Torin Releases Brand New Single "Take Me Higher"

L.A.-based singer-songwriter Torin Floyd is what the industry would consider a jack of all trades, blending fashion, art, music and culture into a dynamic and eclectic performance art. With that being said, Torin’s blend of pop, R&B, hip-hop, rock and EDM can be heard on his new track “Take Me Higher.” We were able to briefly interview the rising act; check it out below.

RESPECT.: What was the inspiration behind the song?

Honestly the inspiration behind take me higher is a few things actually one it’s a universal pop song for anyone who feels low or less than they really actually are and I wanted to write a song that was a reminder Anthem you know like the soundtrack to your life when you needed that pick me up when you need to hear that encouragement despite the situation. For me personally I just wrote it out of my struggles and out of my pain that’s why the music is so aggressive and why it’s a dance song because I feel through dance through movement you can exercise a lot of your your pain and your demons and in that moment you just feel free all your cares Fall Away so I wanted to give people a gateway drug to get out of their problems and out of there Darkness and my faith is also really where the song comes from because really it can be a song to a person or to yourself but it could even be a song to God you know your love for God can be like a drug to you it’s probably the best drug ever! But for in the time that we live in and for the situations happening all around us I felt like we needed a song like take me higher because just in the title alone it’s so self-explanatory and that’s where I want to go higher in every part of my life and in this world and for the people out there that want to go higher and want to feel liberated this song is perfect for them.

What inspired this sound? It had a a ‘country’ ‘pop tone but didn’t directly fit into those categories, how would you categorize and explain your sound?

The big EDM sound comes from my love of dance music I love music that makes me move and that has powerful lyrics and take me higher is an omage to that type of music I wrote the lyrics first with with the sound in mind but I wrote the song Acapella first and then I got with my producer @jupyter and he made magic as usual and of course it was a total collaboration I sent him you know the ideas with the acapella and he built the Beat Around my ideas and the references I gave him and he just took it to another level and then when I got into the studio with my team and the Gamorrean sound we just worked on bringing the track to its full potential into its full light and that’s the song you here now and I think that the finished product as a as a dance pop song reflects me and my style of music as a performer because I want to reach so many people across this world and I want to unite people through my music and dance and good lyrics are great way to unite people.

With the remix the remix was birthed out of my love for creating my songs at the basic level first you know I’m a artist and I understand what being an artist is because I went to school for art as well as audio engineering and audio production among other things I was blessed to have some opportunities as a child actor in commercials and doing background work so I understand the creative process from all aspects in a sense that I’m very well-rounded when it comes to understanding what are artists really does and they create and the goal is to find an audience and niche that appreciates their creation because of the time and thought actually put into creating what you’re seeing or listening to so out of creating take me higher the dance pop EDM version we were so creatively charged up that we decided to do a alternative mix that we could offer to people who liked live instrumentation and a more slow down version so we pulled up the guitars and the remix of take me higher was birth and I really love it because it shows my musical interests and talents in two different sides and I love to sort of portray The Duality and all things that I do artistically. The country part references in the song come from the timing music when everything was just can 3 and cowboy and it kind of has that kick to it I love country music you know I love World music also my biggest idea for the remix was sting he’s an amazing singer he used to be a part of this band called the police from the 70s his music is sampled all throughout hip hop and pop music today and throughout you know pop culture history and I think his most popular future was with Diddy and Faith Evans and 112 for the Biggie Smalls tribute song Missing You so I like artists like that we were able to cross over color bounds and Musical genres and were able to show True versatility so again for the remix I wanted to mix this worldly instrumentation sound with some type of country kick to it but still keep some of the EDM aspects.

My sound will be categorized as NuWave I’m a pop artist so that allows me to do many types and styles of music and create sort of my own style you know it’s a mixture of all my favorite sounds a little R&B a little pop a little EDM so I think right now I’m taking all of that and I’m channeling it through a urban pop funnel.

Was this recorded live?

The remix was recorded in a mixter of live recording as far as the instruments the guitars where recorded live it took that’s a few tries to get the Rhythm ring because we started in the middle of mixing and mastering the take me higher EDM version and I believe one of my partners asked me the inspiration behind the song and how do I create it and I played him the demo and I was fiddling around with the guitar and the piano and singing and that is the demo I sent to at Jupiter who then created the dance version which I recorded with Gamorrean sound and from hearing that silly little demo we then created the remix based off of that same inspiration and we kept the EDM version as a compass and the reference because it is the full version realize but this is it alternative version it’s beside if you will its other half I realize they go together but the guitar parts where recorded live in the studio and then we added the other sounds electronically and I recorded the vocals separately but the idea was to give it that live feel that sort of alternative Rock feel.

Do you play any of the instruments featured?

Only on the original demos do I play the instruments and I have the pleasure of taking piano drum and guitar lessons throughout my life and I musical history so I definitely am still growing in my abilities as a composer but I compose and write all my demos which you’re hearing in the records finished but other people who professionally do that are taking my literal ideas in my sounds and my notes and my progressions and crafting I finished product you know this is self manufacturing from the mind of one man and being the leader of all of this and at the center of all of this because I am just a vessel I have to allow other tools and other people to support me and the message and the art that’s coming through so the take me higher remix is a collaboration between and good morning and sound who allowed me to co-produce my music with them because they believed in my ideas and saw something in my talent and that was amazing to Tristan and allow them to take my my ideas from the basic level to a whole new level of what you’re hearing now and in the future I plan to really songs with me playing instruments on the finished record and live because it is a part of my process and right now it’s something that’s private and close to me but I know if I worked at it and practice it I could sit down and play my songs acoustically at the piano at the guitar for you all and I would love that.

Do you wrote music or compose?

I do write all my own music on my own and because I’ve had the beauty of taking lessons I’m beyond a beginner but I’m definitely have room to grow and advance in my average instrument plane but I do play and practice and take lessons and drums Guitar which I started teaching myself and then I started taking lessons and piano which I feel really passionate about because it allows me to really grow with my composing and my musical ideas but I started off playing the drums first and taking lessons for 2 years so a lot of my songs are composed from the beat and from the drums and from The rhythms which people says hard or nearly impossible to do or even incorrect so I decided to create that way it was easiest for me and then once I realized I could take those those average ideas and instrumentation to a real producer and they could produce them and build beats based off the ideas and I could just relay down the vocals I I found my creative medium.

Do you see yourself continuing to work as a featured artist or more behind the scenes?

I see myself completely in front of my art as the artist Torin Floyd I sing and dance life and I’m a singer-songwriter who writes my own songs on my own but I also love to collaborate with other writers and producers to bring my ideas to life you know I understand the creative process is not just a selfish one it’s a collaborative process I also myself writing for other artists because I create so much for a project there is always extra fruit in my garden to be shared and I see myself writing for other artists as well as continuing to write for myself and release music and I have no problem with taking a backseat to another artist shine when I’m writing for them it’s not about egos it’s about the art. I would love to do more features as an artist and collaborate with other artists on their musical style either adapting to their genre or bringing a part of my genre and said there’s and creating something new but I would love to do something with like @6lack I think he’s really dope I think artists like @Quinn are really f****** dope and I need a feature with her like right now so I’m putting that out there but I also love artists like Jaden Smith who I would definitely love to feature with and I could go on but of course the goat Drake can really do something for you but it’s just about cool dope meeting of the minds that I would be so interested in and that I plan to experience in my musical Journey.

What’s next?

Im super excited for whats next for Torin Floyd. I plan to release The Art Project this year it’s a collection of 9 songs with different styles but all under the same genere of New Wave Urban Pop! That will come when it cools down in 2018 im just done mixing and mastering the whole thing and im so proud of me and my team for allowing me to grow as a leader and co producer on all the tracks which i wrote and sang with no auto tune so im very excited to present these new songs with Take Me Higher being the first single to be released with a video on you tube and my web site www.Torinsworld.com i want to do one more video for my favortie song on the Art Project which im planning now!! But i would love to go on tour and open for a bigger artist, and even go on my own tour and have fans and friends who really support the music and want to see me grow snd reach bigger levels. Even being in a independent film would be cool or just to have a song placed in a movie tv or radio. The sky is the limit