For musical duo Cal Shapiro and Rob “Rez” Resnick, known together as Timeflies, the past two years have been a crazy whirlwind for the former Tufts undergrads. Hailing from Larchmont, New York and Montclair, New Jersey, respectively, singer Cal and Producer/DJ Rez have captivated their fans with intense good looks, fat beats, seductive vocals, and witty freestyles. However, what makes Timeflies stand apart from other artists is their versatility to turn club bangers into baby makers, childhood classics into party anthems, and HBO theme songs into creative lyricism .
From performing in a college funk band to touring around the country at sold-out venues, these 23-year-old “electro-hip-hop-dub-something” musicians have matured in front of their fans’ eyes through the release of their debut album The Scotch Tape (which topped the iTunes pop charts last September at the No. 2 spot after only 24 hours), their recent mixtape, Under the Influence, and the popularity of their “Timeflies Tuesday” YouTube segment. Most known for their rendition of The Little Mermaid’s “Under The Sea”, Cal and Rez bring ingenuity, clever lyrics, a steel drum, and a little Bud Light to the popular Disney song.
With over two million views on YouTube on “Under the Sea” alone, and over 30 million total views on the popular video-sharing site, Timeflies attributes much of their success to social media platforms, include YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and music blogs. Putting out a new song every week, Timeflies Tuesday gives fans a personal journey and inside perspective into the work the boys do from Rez’s apartment studio. Having initially been filmed from an iPhone, the progression of Timeflies Tuesdays to high quality productions gives insight into the rising popularity of this incredibly talented, down-to-earth team. After taking a hiatus from Timeflies Tuesdays to work on more original music, we are so excited to see what the future holds for Timeflies!
Check out what they had to say in my interview with them and make sure you buy tickets for the Fall Concert, Friday 9/21, featuring Timeflies and Lupe Fiasco!
How did you both get into music?
Both of us have been into it from a young age.
Cal: I was singing and freestyling really early on, dinner table, parties, everywhere.
Rez: I started playing piano and guitar in elementary school. Always was a part of our lives.
How was Timeflies created?
We had been doing music together and it sort of just got more serious and, well… here we are.
Why the name Timeflies? Were any other names thrown around?
We always made stuff during the semester but wouldn’t ever really finish it. Our friends would always be like “what happened with that one track” and we’d say “eh I don’t know, time flies..” and then it kinda stuck.
As a person who has changed her major from finance to marketing to psychology, did you enter Tufts with the majors you graduated with?
Both of us changed our majors and ended up adding music junior year. Though of course we were both happy with our eventual majors, having time in the first couple years to get exposed to other disciplines was great and invaluable. Everything you learn is helpful in everything you do, so we’re both glad everything worked out how it did.
What would you both be doing if it were not a musically driven career?
Rez was originally going to be in the engineering world, and Cal was into business and entrepreneurship. Both of us would have found a facet though in music within those fields.
What do you enjoy more – creating your own, original music or taking samples and creating something entirely new?
They are really different experiences. Sampling is fun because you get to take something that is locked in (a melody or a sound) and then manipulate sounds around it to make it your own. That said – nothing is as awesome as building something from nothing and creating a work that is entirely yours. Those are always our favorite records to work on.
Cal – Explain your freestlying process. Does it work best to not think too much and just let it flow? Are there any lines you really want to put into a song but haven’t quite found the right fit?
Yeah. It’s definitely best to think about nothing haha. I just kinda start… The really tough thing is letting them go. On Tuesdays there’s always words I wish I could change, but that’s what makes it a freestyle.
Rez – Are there any samples or artists you are dying to use in a song? What comes first the beat or the sample in terms of the mix tape or the beat or the lyrics in terms of original music?
Sample wise, I feel like there are a million things I’d love to remix. Right now my favorite should-be-turned-into-an-electro-smash is probably Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Getting Back Together”, that said recently I was finding it hard not to hum NSYNC’s “Tearin’ Up My Heart” haha… there are a million I’d love to get acapellas for. In terms of how we produce songs, it really depends and we’ve done it a bunch of different ways, but usually the beat itself is the last part to be solidified. We’ll often stay with at least the chord structure we wrote a song to, but I try to build the music around the vocals so that everything really fits in its place.
Which do you enjoy more – close, intimate performances or a packed venue with thousands of screaming fans outfitted in your ever trendy neon tanks?
They are pretty trendy huh… ha no, we love both. There’s nothing like playing an acoustic set with the team and some friends late night after a concert, but the big concerts are out of control fun. We feed off the crowd’s energy, so having a room full of people ready to sing when we sing and jump is really an unreal feeling.
What do you say to fans that are worried your music will change if you get signed?
The only thing that might change is that we’ll get to collab with a lot of people we otherwise wouldn’t get to. But no… we make music the way we make music. We’re always going to write our own stuff, produce in our own space how we want and make Timeflies sound like Timeflies. Crazy talk. That said, respect to all the fans that are behind us unsigned because that’s what it’s all about.
If you could have a superpower what would it be?
Rez: Well I’m a pretty serious Green Lantern fan, he doesn’t really have a ‘power’ so much as a lot of creativity and a sweet ring. If that doesn’t count, I’d definitely go with telekinesis. You can move stuff with your mind, make yourself fly, and (after many debates have decided definitely would be able to) move air out of a room and suffocate bad guys. That’s just sweet.
Cal: I’m definitely gonna have to go with Magneto’s power. Mainly because Rez already took telekinesis, but that would be fun as hell. I just throw some metal in some Timbs and fly everywhere.
What is one place that you haven’t yet been to which you would love to travel?
China. Economically they are in an incredible place right now and we have a bunch of friends over there that have told us the most amazing stories haha. Definitely want to check it out soon.
If you could meet any person, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Rez: Leonardo da Vinci — A forward thinker who was truly ahead of his time– art, engineering and music. Guy’s a boss.
Cal: Steve Jobs — Dude changed the world. True visionary.
What is one thing everyone should do whilst in college?
Make horrible decisions… and become best friends with campus police.
As a women’s magazine, of course I need to ask the stereotypical question – are you both single? Would you ever date a fan?
We don’t discriminate. Honestly it’s really nice to go out to a bar on a night off and get to talk to girls who have never heard of Timeflies, but that said, we’re both looking for girls with good taste in music so… haha.
As two individuals who spent some years just outside of Boston, do either of you have a favorite place or thing to do in the city?
Definitely the basement dance floor at the J Tree in Allston– that shit gets dirty. Anna’s Taqueria is second to none– Super Quesadillas at all times. Of course Sox games are a must… beyond that? Lot’s of fun places to get saucy.
What do you say to college students who are not quite sure what they want to do career-wise yet?
Stop thinking about it and just explore. It may not be what you’ll end up doing in a year or five years or whatever, but the best way to see what you want to do is to do stuff and find out what sucks and what’s awesome. You gotta take chances and just go out on a limb. Try and fail and try and fail and eventually you’ll find something. Mainly just don’t stress.
Like what you see there? They come to House of Blues Boston 9/27!
Photo Source:
http://news.stylecaster.com/cal-rez-timeflies-next-big-thing/