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Photo by Gretchen Robinette

Great to be featured this month in M Pire Magazine.  Here's the piece in its entirety, followed by a free stream of the album in question….

Noah Hoffeld's passionate love songs and power ballads deliver his message that now is the best time for us to breathe and tune into who we are. Now in his debut album Play Human, he comes from the heart in eleven new songs that sing that message home. The soulful maturity of this rock record belies the fact that Hoffeld comes from a life in Classical Music. But playing Classical was never everything to Noah. Before graduating from Juilliard, he began pushing the limits by improvising, bringing rock and pop to the cello, and asking questions that would push his career beyond the ordinary.

Play Human follows on the heels of his single, 'One Family,' created for Martin Luther King Day 2015. The song was inspired by the intensity of current events and by what Noah calls "the ever-growing imperative of Dr. King's Dream." The vocal, set to piano and strings, rallies against abuses of power and backpedaling of the civil rights train. The self-produced song and music video were an internet success, shared by over 100 people in their first week on Facebook. Noah's musical life is varied, alternating producing and touring his own music, playing featured cello for the likes of Renee Fleming, Philip Glass, Bebel Gilberto, and Brad Mehldau, recording cello solos for films like The Skeleton Twins (Kristin Wiig and Bill Hader), Experimenter (Peter Saarsgard), and for Showtime's Happyish and an upcoming HBO miniseries. And he's a composer himself, currently attached to two indie films in production. He enjoys arranging and producing other artists and his productions recently earned him a place on the endorsed artist roster of hallowed Moog synthesizers.

In addition to rocking out on guitar and keys, Noah plays what he calls Cello-Rock. He sings while playing cello, creating pulsing, rhythmic patterns on the strings with the bow, and adds vocals to ambient layers of looped cello and drum programming. 'Same Old Song' - the first single off Play Human- is a cello-based romp dedicated to the grooves he grew up on. Noah takes us back and lures us into our own musical memories with the infectious beat of this pop-rock tune. Hoffeld performs powerful and intimate solo concerts, singing from the cello, piano and guitar, while incorporating electronics, live looping and beat production, as well as explosive full band shows. All the performances include mesmerizing instrumental numbers plumbing the emotional bounds of his cello playing. Critics say his songs and shows have "depth and soul" (The Berkshire Eagle), are "moving and haunting" (SeeDance.com) and are "filled with expressiveness and warmth" (Tablet Magazine).

Growing up in a home that valued the arts turned Noah towards cello, piano and voice at a very early age. But it was his parents' eclectic listening habits that formed him. "Mom and Dad were both fanatical about art and classical music and they both worked in the arts, but they listened to all sorts of things. On any given day I was equally likely to soak in a Mozart Serenade as I was to be getting down to a new cut by Michael Jackson. I sang in the Metropolitan Opera Boys' Choir and went to pre-college at Juilliard on the weekends, but at night I was devouring records by Bowie, Lou Reed and the Beatles." All those influences find a home in Play Human.

The debut LP, produced by Hoffeld and mixed by Mark Plati (Bowie, The Cure, Philip Glass) is the culmination of his musical searching and deeply held beliefs. "I always wanted to share my view of things through the cello, purely through sound. But I came to a certain place where I realized using lyrics was going to be necessary. I had some very specific things I wanted to say. I couldn't stop playing for playing's sake but I needed to add another dimension to the picture." After graduating, he started to write songs. And spurred on by an intense need to communicate to a broader audience than just Classical fans, he taught himself to play guitar and bass, and to produce tracks to make those songs come alive.

A longtime devotee of yoga and meditation, Noah believes in the power of reflection to create the change we're looking for in our lives, and he takes to heart Gandhi's 'Be the change that you wish to see in the World." The title song 'Play Human' incites us to take a bigger view of life, and to stand up for our brothers and sisters. The chorus shouts out, 'Why don't we all play human for a change? Loving each other shouldn't be out of range." And the thrashing 'Role of Rock' insists that saving the World is the purpose Rock was born for.

Noah has been in a photo spread with supermodel Iman and taught cello to James Taylor. And he's a surfing novitiate at Brooklyn's Rockaway Beach.

Noah recently released his single "Same Old Song", and already received high praises. Baeble Music says the debut song has an "irresistible 80's feel", and declares that "Noah Hoffeld's "cello rock" is the new sound you never knew you needed."

Web/Social Media Links: http://www.noahhoffeld.com

Enjoy the free album stream and please follow me on SoundCloud! Have a beautiful one…..

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Photo by Gretchen Robinette

Great to be featured this week in an interview with Independent Artist Buzz.  These guys ask some funtastic questions!  Here's how it went down:

We think it’s safe to say that when you think of ROCK, cello is not one of the first things that comes to mind. Since rock’s inception though we’ve come to realize that rock music is more about rocking than it is about fads and stereotypes. 

Noah is here to rock and debunk all the false notions you have about what that means. 

We sat down with the NY native and asked him a few questions about his cello rock release Play Human.

1. Do you feel that rock is more “exposing” than classical music? Which genre feels more revealing to your fanbase? 

I don’t think either is really more exposing. They both expose me in different ways. Playing classical music, I’m able to really bear my heart through another person’s composition. When I play, I’m expressing who I am while trying to bring out the identity of the composer as well.  With rock, I’m doing it through my own music. Same passenger. Different boat. Both ways, I feel really exposed!  Since my rock music is new for my fans, it’s like opening another door for them into who I am. They’re hearing a side of me they didn’t know was there. That’s fun.

2. Cello-Rock is a hybrid between classical and rock. How do you dress for that part?

Haha! It’s not so much a hybrid of classical and rock as it is about bringing a typically classical instrument -the cello- into a rock setting and then using it to rock the f out. I think leather is the best option, don’t you? 

3. What are you listening to these days for musical inspiration?

I’ve been watching the “Muscle Shoals” documentary and that’s been inspiring the hell out of me. All the truly great artists who made music in that one spot- Aretha, Wilson Pickett, Etta James, and so many more, along with the amazing backing band and producer-. If you haven’t seen the movie, do yourself a favor. The passion that came out of that place is a great reminder of what music can be.

4. There’s a lot of graffiti in your videos and photos. Is there something that draws you to this imagery?

That’s a good question and one I’ve never asked myself. I can’t say for sure why I’m so drawn to it, but I’d guess it’s ‘cause graffiti is a form of art that inherently bucks the system. By its very existence it’s violating the rules and telling the powers that be that it can’t be controlled. I think all art should play that role, especially in our society who’s priorities are so backward, where greed is king and racism keeps us from caring for our brothers and sisters. I hope my music conveys some of the same message as graffiti does. 

5. What is your favorite Bowie Phase? Favorite album or track - tell us more in depth!

It’s always changing! Right now, I’m in love with the early album 'The Man Who Sold The World.’ 'The Supermen’ is my favorite track. It’s an album where fantasy really rules the lyrics and David’s conjuring up these amazing images of an ancient world or maybe a world outside of time. I love it that he’s willing to go there. Not so different from Zeppelin singing about the Hobbit I guess, except Bowie does it in his own special way. It’s outrageous as always. If you don’t know it well, check it out! Nirvana of course did a great cover of the title track, but the original is super powerful.

Listen Here to the new album Play Human and Follow me on SoundCloud!  I'll follow you too!

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Stunning new review here on Indie-music.com!  They love the record, which I love.  Here it is in its full glory:

"From the opening strains of the title track, Noah Hoffeld’s Play Human drew instant connections to the vocal and rhythmic style of Low-era Bowie. The album, in fact, has an eternal experimental ‘80s vibe to it, in the best way possible. It feels like you’re listening in to a previously undiscovered musical landscape, one that’s inhabited by avant-garde aliens of the musical variety.

Hoffeld is a classically-trained Julliard graduate, but I find that the comparisons to that background start and stop with that statement. Of course having a solid base in intricate arrangement and performance talent is a massive benefit, but it’s really all about how that gets translated into a more contemporary rock format. There is certainly a place for what Hoffeld terms “cello rock” in the modern musical landscape, we see nods to string arrangement in all types of genres; but that dark and passionate cello line adds a sense of grandeur and texture that complements Hoffeld’s unique vocal work to great effect.

Hoffeld’s nod to Bowie and The Beatles is evident in his work. Songs like “Stop Slow Down” and “Woman and a Man” play with powerfully classic arrangements that could very well appear alongside the aforementioned artists on any playlist and feel comfortably in place. There is great strength in both of those songs as well as the intriguing “Flirting with Disaster,” a track that pushes Hoffeld’s focus even further. Its brooding buildup is incredibly effective, and shows off the maturity of its songwriter.

Hoffeld’s brand of cello rock is confident, experimental in nature and succeeds in achieving grand heights on Play Human. He seems to have fallen through time at moments, boasting a robust and dynamic range of work that is inspired and inspiring. Artists just don’t make this type of work anymore; it’s ambitious, assertive and musically very satisfying to hear. Along with the passion there is a great deal of expert playing to back it up. Hoffeld will not doubt continue to evolve and shape his own path far beyond this record."