"Although I didn't write this song, it spoke to me in a way that made me feel as if it was my own story,” Brandon said. “I found myself playing it over and over again in my bedroom, remembering situations that I've been through.”
Check out the video for yourself below.
Hey Finn, how are you?
Hello, I’m very good. It’s a mild morning, mainly silent. Only the clouds seem to be in a rush and there is a building site not too far away.
What have you been up to in the last few days?
I’m in my hometown in the Black Forest at the moment. There are some wonderful lakes around, so we went swimming a lot, walked the dog, cooked, saw friends, played the piano. A bit of thinking and a bit of perception.
What’s reopening looking like in Berlin?
Before I came here a few weeks ago, Berlin seemed exciting! A lot of people on the streets and in the parks, people getting drunk again and being in the mood for dancing, some sunshine, and some rain, even a few rainbows. As if nothing ever happened, and in fresh excitement.
I loved your EP. How are you feeling about it?
I don’t really feel about it. I think about it sometimes, because obviously, I have to these days. But it’s not limiting the day or distracting attention away from what is actually happening too much.
How long did this EP take?
Some songs were written in half an hour, some within days. I was between 17 and 20 as they came into being. The recording session took us one day in November 2018. Then all of the rest, the visualizing, the making of the visuals, the search for people, space and time, the influence of many circumstances, that was a period of over one and a half years. I guess the outer is often slower than the inner.
You wrote a statement, or maybe it was a poem, on your Instagram about the process of creating this EP, about it being less about something and more a recording of experiences. How did you construct these songs?
That is an interesting interpretation. Not sure, if it was meant this way. But now if that is your interpretation, the statement changes, so this is some teamwork. So let’s not stop thinking now. Isn’t the essence of an experience that it is about something? This means, while something happens, there is an experiencer describing the situation. That basically is the about. I was just pointing that out: That experience, which means, the verbal interpretation of a situation, and experiencer, the interpreter of the situation, are the same. And that we tend to not recognize this. So if I suffer, as I most certainly did writing some of those songs, this suffering is what I am. I can’t be separated from it. So I am the creator of my suffering. I have the image of myself suffering; this is my suffering. The creator is his creation. Seeing this, suffering slips away. These songs are spontaneous sketches. Some of them you could call concentrated self-pity made consciously.
Do you feel attached to this project? What was it like to declare it done?
I hope not! I don’t think it’s done. I am done now in a way. But the project is not. Now the real work starts: it’s the listener’s.
I especially loved "Ode To A Love Lost," your singing paired with the piano gave me some major chills. Do you construct the instrumentals first or the lyrics?
Music’s first. The sound is most important. Don’t pay attention to the words. We’re too literal.
Where are you going next with the music?
Only the music knows.
His new joint with FKA Twigs, “Sum Bout U,” features Twigs as a cam girl and 645AR as her adoring fan. With this buzzworthy collab, 645AR is proving how his influence and squeak is part of the next wave. We caught up with the rapper in Atlanta to discuss Tik Tok, dream collabs, and how he came up with his signature sound.
How did you come up with the name 645AR?
Alright so, that was my building number when I was staying in the Bronx, so I just put my initials after that. On some real organic shit.
What artists did you listen to growing up? Did growing up in the Bronx play a big role in shaping you as an artist?
When I was growing up man, I was heavy on the 50 [50 Cent], I think it was like 50 and Jay-Z. Right after NY, we had moved to Florida, for like a year. It was like ’06, ’07, I was listening to T-Pain and I was just catching on to Lil Wayne. After Florida, I had moved to some shit in Georgia, right outside Atlanta though, it’s called Smyrna. So, I moved around ya’know. I incorporate that in all the music I be doing.
Did you always know that you wanted to be in the music industry, or was it just something that you stumbled into?
I stumbled into it. I really had dreams of making it to the league. Basketball just wasn’t working out and shit. I was a ballplayer hanging out with like rappers, but underground rappers, so after I was done playing ball, I was around hella rap shit. Then I was just like, “Man, you need to try this shit out.”
What’s your process when making music?
When I make music, it’s a purpose behind me making music that day. Like my new song that’s coming out, I was having relationship issues. You know, I just be going on with that day or with how I feel.
So, I have to ask you, how did you come up with your signature squeaky rap style?
Man, I was just thinking, because I was making music, and it wasn’t getting no traction in the city so BOOM, I just had to think outside the box. I gotta do something different. But I can’t do something too different where I’m gonna look stupid and shit. I was trying to be different and think outside the box. I was trying to think of something that had never been done before.
I want to talk about the music. "Yoga," the viral song on Tik Tok that has all the kids dancing—how did you come up with it? Did you think that it would be as big as it is?
Yeah, I knew it was gonna be big. "Yoga" originally had Ola Runt on it, FREE OLA RUNT! I don’t know if y’all are familiar with Ola Runt, but that’s like Gucci’s new artist. He’s from Atlanta. We were in the studio and we ended up making that song. That’s from before I signed, though. So, that song came out probably by the end of November. But then Ola was on it, and the city was picking up on it. It was moving in the city a little bit. Then I dropped “4 Da Trap," it went crazy, and then we doubled back on "Yoga.”
You worked with Hook this year and created “Act Up.” It’s one of my favorite songs of 2020. What was it like working with her and how did the song come about?
I made “Yoga” and that “Act Up” song in the same week. I think Hook had reached out, and then I pulled up on them in the studio. That was the first time that we ever linked. Then we ended up making “Act Up.” Then I ended up meeting up with Hook in LA and NY and that’s kind of how we built that relationship.
Who are some artists you want to collab with?
Fleetwood Mac. Elton John. I just think outside the box though, like it would probably be a pop artist. I see myself collabing with somebody who’s not in my genre.
If we could see your energy as color, what could would it be and why?
I say green. I like money so, green.
Has COVID-19 affected your music in anyway?
Oh yeah, HELL YEAH. Definitely, man. No shows, I can’t do no shows. I've had some shows cancelled because of COVID. It sucks, but people’s safety is more important.
What’s one thing that you want to be remembered for, even if it’s not just for being 645AR?
I see myself as a city mogul. Putting on for my city. I want to be remembered as a public figure.
Lizotte is currently selling very cute chokers through Cafe Forgot that donate 100% of sales to a Brooklyn Bail Funds, an organization that provides free bail assistance, reunites families and restores the presumption of innocence. 70% of people incarcerated in NYC jails right now are being held pre-trail, legally presumed innocent!
This is a trite starter, but what have you been doing during shelter-at-home?
I've been recording lot, drinking a lot of tea, not watching any TV shows. I'm constantly on FaceTime with friends and family, but it’s been mostly recording, writing, and cooking a lot.
What have you been cooking?
Lots of thai food, like curries—I’m making curry, but putting everything I have in the fridge in it, kind of gross but also really delicious. And baking a fuckload.
Sounds like you’ve created a comforting environment.
Yeah. Though I've actually been feeling pretty lonely. This quarantine was really difficult at the beginning. I went through this whole phase where I felt really guilty that I was feeling lonely.
I [thought], "I have this cozy little apartment with everything I could need." I'm totally facilitated creatively— what I have to do is so simple, really: stay in my house, eat, record, and try not to leave, you know. But even though this is so simple, it's been really difficult. And I find myself feeling guilty about it, but it's pushed me to be more gentle on myself, especially with my creative process, because I’ve been hypercritical of myself creatively.
Therefore, you’re able to produce something creative despite, or rather, in celebration of everything that is going on outside.
Yeah. I’m like, how do I navigate this and not be hypercritical of myself—and use this time to not just be productive? I don't think this is about being productive. It’s about using this time to settle into myself, and carve out what kind of artist I want to be… The quarantine was kind of an incubator period.
Why did you chose The Blossom as your moniker?
I wanted something that wasn't somebody's name. A separation for myself and everything. It was super liberating.
So you’ve created a stage persona detached from yourself, yet I notice that your lyrics speak about really intimate, personal subjects—"Kill My Mind" comes to mind. Where do you attach and detach from your voice as The Blossom?
A lot of what I write and sing about is about anxiety and depression, and growing pains. I'm super emotional, and extremely emotionally acquiring. A lot of my family and the closest people that I love struggle with depression and anxiety and I have as well. I feel like naturally I like gravitate towards those sorts of topics because that is the most cathartic for me.
Also, in some way, I find pain voyeuristic. You know, I used to make really crazy choices ‘cause I'd want to feel something or feel through somebody. Now, writing and [making] music are like that— I can feel these things through my music, without having to go and experience the pain anymore. And other people can too. I lean towards the things people don't want to admit, or feel through, or talk about. I’ll do that for them.
What have you been listening to lately?
…A lot of Ruff Ryders and that whole era, like Dipset and Cameron. Then I've been listening to like a whole bunch of like Shoegaze stuff— I'm really into Duster at the moment. So I'll go from Duster to Shoegaze and finish with a bunch of trap and stuff. That's how I dissect music. That's the pallet that I lean towards. But Elliot Smith is the best ever songwriter, I believe.
His songwriting is undeniably complex. Speaking of, what’s your writing process?
Nothing special. I just sing into my iPhone speaker and I use a lot of vocals from my iPhone. The iPhone fucking microphone is one of the best in the world, because you can actually have a fucking microphone on you wherever you go. Like think about that. Like how cool is that? I can write anywhere and make music anywhere. I don't need to be in a studio or be in any sort of special environment. My setup is just a guitar, laptop, microphone, iPhone. That's it. I used to be embarrassed to say that I don't write my lyrics down on paper ‘cause I feel like it's a thing, but I don’t— I type everything on my phone notes!
You’re fully leaning into the digital thing.
Into the abyss! Well, the goal is not to just float off into it. I just utilize it. I have a healthy relationship with the internet. I mean, I fucking love being connected. Like, I love that. For me, its my friends, memes, and music— that’s pretty much it.
How has moving to LA changed your work, and your connectivity?
LA hasn't changed my music, my sound, or my influences. I just think it's changed my process. I just feel different when I write here. In New York I have such a short attention span and I can feel like quite selfish with my time and what I do with it. New York is just such a lustrous place for me, and I wasn't honoring my creative practice when I was living there as much as I am here.
I'm going to be honest, I'm not as inspired visually every day here, and feel a bit restless. But I also feel like I have to be adaptable. I need to make the most of any place I am, and be happy, and grateful for the fact that I can create.
That's good, I think that's good ultimately that's what truly successful people, have learned to do. Have you collaborated on any work?
I recently worked with Jessica Winter, who's really cool. She is signed to Warp Publishing in the UK and we wrote the track Bored Baby Blues, which is off the new EP.
We did that together, before the quarantine. And Dani Aphrodite worked on the video for that, as well. So that was the most recent time I was like in a room with somebody else physically, working. Other than that I write a bunch and then send it back and forth to my dad, who's in Sydney. We work virtually with each other.
So you and your dad collaborate? Since when have you been doing that?
Yeah, we collaborate a lot. Since I was like, God, since I wanted to record for the first time, which maybe was like 12 or 13. Yeah. I would bring him tracks and stuff, like songs that I really liked, and then I'd want to do covers of them so I would get him to do different versions of them for me. He has a recording studio, in our home.
So did mine, but I don't think my dad and I are set to collaborate anytime soon. It's incredible when I meet people working well and creating with family.
He would just build random stuff and I would start writing melodies and stuff on top of those random beats. Then when I started making my own stuff, I started coming to him with that too, because I would need help.
It seems like it's a source of strength for both of you. How do you guys do it?
It's not like he fostered my music like, “Oh you have to come and do this at eight.” I always came to him, it was very reciprocal and it always has been. Yeah. I honestly need it and I think he needs it. And also there's no pressure. It just feels really loose and open and just natural.
What are you thoughts, feelings, actions surrounding the BLM movement in LA, and globally, especially as a non-black POC?
For me it’s about actively standing with both BLM and Black Power movements. Pushing the conversation of how POC non-black people and white communities can facilitate that within every choice we currently make and being consistently active in the long term. It’s not just about showing “solidarity” with “good intentions” It’s about challenging our own and each others actions and thought. Checking ourselves and our peers.These are conversations and actions that we as POC non black people and white people need to have. We need to do the work. I think its crucial for our advocacy to be consistent and not just part of an online echo chamber of information on the internet, i think we also need to be more conscious of the news and content we’re sharing and how it portray’s the black community.
I’m never shocked at police brutality or racism within America, it’s so normalized that i’ll be shocked when we dismantle, disarm and defund white fragility, white-supremacy and the white-economical infrastructure. Most importantly, we have to do the work. We need to support local black business’s as much as possible, educate each other, have conversations within our homes and share our skills to spread awareness within community. We need action. (A.C.A.B!!)
