Summer 2019

VERACIOUS MAGAZINE

ISSUE 10 JULY 2019

FEATURING

ALEXANDER 23 OH, WEATHERLY • VIOLET DAYS • FESTIVALS • MORE

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CONTENTS Album Reviews

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First in Flight

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Superego 12 Featured Festivals

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Oh, Weatherly

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Posters 36 Violet Days

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Alexander 23

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Yorke 56

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VERACIOUS MAGAZINE FOUNDER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Samantha Toy SENIOR EDITOR Mya Hamilton GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Marie Newby Rebekah Witt PLAYLIST EDITOR & DESIGNER Tiffany Martinez PHOTOGRAPHERS Mohamad Agha Daaron Donohue Emily Freya Doug Krantz Abbie Krider Dan Landsburgh Jake Lemoine Chelsea Miller Marie Newby Martha Segovia Sethen Sheehan-Lee Emma Silverstone Angela Smith Jenna Whalen Rebekah Witt Kristen Zarra WRITERS Samantha Toy Kristen Zarra INTERVIEWERS Sethen Sheehan-Lee Carlynn Young

ABOUT US

Located in San Francisco, California of the United States of America, Veracious is an online and print magazine focusing on musicians globally. With over 30 staff members in numerous countries around the world, our photographers, writers, and interviewers have a strong passion for music. We not only promote the artists themselves, but we also cover behind the scenes crew like managers, tour photographers, publicists, and merchandise sellers just to name a few. It’s our goal to showcase those who work hard behind the stage to make the musicians shine.

CONTACT US!

info@veraciousmagazine.com www.veraciousmagazine.com @veraciousmag

@veraciousmagazine

MANY THANKS

Alec Huerta, Alexa Beckner, Alexander 23, Andrew McMahon in The Wilderness, Brady Szuhaj, Canadian Music Week, Chris Ruff, Conrad Lloyd, Danielle Gonzalez, Dea Zazula, First in Flight, Grandson, Greg Long, Jamie Abzug, Janice Lee, Jason Mraz, Julia Michaels, Katherine Chu, Lindsay Bailey, Lucy Sabini, Maree Nardone, Marisa Bianco, Michelle Odedina, Mike Ziemer, NCT 127, NXNE Festival, Oh, Weatherly, Pat McCloskey, Poppy, Rachel Martin, Robbie Peacock, Rockstar Disrupt Festival, Sad Summer Festival, Sarah Goldstein, Sasha Camacho, So What?!

Music Festival, Superego, The Driver Era, The Great Escape, Twenty One Pilots, Vaughn McManus, Vince Staples, Violet Days, Walk The Moon, & Yorke

STAFF ALBUM REVIEWS WALLOWS - NOTHING HAPPENS This album has changed my life so much! It is beyond relatable for growing up and escaping adolescence. It is an Indie/Alternative album and is such an amazing album altogether. This album is phenomenal and everyone should check it out! Every song is amazing, but my favorites are “Remember When,” “Ice Cold Pool,” and “What You Like!”

- Lindsey Dadourian

HATE DRUGS - TSUNAMI SOUL I It really grew on me since it was a bit different from their previous album. It also showed that it would be a good prequel for their first album Tsunami Soul ll which came out in 2017. My favorite songs off the album were “Lover Boy,” “So Cruel,” “Drive Me Crazy,” and “Out of Touch.” People should really check this album and this band out because they have a unique sound that blends all of their inspirations together. The album is raw and warm when the theme of the album is falling in love with someone. With red being the album cover color, you can feel nothing but warmth from this album!

- Zachary Sanders

TYLER, THE CREATOR - IGOR Tyler’s continued growth in artistry was taken to new heights on this album.

Through masterful production and emotionally puncturing lyrics, Tyler put together one of the best breakup albums of the decade, each song representing a different stage of a breakup. People should check this album out because not only does it tell a great story, but it creates a whole world that Tyler invented for the listener. The whole album is cohesive and ordered strategically to the point that you can analyze what part of the breakup he’s going through in each song. The whole album is great, but my favorites are “NEW MAGIC WAND,” “I THINK,” and “I DON’T LOVE YOU ANYMORE.”

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- Michael Cottone

AJR - NEOTHEATER Being a band of twenty-somethings, AJR writes songs relevant to the young adults in their fan-base. The song lyrics in Neotheater tell stories of the good and bad of growing up, and it’s all very relatable. The music, all selfproduced by the band, is fresh and fun alternative/pop music, while also showing how much they’ve matured since their last album, The Click. They were able to bring in nostalgic bits of instrumentals and vocals throughout the album and mash it together with the modern style of hip hop beats, creating something unique and exciting. AJR is constantly reinventing and outdoing themselves within their music, and Neotheater is an incredible demonstration of that. Favorite songs of the album: “Next Up Forever,” “Karma,” & “Dear Winter.”

- Rebekah Witt

LEWIS CAPALDI - DIVINELY UNINSPIRED TO HELLISH EXTENT Being a relatively new artist on US charts, the album showcases so much of what Capaldi can do and leaves you begging for more. Each song is a new story that many can relate to if life has ever dragged you into a corner. He keeps each track a very much real reflection of how it can feel to lose someone important to you and I personally think that’s extremely important because so many people feel like they’re going through those types of situations alone. My favorite songs are: “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” “Fade,” “Bruises,” and “Someone You Loved.”

- Carlynn Young

BADFLOWER - OK, I’M SICK This album was highly anticipated as it was their first to put out as a band following their Temper EP. Every song has such a raw authenticity to it with powerful meanings underneath guitar riffs. This album for sure gave listeners everything they were hoping for and more, with songs that dove head first into difficult topics such as self-medicating, depression and anxiety, abuse, politics, and the overall current state of morality in the population. My favorite songs off of the album would have to be “Heroin,” “Ghost,” “Die,” and “Wide Eyes.” Overall every aspect of this album is incredible and I would highly recommend it!

- Aubree Estrella

CATFISH AND THE BOTTLEMEN THE BALANCE It’s a nice short album that really engages the audience from start to finish. It feels like an Indie Rock album that cuts away from the clique metaphors and just gets to the point. “Sidetrack” is one of my favorite songs on the album and has been stuck in my head since its release. As a band I think they’ve always aimed to be a stadium act and this album is another step in the right direction. The album also sounds fabulous on vinyl, the digital version doesn’t do it justice.

- Sethen Sheehan-Lee

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FIRST IN FLIGHT Photography | Angela Smith Words | Samantha Toy

The Bay Area is known for the most memorable tourist spots like the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and Chinatown, but it’s also well-known for some of the biggest artists and most well-known venues in the music scene. For example, Third Eye Blind, Green Day, Journey, and The Story So Far have all risen from this area and the upcoming band First in Flight is the next band to make this area proud.

Meet the four-piece that makes up First in Flight: Pat McCloskey (vocalist, keys), David Topete (bass), Richard Mier (guitar), and Max Huss (drummer). Back in November of 2015, Richard and David said, “We can do this” as they looked at each other during a concert. These two best friends brought different aspects to the group; David had the attitude and focus for it while Richard had the high energy and the passion for playing guitar. While the first half of the band was complete, they knew they wanted to bring more people to the band.

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A few weeks later of writing music, they needed a drummer to add in the sick beats and they eventually found Max. He’s described by the band as a “child prodigy,” and “bottle of sunshine” which is actually true if you met him. After the three-piece were creating music and eventually finding their modern age of neo-80s rock sound, they still wanted to expand.

The next phase of finding a final member was almost complete. Pat moved from the East Cost to California in hoping to join a new band. As soon as his plane arrived in the Bay Area, he was on a hunt and eventually found First in Flight. The moment Pat finished his audition, Max yelled out, “You’re in” and the lineup was finalized.

Once Pat chimed in, it was time for the band to make history.

After First in Flight became a four-piece, they started releasing music, promoting their band online and around the Bay Area, and booking shows in the vicinity.

Since they’ve all been in bands previously, these processes weren’t new to them, so they knew exactly how promote their band.

They eventually released their first track, “Syringe,” and then followed up with a three track EP, Dalliance, a few months later. First in Flight has been on airplay on the Kevin Klein Live Morning Show and ALT105.3 Radio which are two common stations out here in San Francisco.

Throughout the year of 2018, after they released Dalliance in April, they also dropped another killer song called ‘Never Alone.’ They played a handful of shows all over the West Coast, with Unlikely Heroes, Fritz Montana, Chin Up Kid, and Septacy.

So far in 2019, First in Flight has continued to play shows all over California and

release another track to their dedicated fan base. Their latest single “Chopsticks and Champagne” dropped on June 7, 2019, and you should definitely check it out!

If you’re looking to check out another band, First in Flight is the perfect choice! While they are still continuing to expand their name out there in the music world, you also can join their street team which currently spreads across 20 states and 4 countries. The more you promote their music, the better chance you have for them to play in your area! This is still the beginning for the guys and they’re ready to show the world all the talent they have. You can follow them on social media and their website at firstinflightband.com.

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SUPEREGO Interview by Sethen Sheehan-Lee

In the last twelve months you changed your band’s name from Pow! Negro to Superego, what was the reason behind the name change?

Well Pow! Negro was like my MC name; the band came about through me getting a gig and having the guys play the music for me. Then we became more of a band rather than just a solo with a backing band, so we decided I’m still MC Pow! Negro but

be looking at Funk music and Jazz. We didn’t really decide to sound like anyone in particular it just kind of happened. We didn’t intend it to be really rocky either, it just came out like that because of the instruments we knew how to play.

How has the rise of streaming services such as Spotify affected the way you release or even create music as an artist?

the band’s name is Superego.

In this era the argument could be made that albums

Your style of hip hop is quite unique and vastly different compared to other bands in the Perth scene. Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

fact the artist isn’t making good art but more so the

It’s pretty weird and It’s pretty different because there are five of us in the band and everyone has different influences but definitely a lot of beat makers like; Flying Lotus, LP, Tyler the Creator, Odd Future, Jay Miller. You know its super broad. Death Grips as well, J-peg Mafia, Tame Impala, heaps of

aren’t as powerful as they used to be. Not from the fact that consumers don’t have the attention span to listen to a whole album all the time. There’s so much music out there that it’s really hard to digest it all. For us, we’ve only released EPs and singles so I think that may be more digestible for people.

In this age you can kind of just keep releasing singles and say it gets “hype” for two months and starts dropping off, then you release another single. You can keep doing that until you essentially

stuff you know.

release an album of singles.

A lot of our older stuff was sampled, so we’d even

For us, we’ve almost finished recording our second

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EP, in another week we will get it mixed but after that we will be creating an album. It will be interesting to try and think about how we are actually going to make it work. Spotify has made so much music accessible so now it’s become a super “more, more, more” industry.

It’s hard because you have to consistently release stuff to be relevant and constantly aware of everything. For us, we’re just going to keep putting out stuff we enjoy.

Perth is one of the most isolated cities in the world, how does this affect the way you can tour and connect with fans interstate or even overseas?

We have drawn a lot of our audience online but more so our live shows have become the biggest promoter of our music.

It’s really hard because Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney all have that direct access so they can all tour relatively cheaply and easily while hitting all the major capitals but at the same time Tame Impala (who were formed in Perth) are arguably Australia’s biggest band at the moment.

It hasn’t been easy, particularly because there’s a lot of people in our band so it’s not cheap to fly over east.

We are also kind of lucky because were so isolated the influence is unique and the output is unique.

There are a lot of bands here that are very special to Perth. It’s often very noticeable when we go over or other bands go over, it’s very different to the east coast and that’s a good thing. It’s also harder because we don’t have as many connections, so you have to work harder to make those. For us we’ve been pretty lucky with management and stuff, so we’ve had good

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connections to play shows and festivals but also our music

people to be open to lots of different genres of music and

is pretty different to a lot of stuff which is coming out

it brings it back to the community. The exclusion of drugs

in Australia at the moment. In that regard, finding our

and alcohol is also interesting because once you turn

audience has been hard because there’s a lot of people

eighteen drugs and alcohol become such a massive part

who might be interested in what we do but might not go

of socializing, then the music at a festival just becomes

to the things we play.

background music. Obviously, there are people who go

Many venues in Perth only host over 18s events which means younger music fans are often left out. Today you’re playing a free all ages music festival, how important do you think it is to have more events like this in our city?

to festivals just to hear the music but in my experience at mainstream Triple J festivals, people are just there to get cooked.

The HQ is important because it’s pretty much the only consistent all ages venue in Perth. There are a few others but they haven’t been around for as long and HQ is open

It’s so important man, this is probably one of the most

pretty much every week. This festival in particular, like the

important music festivals because it encourages young

line-up is sick. There are some really good bands playing

people to be involved in music. This festival encourages

and its free. I never got exposed to that when I was younger

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original instrumental, it’s a really heavy song. I was thinking what I could write about that’s heavy and gets the best out of this beat instead of talking about cliché rap stuff.

Not that gun violence or selling crack is cliché because for some people that’s a real reality but for me it’s not.

Its an intensively aggressive song so I thought about how, at the time the #MeToo campaign was coming out and there was a lot of outcry about the way women had been treated for too long. As men it’s our responsibility to acknowledge the problems and work to change these problems, so that’s how the song started.

The song is written in two parts, the first part is about embodying that toxic masculinity and the second part is looking at it from an African or colored perspective.

Where I grew up, south of Fremantle I had some really close friends who were Sudanese. The way people of color, especially migrants are accepted into Australia there is a predominate way of toxic masculinity. If you are a secondrate citizen in a sense the only way you can prove yourself is by indulging yourself in those cultures of trying to “one up” each other and indulge in that toxic-ness. Particularly for those kids it’s extreme detrimental because a lot of those people end up in prison.

It was about talking to those people because these issues are destroying our community. It’s about not being able to so I think the more we have this type of thing going on it can only benefit the culture and the scene. It’s also hard because marketing for younger people is difficult, unless you have direct contact with schools it’s not easy at all.

There are so many people who I think would love this shit but just don’t know about it. It could also be that it’s too far away for people to travel, maybe there needs to be

express yourself in an emotional way because that’s seen as weakness.

It’s that we don’t have femininity and we are only masculine because we are men and I don’t believe that’s true at all. Women have a masculine side to them, and men have a feminine side to them, it’s a duality. It’s about

more stuff in Fremantle or maybe inland a bit more.

balancing that and ultimately it comes down to overall

In one of your latest releases “Flesh off the Bone” you tackle some pretty deep issues.

Would you mind explaining the story behind this song and why you felt it was important to talk about these issues?

oppressing other people. We don’t have to live like that

gender equality and being free with who you are while not anymore.

Particularly for people who are under privileged, it much harder to fight or acknowledge that because the reality is harder.

For “Flesh off the Bone”, our guitarist Lachie made the

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FESTIVAL SEASON Happy summer! With the hot days, come the cool music festivals. This year, we’ve covered different fests all around the world. Check out the galleries we’ve put together here and then find even more photos via the links to our website!

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So What?! Music Festival. . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Great Escape. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

NXNE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Canadian Music Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Rockstar Disrupt Festival. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sad Summer Festival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Photo | Chelsea Miller

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SO WHAT?!

MUSIC FESTIVAL Photography | Chelsea Miller

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Houston, TX | April 27-28, 2019

Check out our full coverage here: https://bit.ly/331j0UH

Check out our full coverage here: https://bit.ly/339N5Bw

THE GREAT Photography | Dan Landsburgh

ESCAPE

Brighton, UK | May 9-11, 2019

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NXNE Photography | Mohamad Agha

Toronto, ON | June 14-16, 2019

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Check out our full coverage here: https://bit.ly/2Kbp2cL

Check out our full coverage: https://bit.ly/2MqFoRk

Photography | Martha Segovia

CANADIAN MUSIC WEEK

Quebec, ON | May 6-12, 2019

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R O C K S TA R

DISRUPT F E S T I VA L Photography | Kristen Zarra

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Holmdel, NJ | July 6, 2019

Check out our full coverage of two dates here: https://bit.ly/2YuqThC https://bit.ly/2YwnfnA

SAD SUMMER

FESTIVAL

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Photography | Jenna Whalen Chicago, IL | July 24, 2019

Check out our full coverage: https://bit.ly/2LQPf3n

OH,

WEATHERLY Photography & Words | Kristen Zarra

Oh, Weatherly is a five-piece

alternative rock/pop-punk band from Dallas, TX consisting of Blake Roses (vocals), Angel Bedoy (rhythm guitar), Reece Alan (lead guitar), Colton Lakey (drums), and Beau Harris (bass). Blake formed the band in 2015 with two former members and released their debut EP Long Nights and Heavy Hearts in December of 2015.

Shortly after,

Oh, Weatherly was signed onto We Are Triumphant, re-released the EP and played the So What?! Music festival in October of 2016 and March of 2017.

In

October

of

2017,

they

signed onto Hopeless records where they released their second EP, Make You Bright. Following the release, they went on tour in January-February 2018, and played the July 8th date of Vans Warped Tour ’18 in Houston, TX. They went on to open for Mayday Parade for their Welcome to Sunnyland tour that fall. Oh, Weatherly’s debut full length album, Lips Like Oxygen, produced

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by Jonathan Lundin, Brady Szuhaj and coproduced by Jake Bundrick (Mayday Parade), was released in July 2018.

Lips Like Oxygen is well written,

both lyrically and instrumentally, delivering catchy choruses you find yourself singing along to. Although the songs on the album have a predominantly upbeat emotion, the lyrics reflect an up and down relationship that listeners can relate to. A few standout tracks are “Here Tonight,” “Burned Out,” and “Dark of the Night.” The leading single, “Here Tonight,” opens the LP with upbeat guitar riffs, high energy and shows off Roses’ incredible vocals/falsettos.

It immediately

draws listeners in, leaving them wanting more. “Burned Out” showcases the strong lyric writing, with lines like “Strike the match and don’t think twice, Break me down to get you high” and “The heart on my sleeve is your favorite outfit, So burn all the clothes I left in your closet.” Following those, “Dark of The Night” has a melancholy sound, focusing on the struggle with one’s mental health.

Listeners can feel the emotion being brought to life through the vocal performance. Also, it brings together those going through difficult times, showing them they are not alone.

Oh, Weatherly released their latest

EP Lips Like Oxygen: Reimagined, a new acoustic take on three songs off their first LP, in April. Lips Like Oxygen: Reimagined features “You Were The Letdown (Chasing California),” “Without My Ring (I Think I Want You),” and “We’re Doing Fine (Dark of the Night).” Despite only being released for a short time, there has been an abundance of positive feedback. Oh, Weatherly finished up their tour with Boys of Fall and Never Loved in April, and then played two Texas dates of the Sad Summer Festival. Keep an eye out on ohweatherly.com for future announcements!

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VERACIOUS MAGAZINE NCT 127 PHOTOGRAPHY | ANGELA SMITH

VERACIOUS MAGAZINE

POPPY PHOTOGRAPHY | REBEKAH WITT

VERACIOUS MAGAZINE JASON MRAZ PHOTOGRAPHY | EMILY FREYA

VERACIOUS MAGAZINE

GRANDSON PHOTOGRAPHY | MOHAMAD AGHA

VERACIOUS MAGAZINE JULIA MICHAELS PHOTOGRAPHY | DOUG KRANTZ

VERACIOUS MAGAZINE

THE DRIVER ERA PHOTOGRAPHY | EMMA SILVERSTONE

VERACIOUS MAGAZINE VINCE STAPLES PHOTOGRAPHY | JAKE LEMOINE

VERACIOUS MAGAZINE WALK THE MOON PHOTOGRAPHY | MARIE NEWBY

VERACIOUS MAGAZINE TWENTY ONE PILOTS PHOTOGRAPHY | REBEKAH WITT

VERACIOUS MAGAZINE

ANDREW MCMAHON IN THE WILDERNESS PHOTOGRAPHY | EMMA SILVERSTONE

VIOLET DAYS Photography | Daaron Donohue Words | Samantha Toy

Do you know the names that go by Avicii, Zara Larsson, Tove Lo, Swedish House Mafia, or Max Martin?

How about the songs, “Levels” or “Wake Me Up” (Avicii), “Lush Life” (Zara Larsson), “Don’t You Worry Child” (Swedish House Mafia), “Talking Body” (Tove Lo)? I’m sure you’ve heard it on the radio at least once. Try looking them up on Google or Spotify! Ringing any bells? Still have no clue what I’m saying? Okay, how about the top songs called, “As Long As You Love Me” (Backstreet Boys), “Blank Space” (Taylor Swift), “California Gurls” (Katy Perry), “Can’t Stop The Feeling” (Justin Timberlake)? Now I’m sure you’re know what I’m saying. Well, Avicii, Tove Lo, Swedish House Mafia, Zara Larsson, and the brilliant songwriter behind the number one songs, Max Martin, all hail from the European country, Sweden!

I bet some of you were surprised they were from Sweden, right? In my

opinion, Sweden is underrated when it comes to music. These incredible musicians and songwriters have changed the music industry for the better and without their remarkable talent, I don’t think the world would be the way it is today without them.

While we are talking about the incredible talent from Sweden, I can name another Swedish group who have been taking the United States by storm. Meet Violet Days: Lina Hansson, a songwriter, vocalist and top liner, and her talented partner and producer, Kris Eriksson. These two are known for working on the track, ‘Paris,’ by The Chainsmokers. They have also worked with many electronic producers, infusing the music with pop melodies to help shape some of the biggest tracks in the last five years. Since then, Violet Days has amassed over 17 million Spotify streams to date!

Lina was always surrounded by

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music throughout her childhood as she grew up in a musical family. At the age of 13, she started to write her own songs and that was when her career officially began as a long life musician. Back then, she was into Modern Rock from artists like Avril Lavigne and Paramore, but then she ended up drifting back into pop music. She started going by the name Violet Days for a really long time—she wanted a name that was meaningful to her but also something that can stick with her throughout her musical career. “I started thinking about what names I have in my family and I thought about my Grandmother’s name, Viola. I have always loved that name, so that inspired me to call myself Violet, too, and I added Days so that it would feel like a First and a Last name. I also really liked the idea of an alter ego persona, so that’s how Violet Days was born,” she explained in another interview.

As for Kris, he and Lina connected many years ago through his brother, Fredrik back home in Sweden. Kris has always played the guitar and he grew up listening to artists like Michael Jackson and Beach Boys, and he still jams out to them

today! He and Fredrik showed up at one of Lina’s first shows awhile back and she ended up looking for a new guitar player shortly after, so he decided to reach out and they instantly connected. Years later, they’re still working together!

Within the past few years, Violet Days has been getting bigger and bigger around the world.

Not only have they released some killer tunes like “Suck At Love,” “Your Girl,” and “Addicted,” but they’ve been trying to tour as much as possible.

They’ve hit Sweden, England, and The United States thus far and more countries are to come in the near future. Violet Days has also been receiving a huge following as they’ve opened up for The Midnight around the US, and it’s clear they’ll be playing to bigger crowds whenever they decide to come back.

If you haven’t already, make sure to follow Violet Days, on social media and check out their website for future tour dates, music, and more!

Even though they’re still progressing, their name will be taking over the Billboard charts and winning more awards by the end of 2020. You don’t want to skip out on them!

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ALEXANDER Photography | Abbie Krider Interview | Carlynn Young

Upon the release of Alexander’s first single “Dirty AF1s,” he caught the eye of singer/songwriter Alec Benjamin who took a chance and placed him as an opener on his tour.

With a sound influenced by several genres, the 24-year-old is ready to hit the ground running and plans to release an abundance of new music soon and can be found again this summer at Lollapalooza in Chicago, Illinois.

We had a chance at to catch up with him in his return his home city of Chicago.

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and so when I got the call that we got it, it was absolutely surreal.

Considering that you’re fairly new to the industry and being introduced to the music scene, what would you say that new fans could expect from your music?

A lot of it. I only have one song out and already so many cool things have happened. I think just a lot more music. I’m putting out a song actually on Friday [April.23.2019] which I’m really excited about.

It’s called “When I Die.” And then after that just consistent songs every 4 to 6 weeks. I don’t know.

I don’t wanna be too pressuring about it. I love writing music, I’m happy to write music if I run out so just consistent music.

So, how has tour been treating you so far?

How does it feel to be back in Chicago?

It feels amazing. I stayed at my parents house the last couple days, recharged. It’s halfway through the tour so I’m considering this a half-time which is nice.

Just got to eat some good food, not sleep on a bus, sleep in a bed... That was tight. I actually don’t mind the bus but it was cool to be in a bed! I was freaking out with how much space there was. I didn’t hit my head when I woke up. That was cool. That was nice.

You’re coming back for Lolla! You’re on the set list. How does that feel?

I am! I grew up going to Lolla! It was like the big thing in Chicago and that was always the dream. I remember the last time that I went, I was like, I really don’t want to come back until I’m playing here. It’s so hard to watch other people do your dream. I’m not a jealous person but it was more of just a goal

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It’s been absolutely incredible. Alec has been awesome, his team has been awesome, and his fans are awesome. I’m going on stage and playing 30 minutes of music that they don’t know and they’ve just been so open to liking it, which as an opener is the most you can ask for. They all give me a shot every night which I’m very grateful for. It’s really cool. I’ve met some really cool people.

With that being said, do you have a favorite moment or memory this far?

I remember that Houston was one of the biggest shows we’ve played and it was packed. It was like 1400 people and then at one point in the set, the lights flipped up and showed that the entire balcony was full too and I was like “oh my god how many of you motherfuckers are there here?” So, that was pretty surreal and that happened in a few cities.

That happened actually in Detroit too. Where like, I didn’t even know there was a balcony and then they flipped the lights and I’m like “oh my god, this is a lot”.

With the single that you have released so far, Dirty AF1s, could you tell us a little bit more about that track and what inspired you to write it?

Yeah so she actually left her toothbrush in my bathroom on her way back to New York and that’s the first line of the song and after that the song pretty much wrote itself. Like, some songs take months to get right and it’s such a laborious process… Is that a word? Laborious? It’s definitely not laborious.

That sounds like some kind of laceration. Ah, I’m just kidding! No, but some songs you have to pull out and it’s so painful and brutal. But this one was like three hours and it was over… it existed. I didn’t really touch it after that. What you hear is just a flash in the pan. It’s just the emotion of relieving and feeling all of these feelings.

That’s honestly amazing! Wow. Okay, so what sets you apart from other artists in the industry?

I don’t know, I’d like to think that I’m able to put intangible feelings into tangible words and songs and I hope it’s in a cool way that people can relate to. I’m just a guy and I think people can kind of see that. I think that’s kind of relatable, or at least I hope so. Every song that I write is pretty much explicitly the truth. It’s always stuff that’s happened in the order that they’ve happened. I’m not making stuff up I just am trying to convey emotions into words which sometimes can be super challenging butI think that what sets me apart, is that a lot of people are kind of generalists right now but I think that I feel very comfortable in my song writing voice and I think it allows me to take production risks where it still makes sense. It’s not just doing a hip-hop track just to do it. It still sounds like an Alexander song.

So that’s my answer to that question.

Who are some of your biggest musical inspirations?

As a kid who grew up playing guitar, John Mayer was probably number one, always and probably still is.

I’m a huge Tame Impala fan so Kevin Parker has been a huge influence on my production, especially once I started because I produce the music too. Once I started getting really into that, I became obsessed because those records are just perfect. It’s insane. I just listened to all kinds of music growing up. My dad was super influential on my taste. We listened to a

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bunch of old and cool progressive rock. Supertramp and genesis and stuff like that.

What are your future plans career wise aside from the other song that you’ve mention do you have anything else brewing up that the magazine should look out for?

I wanna go on my own tour soon. I want to eventually be the biggest artist ever so whatever I have to do to make that happen! There’s a lot in my life that I haven’t written about yet that I’m excited to write about as well. So it feels like I’ve just scratched the surface and now I have that itch and I just don’t wanna stop. Putting out that first song was the most incredible thing ever because now I can just always do that and keep doing it.

If you could collaborate with any artist alive or dead, who would it be? Why? Alive or dead? Wow, good plot twist. It’s one hundred percent bad bunny. He is the best artist right now, ever. He’s a generational artist. He’s unbelievable! It’s him.

Amazing. What kind of music would you put out? What would you do?

I don’t know! He can do anything though! Like what I aspire to be as far as having a song writing voice and doing different genres? He’s doing that and it sounds amazing! I don’t know if you’ve heard his whole album but it’s unbelievable. There’s a poppunk track, there’s more ballad songs, there’s Spanish songs. It’s crazy.

A friend of Alexander: It’s that growing up and listening to things that you have you don’t think that you would listen to him. I don’t know, I didn’t think that would be your answer.

He’s my biggest influence right now!

Well first of all I wasn’t expecting that answer either so props to you for being

so musically diverse.

I’m glad! He’s an absolute genius. Oh my god he’s so good. And he writes it all! If you look at the credits it’s all written by just him and sometimes one other writer. Only Tiny produces a lot of it and maybe one more producer I think. It’s not what a lot of hip-hop is today and I’m not saying that’s bad… It’s just my personal take. It aligns more with me as an artist.

Where can fans go to keep up with the things that you’re doing?

I use Instagram the most. If you wanna be involved in my life in a more day-to-day way, I’d say Instagram but I do love twitter. It’s not as informative about me. It’s more so random shit, so, if you’re looking for a serious and consistent involvement I’d say Instagram. If you’re looking for splashes every once in awhile then twitter is where you belong. And I’ll see ya there.

I totally feel that. That’s my whole personality in a quote. But my final question for you today is what is one piece of advice you’d give to someone out there trying to break into the music industry?

I get asked this question sometimes and I don’t feel worthy of answering it. I’ve been an artist for, like, a month. But I’ll give it my best answer! For me, things started happened when–and this sounds kind of cliche– things started happening when I stopped caring and I started making music that I like and I started to make things that I wanted to listen to. That’s when things started happening rather than chasing something. Even when you think it’s yourself, if you’re contriving it just do what you wanna do. That’s the quickest way to have shit happen for lack of better way of saying.

That’s honestly really good advice. That’s all the questions that I have for you today but is there anything else you’d like to say to the magazine or fans?

Bad Bunny 2020.

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Photography & Words | Sethen Sheehan-Lee

The last couple of shows you’ve played were in cities that artists often skip on their tours (for example Hobart and here in Perth), have you noticed any difference in the crowd reaction?

I think it’s been incredible, because they probably don’t get that huge exposure to those types of shows often. They have just absolutely embraced it, like kilometer lines (outside the venues). They have been so welcoming to me as well and keep telling me to come back and visit as well. It’s a good experience for me to get in front of people who I probably won’t get to on my own tours any time soon.

I understand you only signed your first record deal in the last year or so, has music been something you’ve been working on since a young age or is it’s a passion that’s developed quickly?

I have been writing songs since I was like 8. I started piano when I was in year 3 and it just sort of came with it because I loved to sing and perform as a child and make up little rhymes, and what not. Once I gained the use of a piano I was just like, oh yeah this is fun and then it just never really stopped and here we are. It’s actually really exciting to see the trajectory and it’s just starting to connect slowly.

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When you first started making music, who were some of your major influences and how do they differ from your current influences?

When I started, I was listening to a lot of what every 8-year-old was listening to at the time, so like Taylor Swift. I grew up listening to a lot of Powder Finger and Bernard Fanning and Silver Chair and Foo Fighters, and I was named after Jeff Buckley’s album Grace so that was in our car a lot. I think pop is a bit different to how it was back then, or my appreciation for it has changed.

So, artist like; Vera Blue, Robinson, Sasha Sloan, they’re heaps because there’s like so much good music out at the moment. I like listening to what’s current in the Indie Pop scene.

Out of those artists, is there anyone who you would really like to collaborate with in the future?

There are heaps of artist’s I’d like to collaborate with, a collaboration I would really like to do is with What So Not. I really love his production and what he brings to a song. Doing a song with Vera Blue would be cool as well.

In your singles “First Light” and “Wake the City,” I feel like there’s a lot of

reference to sense of place. Is there an actual place or location that you find inspirational from?

With “Wake the City,” it was sort of about my love for cities and obviously my name Yorke. I love New York and I get really inspired from like being there and just like how busy it is, and how beautiful it is and there’s so many things to look at and my senses are just going a bit crazy! The name sort of came from that. It hasn’t really been intentional that everything has related to place but like with “First Light,” it creates the version of, like Byron, like in the country and with “Wake the City” it sort of brings it back to where I want to be, like in the city and living there.

On this topic, do you feel like where you grew up effected the type of music you create as an artist?

Not really, I don’t think. I, yeah was sort of free to do whatever I wanted in like my music and I was always inspired by what I was listening too and not really where I was. In saying that I think I grew up in a

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community where I had so much support from everyone and with really beautiful song writing mentors and teachers, and it influenced me that way that I grew a lot and learnt a lot pretty early and had such a really great support network.

I’ve noticed from your social media that you’ve played a couple of festivals over the summer here in Australia.

I jumped up with Kilter because we have a song together, he invited me up for a couple of his shows and it was the first time I’d ever played at a festival, so it was very exciting.

I’ve always been to Splendour (in the Grass) and stuff living in Byron, it was so weird for me I felt so displace being up there when I’ve always been, like the fan in the crowd, but it super exciting.

On that note is there a particular festival you’d really like to play one day and who would feature on your dream festival line-up?

That is hard. Festival I’d like to play is; Lollapalooza would be amazing, Glastonbury as a festival, Coachella obviously every artist’s

dream. I guess in Australia, I’d love to play Splendour.

So, do you think genres are a little bit dead at the moment?

Dream line-up is incredibly hard; Lana Del Ray, Vera Blue, Geoff Buckley if he was alive, Queen if they were around. Pretty much, I don’t listen to a lot of Hip-Pop and I feel like a lot of line-ups are very Hip-Pop based which is where I’m blanking so I’m going to look at my playlist. Billie Eilish would be amazing, Julia Michaels I’m super into at the moment.

I don’t think they’re dead. People have a lot of different appreciation for a lot of different genres and crossing boundaries in music at the moment is what is getting people attention at the moment. So, you look at Billie Eilish at the moment and its different and that is what everyone loves about it as well as obviously her talent, she’s incredible. It’s just blurring the lines and people aren’t specifically like, “genres are dead”.

Amazing song writer, Julia Michaels.

She’s incredible, I’m so inspired by her at the moment.

As a musician do you enjoy the writing and recording part of being an artist or performing and touring part more?

It’s like very early days for me, so I’m just at that phrase were I’m just awestruck by everything, so everything is just amazing to me. I guess I just have such a big appreciation for all of the process and everything that comes with it. I don’t preference anything yet but give it time.

I feel like Pop music is in somewhat of an expansive period at the moment because there are very few artists who just stick to one genre of music, so as a new artist in this era how do feel your music fits into the huge spectrum of genres that occupy main stream music and do you believe genres are dead?

I think it fits quite well in the Indie Pop realm, it’s slightly alternative through the organicness of it. It obviously pretty Pop as well, I don’t think I’m ever going to branch out into Hip-Pop or anything. I guess I will definitely play around with it and keep experimenting with it and see what happens in the future but right now its sitting pretty nicely in the Indie Pop realm which is what I like to listen to as well.

So far in your career as a musician what has been your biggest achievement and looking to the future what are some of your goals?

I have always wanted to play big shows, so this tour (the Painkiller Tour) has honestly been one of the career highlights for me.

Playing in front of like two thousand people is insane and super exciting, so I’ve been loving that. Jumping up on festivals has been great as well, but also a highlight for me has been seeing things slowly start to connect. It’s weird but amazing, I’m very grateful for it.

Finally, what message would you like to leave for your fans?

I think my music is really open and honest from my own bank of what goes on in my own world by what I’m influenced by, like friend’s stories or what I’m reading. So, I think if I was to have a legacy it would just be that it’s okay to be super honest and open and it’s your story to tell so don’t feel that you have to hide certain things.

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