambient sound, unforgettable melody and a distinct sense of forward motion. Mixed and mastered by two-time Grammy nominee Mark “King” Penn (Trackwriterz Studios, Atlanta), the album is a confluence of comforting beats, memorable voices and expertly warped noise. “My ultimate goal is to take the listener on a journey that’s highly visceral, visual and open to interpretation, from the layers of music down to the names of the songs themselves. When focus is given to the music, I want to enable them to go wherever they want to go internally,” said CUSCINO.

“Turn it up, turn it up,” a honey-soaked female vocal counsels at the end of “A Little Black,” the opening track on CUSCINO’s Eternality. One would be wise to listen. The EP is a perfect soundtrack to all the recesses, dark and light, of your mysteriously infinite psyche. Each song builds on the next, and as the 20-minute musical comes to an end, an acute sense of what it means to be eternal washes over you. The second track, “Unfiltered”, takes you down a dimly lit street where you expect to pass a silent, scorpion-jacketed stunt driver. “Only the Beginning” builds on the mystery with pulsating simplicity and a haunting use of layered vocals that nod to another Los Angeles producer, Flying Lotus. As the album rolls on, it becomes clear why CUSCINO named his album Eternality. Each track carries a sense of that which will not stop, no matter what dreams may come.

With foundational beats that melt into the basic human sense of rhythm, these songs stick with you. The music becomes the score to your daily routine, pushing your mind and soul to places where borders blur, where dreams and reality cease to be exclusive. The final track, “Walking in the Garden,” which hearkens to Purity Ring’s quintessential elements, closes with that same honey-soaked vocal offering up a hopeful reminder that “You are always here,” and it is easy to feel the endlessness of self as the song fades.