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Frequencies of Dreams: Interview with Aaron Mostow and Kevin Flores
By Adeline J. Wells
Aaron Mostow, Kevin Flores, and Rodolfo Tagle III have a wide range of collective experience in the creative world.
As knowledgeable musicians, producers, and dancers, the three have now collaborated on a new project that branches into the world of literature.
Their book, Love Hertz, tells the story of a young DJ who discovers an electronic frequency that has great influence on both his career and love life.
In addition to the novel, Mostow, Flores, and Tagle have also created an EP audiobook component that tells their story through music.
A true multi-media piece of art, these creators aim to use all the pieces to impress upon their readers the importance of doing what you love.
Could you speak a little bit about each of your backgrounds, as well as how the three of you came to meet?
Aaron Mostow: We've been close friends for over a decade. Kevin and I both studied music in college; we now compose and produce everything from hip hop to dance music.
Our other writer, Rodolfo, is a dancer; he and I met breakdancing at festivals when I was really young, and we would always be on the opposite side of the dance circle.
We would see each other progressing at every event until we started to acknowledge one another, and decided to form a breakdancing crew.
From there we all grew to form a close friendship, and began writing ideas for television and film scripts.
Described as a romantic comedy with a science fiction twist, Love Hertz is about an aspiring DJ who rises to fame after coming into contact with a powerful frequency. Where did the concept for this story come from?
Kevin Flores: This story is actually derived from something much more serious. Aaron's mother was diagnosed with cancer back in 2012; he had an idea about this frequency that had the power to heal people.
Aaron, Rodolfo and myself all began expanding and adding to the concept. It ended up becoming something much more lighthearted than that situation, which fortunately she was healed from; eventually the storyline morphed into a romantic comedy.
What was the process of writing this book like, especially considering the fact that it's a collaboration between three different authors?
AM: As you can imagine, the collaborative process was very time consuming. However, it was such an amazing journey because when you collaborate with anyone, you're able to tap into perspectives that you're not able to just see on your own.
For us, this idea actually first started as a movie script that we wrote over five years ago. At that time it was difficult without representation or an agent; you can't simply walk into any network or streaming platform and just show them a script.
We came to a crossroads of wanting to share this story, and decided to transform the movie script into a book, which was a process that took around two years’ time. That whole last decade of working on this project has been such a humbling and enlightening experience.
Now the story exists not only as a movie script and a physical book, but as an eBook as well as an audiobook. The audiobook especially is very experimental because it includes the actual frequency, as well as some music from other music producers.
How do you feel your writing styles compare with one another?
KF: We're able to communicate really well and bounce ideas off of each other; collaborating was a really organic experience, and things just came together piece by piece.
We're creative people by nature, but we also came to the table with different strengths. Being able to bring all those strengths together really allowed us to create a fun and interesting story.
AM: Kevin's very methodical, logistic, and detail oriented; he keeps us in touch with relevancy. Rodolfo is a jokester; he inspired a lot of the big comedic moments throughout the story.
For me, I just had this idea; without Kevin and Rodolfo to elaborate on it, it never would have taken shape the way it has.
What was the process of producing the music for this project like?
KF: Fortunately we have access to a wide library of music; we've been blessed to work with many great producers and DJs throughout our careers.
That allowed us to pull from our network to select quality produced material that we felt reflected the caliber of story that we were telling.
AM: We've been composing and producing music for television and film for over a decade. Between Kevin, myself, and some other producers, we have a substantial library that we've created of nearly a thousand pieces of music. So we were able to pull from there, as well as from different producers that are very close to home.
We had this vision of releasing an EP compilation that features not only music from the book, but also showcases some of the amazing talent that we work with.
The three of you have very diverse backgrounds, definitely creatively but also culturally. How have you woven those backgrounds into your storytelling?
KF: It was very deliberate; for example we chose to create the protagonist, Taj Das, as being from an Indian family. Us being minorities, we felt it was important to showcase a different culture as a main focus of the story; that definitely influenced the way we approached Love Hertz.
AM: Our families come from hardworking countries; they all came to the United States in search of a dream. It’s very humbling and that is something that will always resonate with us - how difficult it was for our grandparents and parents to help put us in this position of success.
What is your vision for the other adaptations of this story?
KF: This book is just an avenue to share this story with the world, and also to give a stronger push to be able to pitch it to production companies and streaming services. We definitely envision this on the big screen or on televisions at home; that's definitely in the works.
AM: One thing about art in itself is that art has the ability to take on its own life. In creating something, you never fully envision where it may take you. This is a piece of art that may reveal other ideas that we've never even thought of.
It could transform from a movie into a series, per se, or we're thinking about the NFT space in this new metaverse, and having the ability to have these characters exist off the page. The sky's the limit as far as where the project can morph.
What impact would you like for this book to have for your readers?
KF: There's a heartwarming scene in the book where Taj's mom, who is his biggest supporter throughout the story, reminds him that no matter what happens in life, always do what you love.
We believe that's the real message of this story; we want to inspire people to follow their dreams, push beyond the naysayers, and to do what you truly love.
Do you all have any future collaborations or projects on the horizon?
AM: We're thinking about the sequel to Love Hertz and how the story could spin from the ending of the first to the second. After this book releases, we’ll take a little short breath and then be able to hone in on the next steps.
As far as this project goes, yes; we’re looking forward to the sequel, really pushing this into the streaming platform arena, as well as more development of television shows and films.
I've also been in development of an adult animated sitcom for about eight years, and it's actually just about ready to start being pitched to all the networks.
It's called Trimmers, which is the “Untold Story of Cannabis USA” that highlights all the drama and comedy in that area. It’s like the South Park of cannabis.
KF: It's a comedy about the world that people don't see when it comes to cannabis.
AM: We're in discussions about attaching talent. I just want to make content that's funny, because right now the world is such a serious place, and it's so intense. We really, truly feel that the world needs to laugh; the world needs some joy.
Do you have any final thoughts for our readers?
AM: We're so thankful to have collaborated and to have the opportunity to share our art with the world. It's a story of the underdog; there are a lot of conformity issues that Taj has to deal with, and he just wants to be like many of us in the world. He wants to do what he loves; sometimes people question or doubt that.
For people out there who take the opportunity to listen to or read this book, just put your love into anything and everything that you're truly passionate about.
For more information on Love Hertz, please visit www.LoveHertzBook.com.
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