Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: Well I’ve grown up in Columbia, Missouri my entire life. I think your environment is one of the biggest factors in the creative process of music-making, and I’ve been influenced a lot by mine. there are a lot of good people here and a lot of good opportunities, and I’m thankful for that. I also grew up surrounded by trees and living right next to a nature trail, so I think being around that environment inspired a lot of how I produce and put songs together.
Q: How are you planning on growing your fan base and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover “Alistair Futura”?
A: Right now I’ve mostly been focused on promotion-type stuff. I’ve been trying to spread my work to blogs, playlists, mixes, etc. I think the best way to grow and maintain a fanbase is interacting with your community, regardless of how small or large it is. if I had a message for anyone about to discover me, I’d say to just be open minded and allow yourself to just appreciate the music.
Q: Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?
A: I look to a lot of lofi-ish pop rnb type artists for inspiration. I love verzache, joji, rei brown, billie eilish, q, montell fish, frank ocean, etc. I love pop-sounding music that has that rough edge to it. I remember really digging bad guy when it came out. I love that it’s able to be a pop song, while still using minimal instrumentation and all these weird percussive sounds. I wanna make something like that eventually.
Q: Can you tell us about the story or message behind the EP, “bloom later.”?
A: When I was working on this EP, a lot of the music I made for it came from raw emotion. Since I was little I was a person who was very emotion-driven and my parents were open to me expressing that. I like to show the beauty in every emotion. I’m not a traditional songwriter or anything, but I like using my vocals and the sonic palette of my music to bring out the feelings I want to express.
Q: How would you describe your sound in one word for potential listeners?
A: My sound can vary based on what I’m doing, but right now I’d say my sound is wistful. I love making more melancholic stuff.
Q: Did you face any challenges while writing or recording “bloom later”?
A: I think the biggest challenge with making the EP was finding inspiration musically, and being able to come up with the right vocals. most of the time spent on this EP was either spent on producing the instrumentals that made it on the album, or trying to come up with the right melody for the instrumentation I had. once I’d get a melody down though, the rest wasn’t as difficult. It’s just that when you have an actual plan for a song, it becomes much easier to lay that idea out.
Q: What is the message of your music? And what are your goals as an artist?
A: My biggest message would be that’s it okay to feel, emotion is a powerful thing and you shouldn’t be afraid to embrace it. I love emotion, I think it’s really beautiful. I want to make music that people are able to find some sort of comfort in with their feelings.
Q: Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (dead or alive)
A: I really wanna collaborate with Tyler the creator. I love his music so much and he seems like someone that’s really fun to work with as a creative. It’d be cool to work on some of his production too, his instrumentals are always so clean.
Q: What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?
A: Don’t be afraid to fail, it’s gonna happen. no one is going to be perfect when they start out, that’s not how anything in life works. the first music I made were joke rap songs at 11 years old, and I evolved that into what I do now. anyone can do it, you just need to be willing to put time into it. also do as much promo as you can, that always helps.
Q: If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?
A: I think I’d just tell myself that things are gonna be okay in the end, don’t spend your time worrying. If you never do something because you’re too afraid of what the outcome is gonna be, you’re setting yourself up for failure. There’s always the possibility of rejection or not doing enough, but it could also be an opportunity you never saw coming.
