Mndsgn 'Rare Pleasure' Record Release Performance, filmed at Ron Finley's 'Gangsta Garden' presented by Grand Performances.
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Executive Producer / Creative Director: Azul Amaral
Executive Producer / Artist Management: Shane Sakanoi
Director of Photography: Eric Coleman
Technical Director: Azul Amaral
Camera Operators: César Alvarez and Pablo Aguilar
Audio Engineer: Alberto López
A1: Vsev Krawczeniuk
Production: Isabel Reyes, Jesse Ramos and Sean Osborn
Publicity: Canyon Cody
Graphic Design: Alfred Hawkins
Mixed by Swarvy
Editor: Pablo Aguilar
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Vocals & Mellotron: Mndsgn
Bass: Swarvy
Keys: Kiefer
Drums: Will Logan
Guitar: Brandon Bae
Background Vocals: Devin Morrison
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Tracklist:
"3 Hands"
"Hope You're Doing Better"
"Slow Dance"
"Masque"
"Medium Rare"
"Colours of the Sunset"
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Mndsgn, aka Ringgo Ancheta, began building on dreams and sketches of songs that would later form the new record Rare Pleasure in 2018. The album brings together the music that has inspired Mndsgn over the years – R&B, soundtrack music, psychedelia and jazz – into a rich, expansive sound.
To bring his vision to life, Mndsgn assembled a cast of musicians: Kiefer Shackelford (piano), Swarvy (guitar, bass), Will Logan (drums), Carlos Niño (percussion), Fousheé, Devin Morrison and Anna Wise (vocals), Miguel Atwood Ferguson (strings) and other contemporaries. It took only a week to lay everyone’s parts down: “The process was quite natural and aligned with my approach to capture the illusiveness of a moment in time.”
Ringgo describes the concept of ‘Rare Pleasure’ as an appreciation of sharing life, inward reflection, and the gift of joyful catharsis. Threaded throughout the album is a ‘Rare Pleasure’ theme inspired by soundtrack music; its repetitions and variations “echo the recurring motifs we experience in life, sometimes being revisited by the same lessons in different shapes and forms.”
Experiences in Ringgo’s life informed his lyrics: ‘Hope You’re Doin’ Better’ was written while processing a loved one’s struggle with mental illness. “Although communication between each other was severed, it allowed the opportunity to truly acquaint myself with the concept of loving from afar.” ‘Medium Rare’ and ‘Colours of the Sunset’ seek transcendence through simple acts of self-love and introspection. ‘Abundance’ is about “the inner abundance that’s always accessible whether we realize it or not”, and ‘Slowdance’ is dedicated to the vulnerability of growth in new relationships.
Though the message of Rare Pleasure feels especially relevant to the present moment, it has been a guiding principle throughout Mndsgn’s life: “We are beings living this human life that’s only going to happen once and only once, every moment infused with a magical impermanence, a rarity.
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Horticulturalist/artivist Ron Finley, aka the “Gangsta Gardener,” plants gardens in public spaces around the city of Los Angeles as an act of resistance and empowerment. Equating gardening with graffiti, Finley transforms unused urban spaces into places of community and congregation. The “Renegade Gardener” unknowingly started a revolution by planting organic vegetables in the parkway in front of his home. Finley’s TED Talk on guerilla gardening in South Central L.A. enjoys over 3 million views to date, and thanks to his petitioning, Los Angeles has since legalized curbside gardens for community use. Finley now travels the world speaking to international communities and hosting workshops on how to take back the soil.
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