Anton Commissaris Interview on Nagamag

Categories: Features, Interviews, Jazz Features, Jazz Interviews, The Latest|Tags: , , , , , , , |

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Nagamag:
Which are the genres that describe your music style better?

Anton Commissaris:
Jazz - vocal, with notes of blues, soul, rhythm and blues, and gospel styles.


Nagamag:
Few words about your musical background and career?

Anton Commissaris:
I am a Jazz composer, pianist, and vocalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. I released my first EP - On A Bright Note - in February 2021. I have a new single - Lonely Bay - released on September 24, 2021, and a second EP - Out of the Blue - coming out in October 2021.


Nagamag:
Do you remember your first connection of love to music that was the right impact to be a music artist now?

Anton Commissaris:
I had heard music on the radio but the first time I felt a true connection was when at about 9 years old, I listened to an album by Joe Cocker - With a Little Help from My Friends. Cocker's voice was raw, bluesy, and powerfully emotional. It struck a chord with me. Intrigued, I began to play the record over and over. Two songs, in particular, stood out for me - the title track - With a Little Help from My Friends - and - She Came in Through the Bathroom Window. I didn't realize it at the time, but these were both Lennon-McCartney covers. I would later become a huge Beatles fan, impressed particularly by the fact that they composed, played, and sung their own music.


Nagamag:
How did you become a fan of Jazz music?

Anton Commissaris:
My mother was into Jazz music and she played a lot of records that I picked up on when I was young. When I was learning the piano at an early age, she also had Jazz sheet music laying around that I would learn how to play. I remember, in particular, being impressed by - Smoke Gets in Your Eyes. During my college years, I picked up on Frank Sinatra and many of the other great singers of the American Song Book. As an alternative to all the other standard pop music of the day, we would play this at parties and have a lot of fun, while others were somewhat confused by our retro tastes. Then after, playing classical piano for a number of years, I drifted back into Jazz and fell in love with that style of music all over again.


Nagamag:
Many artists listen to genres that they are not producing music for. Which track is your favorite that is NOT similar to yours?

Anton Commissaris:
The Beatles "For No One"


Nagamag:
Of Course Nagamag would love to listen also which is the track from a similar artist you admire?

Anton Commissaris:
Sarah Vaughan "Misty"

Discover & Listen to Anton Commissaris

Anton Commissaris on Spotify

Anton Commissaris' Signature Track

Anton Commissaris on Social Media

Iderdown Interview on Nagamag

Categories: Electronica Features, Electronica Interviews, Features, Interviews, The Latest|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

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Nagamag:
Which are the genres that describe your music style better?

Iderdown:
I like to think of it as leftfield music, influenced by a wide array of genres. They all get blended together when I start writing, so any track at any time will be a mixture of noise, prog, post-rock, ambient, drone, glitch, trance, industrial and breakbeat.


Nagamag:
Few words about your musical background and career?

Iderdown:
Well, I was in an industrial band in high school and at the same time playing around with screamtracker. This was followed by some indie rock years in bands and toying with 4-track bedroom lo-fi songwriting. I started releasing my instrumental electronic music as iderdown in 2003 and continue to work on diverse projects like the dark folk band Within and playing as part of the drone collective Cosmic Homeostasis.


Nagamag:
Do you remember your first connection of love to music that was the right impact to be a music artist now?

Iderdown:
I have been making melodies in my head for long as I can remember and grew up in a house full of music but the first time I heard the songs that made me want to create was during high school, where I was lucky to have a group of friends who explored strange worlds of music.


Nagamag:
Tell me about your latest release?

Iderdown:
iderdown's last release was a collaboration ep with Arcane Trickster called Snowbird. It's an ambient soundtrack for a tranquil shore.


Nagamag:
What's coming up in the future for iderdown?

Iderdown:
A five track Lp of Ambient music that I wrote mostly inspired by the music of Peter Namlook. There will also be a companion set of remixes by Tempest Recording and Slice Records artists.


Nagamag:
Many artists listen to genres that they are not producing music for. Which track is your favorite that is NOT similar to yours?

Iderdown:
Japanese Breakfast "Posing In Bondage"


Nagamag:
Of Course Nagamag would love to listen also which is the track from a similar artist you admire?

Iderdown:
BVDUB "Never In The Prison Of Their Stars"

Discover & Listen to Iderdown

Iderdown on Spotify

Iderdown's Signature Track

Iderdown on Social Media

Iderdown's Website

Modern Andy Interview on Nagamag

Categories: Features, Interviews, The Latest|Tags: , , , , , , |

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Nagamag:
Which are the genres that describe your music style better?

Modern Andy:
A genre that describes my music more in depth than DownTempo or Chill is something I call FolkTronic. To me FolkTronic is the combination of not just a folk or bluegrass sound interwoven with electronic elements but it is using acoustic instruments in general that are then incorporated into an electronic set. Recording live acoustic instruments for sample/loop playback later is a big part of what Modern Andy is and what I consider FolkTronic.


Nagamag:
Few words about your musical background and career?

Modern Andy:
I grew up in a musical household so I was exposed to music everyday from a very young age and I couldn't be more grateful for it. My dad played guitar and banjo, primarily bluegrass/folk music so as a child I was exposed to harmonies, fingerpicking and interesting chord structures. This helped shape how I would start Modern Andy to be a conceptual music/art project that would combine visuals and music to create a living art piece. As I experimented and explored this I I realized what I wanted to do was be a Modern Andy Warhol and thus Modern Andy was created.


Nagamag:
Do you remember your first connection of love to music that was the right impact to be a music artist now?

Modern Andy:
I fell in love with music at a very young age. There was always music being played in my house and there were instruments everywhere. From pianos, guitars, mandolins, banjos and more I could walk around our house and just experiment with music and different instruments. As I grew up I continued to experiment and became interested in audio recording and recording techniques. This really propelled me to become the musician I am today and how Modern Andy got its sound.


Nagamag:
What are some of your motivations when creating the music that you do?

Modern Andy:
Some motivations I have when creating my music is finding those places in a song I can get lost in, finding the places where you stop paying attention, where time ceases to exist and you get lost in the moment and lost in your thoughts. My motivation is to give as much power as possible to an instrumental song so the listener has no choice but feel what THEY feel, not feel what they are told to feel.


Nagamag:
What do you hope the listener takes away from a Modern Andy song?

Modern Andy:
My hope is the listener will take away a sense of individuality and uniqueness from my songs. I hope they feel that they haven’t ever really heard anything like this before and that they will get lost in the songs and be lost in their thoughts while they listen. I hope they create their own story and that Modern Andy is the soundtrack to that story they are telling.


Nagamag:
Many artists listen to genres that they are not producing music for. Which track is your favorite that is NOT similar to yours?

Modern Andy:
Glen Hansard "Say it to me Now"


Nagamag:
Of Course Nagamag would love to listen also which is the track from a similar artist you admire?

Modern Andy:
Nine Inch Nails "La Mer"

Discover & Listen to Modern Andy

Modern Andy on Spotify

Modern Andy's Signature Track

Modern Andy on Social Media

Modern Andy's Website

Son of Zev Interview on Nagamag

Categories: Features, Interviews, The Latest|Tags: , , , , , , |

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Nagamag:
Which are the genres that describe your music style better?

Son of Zev:
Techno, Breakbeat, Electro, Experimental Electronica. I'm a very wide listener of all styles of music. There are many influences that get pulled into my production.


Nagamag:
Few words about your musical background and career?

Son of Zev:
I've been involved with music since I was about 8. I struggled to settle on an instrument till I was 11 which was piano/keyboards. My school actually had synthesizer lessons and my classes were on an Alpha Juno.. That was in about 1987. I had no idea that I was playing on one of the original machines that could make the classic "hoover" rave sound..
My first experience trying to program my own synth (a DX27) was trying to make Hammond and Rhodes sounds out of it.. I was jamming blues with mates at the time as a teenager.
In 1994, after being self professed "anti sequencer" I found myself in the rave scene and loving some of the more underground sounds I was hearing (Melbourne was/is very Detroit influenced). By 1995 I was playing around with synths for synths sake, and occasionally playing as a regular guest of Melbourne clan analog band "Signal To Noise"
In early 1998 I played my first gig as Son of Zev at the iconic Punters Club, a venue I'd literally seen hundreds of bands and a handful of electronic acts. I played for half an hour, slotted into the very start of the gig. I was home. Andrez Bergen of IF? Records was apologetic for the early start and short time slot and low fee... I didn't care.
I went on to play at least 100 more shows (I lost count somewhere along the way) between 1998 and 2001, many of them with If? Records. I kept playing semi-regularly through till 1998.
Although I could put together a great live set, I was never very good at finishing tunes. Something I've since learned is most likely a product of my (very) late diagnosed ADHD..
After some big life changes, in about 2016 I set up a new studio and have released a couple of EP's and the odd single... WIth my recent diagnosis and some therapy on the horizon, I'm hoping I can channel my energies better and release a lot more music.


Nagamag:
Do you remember your first connection of love to music that was the right impact to be a music artist now?

Son of Zev:
While not my first connection, I can remember 2 very pivotal moments..
Somewhere around 1994 I saw Jammin' Unit play a live set at Club Filter in Melbourne. It's where I truly understood that electronic music could have be very live and organic. Seeing someone working their gear like that, clearly arranging and manipulating what was going on broke my perception of a person pressing play on a computer sequencer with nothing to do.
The second pivotal moment was dancing front and centre to Thomas P Heckmann playing live and changing what he was doing according to the crowd reactions and realising I really wanted to be on the other side playing my music and being at one with the crowd like that.


Nagamag:
Do you have any new music coming out?

Son of Zev:
I have 2 releases coming in the near future. Both 2 track singles.
The first "Escaped From the Vault" is a couple of tracks I found while digging through some old boxes. Backups of a demo that really hold up today. They are of a more strictly Techno sound, dark and hard, but with a lot of rhythmic exploration. It's due out on the 27th of August on Slice Records.
The second is a collaboration with Arcane Trickster. We've remixed each other's work, these should also be out later this year on Slice Records.
Aside from those, I've been in the studio a lot, and I expect that by next year there should be some more music ready for release.


Nagamag:
You mentioned that you used to play a lot of live sets, do you still do that, and are there any gigs coming up?

Son of Zev:
Absolutely, I love playing live and still like to perform a few times a year.
Lockdowns permitting I am playing at Red Betty in Brunswick on the 14th of August for a Live Electronic Musicians of Melbourne Showcase gig.
I'm also playing on the 3rd of September at Acid Slice Presents 303 909 .. At Bar 303, Northcote.. (expect Acid)


Nagamag:
Many artists listen to genres that they are not producing music for. Which track is your favorite that is NOT similar to yours?

Son of Zev:
Jimmy Smith "Root Down"


Nagamag:
Of Course Nagamag would love to listen also which is the track from a similar artist you admire?

Son of Zev:
Joey Beltram Forklift (Luke Slater's remix)

Discover & Listen to Son of Zev

Son of Zev on Spotify

Son of Zev's Signature Track

Son of Zev on Social Media

Carlos Maya Interview on Nagamag

Categories: Features, Interviews, Neoclassical Features, Neoclassical Interviews, The Latest|Tags: , , , , |

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Nagamag:
Which are the genres that describe your music style better?

Carlos Maya:
I'm perfectly OK with this "Neoclassical" term to refer music that has a strong emotional focus, as I pretend to do that, to communicate and to express these "emotional ideas" and perspectives that cannot be expressed with words.


Nagamag:
Few words about your musical background and career?

Carlos Maya:
I've studied music at the Conservatory of Music of the National University of Colombia. I studied classical music, academic music, composition and music theory. But my interest in music was raised from a very young age, with the music instruction of my father who is a Sax player. Regardless my academic music background I was always interested in genres that are more connected to people than the strictly academic music, hence this neoclassical piano project, I also have great love for the keyboards and synthesizers, and absolutely for the Rock music. I also have a progressive rock project called Cadius in which I am its main composer.


Nagamag:
Do you remember your first connection of love to music that was the right impact to be a music artist now?

Carlos Maya:
My first connection of love with music was when I was very young... I think 6 maybe 7 years old... My father used to play in his turntable classical music and progressive rock music, music from Bach, Mozart, but also Rick Wakeman, Yes and that kind of stuff... I remember that Bach music touched me very deeply, I was really moved in my heart while listen to this second movement of the Harpsichord Italian concerto, touched to the point of tears, and I was like 7 or 8 years old, right then I decided that I wanted to be a pianist.


Nagamag:
What do you want to achieve with your music?

Carlos Maya:
I try to do my best to make beautiful music, I deeply feel that the purpose of each one of us, as human beings, is to bring beauty to this life, the beauty is an ideal from "higher states" and we bring these "higher states" to this world, and when we commit to this purpose I think we make the world a little better.


Nagamag:
What are your next steps in your career?

Carlos Maya:
I am working to put one of my songs as a soundtrack in a movie or a documentary. That would be awesome!


Nagamag:
Many artists listen to genres that they are not producing music for. Which track is your favorite that is NOT similar to yours?

Carlos Maya:
Meshuggah "Clockworks"


Nagamag:
Of Course Nagamag would love to listen also which is the track from a similar artist you admire?

Carlos Maya:
Michael Nyman The heart asks pleasure first

Discover & Listen to Carlos Maya

Carlos Maya on Spotify

Carlos Maya's Signature Track

Carlos Maya on Social Media

Carlos Maya's Website

Vincent Liou Interview on Nagamag

Categories: Features, Interviews, Pop Features, Pop Interviews, The Latest|Tags: , , , |

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Nagamag:
Which are the genres that describe your music style better?

Vincent Liou:
Indie pop


Nagamag:
Few words about your musical background and career?

Vincent Liou:
I started piano when I was young and then played bass and clarinet for a few years. I loved making huge chords on the piano. I joined a band (Crash Coordinates) in high school and played minimal keys – I was basically the hype man. I wrote my first song in college in 2010 where I (low-key) ripped off Owl City’s ‘”Fireflies.” I wrote four EPs and recorded with Bob Hoag during that time. After graduating from PA school in Massachusetts, I moved back to Arizona to live with my momma (school is expensive you know!). After I came back, I met a girl who was cool, but she broke my heart – she was dating someone else at the same time we were together. My most recent ‘Big Surf’ EP are the songs that came out of that experience.


Nagamag:
Do you remember your first connection of love to music that was the right impact to be a music artist now?

Vincent Liou:
I was lucky enough to have parents that liked good music. My dad would play John Denver and my mom played The Eagles. From there I started discovering new artists that really helped color my world. The artists that really showed me that music was freedom are many but Primus, The Locust, Minus the Bear, really solidified my belief.


Nagamag:
Many artists listen to genres that they are not producing music for. Which track is your favorite that is NOT similar to yours?

Vincent Liou:
Whitney Houston "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"


Nagamag:
Of Course Nagamag would love to listen also which is the track from a similar artist you admire?

Vincent Liou:
Bonnie Raitt "I Can't Make You Love Me"

Discover & Listen to Vincent Liou

Vincent Liou on Spotify

Vincent Liou's Signature Track

Vincent Liou on Social Media

SAAH Interview on Nagamag

Categories: Features, Interviews, Neoclassical Features, Neoclassical Interviews, The Latest|Tags: , , , , , , |

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Nagamag:
Which are the genres that describe your music style better?

SAAH:
Neoclassical, contemporary classical, modern classical piano,


Nagamag:
Few words about your musical background and career?

SAAH:
I was given an old piano at the age of nine. i immediately fell in love with that instrument(i actually wanted a flute, but I didn´t get one)
since then I loved to improvise and create little melodies.
i also had piano lessons for some years, but I always preferred to play by ear.
that´s why I decided not to study at the music university.
i played in bands and the last years I´ve been composing for theatres and I´ve been creating solo piano pieces in my tiny homestudio. Last year I won the European song writing award in the category: music for motion pictures. since then I´ve been releasing heartfelt solo piano songs. I am very grateful to have the opportunity to do what I love and to share my music with everybody who wants to listen.


Nagamag:
Do you remember your first connection of love to music that was the right impact to be a music artist now?

SAAH:
I guess it was when i first heard some Tory Amos songs (i fell in love with her way to play the piano) and later i really loved the Keith Jarrett´s Köln concert (i was so impressed by the spirit and vibes of his free and harmonic improvising )


Nagamag:
do you have any plans for the near future?

SAAH:
Yes, I have :)
I always desired to play outside in nature or in other special places with my stage piano.
...so I had a stunning handmade piano shell built by a very talented man and now (about 2 weeks ago) a wonderful painter completed this work with a very special and beautiful painting on the cover of the shell, that means a lot to me.
So from now on I will also share some little video clips from outside, playing on Juna (that´s my pianos name;) - it means the desired..... I am over the moon excited about that.


Nagamag:
Many artists listen to genres that they are not producing music for. Which track is your favorite that is NOT similar to yours?

SAAH:
INCUBUS "Wish you were here"


Nagamag:
Of Course Nagamag would love to listen also which is the track from a similar artist you admire?

SAAH:
Franco Roberts (He has a different piano sound, I really like his work) "axolotl"

Discover & Listen to SAAH

SAAH on Spotify

SAAH's Signature Track

SAAH on Social Media

SAAH's Website

Banco de Gaia Interview on Nagamag

Categories: Electronica Features, Electronica Interviews, Features, Interviews, The Latest|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Photo by Cezary Biernat | www.notatourist.co.uk


Nagamag:
Which are the genres that describe your music style better?

Banco de Gaia:
World dance, global, ambient, trance, techno, dub


Nagamag:
Few words about your musical background and career?

Banco de Gaia:
I started out playing drums in rock bands then moved on to guitar. In the 80's I was playing jazz and listening to world music then discovered acid house and became immersed in electronic dance music. Since 1989 I've been writing, recording and performing as Banco de Gaia and I'm not sure if I'll ever stop!


Nagamag:
Do you remember your first connection of love to music that was the right impact to be a music artist now?

Banco de Gaia:
I saw Hawkwind performing Silver Machine on TV when I was 6 or 7. Lots of strobes and smoke and a man with long hair, I thought 'that's what I want to do'.


Nagamag:
Why is world music so imprtant to you?

Banco de Gaia:
I love combining sounds from different countries and cultures, it constantly amazes me that music from wildly different places can share the same basic heart. Music really is a universal language.


Nagamag:
What have you been working on recently?

Banco de Gaia:
I just released a two-track single 'Pirates and Princes' as part of New York Times reporter Ian Urbina's 'Outlaw Ocean' project. He has been travelling the seas documenting what goes on out in international waters where no laws apply. It's pretty grim at times but it's important to spotlight the crimes that are going on out there, and incorporating his reporting into music has been a fascinating mission.


Nagamag:
Many artists listen to genres that they are not producing music for. Which track is your favorite that is NOT similar to yours?

Banco de Gaia:
Yes "Going For The One"


Nagamag:
Of Course Nagamag would love to listen also which is the track from a similar artist you admire?

Banco de Gaia:
William Orbit "Water from a Vine Leaf"

Discover & Listen to Banco de Gaia

Banco de Gaia on Spotify

Banco de Gaia's Signature Track

Banco de Gaia on Social Media

Banco de Gaia's Website

Mazoulew Interview on Nagamag

Categories: Electronica Features, Electronica Interviews, Features, Interviews, The Latest|Tags: , , , , , , , |

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Nagamag:
Which are the genres that describe your music style better?

Mazoulew:
My music has always floated across a few genres, I never really considered myself a 'Hip Hop' or 'Dance' producer for example as I found the idea of limiting yourself to a certain style or tempo of music rather limiting and constraining for creativity. My new record covers quite a lot of ground from downtempo/electronica all the way through to ambient/neo-classical works. I guess at the end of the day, I write what I feel at that specific moment and the result can be a lot of different feelings and emotions being conveyed.


Nagamag:
Few words about your musical background and career?

Mazoulew:
When I first got into music I was involved in the Hip Hop/ Drum and bass world, I used to collaborate with literally hundres of different artists and bands. I spent a lot of time engineering and co writing works for people before I really started to focus on my solo material


Nagamag:
Do you remember your first connection of love to music that was the right impact to be a music artist now?

Mazoulew:
I remember when I must have been no more then 10 years old, standing in a charity shop with two casettes in my hand
It was something like Now 50 I think and in the other hand 'The Score' by the fugees. I didnt know anything about either record but I bought 'the score' for something crazy like £1.5 and that was it for me, I played that tape over and over till it wore out and snapped. I obviously went and bought another copy on CD after that but yeah that record changed my life really and opened my mind to different a different sound and different ideas.


Nagamag:
Can you tell us a little bit more about the 'Movements EP'

Mazoulew:
So yeah, this record is quite special to me as I really felt like I had the possibility to focus myself and refine a lot of ideas that I had been thinking about in recent years. I wanted, as I say to cover a lot of ground and explore ideas that I am not really hearing other people put together at the moment. I wanted to show there is a way you can combine such moods as cinmeatic, orchestral arrangments with dance floor electronica. It could be very easy to make a project like this and for each of the individual tracks to sound disconnected from one another. The challenge is to imprint enough of your sonic character and style into the sound to give continuity across the tracks regardless of what genre/style they are written in


Nagamag:
Many artists listen to genres that they are not producing music for. Which track is your favorite that is NOT similar to yours?

Mazoulew:
Burial "Ghost Hardware"


Nagamag:
Of Course Nagamag would love to listen also which is the track from a similar artist you admire?

Mazoulew:
Rival Consoles "Recovery"

Discover & Listen to Mazoulew

Mazoulew on Spotify

Mazoulew's Signature Track

Mazoulew on Social Media

Blooy Interview on Nagamag

Categories: Electronica Features, Electronica Interviews, Features, Interviews, The Latest|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

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Nagamag:
Which are the genres that describe your music style better?

Blooy:
Blooy's sound is its own unique flavor of chillout that’s fueled by dreamy electronics, lo-fi hip-hop beats, drama-filled instrumentation and melancholic soundscapes.


Nagamag:
Few words about your musical background and career?

Blooy:
In the nineties I was inspired by the emerging trend of house music and started working together with producer and composer Dorian Broekhuyse, with whom I collaborated on several dance projects.
In the beginning of this millennium our musical style evolved to chillout music. Dorian and I launched our nu-classical project “Bardo State” in 2008, especially known from the internationally acclaimed song “Sospiro” (album “Mariposa”). Several Bardo State songs were licensed to well-known samplers such as Buddha-Bar and Supperclub. The track "Kosovo" was the soundtrack of the Hollywood film Jekyll and Hyde.


Nagamag:
Do you remember your first connection of love to music that was the right impact to be a music artist now?

Blooy:
I'm the son of Jan Wijn, a famous Dutch concert pianist. Raised on musical influences such as Chopin, Ravel and Saint-Saëns, I became interested in experimental jazz throughout my teenage years and I started playing drums. In my late teens, I also started singing and playing keyboard in the new wave band The Primrose Path. The often dark and gloomy sound of new wave music has continued to inspire me throughout my musical career.


Nagamag:
What exactly inspired you to start with Blooy?

Blooy:
I started working on my solo project “Blooy” during the Corona period. Inspired by the imperfection of lo-fi music, I combined chillout with jazz and classical influences, sometimes accompanied by spoken word. As the strongest form of art, I use Blooy’s music to express myself and always try to embellish my compositions with layers of heartfelt emotions.


Nagamag:
What are your musical plans for the future?

Blooy:
During 2021 I will be releasing my first two Blooy EP's on the label Sine Music and I'm planning to release my first album by the beginning of 2022.


Nagamag:
Many artists listen to genres that they are not producing music for. Which track is your favorite that is NOT similar to yours?

Blooy:
Thomas Newman "Revolutionary Road (End Title)"


Nagamag:
Of Course Nagamag would love to listen also which is the track from a similar artist you admire?

Blooy:
Kupla "Roots"

Discover & Listen to Blooy

Blooy on Spotify

Blooy's Signature Track

Blooy on Social Media

Blooy's Website

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