User:Ruby Pierce/sandbox

Timothy Austin DeMeerleer (born February 12, 1986), better known as Flag Captured, is an American music producer for Flag Captured Productions and most recently, Exile Productions. He has worked with many producers and recording artists on a variety of projects. His long term goal is to become a successful soundtrack producer in the Film industry. He currently resides in Portland, Oregon. Regarding his name, Flag Captured, DeMeerleer said, ‘I love video games and I was playing a lot of Halo Reach and I just thought to myself that it would be a great name, because it pretty much signifies that no one can move you from where you are at if you’re on the offense, and no one can outlast you if you’re on the defense. And wallah! I just felt like it was original and that it was deep enough to go on.’ He used to go by the name of Double House Productions when he first started making music.

His philosophy is simple, ‘the masses need to wake up and cease the endless consumption of audio spam!’

Biography
 Early and personal life, the beginnings (1986 – 2005) 

DeMeerleer was born in Medford, Oregon. His mother and her boyfriend raised him and his younger step-brother until Tim was about eight or nine years old. Around this time, his mother and her boyfriend separated, and she married a Navy personnel officer. The family lived in a very rough neighbourhood in Oceanside, California for several years until the violence became intolerable and they were forced to move onto a military base in Camp Pendleton. DeMeerleer lived here until he was 17 years old, at which point his step-father retired from the navy. His mother and step-father then moved to Missouri. He stayed behind to finish high school and worked to survive. Tim attended high school in Vista and then Oceanside High School from 2001 until 2005. He graduated at the top of his class and was offered a scholarship to attend the local community college. The demands associated with working, having a girlfriend, fostering dreams of being a music producer and having no means of transportation set the scene for an unsustainable situation. The pressure was too much for the 17 year old.

Musical Career
Early Musical Efforts (2001-2006)

A combination of self-doubt and disillusionment lead to several unsuccessful attempts at fully engaging with music production. DeMeerleer’s first attempt at creating music began in 2001, using the digital audio workstation program, Fruity Loops 4. He had a close friend who was interested in rap music (50 Cent style). Tim, on the other hand was exclusively enthusiastic about bands like Cradle of Filth, Six Feet Under and other death metal music. In spite of them loving different music genres, they kicked it together, day in and day out. DeMeerleer recalls the sounds and lyrics of hip hop emanating as much anger as death metal, but also embodying a sense of intrigue, shrouded with a sad calmness. Together, they would freestyle and make ‘shitty’ beats together, having a ball, enjoying life and music. He never contemplated music production as a career pathway, nonetheless, Double House Productions was born.

The second attempt at making music occurred when Tim was still attending high school. At 17 years of age it was the first time he had ever lived alone. He had no idea how savage loneliness could be. So to fill in time and distract himself from his isolation, he made songs (not exclusively hip hop, but closely representative of the style.

The third and most interesting attempt occurred when DeMeerleer was 20 years old. He was now living in Missouri and working at a gas station situated in a very ‘ghetto’ neighbourhood in Kennett. It was during one of his night shifts that he was approached by a kid named Jeremy. Tim was playing rap music Jeremy hadn’t heard before. Jeremy asked him if he wanted to buy a compact disc. DeMeerleer asked how much and could he listen to it first. Jeremy replied, ‘Ya!’ After that, Jeremy told him he had a copy of Acid Pro on his computer that he had been using to record tracks. Tim said, “I make beats!” It was on...

A week and a half later he took his pay-check to Wal-Mart and bought himself a personal computer so he could create music. Soon after setting up his ‘studio’, the word got around, and people from all over the neighbourhood started showing up at his house, trying ‘to be down’ and ‘kiss his ass’. In fact, they were blatantly exploiting his friendship and generosity, stealing from him and using up all his resources. Worst of all, they were not interested in DeMeerleer’s music. They wanted to steal tracks off SoundClick producers and put DeMeerleer’s name to the music. They told him, no one will ever know..... It was at this point DeMeerleer banned anybody from making music at his studio. Double House Productions died.

Hiatus & Rebirth (2006-2009)

Tim moved back to Portland and avoided making music for about three years. Towards the end of his self-imposed hiatus, he met a woman who became his best friend and lover. She provided enormous emotional support and was very adamant and determined to ensure DeMeerleer’s music was heard. She eagerly took on the task of networking and promotions for him. However, towards the end of 2009, DeMeerleer’s best friend and muse moved away to another state and he found himself struggling to remain inspired. Prior to her leaving he had begun working on his first release which no one heard because there was no one with which to share it. The release was titled ‘When you’re down here...with me’. It was a continuous 56 minute album with low fidelity vinyl elements and very poor mastering. DeMeerleer realised he needed to find a new direction. He finished the album and recognised that to remain competitive he had to acquire mastering and other music production skills. He started watching WarBeats tutorials on YouTube. This really opened his eyes. He started making all types of music, attempting to seriously define his sound. At the same time, he was becoming aware that people involved in hip hop production were more interested in creating a diluted version of their favourite tracks, rather than progressing and creating unique musical compositions. Tim also decided to follow his muse to Idaho.

Flag Captured Productions - Music as Business (2009-2011)

Flag began to create and master his own music. He attempted to sell his music on SoundClick, listing his tracks as Hip Hop. This failed. He tried listing his music as alternative hip hop or film soundtrack, and this worked. He began to move up the charts, one song reaching number eight on the alternative hip hop charts, a major accomplishment! He let himself bask in chart glory for awhile, but knew he had much more work ahead of him. SoundClick not only gave Flag Captured the platform to showcase his music, but also provided him with opportunities to meet other artists, enter Formaldahyde Dankenstein, an up and coming hip-hop artist from Kansas that was in the process of making a soon to be classic underground hip hop album, featuring some of the most respected emcees and producers in the world. Flag was surprised to meet an artist of his calibre on SoundClick and he was impressed. They chatted about hip hop, ‘the game’ and other music related business and ‘hit it off’. Formaldahyde Dankenstein asked if he could have one of DeMeerleer’s unnamed beats. This beat evolved into Evil Intentions (Formaldahyde and Anonamix) – Nightcaps featuring Mac Lethal.

Another positive experience that came from being on SoundClick, was the creation of his first ‘southern rap’ track, a song called The Herb’ featuring an artist named Boss Game. The lyrics and flow were off the hook, but the mastering was well below average. After the track was made, Boss Game went about his business and didn’t contact DeMeerleer again. The track remains with DeMeerleer who claims ‘It is sick, aside from Boss Game speaking over the Bob Marley intro...’ Further conversations with Formaldahyde Dankenstein lead Flag to the conclusion that he had to move off SoundClick and onto Facebook in order to starting expanding his music network. Shortly after moving onto Facebook, he came across a group of ‘real cool cats’, known as The Society of Invisibles (TSOI). A close friend of theirs Bless Da Virtue helped him network and build a relationship with the members of TSOI.

It was also around the same time that Flag Captured met Rich Mahogany. Rich Mahogany said he liked Flag’s sounds, so Flag sent him a beat. The beat was originally used in a prank call to a local pizza shop. It was getting a lot of compliments so Rich Mahogany used it on a song and video called Rollin Reefer (Smokin Up). Then, about five months later, Rich Mahogany produced an acappella version of It Gotta Be. Flag remixed the track, producing what he describes as ‘the saddest and most heartfelt version of a song that was NOT made to sound that way!’

Two months passed and Flag Captured was approached by an emcee (unnamed), who was interested in his music. The emcee told him about a film creator who was looking for music so Flag contacted Aaron Thomas, the man responsible for creating, directing and also acting in the film, Dumar (set for release in 2012). There has been ongoing collaboration to develop the score for the film, and once this comes to fruition the soundtrack credits will read Flag Captured. This will be the most significant accomplishment for DeMeerleer to date!

There are three other noteworthy collaborations:
 * 1) Flag Captured made an album with Blooded the Brave, titled Peacemaker (‘a must for the revolutionary in all of us’).  He created nine songs for the album and states its ‘great music and great choruses with a great message!’
 * 2) Another successful collaboration underway is with Grone Da Radikal.  Flag is producing the entire album, Project Iron Heart, and
 * 3) Alien Ancestors featuring Canibus, produced by Flag Captured.

Flag Captured Productions meets Exile Productions (2011-2012)

Music production for Flag Captured had turned sweet and his reputation had grown both at home and overseas. However, his personal life was in chaos. The relationship between him and his fiance was souring and consequently he left and returned to Portland. Upon his return, DeMeerleer was overwhelmed by the feeling that making music might not be such a breeze anymore. But good fortune and great music production lead to his most recent step forward in October 2011. Flag was contacted by Sun7 (Exile Productions CEO, producer, artist) who had heard his music and paid him compliments on his musical style. Flag listened to Sun7’s tracks and watched YouTube videos of him ‘rocking the mic’. He decided he would be interested in working with him at Exile. Initially, there was little communication due to heavy workloads, but contact was made and Flag was asked if he’d like to join Exile Productions. He accepted the invitation. ‘Sun7 said some things I really needed to hear to inspire me again. To believe I was making music for a reason. Sounds sad, but it’s very hard to maintain motivation in such a ‘ruthless and sometimes hostile business.’

So, despite his recent personal crisis, he has made 35 beats since returning to Portland and has commenced work on a new album. There is no title or release date as yet.