Thursday, January 5, 2017

Former Army chemical engineer moves talents to engineering music





DENTON, TX – During his six years serving in the Army, Elgin Onassis worked mostly with chemical operations in some of the most extreme settings – including Iraq and Afghanistan. He’s always been interested in chemistry, and the work seemed appropriate for his skill-set. It also afforded him the unique opportunity to set his own schedule – which meant he had a lot of time to experiment with a different type of chemistry … of the musical variety.

The beats and sounds he played with while serving overseas have become the chemical engineering of his life now that he’s back home, and his new album “It’s Lonely At The Top” is a showcase of the music he has to offer to the world.

“2016 has been a purging year for everybody, I think, and a lot of the people who were in my circle before have gone away from that circle recently,” he said, explaining that his journey to the life of a successful musician hasn’t always been met with the same level of sacrifice from friends and family that he’s been willing to make himself. “I’ve found that it’s lonely being at the top. A lot of times people aren’t willing to sacrifice like you’re willing to sacrifice to get to the top. I’ve pushed a lot of boundaries sound-wise and I’ve explored some new things and I’m proud of where I am today. This album shows that. It has a lot of sounds on it that haven’t really been visited a lot in hip-hop – like some of the songs have dogs barking or helicopters in it.”

Onassis said that exploration of natural sound mixed with catchy beats and solid hooks are just a part of what make him unique as an artist. He also works hard at honing his lyrics, and uses a lot of harmonic melodies that are trap influenced – though not 100 percent trap.

“Sometimes I use live instrumentation and sometimes I don’t,” he said. “Since I was 10 years old I’ve been into the inner workings of music. I started messing around with record players and transitioned to keyboards. Today I’ll use anything from FL Studio to Logic Programs to Pro Tools. I just really like creating music. I love starting with nothing but an idea and seeing that idea come to full fruition that sounds good and appeals to more people than just me.”

The lyrics infused in his songs are “a more intelligent way of looking at things,” he said. All combined, he hopes it becomes a trademark sound that eventually puts him on the level with greats such as Dr. Dre and Pharrel – two artists who have heavily influenced his music because of their ability to intertwine everything on an entire album behind a singular, diverse sound.

Fans who want to check out more of Elgin Onassis’ music can watch his music videos on YouTube under “Millionaire Mogul Club TV,” or visit his Spotify page. Fans can also follow him on Facebook, or @blaqmacc on Twitter.


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