Do you have a routine when it comes to your musical process? Are there steps that tend to come first? — production, writing, lyrics, etc.?
Lately, RCA Records has had me going into the studio to make my new record. We recently rented a mansion in Malibu for two weeks, converted a room into a studio, and recorded a good chunk of my album up there. My producers Zach Fogarty and John Hill brought all their gear up there – like drums, guitars, and very expensive racks and I brought like two of my synthesizers. Every day we would wake up, order some food then start recording. Most of the time, we’d start something from scratch. I would roll up that zaza and get super baked and just start recording and trying things until something sticks. Sometimes we’ll invite other artists over. Recently we’ve recorded with Dean Blunt, Julian Cashwan Pratt of Show Me The Body, and Mac DeMarco. Usually, the steps will be recording the instrumental, then we figure out the vocals after we’ve made like a rough structure.
We live in a very interdisciplinary age, are there other mediums that inform your music? If so, what are these influences?
I’m inspired by films from Harmony Korine, Vincent Gallo, early Spike Jonze – that kind of stuff inspired me a lot growing up. It helped me shift my perspective on everything and kept my mind open to anything and everything. Skateboarding culture has also had a huge impact on how I am and is a big influence on my music because it’s also brought so many different subcultures together, like punk and rap, and just makes everything in this world feel unified.
Throughout your catalogue there are plenty of other names that come up. How has collaborating with other musicians helped transform your own sound?
Just keeps me on my toes and keeps me wanting to improve on my own work and where I’m at in life. It’s definitely inspiring to be able to work with people I’ve looked up to since I was young. It’s a blessing, and it’s helped transform my beliefs in what I could achieve through sound.
