We recently had the chance to connect with Ross A.M. & C-Lock The Watchman and have shared our conversation below.
Ross & C-Lock, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
Creating art, working on our music, and recently growing our youtube channel as we expand into new avenues for the Alternate Era Brand
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Alternate Era isn’t just making music; they’re bending sound, warping time, and redefining what hip-hop can be.
This bi-coastal duo-Ross A.M. (producer/multi-instrumentalist/singer) in San Diego, CA and C-Lock The Watchman in Manhattan, NY-fuses hip-hop, electronic, and experimental rock into a sound that’s both futuristic and nostalgic. Think Gorillaz meets East Coast hip-hop, wrapped in cinematic soundscapes and high-energy lyricism.
From hypnotic beats to razor-sharp bars, Alternate Era doesn’t play by the rules. They create immersive, genre-defying music that pulls you in and doesn’t let go. Whether in your headphones or on stage, they deliver a sonic experience that hits hard and stays with you.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
C-Lock the Watchman: The earliest memory of me feeling powerful was the first time I performed with Alternate Era and was able to influence the crowd in the way that we did.
Ross A.M.: My earliest memory of feeling powerful was when I first got up on stage with a rock band in high school and performed cover music. Being on stage is a different experience and it has truly shaped my development over the last 13 years
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
A couple years after the COVID pandemic hit, C-Lock the Watchman had to move to New York due to work/financial reasons, and the progression of Alternate Era came to a stand still for a couple years. At the same time, Ross A.M. became a father and life was seemingly pulling both of us in drastically different directions. During those years, we only released about 2-3 songs, one per year, and didn’t seem to have a clear pathway forward on how we were ever going to adapt to the fact that we are now a continent apart. Fortunately, after a spur of the moment decision to perform a reunion show in January of this year, we decided to take stock of our situation and come up with a new strategy for how we were going to continue to progress as a group.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
C-Lock: That success is correlated with talent.
Ross A.M.: Building on top of C-Lock’s answer, Talent is what gets you in the door. Its assumed that you are talented. People without talent don’t even make it into the race.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
Ross A.M.: 100%. I feel like my life is far more determined by my ability to persevere in the face of adversity than it is to accept praise from others. Alternate Era, from the beginning, was meant to stand up in the face of what was deemed “popular”. We are the current counter-culture
C-Lock: When you do something that you love, it should be primarily for self-improvement, and the most important person to believe in yourself, is yourself. You are the only person that knows 100% of your motivations and your level of effort.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.alternateera.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alternateera
- Twitter: https://x.com/AlternateEra
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alternateeraband/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@alternateeraofficial
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/alternateera
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@alternateera
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/alternate-era/1387195090
https://linktr.ee/alternateera
Image Credits
Jackie Lynn
