Caspr Appears!
So how did you get started with music? Have you always had the gene in your family?
Yeah. I always had a musical gene in the family. My dad was a musician, but I always assumed he didn't want to do that professionaly. But when I got older, I kind of realized that he really did. And that that was his goal. He just kind of pushed it down a little bit. So it was cool to do something like that for my dad, not that he's the reason why I made music or stuck with making actual music, but I would say he built fundamentals in me to be musically skilled in the future.
Was it always your goal?
I was always playing instruments, but I wasn't making songs, you know? And then I got super into skateboarding and I thought I was going to be like a professional paintball player for a bit. I just had so many different interests that I thought, yeah, these will all be things I'll do professionally. But music was the one constant thing. And then I started really gravitating towards it. In eighth grade I started recording myself and it just started from there. And then my friends were like, "Oh, this is pretty good." I used to hang out at this older guy's house. He was like 25. I was like 16. And he used to have people in and out of the house often. I had just made my first song and he would have me play it for everyone who came in the house. And then all these adults were like telling me like "Oh, you're like actually pretty good." So then that's when I was like 'maybe I should start doing this a little bit more seriously.'
In those early stages, were you still trying to figure out your own sound?
Yeah. I started by just completely aping and copying other artists. Figuring out how to dissect the styles of other people so that I could make my own unique style. And it was a big problem when I first started. Cause I would just straight, blatantly copy people. I wouldn't even try to make it mine. I was really into making Chief Keef type drill music for a little while. And then I had a buddy pull me aside at a party and he was like, "Dude, why do you do this? That's just not who you are as a human and who you are as a human is pretty interesting. Focus on making music that really resonates with you and shows who you are, it'll be a whole lot more interesting and authentic." And that was a big turning point in late high school where I stopped doing that. And I started focusing on just being myself. Cause that's the one advantage you have is that you're yourself and that's different than everyone else. So you can always make up your own authentic cool thing.
Who inspires you musically?
The Cure is probably at the top. Top favorite band ever. I listened to a lot of bands, but it's gotta be — number one and number two musicians, Robert Smith and Young thug. So it's a pretty drastic difference between the two, but at the same time, they're both really good at melodies and like you feel sad or making you feel happy.
What was it like collaborating with Travis Barker on your new single? Did he have an influence on the alternative rock sound of it?
Well I've just always been that way. And that was the idea before we met Travis, to take it to an alternative sort of realm. Cause that's more just me. I always was into that stuff. You know, when I was a kid, I didn't even listen to rap music really. Like until I was in high school, I was wearing eyeliner to school in elementary school. So this is just more like a true form of me. And then getting to meet Travis has really amplified that out of me, like times 10. So I've gotten to really express myself because he has the production to where I can make songs that I dreamed about making, but I didn't like know how to make the production behind, you know?
How did you guys link up?
He DM'd me on Instagram and he heard one of my songs and really liked it. We just talked for a little bit about music and stuff and you know, I was like "Oh, I'll try not to fanboy out or nothing." Cause I am a really big Blink [182] fan. And like we just kept in contact, kept close since then I've done some more sessions with him and every time we do it, it's so easy. We get in the studio and it's like ridiculously easy, and I have a hard time making songs most of the time. So it's like when I step in there with him, we can bang a song out in like a few hours.
I really like the video. Tell me about the process behind it.
I mean the process is super interesting because the guys Richard Quintero and Kheyber Jones who shot it used to go to the same skate park that I went to when I was eight years old. And like, we all know the same skaters. They're older than me, they were the teenagers when I was like eight. They filmed a bunch of skate videos and stuff like that for people in the New York, New Jersey area. And then they had never done a music video before and we just really liked their skate film stuff. So we thought they'dl kill it. And so they gave it a shot and they did it, you know, they hit it out of the park.
This single is ahead of an EP down the line. Is there anything you'd say to the reader about what to look forward to?
It's gonna be a good EP! I'm really just so proud of the work that everyone's put into this project. And like, the time we waited to put it out, you know, I feel like the timing is perfect and, I don't know man...I'm just excited to finally put out music that I'm really, really proud of. And I think that other people will enjoy, I feel like it'll be music that's somewhat familiar, like in a weird, nostalgic sense, but also something that is a new and different. A good, weird thing you've never heard before, like a treat you've never tasted before or something. You'll like it, even though it's different.
