His street name is Ridl, his music name is Mr Ridl and his real name is Axel Rose. And he uses a specific digital music genre to link up with people all over the world.

It's fairly clear what the musical tastes of his parents were twenty years ago. Music is definitely in the blood and he's chasing his dream.

'My parents were hard out into Axel Rose music and our family name is Rose,' says Mr Ridl. 'My uncle came up with Axel. They tried to get me into guitar when I was younger but I like making everything digital.”

'I used to go around to Owen Dippie's Mount studio,” Axel recalls. 'Learnt heaps off him.”

That was after he'd been stopped by police for doing graffiti.

'I got caught up with the wrong crowd when I was about 17. That's how I ended up meeting Owen, when I was pointed to him.”

Axel has been working hard to make it in the music industry for the last five years, and has been part of the hip hop culture for about 6-7 years, starting as a street artist. Born in Rotorua and raised in the Papamoa/Mount area, he attended Papamoa Primary School, Mount Intermediate and Mount College.

He went to Employment Plus for a year to learn mechanics, found that wasn't his thing, so went on to polytech to study graphic design. However music is his passion.

'My first-ever music-wise listening was Eminem but that's because it was the only CD I had at the time,” says Mr Ridl. 'I'm more influenced by American South rap. I like NZ hip hop but it's not my kind of style. I'm trying to create my own kind of sound in New Zealand.”

His kind of sound is all about digital. He has a keyboard to make beats, a microphone, computer, and a beat pad for drum samples.

'I have heaps of friends in Tauranga and all over New Zealand that are into music,” says Mr Ridl. 'I keep telling them the world is literally in your finger tips on line, you can reach anybody.”

'There's endless places I want to be, but in 5 years I want to be doing this full time. And making it steady. Putting on shows for people and putting people on tour, handling that side of things.”

He chose ‘House of Gold' as his Facebook page name because his vision is to build an online house full of musicians and dance crews.

'A collection, a lot of talent under one roof,” he says. 'Gold represents value.”

'Most of our music is put up for free. We make most of our money through putting on shows. The House of Gold is all free download.”

I check out the House of Gold page. It appears to be ‘five good as mates that like to rap and record and produce their own music. You can catch us in the weekends usually dipping through TGA town, and local parties and gigs, hopefully performing!'

Mostly though he links up with Americans. And he has a new CD coming out.

'It's my first ever album with me connecting with the States,” says Axel. 'I paid heaps of money towards it, buying the beats and getting all the mixing and production done perfect, and all the promotion.”

Buying the beats proved an effective way to link up with other musicians.

'It's crazy how hip hop tracks are so different from other genres,” he says. 'We can add digitally, so one person from Canada can send a beat and I can write to it, record my vocals, and send it on to Germany and he mixes it and sends it back and then we all get paid. That's what I mean by the world is at your fingertips, by email, and Skype.”

Axel is also a full time house painter, Monday to Friday. It's tiring, but it pays the bills. His daughter visits on the weekends, and he's living with his two younger brothers, a younger sister, his brother's girlfriend and his parents.

Cracking the music scene requires enormous time and effort.

'It depends on what vibe you're going for and what audience you're trying to target. It's how you talk to people and present yourself.”

'I distribute the music through a couple of sites and they take care of everything,” he says. 'They put it on Spotify, and social media apps. You can make a little bit of coin from monetarising it.”

He is still involved in design, producing tee shirts. He has them printed at the Mount and sells most of it on the House of Gold Facebook page.

'We are really thankful to all the people that have inspired us and told us to keep pushing,” says Mr Ridl. 'Also thankful for the continuing support.”

https://www.facebook.com/House-Of-Gold-105247042923380