Isaac Dunbar Takes Our Pop Quiz
office gave Isaac an impromptu pop quiz where there are no wrong answers... except, of course, the wrong ones.
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office gave Isaac an impromptu pop quiz where there are no wrong answers... except, of course, the wrong ones.
While the singer has consistently penned her life experiences in her work, 'B4 I Breakdown,' reveals a personal struggle that made her evaluate her mental health. In 2019, Ojerime experienced a life-altering breakdown that resulted in a hospital visit. Stemming from exhaustion and overburden, Ojerime processed this event through her music. Long studio visits and late nights resulted in an album that is full of tantalization and feeling. Album favorite, "Give It Up To Me", epitomizes Ojerime's sound while having the listener hanging on to every note. This psychoactive track is centered around the passing of a joint and the relationship with the recreational drug. With lyrics vibrating throughout the song and a chorus that evokes a strong response, The R&B artist has accomplished a project that mediates on a dark moment and the process that follows.
A pandemic succeeding her release of, 'B4 I Breakdown,' Ojerime starred at a year of isolation and quietness. Although this unprecedented time brought uncertainty and anxiety, Ojerime used this opportunity to reconnect with her community. Over a year into a global pandemic, with eased restrictions and a social revival, Ojerime debuted the single, "Jetset." This single was accompanied with a stylized music video depicting a blurry summer’s night. Along with the release of "Jetset," Ojerime performed A Colors Show of an unreleased song, "Often Enough." Each song highlights the essence of Ojerime's sound while signifying a new chapter in her Arc.
Check out the singer discuss her creative process, inspirations, and music video "Jetset" down below.
Growing up in South London, how did your experience there inform your craft today?
South East London is bursting with so many different cultures and thankfully I was given the opportunity from a young age to explore different pockets of it through church, youth clubs and freedom to explore the outdoors with friends. Growing up here influenced how I speak, the music I’m drawn to. It’s very much shaped me as a person, so I’m able to express that in my music as there’s so much colour around me.
Your mixtape 'B4 I Breakdown' has the listener enthralled from start to finish, what was the process like creating that mixtape?
It was very simple but a slow process. I’d just got out of hospital and began immediately travelling twice a week up to Kent to get my project mixed. Each week my backpack and I would leave London to take this gruelling train journey in shitty weather and go up hills and back roads to an old friend's house to get the mixtape finalised. I didn’t have much budget at the time and very little strength to make this mixtape any bigger (production wise) than it was, so slowly each week the tracks began taking shape and I came up with "Give It Up 2 Me," at the end of the mixing process and left my mix on it, as it didn’t sound the same when my engineer cleaned it up. So that track is pretty raw mix wise and ‘empty’ too, those were both mixed by me. I eventually got a team together and we put the project out and it was received very well. Tonnes of support on "Give It Up 2 Me," so many highs from a project that was created at a very low time. I’m very thankful for this pivotal time and won’t forget this era as it’s introduced loads of new growth.
"Jetset" is your new single, can you speak to the intentions behind that song and what it means to you?
It’s a track I made in lockdown speaking on a temporary getaway that explores having a good time in love with no distractions or interference from the outside world. I wanted it to sound like a warm summer’s night in 90s LA.
How has 90s R&B informed your music and sound?
90s R&B introduces itself from the way it’s written and the production. I’ve always wanted my music to have the timeless quality and essence that 90s R&B gives off. It’s always my go to at the start of a production session just to get everyone warmed up. I’d say my music introduces itself from the first note and will eventually create that nostalgic feeling to listeners in the near future.
What is a dream collaboration of yours?
I’d love to work with SWV, Brandy or Babyface.
Your ‘A Colors Show’ performance of your single "Often Enough" exuded radiance and exceptional sound, how was that experience and when can we expect that single to drop?
Thank you - My Colors experience was nothing short of amazing, they were very accommodating and the space was as good as it looks on Youtube. I’m currently working on music at the moment so I’ll announce when ‘often enough’ drops officially.
What continuous inspirations do you draw on for your music?
Real life experience, I’m big on emotion and trying to release it creatively.
Your fashion is always on point, what was the journey like coming into your style?
I just wear what I like, it’s mostly comfortable clothes like tracksuits or soft textures. I work with a selection of stylists who introduce me to new pieces and ways of styling myself.
How has your music informed your identity today?
Music is something I love and I’m naturally drawn to, it’s who I am. the freedom of music and its unwritten rules are a part of me. The business side to it puts me off as it goes against the fluidity of music. So I’m learning that there are other artistic strengths I have, that don’t solely lie in music, it’s a tough process but I’ve started it.
Your music elicits strong emotions and sends rippling goosebumps down one’s spine, especially the chorus of "Give It Up 2 Me," what do you want to convey to the listener?
I am the first listener of any music I create so I look to give myself that replay factor, the excitement of hearing the track start and the message to resonate. I always want the music to make sense, whether you understand my words or not, the journey must make sense.
When can we expect your next project?
I’m unsure, as I haven’t quite got to that part yet!
Soul-baring reflections of fleeting loneliness were penned in lockdown-induced isolation, though not an entirely unfamiliar approach for the introspective artist. Faye pens lyrics like “I didn't know that I was capable of being happy right now. But you showed me how.” on “In A Good Way.” is a defining opener, showcasing her true talents. Webster not only showcases her evolution as a musician but shares her growth as an individual.
‘I Know I’m Funny haha’ is now available to buy and stream on all platforms.
Check out our exclusive interview with Faye below.
Congrats on the new album! How have you been feeling since its release?
Pretty good. I feel, like, mostly just feeling good to have it off my chest finally, you know? But it feels nice.
You also now share a birthday with this album. Did you get any particularly memorable gifts that day?
I was in New York, so I feel like everybody gave me my gifts when I got home. But my label took us out for my birthday and they gave me $100 worth of Pokémon cards, and it was sick.
Any good ones?
I did. I got a really rare card.
You mentioned recording the new album on GarageBand because of COVID restrictions. Was it hard to separate work from home life? Did you feel a constant pressure to create?
I definitely was struggling because I feel like I had all the creativity sucked out of me during the pandemic. But, it's not that hard to mix work or work around home and work, just because I don't do anything else for a job. If I'm not just fucking around at home, it's like, I should be working. I don't know. It's not like I have other responsibilities, which sounds really sad, but I don't know, I prefer it, which is why I was recording vocals at home and why I did that in my last record. I just feel like I only want to be in my safe space when I'm working. I also like going to the studio with my band, but I feel like when it gets down to the really personal parts of it — like how I want to represent the songs that I wrote — I just need to be my safe space at home. That's how I get the best representation of it.
How do you feel you and your music have changed since ‘Atlanta Millionaires Club?’
I don't know, I can't really pinpoint it. But obviously, every artist slowly goes through an evolution, and I just feel like that's kind of just what happened with this record — really every record. I feel like there's songs on this record that could have been on AMC, but then there's songs that couldn't have been and it would have been weird and it would have been too quick of evolution. Yeah. I think just, like, growing.
When's the last time you cried in a good way?
Probably since I wrote that song, or maybe after that. Probably from something that Booth told me though. I feel like crying in a good way, to me, is crying out of pure happiness — like laughter doesn’t count. I cry laughing every day, but it's very rare to actually be so happy that you're like, ‘Oh my god.’ But yeah, probably one time since I wrote that song.
I know one inspiration behind the album was Animal Crossing. I actually visited your island last summer.
No way! It’s such a small world.
Yeah, but I know a bunch of other fans went too. Has the game served as an outlet to connect with fans during a time when that connection was so limited?
Yeah. That game was always so therapeutic to me. I was definitely just on it day and night, all day. And it was really fun to see other villagers, even if I went to somebody's island. Have you ever used Nookazon?
I haven't.
It's just like, you find something online that you want and you message them on Discord and they give you a code to their island. It's like, ‘I've really been looking for this guitar. I'll trade it if you have a grill.’ It's like, ‘Yeah, I don't want my grill. Let me get the guitar.’ Then you pull up to their island and they have it all blocked off so you can't go into their island. And you walk up to this little table and they put it on the table and you put it on the table. That game was so cool. To play with other people especially — I feel like that's why it kind of lasted so long for me. So I put too many hours, literally nothing left to do — I mean, before they expanded it and adding swimming and new crops and stuff — but yeah, never forget.
If you could request one song from 'K.K. Slider' right now, what would it be?
I guess it would be ‘7PM.’ There's one from City Folk that I'm obsessed with as well, but I don't want to get the name wrong. But definitely ‘7PM New Horizons.' So genius to name an album after every time of the day.
I like ‘Bubblegum’ too.
Oh my god! Ooh, and ‘Cruisin’!’ I love ‘Cruisin’.’
What's your favorite lyric that you've written from this album?
Probably something from the title track, but I don't know what. I don't know because "favorite lyric" is like — I don't know if it's supposed to be like, ‘Oh, I'm proud. That was clever.’ Or if it's like, ‘Oh yeah, good to get that off my chest.’ Or just like, ‘Yeah, this is my favorite to see.’ I don't know. But maybe my lyric about my landlord, just cause that felt good to get out of my system.
You made it onto Barack Obama's ‘end of the year list’ for music last year. If you could choose one dream person — besides him — whose playlist would you want to end up on?
Off the top of my head, I would say Hilary Duff.
‘Metamorphosis’ is a classic. What's it like directing your own music videos? I know you studied photography. Is there anyone in film you looked up to for inspiration as well?
Yeah. I work with this person named Hunter Airheart in New York on a lot of videos. I also work with Matt Swinsky who's in Atlanta. But yeah, I feel like that's kind of the only time that they cross over. Like, ‘Oh, I have this vision and it would line up perfectly to this music.’ That's the only time that I feel like I can really put the two passions together. But also it's just really fun to work with my friends and collab because I trust these people so much and I like their ideas. It's been fun. I think it's fun.
Do you and your band have any traditions while touring?
Yeah. It really depends on who goes because it's different than my recording band — just because everybody's always in like five other different bands. But my tour manager has always been going with me and we always bring a TV on the van and play Overcooked.
What's that?
It's this game. I don't think it's cross-platform, like you can't play with somebody on Switch who has a PlayStation, but I think you can get it on all systems. It's this game where you cook under a certain time and you have to do certain orders. I've never worked in the restaurant business — just as a hostess — but all my other friends won't play with me because they’re like, ‘Bro, this gives me so much anxiety. Like, this is my life.’ It's a restaurant business game but it's really cute and fun, like graphics and stuff.
What else are you looking forward to in getting back to touring?
I just miss seeing people from stage, like physical faces which I haven't seen — nobody's been able to see. But I feel like numbers and online, it’s not the same gratification. So I'm really excited to see real people
Like, your band or the fans or just everyone?
Definitely the fans. Well, I see my band all the time. But definitely the people who come through to the shows.
What do you have to say to those fans who are now enjoying the album and might see you on tour?
That I'm glad they're still here and that I didn't lose them yet. And that I'm happy that they have been a part of my growing process. And if you relate to the way that I express myself, that makes me happy because I feel like that's kind of all that I want to get out of it — to just be a relatable person.
Your first single, “Not Good at Being Bad” came out just two years ago. Now you are an established singer and songwriter — when did you decide you wanted to pursue music head on, instead of continuing with school?
Music was always just something I did for fun and as a hobby. And as I did it, even during high school, I always just put more effort into music and I was kind of slacking on the school, not even with the mindset of, 'Oh, I'm not going to go to school.' It was just because I enjoy doing music. I never really found a point in my life where it was like, 'This is what I want to do.' Since I did it, it just eventually started happening without me even realizing it. And all these opportunities started coming my way where, when I was in my first year of college, I was like, shit, I don't know if I have time for this anymore. So I got out of school and just kept going with music. It was probably in my first year of college when I realized, all right, music's working. So I'm just gonna stick to it.
Yeah. I think that is why you kind of effortlessly melded into the music industry, just because it was something that you already enjoyed. Does musical talent run in your family?
Yeah. I mean, that's how I got into playing instruments, like playing guitar, and my dad played guitar and we'd always just jam together. So that was that.
The best part of your music, to me, is that I have felt all of the exact emotions you sing about. Do you write with trying to relate to your listeners in mind?
My writing process is very different than other people. I make a beat and some cool melodies and I just try to make something fun. And I usually like to tie together the song title or the concept — it all always comes back together. It doesn't have to be the most deep song ever. A lot of my songs aren't really like that. I just like to have fun with it. People ask if some of my songs have so much meaning for me, and honestly, they have meaning because I just make songs that I enjoy. And then it's just, that's the memory there, you know?
You’ve been described as an indie artist, but your music is not restricted by any one genre or category. Is that fluidity between categories of music something we can expect to see more of in your upcoming work?
Yeah. I mean, for me, there's no genre. I guess I'd call indie pretty broad right now. People call me alternative, pop, rock — kind of a little bit of everything. I kind of do it all and there are no limits. I've evolved from my first song up till now so much. I'm always going to keep evolving and I never want to get to a place where I'm just finding one sound — my sound is just whatever I make. And I do like electronic, hyper pop music; there's some weirder stuff that I've been experimenting with. That's just what's fun about it.
It seems like it all comes really organically for you. Do you think that a lot of your music reflects how you're feeling at the time or what you're going through at a time?
Yeah. Totally. I mean, I'll sit and make a slow acoustic song, and then when I'm done I'll make some hard rock song or something else, something different. A rap even.
What is your vision for upcoming music — can you give me a few words that describe it?
It is definitely different than anything people expect. "EATSPIT" is my next song because it's having, like, a Tik Tok moment right now — and you've heard “EATSPIT”, right?
That's with Royal and The Serpent, right?
Yeah. So that's our next song, it comes out July 23rd.
And that's a totally different sound, at least from what people expect, I think.
Totally, a hundred thousand percent. But then again, like who the fuck cares? You know what I mean? If I just dropped the same music all the time, no one's going to be that excited about the new songs. You know, I want to bring something different to everyone and show people that, people don't even know the stuff I can do. I think people just think of me as just some alternative, indie artist that plays guitar and sings, but I want to show something different with my production.
Who are your main musical inspirations, and did any of those people influence your unreleased music?
To be honest, this is a weird question for me because the music I listen to and the people I'm inspired by have nothing to do with my projects. I don't even know if people would be able to see the relation between them, but my favorite artists are probably David Bowie, The Cure, and George Michael. I mean it, no one will see any correlation with any songs they hear of mine. Very, very little. I just think the way they tell stories, the way they portray themselves, the way they were different — out of the box...George Michael, I just think vocally is one of my favorite singers of all time. And the songs he writes make people feel. I never try to make songs like how he made a song. But when I make my own songs, I think, 'How can I get people to be connected?'. Even if the meaning isn't even that deep. How can I tell a movie or story within just two minutes of a song?
The storytelling process — that's something that's important to you in your music?
Totally. Storytelling, tying it all together. I like being very dramatic in my songs, being kind of funny, making it humorous, similar to when you watch a movie. When you watch a movie you've never seen, you're engaged. If you go to a concert of a band you've never seen, you could be so fucking bored, so you want to make it interesting. So I try to make all my songs like you're watching a little movie.
On that note, what's your favorite movie?
I like horror movies. I like Disney princess movies a lot. I like how movies can speak to an audience. I wrote my song “Juliette” based on the movie and story, “Romeo and Juliet”, but with a modern twist. It's a weird kid who is in love with this girl, but they'll never work because they're in different worlds. She's popular and he's a loser; it's the most simple little rom-com story.
“Juliette” was one of your most recent singles — it hit 1 million streams just shortly after its drop. How did it feel to know that it was received well?
I'm definitely very grateful and fortunate. I knew the song was so different than anything people have been hearing, especially because the alt-rock scene was coming back. I knew it was such a relatable story and I could tell people were gonna like it. I was honestly a little scared to put it out because it was so different than anything I've put out before. I was scared I was gonna throw people off or lose fans, but it honestly gained me more popularity than any other song I've ever dropped. New people started to become fans; a few people got tattoos of it. It's really crazy. Artists are never really fully satisfied with what they do. But right now I need to take a step back to realize how cool it actually is. It's unreal that I was just putting out music in high school for fun. And now my music is reaching millions of people.
It’s quite surreal.
I can't really explain how that feels. You think you'll feel so crazy, but you're just living your life. Nothing's really changed. It's all just electronic. I'm still sitting here doing the same shit I was in high school, you know. I think the crazy part is I get to make music for my life and that's my job. I don't have another job. It's just this. That's something I'm very grateful for whenever I get in my feels. I get to do what I love.
Ok so — after listening to Juliette, I think everyone has the same question: is there a real Juliette?
No, I think the song is a little deeper than 'Juliette' now. I think I wrote it in the way that Juliette is the best of somebody, the idealized version. But it doesn't even have to be someone; it can be just a goal in mind, or the idea of being rich or being famous. It's something that you don't even know. So why are you so obsessed with it? The chorus says, "She don't know my name, but I love her anyway." It's something so glamorized that you want it so bad. So I put it in the way that if I'm in high school and I'm a loser and there's a super popular girl, why do I want her so bad? Just because she's popular and cool doesn't mean she's right for me. It just shows in society now, that people get so caught up in the stupidest things and become so obsessed with how everything looks. And you can really lose yourself in that idea; I think a lot of people eventually will feel this once in their life.
Your style is just as alt-rockstar as your music — who are your fashion inspirations?
Oh gosh. I honestly know nothing about fashion. I just wear what I like. I like makeup. I like grungy makeup. I don't look at what people wear and think, 'Oh my God, I want to wear that.' It's always pretty simple for me. It's jeans, a shirt, and a jean jacket, or a leather jacket. Leather jackets are hard. I like the whole sixties, seventies, punk vibe. It's hard.
What’s next for Slush Puppy?
We're dropping "EATSPIT", which feels like an alter ego of Slush Puppy. I wanted to make something people can come mosh to, could scream to. I wanted to put out a whole new side of myself. I started rehearsing; I got a whole band together and we've been practicing and playing. I have a few shows coming up. I'm playing a small show on July 20th and then on August 5th, I'm playing Bar Lubitsch in Hollywood. I'm trying to put together some more shows and going to see how it goes. It's going to be my first time ever performing...ever — never performed in my life, which is exciting. I'm going to say I’m kind of nervous about that. We'll see how it sounds, but I'm not too worried about it. I think it will be fun as long as it's fun for the crowd.