What’s the story behind your latest song/album?
The story behind my latest song (I Know) is a suicide day prevention song. It is about not letting the past hurt your future. A lot of people tragically end their life due to past regrets. With vocals and help with the lyrics provided by Mycal Timara, her and I wanted to make something that will really resonate with people.
How has your creative process evolved over the years?
My creative process has evolved exceedingly over the years. In fact, just my creativity has grown in general. I started out producing on Soundtrap studio, and using loops to create my tracks. Over the years, I slowly transitioned to using FL Studio’s sounds and making my own loops and such to create my tracks in there. Now I fully use FL Studio, with using Soundtrap to record vocals, and I am still learning all around. Looking forward to continuing to grow even more using cool features on that software too.
Is there a specific moment in your career that felt like a turning point?
Throughout my career, I have had multiple moments where things have just clicked it felt like. One specific moment where it felt like a turning point was where I released my very first song with vocals in 2019. Before that, I was making EDM instrumentals, and when I had that song with vocals, it really resonated with people ALONG with the sounds I use to produce. That was my big moment where it felt like this is what I was meant to do. I then later on released probably my most iconic track to this day, “You & I” with vocals provided by N!kk!.
What’s one misconception people have about being a musician?
One misconception is that no musician has ever made their first track perfect. You grow over time. Even your first few tracks, as you continue to make songs, may seem like they are not good, but it’s because you are still learning and still making progress. Even the top, most successful musicians, have tracks that are better than others, which means there’s not really a perfect song. You can make something SOUND objectively perfect, but even that takes a lot of time and effort. So, perfectionism is a myth for beginners.
Who or what has been inspiring your music lately?
Lately, I’ve been getting inspired a lot by SABAI. I love his emotional styles drops and beautiful soft melodies that just make everything feel like it’s going to be alright. I’ve always been inspired by The Chainsmokers (especially their old style), or Lauv, but lately it’s definitely been SABAI’s music.
Can you share a memorable or unexpected moment from a live performance?
An unexpected moment from my first ever live performance is I performed with Katherine, and my cousin who filled in for other singers who couldn’t be there, and we performed at a Church prom, where they set up “a night in Paris” theme or something like that. At the end of my set, we were getting done performing “You & I” and Katherine did a super cool spin. Now, this is barely noticeable on the actual performance video but if you see it, it’s really funny where she spins and accidentally knocks down a bit of the set piece in front of her, to which she quickly stops and kind of makes a surprised face. I didn’t notice it while we were performing, but afterwards, she told me about it and we laughed for a while, cause that was definitely unexpected and memorable.
How do you handle creative blocks or self-doubt?
How I handle creative blocks or self doubt is by keeping the end goal in mind. I believe that regardless of what genre I am supposed to make, what my music is supposed to sound like, or simply if I am even supposed to be making music, I remember I know I am meant to help people. Help people with whatever they need in their life simply by the vibes of my music. It helps me keep on going when I get stuck on a song, or stuck deep in a self-doubting hole which people may be surprised to know that it actually does happen a lot, and every time the reminder of helping people that I give myself, ALWAYS helps.
If you could collaborate with any artist, living or dead, who would it be and why?
If I could collaborate with any artist, I think I would either say Rosé or Justin Bieber. Rosé has a really solid tone in her voice that I feel would work really great with my styled beats, and Justin Bieber, I am personally a fan of his and believe he is one of the best singers today, and I think with the emotion he puts into his tracks, we would make something really cool together.
What’s a piece of advice you wish you had received earlier in your career?
A piece of advice I wish I had received earlier would definitely be to not overdo things. A lot of my fans know about this certain thing for me, as I have mentioned it before, but it really is so important. I wish I knew that you didn’t have to overdo compression, or equalizing, or limiting to make something loud ALL the time. Otherwise, the whole track either sounds lifeless, harsh or worse, at points both, which is sometimes what would happen to me haha. You just have to apply enough effects to things, to make them sound good. If it sounds good, it works, and if everything that you put into a track sounds good together, then it definitely works and that’s really most of what any beginner needs to know at the start.
What’s next for you—any exciting projects or goals on the horizon?
Next for me is actually working on remastering old projects that I made a long time ago. I’ve already started on some and it’s been pretty fun getting to go back and hear the old things I used to do when making music and also getting the chance to turn my old idea into how I want my music to sound currently. I’ll be releasing these projects in the near future, and I can’t wait for people to hear them.