Rooky

By Armando Sultan

New York City based Dance-Pop artist, Rooky, is an NJCU alumnus who graduated with a music business and guitar performance degree. Since graduating, he has pursued a professional career in music alongside his manager, Nick Schlatmann.

Two years ago, Schlatmann connected with hip hop legend Darryl “DMC” McDaniels of the iconic rap group, Run DMC and showed him some of Rooky’s music. DMC fell in love with the tracks and asked to get involved. This serendipitous meeting led to the recording of “LIVE FOREVER,” which Rooky has just released a music video for.
NJCU recently sat down with Rooky to ask about his recent collaboration with DMC and his plans for the future.

1) Where did you get the name from?
My manager Nick Schlatmann came up with the name and I loved it instantly. I also love what it symbolizes – basically that I’m the Rooky, the underdog, and I have the fighter’s spirit to prove it!

2) I hear you just released a single with DMC of Run DMC, how was working with a legend?
Words can’t describe how much of an honor it was to work with DMC. First of all, besides being one of the architects of hip hop, he’s also one of the most passionate and genuine people I’ve ever met. There’s a fire inside him and he brings that to everything he does.
When he got the track, it took him only one night to write his verse. ONE NIGHT. And recording in the studio with him is a breeze because he usually does his parts in one hot-fire take.
Also, since we’re both obsessed with all kinds of music, we have a blast whenever we talk. Within half a minute, both of us have wide eyes and we’re yelling about how great this album or that album was. DMC is the man.

3) The song Live Forever also has a video out, how was that process?
From the first treatment to the finished product took a little over a year. In that time we had one production company involved, then schedules conflicted, so serendipity stepped in, and connected us to our director Rodrigo. From there, Nick and I worked with him on choosing locations, casting the actors, finishing the treatment, and finalizing all of the preproduction details.
After that, we showed up to set, which looked amazingly post-apocalyptic, and shot for about 11-12 hours straight. That shoot day was one of the most fun days of my life. There was definitely a familial vibe on set, like “we’re all in this together; it’s going to be great.” It made the time fly by.

4) Has education at NJCU helped your music writing ability or your career?
Yes, it has tremendously. Most of it runs as processes in my subconscious at this point, but I know it’s there. The music education I received at NJCU helped mold me into the songwriter and musician I am today, because music is a language and the more proverbial words and phrases you know, the more you have to draw from as a writer.

5) Any special professor or class that is unforgettable for you?
Prof. Ed Joffe’s Jazz History class and Music Business class – those were fun, challenging, and I learned a ton from him. He was always tough to please academically, and I thrive in that environment. It’s how I learn best.
My favorite playing experience came from Paul Myers’ Brazilian Ensemble – I loved the music. It was freeing.

6) Last time we spoke, you mentioned a great deal about your manager being a huge part of your music career, can you elaborate more on that?
Nick is the best manager in the world. We’re a team. We have 10 hour meetings dreaming up plans for the future, then we go home and email each other back and forth til 4 in the morning fleshing out the details. We’re both very passionate and very ambitious, and that’s why we get along so well.
Nick connected me with DMC, Nick helped me fine tune my sound, Nick is hooking up tours and high profile shows. We have a lot of great things in store and I’m very excited for the future. This is only the beginning!

7) Where did the inspiration for Live Forever come from? and did you write this song by yourself or was it a full collaborative effort between you and DMC?
“Live Forever” started as an instrumental track I made in Reason software on my Macbook. I remember playing it for my little brother, who is always honest, and he said, “That’s hot! Makes you want to dance!” so I knew I was on to something.

A few months later I meet DMC, and he wants to hear some of my songs, so I play that one for him, and he gets really, really excited about it. It was a truly surreal and validating experience. Here’s someone I grew up idolizing, a superstar, and now he’s sitting right next to me in the studio, saying I’m a great songwriter and he’s going home to spit a verse over one of my tracks – I couldn’t believe it was real.

8) The video looks amazing, did you write it yourself? Or was it a team around you?
Thank you so much – the first treatments were written by Nick and myself. We knew we wanted a horror theme so that was our starting point. Then, one day Nick hit me up and said we should combine “Girl Interrupted” with “Shutter Island,” two of my favorite movies, so that was the move! Next, we brought the treatment to our director and he extrapolated his vision from that idea, and I love where he took it.

9) Whats the future of Rooky? are you planning on putting out an EP or an event, or both? Where can we find your music?
I’m currently in the studio putting the finishing touches on an EP, though I keep writing songs so it may become a full album soon if I’m not careful! (laughs) – We have a big NYC date coming up soon and we’re planning a summer tour that I’m very excited about. You can find my music on iTunes and follow me on youtube, instagram and twitter – the name for all is @rookyofficial

10) Lastly, with such major success, what advice would you give to aspiring musicians currently in school and are following your path?
It’s important to form a strong mental picture of what you want your life to look like – whether it’s teaching violin to kids, conducting the philharmonic, or touring the world as a singer – and then passionately go for it. If your dreams turn you on, follow them, and the world will bend to your will. Don’t ever be a wandering generality.

And if that doesn’t work, just go to A.C. and bet it all on black. - New Jersey City University Gothic Times

ROOKY – LIVE FOREVER (FT. DMC). (PRNewsFoto/Mind Over Music Group)

NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 2014 /Emag.co.uk/ — It’s not everyday that a young musician gets to wake up and film a music video with an established, highly influential artist who has sold millions of albums worldwide. This isn’t the case for Rooky, an emerging pop artist from New York City, who has now collaborated with living legend DMC of “Run-DMC” on a song titled “Live Forever,” the first and only dance pop track in DMC’s career; in addition, the music video is now available on YouTube, through Mind Over Music Group, a subsidiary of Mind Over Media Group.

(Photo: Prior to working with Mind Over Music Group, Rooky was heavily influenced by the work of Prince, and got his start as a frontman and guitarist in local rock bands before jumping into emceeing private parties at larger than life venues like Yankee Stadium and the Park Avenue Armory. In just a short amount of time, Rooky has also worked with billboard topping artists such as Justin Timberlake, Macklemore, Austin Mahone, Flo Rida, and Mac Miller. Furthermore, Rooky is also an experienced model; he is known for being the face of Verizon’s 2013 Fios Campaign, and has appeared in Maxim Magazine with Jwoww of the Jersey Shore.

“The crazy thing is that the video is a major compliment to the song and that’s a hard thing to accomplish nowadays. I should have known what I was in for when I asked Rooky who his favorite artist was…and he said Prince!” said DMC.

Manager Nick Schlatmann explains how “Live Forever” came together. “‘Live Forever’ was a track that Rooky brought to me that instantly had my attention,” said Schlatmann. “I remember hearing the potential right from the start but I wanted to vault it until the right situation came along to release it. That opportunity came a few months later following a meeting with DMC.”



Darryl McDaniels, known in the music industry as “DMC,” was one of the two original members in the legendary hip hop group Run-DMC. Having achieved worldwide success during the 80′s into the 90′s, DMC has released six albums with Run-DMC, as well as two solo albums on his own. After hearing about “Live Forever,” DMC immediately headed to the studio to make things happen.

“When Nick came to me and told me he had this incredible artist he was working with, and we started discussing the idea of collaborating; I had no idea we would be making such amazing music and visuals,” said DMC. “They played me a couple of tracks to choose from and I loved them all, but there was something about Live Forever that completely touched the ears and soul! The song was well produced and written!”

The music video was originally set to be shot over a three day period; surprisingly, shooting was completed in just one day. The video is horror themed and features post-apocalyptic zombie scenes meeting an extreme masquerade that would make Lady Gaga jealous. Despite being done in a short period of time, Schlatmann commented on the work behind the music video.

“A lot of hard work and man hours went into the development of this video,” said Schlatmann. “We probably wrote four or five different treatments before we got the exact feel and vibe we wanted. Bringing the track along from the very first rough cut to what it is now with the legendary DMC attached to it has been an amazing experience. The camaraderie on set was incredible and the end result of the video is evidence of that.”

“I am extremely excited to show the world what we’ve created here, and I couldn’t be more thankful for how everything came out,” said Rooky. “The song,the music video, everything was a labor of love in the fullest sense of the phrase. It was a blast to work with such extraordinarily talented people, especially a living legend like DMC.”

For more information, feel free to visit MINDOVERMEDIAGROUP.COM and ROOKYOFFICIAL.COM

Media Contact: Nick Schlatmann, Mind Over Music Group, LLC, 347-891-0082, nick@mindovermediagroup.com - EMAG.CO.UK

NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- It's not everyday that a young musician gets to wake up and film a music video with an established, highly influential artist who has sold millions of albums worldwide. This isn't the case for Rooky, an emerging pop artist from New York City, who has now collaborated with living legend DMC of "Run-DMC" on a song titled "Live Forever," the first and only dance pop track in DMC's career; in addition, the music video is now available on YouTube, through Mind Over Music Group, a subsidiary of Mind Over Media Group.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140214/MN65439)

Prior to working with Mind Over Music Group, Rooky was heavily influenced by the work of Prince, and got his start as a frontman and guitarist in local rock bands before jumping into emceeing private parties at larger than life venues like Yankee Stadium and the Park Avenue Armory. In just a short amount of time, Rooky has also worked with billboard topping artists such as Justin Timberlake, Macklemore, Austin Mahone, Flo Rida, and Mac Miller. Furthermore, Rooky is also an experienced model; he is known for being the face of Verizon's 2013 Fios Campaign, and has appeared in Maxim Magazine with Jwoww of the Jersey Shore.

"The crazy thing is that the video is a major compliment to the song and that's a hard thing to accomplish nowadays. I should have known what I was in for when I asked Rooky who his favorite artist was...and he said Prince!" said DMC.

Manager Nick Schlatmann explains how "Live Forever" came together. "'Live Forever' was a track that Rooky brought to me that instantly had my attention," said Schlatmann. "I remember hearing the potential right from the start but I wanted to vault it until the right situation came along to release it. That opportunity came a few months later following a meeting with DMC."

Darryl McDaniels, known in the music industry as "DMC," was one of the two original members in the legendary hip hop group Run-DMC. Having achieved worldwide success during the 80's into the 90's, DMC has released six albums with Run-DMC, as well as two solo albums on his own. After hearing about "Live Forever," DMC immediately headed to the studio to make things happen.

"When Nick came to me and told me he had this incredible artist he was working with, and we started discussing the idea of collaborating; I had no idea we would be making such amazing music and visuals," said DMC. "They played me a couple of tracks to choose from and I loved them all, but there was something about Live Forever that completely touched the ears and soul! The song was well produced and written!"

The music video was originally set to be shot over a three day period; surprisingly, shooting was completed in just one day. The video is horror themed and features post-apocalyptic zombie scenes meeting an extreme masquerade that would make Lady Gaga jealous. Despite being done in a short period of time, Schlatmann commented on the work behind the music video.

"A lot of hard work and man hours went into the development of this video," said Schlatmann. "We probably wrote four or five different treatments before we got the exact feel and vibe we wanted. Bringing the track along from the very first rough cut to what it is now with the legendary DMC attached to it has been an amazing experience. The camaraderie on set was incredible and the end result of the video is evidence of that."

"I am extremely excited to show the world what we've created here, and I couldn't be more thankful for how everything came out," said Rooky. "The song,the music video, everything was a labor of love in the fullest sense of the phrase. It was a blast to work with such extraordinarily talented people, especially a living legend like DMC."

For more information, feel free to visit MINDOVERMEDIAGROUP.COM and ROOKYOFFICIAL.COM - Yahoo Finance

NEW MUSIC: Mind Over Music Group has just debuted a new cinematic experience music video of the song, ‘Live Forever’ by Rooky featuring DMC. Rooky is an emerging pop artist from New York City and recently gained the opportunity to collaborate with the living music legend, DMC of "Run-DMC." They worked to create a song that is the first and only dance-pop track that DMC has ever done in his career. Prior to working with Mind Over Music Group, Rooky was heavily influenced by the work of Prince, and got his start as a front man and guitarist in local rock bands before jumping into emceeing private parties at larger than life venues like Yankee Stadium and the Park Avenue Armory. In just a short amount of time, Rooky has also worked with award winning artists such as Justin Timberlake, Macklemore, Flo Rida, and Mac Miller.

Darryl McDaniels, known in the music industry as "DMC," was one of the two original members in the legendary hip-hop group Run-DMC. Having achieved worldwide success during the 80's into the 90's, DMC has released six albums with Run-DMC, as well as two solo albums on his own. After hearing about ‘Live Forever,’ DMC immediately decided to get in to the studio with Rooky to see that the project would be completed.

"The crazy thing is that the video is a major compliment to the song and that's a hard thing to accomplish nowadays. I should have known what I was in for when I asked Rooky who his favorite artist was...and he said Prince!" said DMC.

The record ‘Live Forever’ is on the very opposite end of the spectrum for DMC, which may have been a choice after his comments in an interview with METRO when the rapper blasted Jay-Z and the hip-hop culture for being ‘disrespectful and immature.’ It will be very interesting to see if he can bring Rooky in to the same success as he did years ago with songs like ‘It’s Tricky’ and ‘Walk This Way.’

Rooky is a true breakout artist as he barely shows up in Google results, but we have high hopes for the musician who works extremely hard to build and accomplish their dreams. He demonstrates this by saying, "I am extremely excited to show the world what we've created here, and I couldn't be more thankful for how everything came out," said Rooky. "The song, the music video; everything was a labor of love in the fullest sense of the phrase. It was a blast to work with such extraordinarily talented people, especially a living legend like DMC."

Do you think this was a risky move for the co-founder of Run-DMC, or is this song the next global hit? - The Examiner