What first drew me into music is the time when my sister got an iPod nano and downloaded all her favorite Punk Rock songs on iTunes. She shared her taste to me and I grew up loving and listening to rock/punk like The Smiths, ACDC, Pink Floyd, The Misfits, The Dead Kennedys, Jimmy Hendrix and just loving the aggressive angst aesthetic of being rebellious and against the system. Then my 12 year old ears moved to Hip-Hop with Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Rocky, and Kid Cudi. Then I had playlists of genres mixed with Alternative/Indie rock and Hip Hop/Rnb. At 17 years old I fell in love with RnB and Trap like Lil Uzi Vert, Post Malone, Trippie Redd, Juice Wrld, Playboy Carti, X, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Tyler The Creator, Travis Scott, & Kali Uchis. My music tastes profoundly influences and makes up my sound.
You are one of the best up and coming musicians we have encountered on the internet! And your track “Damn Girl” is probably your best track yet! Could you tell us more about the story behind this track?
The story behind this track is that my homie Jovan and I, who were a rap duo when I started out last year, wanted to make a comeback so I told Jovan I wanted to sing more while he raps. I decided to stick with a more melodic sing/rap sound instead of hard trapper. We found the beat during a hotbox sesh in Jovans whip. I was looking for a Partynextdoor/Drake type of vibe like their song “Come & See Me”. We found the beat on YouTube and I slapped the hook on it from the get go. Cooked up the verses with Jovan at The Dojo which is my studio. We wanted to make a simp banger for this fall/winter cuffing season so this is for you lonely motherfuckers.
Going over your Soundcloud we can tell you love experimenting with new sounds. Can you tell us more about your studio setup and some of your favorite plugins/instruments?
My studio setup and favorite instruments/plugins consists of Logic Pro X, Akai Synth Pad, and Audio Technica mic with Scarlett interface. I love experimenting with new sounds in Logic through plugins like PTVerb, Pedalboard, ChromaVerb, Distortion, Pitch Correction, and a lot of compression. Sometimes I like my vocals raw with just the EQs tweaked and boosting up the Pedalboard with a Hi-pass filter to clean up/Mix & master the overall sound. I used to play the piano and just played by ear and muscle memory. I grew up loving melodic synths from 80s music with heavy drums, Bass, and melodic guitar riffs. If a song doesn’t have a dope melody and drums that hit then it’s wack.
Your signature sound is already very professional and amazing to listen to! How did you manage to achieve such a professional sound in such a short time? Can you tell us more about your musical background?
I managed to achieve a professional sound in a span of a year by listening to my favorite songs with different speakers/devices to see how they are mixed/mastered. I learned how to use Logic Pro X by watching YouTube tutorials on how to use Logic Pro and edit/enhance the Vocals properly and professionally. I have big musical background with my family especially my parents who do karaoke for fun. My Dad lead a Church group to sing, praise, and worship God. In family parties, everyone would sing but my 26 year old cousin Catherine was a professional singer who sang at a concert with a Filipina icon. I sang for fun as a kid and it wasn’t that good until now as I started singing along to my favorite songs. My Music taste comes from my sister who gave me ears by playing her music all the time and I feel like this primarily makes up who I am as an Artist.
What are your goals for the coming months? Any upcoming projects we can get excited about?
My goal is to drop my second EP by the end of this year and work on a music video for “Damn Girl”. My first mixtape “Heavy Rotation” was my amateur and beginning effort so it isn’t the sound/style I am going for. I have 2 more songs dropping this year to tease my Sophomore EP “Lost in a trip” coming out in December.
