Today we’d like to introduce you to Tino Alcoser.
Hi Tino, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I first started dabbling in recording music when I was 14, the way any teenager would with a Guitar Hero microphone and a sock as a pop filter. I’ve always enjoyed writing even long before that. It wasn’t until high school when I decided to make my talents public by entering a slam poetry contest. I could barely feel my legs and I didn’t have anything memorized and just read with rhythm and anxiety. But it landed, and it honestly became my driving force to perform and get better. I’ve also always known I could sing I was just shy. Again, I made those talents known in high school around my junior or senior year. Fast forward to the beginning of my freshman year of college, I went viral on Vine for silly clip, and then used that to propel my music and build a fan base. Vine died, and I eventually rebranded from a very juvenile stage name to what’s now, Uncle Tino. I since then have had to rebuild a fanbase, which sucks losing fans in the ether, but it was necessary to resume my career with a new name. Since then I’ve been performing, recording, and learning every time I face a microphone. My roots are in rap, but I’m definitely trying to sing more in this current phase of my career.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Absolutely not. When you’re young you want to do everything and feel like you have nothing to help you get there, or at least not in the way that you want. Now that I’m older, I see that I had when I needed in that moment. Still do. I’ve had to start from scratch many times, and not just professionally. It’s a theme that’s shadowed me ever since I first noticed an increase in public visibility. I gained 50K fans on vine— vine shut down. I have over 3K listeners on Spotify—I had to rebrand and begin a new artist hub for distribution. For personal reasons, deactivated my Twitter account, and didn’t realize it deads the account after so many days, and lost all my followers AGAIN. I’ve gotten my gear/hard drive stolen. Had to edit my own videos on my phone after being screwed by a director/editor. This bar I KJ’d at for 2 and a half years just closed. I’ve had to quit a lot of jobs. I don’t know.
I like to believe that loss preparing me for something bigger. It’s not fun when you go through it but it’s becomes easier to know how to react when it feels like something is being taken from you. It’s just meant to be replaced by something better.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I make music! Now more than ever I try not to confine myself to a specific genre, but since my youth I’ve grown a lot and become a jack of everything and expert of none, so I now just make what feels right. As mentioned before rap was my first love, but when I grew into my voice I knew I wanted to progress my singing. There were always instruments in the house growing so I couldn’t stick to one. In college I was gifted a talkbox from my dad. It’s a seemingly complicated instrument but not really. Made famous by the likes of Roger Troutman or Peter Frampton. It’s the tube thing that makes you sound like your instrument is talking. It’s more complicated to learn to play than understand how it works haha! I use a Korg synth keyboard for mine. Though not many of my songs include it, people know I’m gonna perform with it. It just lights people up every time. And me too haha. I’m proud of coming this far actually. Having such an eager and scattered brain, I want to do things NOW and marry all my big ideas, but you have to make do with what you got, and it’s getting me farther than I realize. I made it to the Recording Academy a few years ago, if that means something to my progress. Which is great for networking and learning more about the business. I have pretty big goals and if I don’t reach them even ten more years later, I at least knew that I didn’t wuss out of my dreams. It won’t be that much longer though. I’m at the point of my life where I’m grateful for so much, and I’m confident in my abilities as an artist and producer. I don’t yearn for instant gratification or fame. I’ve had a mass popularity before, and I know how it goes. I’m an adult trying to accomplish his goals, not some kid trying to be famous anymore. I enjoy the hustle, but I’ll never again chase what’s already mine.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
A few things. Perseverance. Delusion. Thick skin and adaptability. Determination to have fun for a living and make it great. Faith. More importantly practicing patience, but that’s the hardest part hahaha.
Pricing:
- DJ – $100/hr
- Performance (solo no band) – $250
- Performance (band) – $600
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/reallyuncletino
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reallyuncletino
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@uncletino
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/uncletinoo
Image Credits
Kam Franklin
Julia Rossel
Ray Ramirez
Joann Alvarez
