Q: Hey, can you tell us a bit about where you come from, and what made you want to start a career in music?
A: Music is in my blood. My dad plays the saxophone, both of my grandmothers are musicians, my great-grandfather was a musician. I think growing up with all of that influence around me, it always just felt like a natural path to walk down.
Q: Did you have any formal training, or are you self-taught?
A: I had a couple months of guitar lessons and like a year of vocal training. Both taught me a lot and I’m eternally grateful to my teachers.
Q: Who were your first and strongest musical influences?
A: My firsts were probably Stone Temple Pilots, Audioslave, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck. Oh, and The Carpenters for sure. Basically all the stuff my parents would sing along to in the car.
Q: You have just released your new single, ‘IMP’. Is there a story behind it?
A: It’s the story of a toxic relationship. Like, you can want a person but at the same time know they’re not good for you and that HAUNTS you.
Q: Can we expect a new EP or even an album from you in the near future?
A: Yes! Definitely!! I have a whole album’s worth of songs to put out right now, each one a banger, even the sad ones.
Q: What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
A: I really want them to listen to the words; I write so people can feel what I’m feeling. I think my sound itself is very versatile and that works in conjunction with the versatility of the lyrics. Best way to describe it? Indie-alternative? Whatever I was feeling the day I wrote the song, that’s the sound.
Q: Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more?
A: Being alive can be so isolating. Music for me is true connection, true joy. It sounds so cliché but to just live in a moment where you’re creating something beautiful, there’s this peace that comes with adding that to the world. I get so much out of what I do it’s unreal. Literally living the dream.
Q: Could you describe your creative processes? How do you usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song?
A: I usually start with a feeling, like pretend I’m my therapist and pull out the wheel. And in a way it kind of is therapy cos as the song unravels so do the emotions. I usually do a lot of stream of consciousness writing. Then chop it into bits, mix it, rearrange it, and then rewrite it like five times.
Q: What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
A: Just growing up and accepting my own flaws and failings. Like I’ve had lots of traumas but these days who hasn’t, the world is fucking traumatic. But the most difficult things to deal with are the things you cannot run from and I’m with me literally all the time.
Q: On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
A: Meeting Sam Fisher, the producer of IMP and the Leo Rising EP. That was mind boggling, that dude is talented and to have someone take me under their wing like that makes me feel phenomenally proud. And then getting to make Leo Rising with him- that was a dream.
