Formula Indie Sessions – Interview with Edd Stark
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
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Hiding burnt CDs of Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and DMX from my mom and aunties. They didn’t approve because of the cussing so I would listen to them in secret lol. This was like in early grade school
How did your passion for creating music begin?
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It started as a bandwagon thing and then competition. I was always a creative but as a shorty I was into art and drawing. At some point Eminem came out and one of the homies started writing his own song lyrics. He got me into it and I was awful. It took years just to figure out how to structure songs. It was all organic. No formal education in music theory, not big homie to explain things, just kids copying shit we thought was cool. Anyway, one day I found out the same homie who got me into it was copying industry lyrics and presenting them to us as his own. That’s when I realized I was the superior artist and it just snowballed from there. And I focused on writing lyrics so much I just stopped drawing and put my creative energy into music. Eventually rapping the songs and recording them.
What’s the story behind your current music project?
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Right now we’re in the midst of releasing singles for Stark Realities 3 (SR3), the third and final installment of Stark Realities, an EP trilogy. Fell in Luv, the second single off SR3, just dopped 9-18-26. We’re dropping a single from the project every month until Jan 2027, that’s when the full EP drops.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music
before?
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Think Jadakiss type lyricism, The Game’s delivery, and EST Gee’s production with a heavy emphasis and street level life experiences and dark metaphysical topics. Aggressive and moody, not for the faint of heart.
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
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I stopped explaining things, both in and outside of the music. People want to connect with the music so I don’t want to get too specific or literal. It’s good to be a lil abstract and leave space for different interpretations of the work.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
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Islay Scotch, indica, Luigi 
, Logic Pro X, Universal Audio 6176, Apollo Twin X, Lauten Audio FC-387, and my truck. Lots of different reference monitors, but those are negotiable. I say my truck cuz the car test is king and I do most of my writing via text-to-speech while driving and clean it up later. When I first started releasing music to the streaming platforms in 2019 I was using a Nuemann 103, later I switched to the FC-387 but otherwise my gear hasn’t changed much. Without that setup I probably wouldn’t recognize the way I sound, super creature of habit.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
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I recently discovered hardwave so that’s my current obsession. Skelar and Juche are the big ones but there’s lots more. I have a Spotify playlist called Oni Vibes which is basically whatever I’m currently into. What I really wanna do next is rap over hardwave beats!
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
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I’m an old school lyrics first kind of guy so if you don’t write your own lyrics we’re just not the same. I was introduced to rap during a time when authenticity was everything. I understand that everything has a time and it’s cyclical but authenticity will always be my true north. It’s that way in life and in music, you gotta be real, honest, unfiltered. Otherwise I’m just not interested.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
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I honestly don’t care what you feel I just want you to feel something. If you feel anything at all from my music then I did my job. And obviously the stronger the feeling the better!
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
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As an artist there’s no destination, there’s only the journey. You gotta let go of all that other stuff, all the attachments and superficial shit people associate with the music industry. Being an artist is a lifestyle, just learn to appreciate the journey and everything else will fall into place.
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
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I actually don’t dream of performing, like at all. I dream of sync placements. In my dreams my music is on TV, film, and in video games.
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
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Ye. He’s the greatest artist of our time and working with him would offer me the most growth, spiritually I mean.
Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links)
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IG, YouTube, and Spotify, that’s the holy trinity!
https://www.instagram.com/ogeddstark
https://www.youtube.com/@OGEddStark
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
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We’re going to explore hardwave production in a big way. I wanna rap over hardwave beats super bad!
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
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No idea, maybe that I’m just like them?
