9 time Grammy winning producer and founder of Ruffhouse Records
9 time Grammy winning producer and founder of Ruffhouse Records
Purpose brings clarity to our lives. While on tour in Puerto Morelos, Mexico, graffiti art emblazoned with the sobering slogan "Hard Times For Dreamers" brought a lifelong music journey into stark focus for singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and composer Brian Fitzy. It galvanized him into making a musical statement about the harsh realities of today.
The multi-medium Mexican artist Sleepwalck made the tag. Its placement on a bleak intersection in an impoverished section of town surrounded by palatial resort and well-to-do living accommodations, conjured a metaphor that was hard to ignore. The dissonance in the imaging paralleled today's global sociopolitical struggles. The mashup of it all crystalized a 1990s hip-hop and pop-infused pan genre approach of non-related musical statements and styles in fertile conversation. Brian took a picture of the tag—used with permission of the artist (he reached out via Instagram)—and his photo graces the cover of his debut album. The image reflected the diverse strains of music incubating inside Brian, and a renewed lyrical mission. And it's all here on the headphone masterpiece, Hard Times For Dreamers.