We had the good fortune of connecting with Richard Kepler and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Richard, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Having a background in audio production from a young age, I always gravitated towards music gear I couldn’t afford. I’d often find myself digging through yard sales or sidewalks looking for discarded treasures (you can ask my roommates from university… I traumatized them with my musky pile of speakers in the basement). I would collect “vintage” 3-way speaker cabinets produced between the 1960s and mid-1970s with the intention to either fix the damaged ones or use them as a furniture display if they were too far gone. While collecting, I noticed that a lot of people in my generation didn’t seem to understand what happens behind a conventional speaker grill. I attribute this naivety to the modernization and shrinkage of contemporary speakers as the average consumer will end up buying hand-held Bluetooth speakers with metal grills covering the entirety of the speaker’s face. The truth is, I find this direction overwhelmingly pedestrian. Skip forward a couple of years… I’d like to make it clear that it was never my intention to make Nurem a business. I began the Nurem project as a way to cope with the obstreperous world around me at the time. The unprecedented experience of living through a SARS pandemic coupled with the loss of my job and a major change in my relationship status led me to explore a wide variety of creative outlets. In this instance, I began repurposing mid-century speaker cabinets into Bluetooth compatible tables. Whether or not this was my coping mechanism in full gear, I chose to accept my new direction and begin treating it as a job. Luckily, I have tremendous friends in my life who’ve supported me from the beginning and continue to inspire me as I expand the project. I couldn’t be anymore thankful for their encouragement.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
It still sounds funny calling my work art just because it feels more like an addiction or means to fulfillment. I guess we could trace back to when I first got into producing music around 2013. I had an older friend named Alessandro at the time who put me onto my first DAW (digital audio workstation) called Logic 9. Being able to music for the first time was one of the most eye (and ear) opening experiences for me at the time. It allowed me to create whatever I wanted to hear and make edits as I went… It just clicked. Since then I’ve produced music off and on depending on my “real life’s” schedule. However, for the past 5 years or so, self-doubt and imposter syndrome made it extremely difficult for me to release my creations. I knew I could do better but I didn’t know when “better” would happen. Instead, I would only release snippets of my music or quietly produce background music for film projects I’d rip online (so sorry). Unintentionally, watching a film first and producing the track in the background shaped the way I produced music and is how I do it still to this day. My advice for anyone who questions their own work, whether that’s the quality or legitimacy, is to begin by asking yourself “why am I making this”. Understand the reason and instill purpose before creating anything. Hold onto that purpose and cast aside your expectations. YOU WILL GROW.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in Koreatown… I’d place my name down on the list at Jjukku Jjukku, pick my friend up from the airport, proceed to wait for our table, and eat an entire sitting of beef brisket soaked in that green union brisket sauce. I’d probably do this every night honestly.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The Nurem project would be nothing without the good grace of my following friends: Jeff Miranda, Phillip Landwehr, Neel Jassani, Zachary Asdourian, Jarisma Severino, Will Diamond, Joseph Giglio, and Valerie Kepler. Not to mention the unwavering encouragement from my parents throughout my life.

Website: nuremade.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glambucha/?hl=en

Image Credits
Will Diamond Jarisma Severino Valerie Kepler

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