Inland Empire Artist Marcel Red Chats On New EP x Future Career Goals
The Inland Empire is saturated with so much great talent, and within the plethora of talented artists that hail from the I.E. there are quite a few that are making a name for themselves and are on their way to becoming the next best thing. Take Fontana resident, Marcel Red. This rising star is making his way to the top. He just released his latest EP entitled, “I Am…Marcel Red,” which is available on iTunes and Google Play Music.
Mr. Marcel’s music incorporates a vocal style reminiscent of music icons Maxwell, Sam Smith and Brian McKnight while remaining true to his own unique sound and style. He has performed with some of the industry’s biggest names including Pretty Ricky, Silk, Troop, J. Holiday, Annette Moreno, among others. He’s also been able to work with industry heavyweights like Jonas Weeks and Multi-Platinum producer Carlos Battey from The Jackie Boyz. Weeks and Battey have worked with artists such as Bruno Mars, NeYo, Linkin Park, Madonna, Chris Brown, Justin Bieber, and many others.
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Marcel where he chatted on his EP, the reasoning behind the name ‘Marcel Red’, and his future career goals. Check out the interview below, or if you’re more of a listener, hit play on the dial.
What inspired you to come up with the name Marcel Red?
Marcel came from my Grandfather because his name is Marcelino, so we just cut the name in half and made it a little bit more edgier. The color red, my brother passed away in 2008 and his favorite color was red. I wanted my brother to be part of me somehow, so that’s why we added the red to Marcel.
What inspired you to get into music?
There’s a lot of things! Such as stuff that I go through, as far as my personal life when it comes to relationships, people passing, [and other life events] that inspire me to do music.
You recently released your latest EP, “I AM…Marcel,” Can you let the readers know what the EP is about?
The reason why I came up with “I AM” is so that people will know who I’am as an artist that is just coming out because no one knows who Marcel Red is, so why not name it “I AM Marcel Red” for people to know about me.
What is one thing that you want the listeners to take away from it?
I want them to relate to what I’m going through. I want them to relate with it. I know there are a lot of people that can relate to more of the R&B [songs] based on relationships.
What artist do you look up to?
There’s a lot of different artists from Funk artists, R&B artists such as Luther Vandross, Chris Brown, Maxwell, Prince (the reason why I started music). Those are the artists and the reasons behind why I started music.
If you can choose anybody in the world that you could share the stage with who it be?
I would say Chris Brown, Jason Derulo, The Weekend, Beyonce, and Rihanna.
What can your fans except from you in the upcoming months?
A lot of performances, radio play, and some more music. I am currently writing some new music right now and hopefully I’ll be coming out with another album by the end of October.
I see that you are on the move, so what piece of advice can you give to other Inland Empire artists on how to expand their brand and music?
Try everything. Don’t limit yourself. Go for above and beyond. As far as performing in one spot, you gotta get out there and get yourself to get know. Travel a little bit to have your performances. Travel around the world so that people will get to know about you.
How can people reach you?
You can reach me on Instagram @_Marcel_Red or my personal website at www.marcelred.com and you can find my music there as well.
Anything that you want to leave the readers with?
For the people that are trying to do music, just keep working hard at it. Don’t ever give up. Music is really hard, especially when it comes recording and writing, it can be a little overwhelming, but just keep pushing and don’t look back. Keep moving forward.
For those who have yet to hear “I AM…Marcel,” check out the links below:
Download here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/i-am…-marcel–red/id1096824628Listen to the single here: https://soundcloud.com/marcelred/what-you-did