Pillowsnake: An Interview

by Jack Robinson

Earlier this year, I stumbled onto an artist from Texas named Pillowsnake. He makes music that varies from outsider art, to noise, to vaporwave and even touches the Texas tradition of chopped and screwed music. I reached out to him for an interview to discuss topics such as his new EP Inoutinoutinoutinout, hopeful future collaboration, and Snakes as well. What follows below is out exchange of messages through Facebook.

Alright so tell me, how did Pillowsnake come about/what got you to start making music?

Making music in general, or making music as Pillowsnake? Cause the Pillowsnake name dates back to like 2 or 3 months ago. I've been making music since I started playing the guitar, since I was about 13. I started doing the style of music I do now about a year and a half ago.

What was the spark that made you change up your style?

Well, prior to the stuff I was doing, I was more rock based in approach. Like, I was playing in real small metal and punk bands. I think the moment that made me change up everything was when I heard Tobacco for the first time. I heard his album Maniac Meat, and it completely changed my perception of a lot of musical aspects. His art style was so appealing, and he's just making all these crazy sounds that sound so amazingly heavy. When I found out he did all of that himself with just some keyboards and samplers, I dropped all my shit, downloaded some sampling software and went crazy with it. A year and a half later, here I am.

Damn. That's an excellent gateway to my second question. What type of equipment do you use?

I am very minimal as far as my set up goes. My main composition tool is the app G Stomper Studio. I feel like as long as you have a good sampler or app that acts as one, you can pretty much make any sound you want, as long as you're willing to take the time to warp it.

As far as other instrumentation, my main guitar is this Fender Strat lookalike I got years ago for $100. I run it through a Peavy Viper amp, with various effects and such. I run both guitars and vocals into that amp when I record.

Do you think you'll want to move to a more rigorous setup or do you like keeping it minimal?

At the moment, I'm very comfortable with what I'm working with. That being siad, no great art comes out of comfort. I may add more tools and equipment in the near future, but nothing's ever planned.

Interesting, do you find it hard to balance time between school and music?

Oh yes indeed. It's something that I do cause I want to, so it's not too hard to maintain, like working out or staying sober. But there are obstacles to it. I'm taking 18 credit hours at the moment, so 6 classes. Right now, I'm in the middle of finals and have been focusing on just finishing up, so it's been consuming my time. But during breaks and vacations, I work on music and other creative stuff.

So, what can you tell people about your newest record?

Inoutinoutinoutinout is a 15 minute EP that is hard to explain even by me. But if y'all must know, it's pretty much a mix of a lot of the stuff I've heard these couple of months. So there's elements of crazy pop music, like PC Music type beats, and even some Houston style rapping. But with guitar solos and noisy stuff over it. It's like if Beck made his first record in 2017, rather than in the 90's.

Do you plan on touring with this newest EP and the other releases this year or do you plan on making more music?

I've never been on an actual tour, but I do play sporadically in my area. I feel like my strong suit is in recording, so I want to just write some great songs and be heard. I can't tell you too many details about my upcoming projects. Let me just say, I am working with some new collaborators and may release some new music within late December/early January.

Oh, late year hype! Too bad you'll get snubbed for a Grammy for releaseing material so late. So what's your process for doing live material?

Hahaha, didn't want to lose to Ed Sheeran anyway.

My live performances are progressively becoming better to watch. I try to just hype up the crowds whenever I can. I mainly just sing and play guitar over backing tracks, but I'm trying to incorporate more live instrumentation in the near future.

So, would you eventually want to recruit a band? Or would you want less than that?

Maybe a drummer. I don't know about a band. A lot of these tracks are made on a sampler, so a live DJ and a drummer may just be what I'm looking for at the moment. I really don't want to go full Death Grips, but I just might for all I know, hahaha.

So, I know we've talked about this in minor detail, but what were your thoughts about the show you did where it was perceived as an anti-violence protest?

It was the most fun I've ever had on stage lol For those that son't know, I played a house show in late October, performing some newer unreleased tracks and cuts from my record Versace Rigamortis. I told the organizer of the event "you know what would be cool to do? What if I had a huge pillow fight during my set?" It was a one-off comment I made a week before the show, but the guy pulled through. 30 seconds into the first song, I see he and his friend bringing out about 6 or 7 pillows. He then preceded to throw them around in the audience of about 40 people. So it was about 40 people beating the shit out of each other with pillows to my music. Ever tried playing guitar while pillows are being thrown at you? It's hard not to smile and fuck up lol Anyway, I overheard after the set some woman saying how this was a great anti-violence protest statement. Trying to place political connotation to my actions I'm glad that's what she got out of it, cause I just wanted to beat the shit out of people with pillows lol

So what artists would you like to collaborate with in the future?

I got a few dream collabs I'd wanna throw out there: St. Vincent, Snoop, Laurel Halo, Tobacco, Sophie. There's a long list which are pretty much my fave artists, but here's just a tip of the iceberg.

What's your favourite snake?

lmao, I really like the cute baby ones. Amongst the adults, I really like cobras and black mambas. I like the cute babies and the dangerous adults, I suppose.