BiB: Gavin Turek – “I Was Ready to Quit—Now I’m All In”: The Making of Her Boldest Album
What happens when an artist steps away from their craft, finds themselves again, and returns with a renewed sense of joy and creative purpose? On this episode of Bringin’ It Backwards, host Adam Lisicky reconnects with the incomparable Gavin Turek, just weeks after the release of her brand-new album, Diva of the People.
It’s been three years since Gavin first joined the show to talk about her debut album, Madam Gold—a time shaped by struggle, transformation, and the challenges of releasing music during the pandemic. In this candid conversation, Gavin shares how that era left her exhausted and questioning her path, leading her to take a much-needed break, travel abroad, and rediscover her passion for music on her own terms.
We dig into her journey growing up in LA surrounded by art, the all-in hustle of commuting to an arts high school, and how early MySpace connections shaped her career. Gavin opens up about fully trusting her vision, the power of working with new collaborators, and why Diva of the People marks both a return to her dance-focused roots and a reclaiming of the joy that first drew her to music.
If you’ve ever wondered how to keep your creative fire burning—especially through burnout, setbacks, and the pressure to conform—this episode is for you. Don’t miss Gavin’s inspiring advice for aspiring artists, her behind-the-scenes look at the indie album process, and her honest reflections on what it takes to sound exactly the way you hear yourself in your mind.
Listen now, subscribe, and be sure to follow us at @BringinBackPOD for more stories that bring you closer to the artists and music you love.
We'd love to see you join our BiB Facebook Group.
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What is going on? It is Adam. Welcome back to Bringing It Backwards, a podcast
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where both legendary and rising artists tell their own personal
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stories of how they achieve stardom. On this episode,
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we had a chance to catch up with Gavin Turek over
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Zoom Video. It was over three years ago since
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we had Gavin Turek on the podcast. Last time she was on,
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we chatted about Madame Gold. The album hadn't even came out
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yet at the time we chatted. So it was really cool to kind of pick
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up where we left off with Madame Gold and hear what
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Gavin's been up to since then. She talks a lot about
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this new album and kind of taking a break between
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Madam Gold and this new album and how that really
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helped her find herself again and find her love for the music.
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So we hear all about the new album that Gavin just released called
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Diva of the People. And you can watch our interview with Gavin on
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our Facebook page and YouTube channel at bringing it Backwards. It'd be amazing.
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If you subscribe to our channel, like us on Facebook, follow us
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on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok at bringing back pod.
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And if you're listening to this on Spotify, Apple Music, Google
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podcasts would be incredible. If you follow us there as well
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and hook us up with a five. Star review, we'd appreciate
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your support. If you follow and subscribe to our podcast, we're. Wherever you listen
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to podcasts, we're Bringing. It Backwards with Gavin
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Turek.
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Bringing it backwards.
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Bringing it backwards. Bringing it backwards.
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Bringing it backwards. Bringing it backward.
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Bringing it backward. Hi, Gavin. How are you?
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I'm good. How are you? I am great. Thank you so much for doing
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this. Yeah, of course. Well, it's great to see
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you. I had you on this like three years ago. I remember. Yeah, I
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remember. I was in New York. Yeah, it's crazy. It's been that long. I
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couldn't believe it when I was like, there's no way it's been three.
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Three years. But it was literally in September of 21.
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Yeah. Yeah, I know. It's. It's weird. Time just goes
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by really fast. Yeah. I think Madam Gold had
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maybe not came. It was about to come out. I think at the time.
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Oh, really? It hadn't come out yet. I don't. Yeah, I think we were talking
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about it. It was about to come out. Or maybe it was. It came out
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when we released it. I can't remember. But yeah, that was a while ago.
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So long ago. Yeah, that was. It feels
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like so much life has happened to
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me. That's awesome. Because I'm excited to hear all about it.
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That's what I want to kind of catch up on and see what's been going
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on over the last few. Totally.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we. Usually it's about you and your journey in music,
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but we kind of already got your story up until 21
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last time we spoke. But maybe we can just recap real quick, just
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a little bit, and then get into this, this new
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album. Awesome. So you were born and raised in la.
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Yeah. Which is. We were talking about how it's
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not many of us. I mean, I was born and raised in San Diego, but
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la, same thing. Not. Not a lot of people are actually
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from Southern California.
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Exactly. Yeah. We're so lucky. We're
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really lucky. And you grew up, you grew up kind of around the industry,
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right? Mom is a singer and. Yeah,
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mom's an actor and singer.
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Dad is not in the industry technically, but
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he's a musician, so he did. Piano player, right?
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Yeah, yeah, piano. And
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yeah, definitely grew up with the industry.
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Like in my kind of everyday life and experience
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in a way that probably isn't typical, but actually so typical
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for a lot of LA kids. I think so. Yeah,
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definitely, like normalized
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to me. Sure. All the, all the
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dysfunction, all the craziness.
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Yeah, it was definitely just like everyday,
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everyday life for me. That's cool. Yeah, you did,
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you went to an art school and everything, right? I think. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I
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went to arts high school. Yeah, Arts high school, which
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is similar to what people know as like the Fame High school
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in New York. Oh, really? Yeah,
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yeah. So that's our sister high school. And so our, our
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whole format is modeled exactly the same. Like we have
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basically the same model and same format. Yeah. That's really interesting. I
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didn't know that. Yeah, yeah, it's really cool. Not a lot of people know that,
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but it's a great, It's a great school. It still exists.
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It's super small and I think they're struggling probably
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financially just to keep it up and to keep the quality. But
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yeah, it was, it was so incredible and like,
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very, very, very special because it kind of set
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me on this path of
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learning to work hard and kind of sacrifice for your art
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at such a young age. Like, I was getting up at. I probably told you
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this. I was getting up at four in the morning every morning to go to
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school. Oh, no, you didn't. You didn't tell me that. Yeah, to
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commute two hours there, two hours back.
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Yeah. So it. But that was normalized again because
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that's what most of the kids were doing. And,
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and it was so ingrained in me, like this is worth
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it. This is worth the uncomfortability and like
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worth worth the time and the effort
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because I get to do my art. So. Yeah, that was
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instilled in me. Yeah. You were going as a dance
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major, correct? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And how were
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your parents driving you to school? Two hours out and two hours
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back? Or is there a bus system? Like how. How do you. Yeah, it
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was, it was wild. So bas. I would, I would leave
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my house. At what time would I. So I guess I would wake
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up at 4:30. I would leave my house at 5:30 to drive to the
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train and then. Oh wow, you would take the train?
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Yeah, I would catch the train at 6 and then we would get
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to Union station in downtown LA around like
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7:15, 7:30. And then all the kids that went to Union
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Station would then take a bus to. To our campus.
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Yes. Oh my God. School would start at 8 o', clock. So.
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Yeah, that is wild. And then you'd have to take the bus home. I mean,
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take the train, take the. Whole thing, do the whole thing again home. Oh man.
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Were there a lot of kids that like, I mean. Oh, I guess you're in
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high school, that's that age, but still, I mean, 14, 15.
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To be able to do that trek by yourself. Were there a lot of
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kids around the area? Like did you meet your friends like on the train and
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then. Yeah, yeah. It wasn't as scary as it
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sounds. Like we were super young. But a lot of kids
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were doing it. Like most, most of the kids were being
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bused or trained in from all over the county. So that's why it's such a
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special school because. Because it was
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art focus. You had to audition to get in. And then
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it wasn't based on anything but your talent. So a
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lot of kids that were from, for example, like
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Beverly Hills, like so rich kids and then kids from,
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you know, Compton, like everybody was. It was such a melting
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pot. I was all the way from, you know, Santa Clarita, but it was such
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a melting pot and it didn't really matter where you came
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from, where your background, what your background was, if you were
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wealthy, if you were not, you know, like we were all in there
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together. And even when it
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came to like popularity and stuff, it was, it was
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based on talent. Like if you were talented, you
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like the most would be the most popular. Most popular person.
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Yeah, it was all based on, on talent. Yeah, it was
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really, really interesting school it was so. It was amazing.
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Yeah. And especially with the fact that you mentioned, like, Beverly Hills,
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like, you couldn't buy your way in. It wasn't like. No. Oh, yeah.
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Like, oh, well, my mom is, you know, the executive
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producer at Paramount or whatever, so we're gonna buy our way in. But if
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you didn't have the talent, it was. Sure there was. I'm sure there was
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that going on. Like, that's. I don't know. That's probably.
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Well, maybe if you aren't good, you weren't gonna be popular. Right, right. It was
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like. No. Yeah. Among, like, in terms of, like,
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social, cultural, like, amongst
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the. The kids. Yeah, yeah. It was all about talent. All.
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That's crazy. Yeah. So did you end up going to college for dance
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and stuff, too, or. No, no, technically, I did not.
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I went to college for. I
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was a hu. I was under the humanities department, but I created my own major,
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so I incorporated dance and the arts. But it was.
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Yeah, I was kind of doing a mixture of
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religious studies, art history, and then performing arts. Oh,
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okay. Yeah. Yeah. I just didn't know because it sounds like. I mean, that was
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a big part of your. Yeah. Obviously your life. You know, I. I
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danced all throughout college, but I. I wasn't majoring in it. Yeah. So,
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okay. With your songwriting, though, that didn't come. I mean, you. You.
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You told me in the first interview that you wrote your first song at, like,
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6 years old. I mean, so it was always kind of a part of you
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and melodies and. Yeah, but it wasn't until you were
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in college that you really kind of started to focus on
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songwriting, correct? Yeah, yeah. I.
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I always wrote. I always thought that was, like, the most
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organic, natural thing you can do. Just. I didn't
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even think about. I always. I always wrote
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songs. But, yeah, when I got into college,
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and I don't even know what it was, but it was.
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I guess I just had more time alone to
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just mess around on a computer, because I actually had a
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computer. And. Yeah, I guess
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producing is what made it a little bit more
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real for me. And. And I started taking a little bit more
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seriously, like, starting to produce, and then I was like, oh,
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I can make a whole song by myself. Like, this is really
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cool. So. Yeah. Yeah. And then you kind of made a name for yourself,
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like, that way through, what, MySpace, right? Yeah. Yeah.
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I don't know if I want to say a name for myself. Well, I mean,
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you've met people that really like, started to. Yeah,
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yeah. That helps that. Well, tokimon said like, you had the two. Two
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of the biggest records on the. That first. That one EP
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that she put out. Like. Yeah, that's pretty. I think
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wild. Yeah. Two of her most popular songs. It is.
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Whatever, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's crazy.
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Yeah. And that was all just relationships you formed via MySpace?
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Yeah, I mean, I met. I met her through MySpace and
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then I met, like, my first manager through MySpace.
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I connected with my first, like, producer.
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That kind of helped me refine some
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ideas that I was already kind of creating through. Through
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MySpace. Yeah. Yeah. Did you. And
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then you ended up working. I don't know. Maybe you still work with Chris Hards.
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He said he made a bit. He was a big, you know, part of your.
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Your solo career and putting out the. What, the first EP that
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you did and. And obviously, yeah, the
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album Madam Gold was all done. We didn't meet through MySpace, but.
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Yes. Yes. Yeah. Ye. He came after the fact. After you kind of
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put out music yourself. Yeah. Okay.
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So just. Just kind of picking up with Madam Gold. I mean, at the
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time we were in the middle of COVID You were possibly
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going to be playing some shows in October. I don't
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know if the album. I. I don't think the album was out yet.
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And that was kind of where we left off, where it was like, okay,
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this is my new. You. You discuss the album
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as kind of like your new Persona was like, madame Gold
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is my new, like. And you kind of discovered that right through
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2018 into 2020 and. And then going back
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in the studio, recording some songs and adding the interludes and all that stuff.
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But, yeah, so that album comes out and then kind of tell me from
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there, you know, what. You know, what went on. Did you do
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that? Do you do those shows in October? And then kind of. I'm
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like, I don't even remember. Yeah. How does that end up folding into this new
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album? I mean, that's
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a hard, hard question, but I'll try to
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answer. Sorry. I don't know. Maybe
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that album coming out, like. So the album comes out. It's awesome. And then.
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Yeah. Life from there to here. Yeah, it
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was. I think at that time,
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Madam Gold was like a Persona that I
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felt like I needed because I was.
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I was kind of like in this low, like, low
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frequency kind of darker space.
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And Covid definitely exacerbated that. I think a lot of people can
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relate to that. And Madam Gold was like this
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kind of fighter, you know, Persona that I kind of felt
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like I needed to take on. And I
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guess I didn't feel like Gavin was enough. Like, so I kind of
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needed this way to kind of fight
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through the. The time period, fight through the
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feelings that I was having. And, yeah,
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it felt, like, very necessary, I guess, to. To have
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that as a Persona.
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And, yeah, when we released that album,
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it just. It was really different than this release process,
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like, in every way, I guess, because
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again, like, it felt like I had to,
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like, put on these boxing gloves and just every step was, like
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a punch, and every step was, like, slugging through the
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mud and trying to move forward and trying to get this out and.
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And then with just the state of the world, like, it just
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felt like I had to kind of carry, like,
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a lot of weight on my shoulders in order to move forward.
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And I think that came off, like, in
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all the aesthetics, like, in the visuals in any
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interview that I did. Yeah, it was just like
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this. I have to move forward by any means
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necessary kind of attitude. And. And yes,
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we did the shows. Those were the
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challenge. Like, again, it was just, like, kind of moving
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through and carrying this weight and this burden in
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order to, like, move forward and move through it.
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And then once that was kind of done, it was
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out in the world, and I kind of, like, was able to breathe and,
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like, take a step back and reflect on it. I
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realized that as a
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artist and as a vocalist and even as a songwriter,
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I was exhausted and kind of
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uninspired, and I wasn't really sure where to go next.
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Like, I was tired. Yeah, I think I was tired
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and. Because the process of making
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Madam Gold wasn't easy, and the process of releasing Madam Gold
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wasn't easy, I was kind of like, f
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music, you know, Like f. I bet. Yeah. I mean, like,
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you finished the album, right? I think we were
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talking last time, like, all the songs were kind of done in
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2018. Right. And then it was like. I mean. Or
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you had a. Definitely not 2018. Like. No, the songs
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were kind of. I want to say the songs were kind of done maybe
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end of 2019. I was 2019, wanting to.
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Yeah. To, like, move forward with it. Then maybe you had the
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structure of it or something. You had a something of it done maybe by
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2018. Or it was the fact that we had started it.
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Okay. Yeah. And so it was like, just a very long process.
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So it's basically a three year process. Because then you have
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Covid and it's like, you can't you finish it? And it's like, now what? We.
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Yeah. Put it out and just let it sit here or. Yeah, yeah,
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totally. So it was. It was like this long, like, long
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haul kind of process. And then, yeah, once it was
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released, I was just like, man, this is. This was a lot.
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And now I need to reevaluate and acknowledge that I'm not
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in the best space mentally in terms of,
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like, my confidence as an artist and as a songwriter.
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And that. That meant for me just like, taking a
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break. Okay. Focusing on something else for a
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while. I traveled a lot. I was able to travel a
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lot in 2022, which kind of helped
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recalibrate my mind and where it was at and. And just
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again, like, reevaluate. And then
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long story short, at the end of 2022, I had.
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I had been in Italy for a month, and
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I'm not like wealthy or anything, so it wasn't
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like some. It was an amazing trip, but it wasn't
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like I was, you know, on. This vacation, my ties and
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hanging out. On the beach all day. No, no. It wasn't like I was,
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you know, in. Where. Where do the rich people
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go? No, I wasn't that, like, I don't know.
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I don't even know. No. I basically had done
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this, like, somewhat of an exchange because I got someone to rent
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him, rent my apartment in la, and therefore I rented an
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apartment in Italy because I was able to pay my rent. All this
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stuff. So was there for a month and basically just living. I was
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by myself and I was working on
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another project, not music related, and just able to
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just stop thinking about music for a while.
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And when I. And it was really refreshing. And then when I got
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back, I was like, you know what? Let me
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try getting in the studio with someone totally new. Just trying
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to kind of reinvigorate myself
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and start maybe a new project. I didn't really
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know what to expect and I didn't really have any expectations. I was just like,
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it's been a long time since I've tried to create music and I should probably
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try, you know, like, see what it's like to just get back
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in the studio. So I got back in the studio when I. When I
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returned, and I actually had.
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Covid actually got the producer that I got back in the studio with. We both
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got Covid, gave it to him, so. Man,
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sorry. Okay. And then after,
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like, kind of a month of, like, being out
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with COVID me and the producer, we got. We
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tried again, got back in again, and what transpired was
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the beginning of Diva of the People, really.
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Yeah. We ended up writing the majority of Diva
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of the People over the next two months. So like, the very
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end of 2022. It was October in
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November of 2022, and we.
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We. It wasn't final vocals. It was basically we. We created,
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like, probably eight or 10 demos that turned
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into what would be. Yeah, the
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majority of the songs that we would finish and develop for
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Diva the People. So it was, like, really fun.
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It was. It was just fun. I wasn't
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overanalyzing anything. I really
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had this vision of returning to, like, more of a dance
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focus rather than more of, like a funk, R and B.
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Like that. That type of vibe, which is more Madam Gold. I was
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like, I really just want to get out of this, like,
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not only the funk genre, but, like, out of my funk.
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Yeah. Go back to, like, stuff that makes me move,
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stuff that's ready for the dance floor. Like, a sound that
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makes me think of my
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inspirations that were kind of always my inspirations,
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like artists like Robin and Roisin Murphy and
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obviously like Diana Ross and Donna Summer and just kind of taking
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all those influences that have always been there that had kind
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of, like, been, you know, suppressed somewhat or pushed to
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the side somewhat with Madam Gold and just own those again
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and take those back into the studio and take the
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influences of house back into the studio.
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Disco, obviously, soulful
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pop, like Michael Janet, just all of that stuff
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that I had always loved and just say, like, let's
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make fun music. Let's make simple music. Let's let
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me, again, focus more on the songwriting and the
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songs rather than
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the production being so intricate and so,
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like, complex and just kind of go back to the basics
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and get really simple with it. And that's what we did. And it
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just made the process for Diva of the People so
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fun. So reinvigorating.
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Less. Less analytical and more going with, like, my first
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instincts and my natural instincts and, yeah.
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Getting back to, like, the love of. Of those.
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Those types of songs that I kind of grew up listening to that were
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more. More simple and, like, kind of more
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fitting for the masses
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than, like, a niche genre. Like a niche. Be like,
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yeah. Subsective, like, music listeners. I love
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that. And it sounds like, yeah, just going in and kind of having
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no expectation. Yeah, let's just make something
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and. And see where. Yeah. Yeah. And then end up
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rolling the ball pretty quickly into, like. Oh, wow. These
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are all songs that are what have, like, the same, like, through line
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or did you know is going to be starting to become an album or is
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it like, oh, we're just making a lot of cool songs. Yeah, I just. I.
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I didn't think it was going to be an album. I thought, like, maybe we'll
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just do an EP with the. The producer,
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which was Spencer Ludwig. And
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yeah, it wasn't really anything beyond that, but once the ball started rolling
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and I. I felt comfortable enough to
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really take the lead in terms of
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the production and the songwriting and really steer him in the right
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direction. And I was. It felt so good. It
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was like, yeah, this feels. This feels right. And then
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I was able to kind of recruit other producers to fit in with the sound
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that we were kind of already naturally taking. And that was
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in 2023, that we were really able to, like, delve
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deep into that. And
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yeah, it was. It was super, super organic. And I
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want to say, like, by mid 2023, we
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had. We had the songs. Then I started recording
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them, doing the final vocals, final touches.
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It's such a process. Mixing. Mixing, I think
390
00:24:34,450 --> 00:24:37,650
started at the end of 2023, went into 2020,
391
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24, and then. Yeah, and then was out.
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And then it was out last week.
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But it is like, I think.
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I think when you're indy to, the process
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is extended depending on, like, the resources. Right.
396
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So, like, if you have
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kind of high expenses per song, like, that can
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really influence the
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00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:12,040
timing of finishing the songs. Like, my. My
400
00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:15,320
costs are pretty expensive per song for this project
401
00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:19,460
because I recruited a lot of different people to
402
00:25:19,460 --> 00:25:23,220
complete one song. So I. Using
403
00:25:23,220 --> 00:25:26,820
one person and being like, we'll just do all of them. Like, yeah, well,
404
00:25:26,820 --> 00:25:30,540
no, like, I'm. I'm going to break it down because I know people
405
00:25:30,540 --> 00:25:33,940
that listen to this podcast probably are like, more on the music
406
00:25:34,020 --> 00:25:37,860
nerd side, like, wanting. Yeah, they want to know how to do it. They want
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00:25:37,860 --> 00:25:41,340
to know where you are. Exactly. Like, want to know how to do it and
408
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want to know the real. So for me, this is not typical for everyone
409
00:25:45,140 --> 00:25:48,510
and everyone has their own thing. But for me, for this particular
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00:25:48,670 --> 00:25:52,510
album, for each song, I had myself
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as a writer and producer, and then I usually had another
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person. So that's two people already then.
413
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Because me and the producer were very particular about sounds and
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just wanting the production to be right. So, for example, for a
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song like, Heaven knows, live bass and live guitar were,
416
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like, not negotiable. So then we recruited a great bass
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00:26:15,950 --> 00:26:19,470
player, Spencer Zahn to play bass, an amazing
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guitar player, Philip Menesis, to play guitar.
419
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So did that, you know, paid those people. Yeah, now you got to pay the
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00:26:27,150 --> 00:26:30,750
live musicians instead of just programming it in. Exactly.
421
00:26:30,750 --> 00:26:34,150
Then we had a great
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mixer that ended up doing the drums as well.
423
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So then he was kind of a part of the mixing and
424
00:26:42,230 --> 00:26:45,190
programming drums for that song. So then there's four people,
425
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like, and that's not even, you know, that's. That's a lot of people already.
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00:26:49,990 --> 00:26:53,790
And everyone we, you know, compensated for for their
427
00:26:53,790 --> 00:26:57,590
part. And then for vocals for every single
428
00:26:57,590 --> 00:27:01,070
song, I had one vocal engineer. So for every
429
00:27:01,070 --> 00:27:04,630
single song, I was paying the vocal engineer per song to
430
00:27:04,630 --> 00:27:08,470
track. You had a different one or. No, a different
431
00:27:08,470 --> 00:27:12,190
vocal engineer on every song on the whole album. Oh, you have one that did
432
00:27:12,190 --> 00:27:15,870
every single song on the album? Yes, yes. Instead of it
433
00:27:15,870 --> 00:27:19,630
being the producer that also cuts the vocals and
434
00:27:19,630 --> 00:27:23,230
also engineers the vocals. I had, like, one guy that did
435
00:27:23,310 --> 00:27:27,150
all the vocals for every song, but then that. Okay. You know,
436
00:27:27,230 --> 00:27:31,030
another guy. Yeah, Per song that I
437
00:27:31,030 --> 00:27:34,790
had to pay for too. So, yeah, the expenses got a little bit
438
00:27:34,790 --> 00:27:38,470
high per song. I think it was worth it. I mean,
439
00:27:38,550 --> 00:27:42,350
it was worth it. I loved the result, but, yeah, it
440
00:27:42,350 --> 00:27:45,910
was a lot. And it was. As a result, it took
441
00:27:46,550 --> 00:27:50,190
a long time to finish just because I needed, like, to make sure that
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00:27:50,190 --> 00:27:53,790
I could secure the resources financially.
443
00:27:53,790 --> 00:27:57,630
Yeah, yeah, 100%. Yeah. To finish the song. And then, of course,
444
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like, when you get to the end of the process is mixing and mastering.
445
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And I mentioned the mixer that we had a guy named Caserta who was
446
00:28:05,120 --> 00:28:08,840
incredible, and then mastering was Joe
447
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Laporta. So everyone had a really vital role to
448
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play. And yeah, it was. It took a. It took a
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00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:20,000
long time to finish it. Like, when
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00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:23,480
you kind of take into account, like, all these different people kind of
451
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contributing and then getting paid and then
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00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:30,760
going back and forth and then, you know, getting. Yeah. Get everybody. And not
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only, like, the paying them out. It's like getting everyone in schedule.
454
00:28:34,830 --> 00:28:38,310
When can you come and do it? Right? I mean, you're. Now you're managing a
455
00:28:38,310 --> 00:28:41,950
bunch of different people versus, like, you and maybe one other person,
456
00:28:42,350 --> 00:28:45,630
like, oh, let's just hammer this whole thing out in a weekend or, you know,
457
00:28:45,630 --> 00:28:49,030
a month or whatever it may be. Totally. And when you're. And when you're
458
00:28:49,030 --> 00:28:52,190
indie, you're really, like, a lot of people are
459
00:28:52,750 --> 00:28:56,270
believing in you and. And doing it at very,
460
00:28:57,470 --> 00:29:01,310
like, reasonable rates, you know, which is awesome. And I'm
461
00:29:01,310 --> 00:29:04,990
so appreciative to all of them. But, yeah, it's still. It's still a
462
00:29:04,990 --> 00:29:08,330
lot, and it's still a lot to advantage, and it still
463
00:29:09,050 --> 00:29:12,890
means that the. The timeline might not go as quick
464
00:29:12,890 --> 00:29:16,690
as you. As you want it. So I really, I. I
465
00:29:16,690 --> 00:29:20,450
was like. I told my manager when the album was pretty much written
466
00:29:20,450 --> 00:29:23,410
I was like, we're gonna release this at the end of 2023. And he was
467
00:29:23,410 --> 00:29:26,930
like, okay, we'll see. Then, of course,
468
00:29:26,930 --> 00:29:30,490
September 2024 ended up being the. The best. Yeah,
469
00:29:30,890 --> 00:29:34,520
I'm sure. I mean, it's kind of. When you're independent,
470
00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:38,360
obviously, it's great because you don't have somebody like, down your throat,
471
00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:41,680
like, you need to get this out like tomorrow. And you're not. Like, you don't
472
00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:45,040
have that stressor. But it's also like. Yeah, but then you have to come forward
473
00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:48,039
and be like, well, I gotta go find every. I gotta find the money, I
474
00:29:48,039 --> 00:29:51,600
gotta find the people I've gotta do, you. Know, all of it. Yeah. So it's
475
00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:54,360
like. It's kind of. There's. There's kind of. I'm sure there's pros and cons to
476
00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:58,000
each, but I think if it was me as an artist, I would prefer
477
00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:01,560
to have your situation where it's. Well, at least
478
00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:04,920
I. I'm not gonna have the pressure of somebody that going like, this needs to
479
00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:08,640
get out tomorrow. Like, you have more of the freedom
480
00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:12,240
to kind of probably take your time and release it as you
481
00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:15,760
want. You can put out whatever you want. Really. Yeah,
482
00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:19,240
yeah, yeah. It. There's pros and cons, I think, on either
483
00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:23,160
side of the. The spectrum when it comes to releasing music, for
484
00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:27,010
sure. Yeah. So. Yeah. Because it's.
485
00:30:27,170 --> 00:30:30,970
Yeah, it's so different. I really do like having the creative
486
00:30:30,970 --> 00:30:34,530
control too. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And the vision now.
487
00:30:34,530 --> 00:30:38,370
And. Yeah, it feels good to
488
00:30:39,410 --> 00:30:42,690
kind of be. Be in the driver's seat and to
489
00:30:43,250 --> 00:30:47,050
executive produce and produce and write
490
00:30:47,050 --> 00:30:49,890
and just feel like,
491
00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:56,040
feel comfortable in that role again. Did you just.
492
00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:58,360
I'm just curious with this album
493
00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:03,800
where the songs just like, you just knew that they're like, was there.
494
00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:08,120
I don't know how to ask this question because it's like, obviously everything you're gonna
495
00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:11,880
put out and you're gonna do, it's a personally personal to you
496
00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:15,720
and you love what you're doing, obviously. But like. And what. What made
497
00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:19,390
you want to do the. Make the decision of like, well, let's like
498
00:31:19,390 --> 00:31:23,030
really go all in on this and like hire one guy to
499
00:31:23,030 --> 00:31:26,630
do all the vocals and. And we need live
500
00:31:26,630 --> 00:31:30,310
guitars and bass on this song. And like, was there.
501
00:31:31,910 --> 00:31:35,350
You just felt like it neat, like, I guess instead of
502
00:31:35,670 --> 00:31:39,030
cutting corners and costs, like, what was the decision between.
503
00:31:39,270 --> 00:31:42,750
You just wanted it to be as best as it could or. Yeah.
504
00:31:42,750 --> 00:31:45,030
Yeah. I just wanted to sound. To sound
505
00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:50,840
like the vision that I had in my mind. Okay. I.
506
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:54,240
That's a weird question. I mean, obviously you want it to sound the best you
507
00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:57,200
can, but. Yeah, you know what I mean? Like, to be like, you know what?
508
00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:00,800
I'm gonna. I don't care. I'm going all in yeah,
509
00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:04,560
no, I believe holding those stops yeah, yeah, I. Oh, I, I believe
510
00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:07,800
in. I guess once this. Once the
511
00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:11,000
demos were there and I could see the
512
00:32:11,730 --> 00:32:14,370
vision kind of coming to life through just the demos.
513
00:32:16,290 --> 00:32:19,570
Yeah, I was. I was excited and I really believed in.
514
00:32:19,650 --> 00:32:23,450
Believed in it. And not every song took that amount
515
00:32:23,450 --> 00:32:27,250
of people, you know, sure. Those were just. Those were probably
516
00:32:27,490 --> 00:32:30,210
three or four of the songs out of. Out of ten.
517
00:32:31,970 --> 00:32:35,810
But yeah, I think even when it came
518
00:32:35,810 --> 00:32:39,340
to, like, mixing
519
00:32:39,420 --> 00:32:42,860
and revisions, like, I just,
520
00:32:44,700 --> 00:32:48,420
I, I'm. I can be relentless. And I think that's
521
00:32:48,420 --> 00:32:51,820
from my experience working with Chris Hart's. Like,
522
00:32:52,060 --> 00:32:55,860
when you work with people that are that talented and that have a standard
523
00:32:55,860 --> 00:32:59,500
that is so high and that are essentially
524
00:32:59,500 --> 00:33:03,220
perfectionists, but are also pretty genius at
525
00:33:03,220 --> 00:33:06,910
what they do, you kind of get that you pick up on.
526
00:33:06,910 --> 00:33:10,750
On a similar way of doing things,
527
00:33:10,750 --> 00:33:14,550
like whether or not you're working with them for every song. Like, I. Chris didn't
528
00:33:14,550 --> 00:33:18,030
do every song for this album, but that mentality of.
529
00:33:18,510 --> 00:33:22,270
Of kind of extracting the best
530
00:33:22,350 --> 00:33:25,950
and like, doing the best that we can with. With each song
531
00:33:26,110 --> 00:33:29,790
and giving each song the attention and the.
532
00:33:29,870 --> 00:33:33,620
To detail and just doing the absolute best that
533
00:33:33,620 --> 00:33:37,300
we can do, like, that totally was instilled in
534
00:33:37,300 --> 00:33:40,940
me. So now I'm going to do that with probably every project.
535
00:33:41,340 --> 00:33:45,180
And. And it's not that it means that I think
536
00:33:45,180 --> 00:33:48,900
every song is perfect on this album because that's. That's definitely not the
537
00:33:48,900 --> 00:33:51,340
case. But I think every song,
538
00:33:53,420 --> 00:33:57,180
every song, except for one. One song,
539
00:33:57,180 --> 00:34:00,540
just the mixing got a little. Got a little weird for me. But
540
00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:05,160
every song had that care in. Right.
541
00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:08,240
Well, it's like once you get to a point, I mean, you want it to
542
00:34:08,240 --> 00:34:12,080
be right. It's like you. You have a, you, you. You set a
543
00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:15,480
bar for yourself. Like, I'm not gonna put something out. That'S not so hot. Yeah,
544
00:34:15,640 --> 00:34:19,480
the bar is like. And that's. I. And I. And I think that a lot
545
00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:23,240
of artists struggle with that too. I mean, I do as far as, like, putting
546
00:34:23,240 --> 00:34:27,080
out content for my show. And yeah, like, if it, like, I will sit.
547
00:34:27,080 --> 00:34:30,160
And I had to hire an editor because I would take me so long because
548
00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:33,770
I'd get so, like, caught up on like, one frame.
549
00:34:33,770 --> 00:34:37,010
I'm like, yeah, like, I. I don't love this. I Don't love how this cut
550
00:34:37,010 --> 00:34:40,850
looks. You know, Then I could sit there for half a day just trying to
551
00:34:40,850 --> 00:34:44,570
fix some little thing, and then most people don't
552
00:34:44,570 --> 00:34:47,890
even notice, right. They're like, what are you talking about? And it's like, but I
553
00:34:47,890 --> 00:34:51,570
noticed, so it's gonna. Exactly. Yeah. Like, I
554
00:34:51,570 --> 00:34:55,330
know. And that's all that matters. Yeah. Yeah. Probably. Will it matter?
555
00:34:55,410 --> 00:34:59,130
It will. Five more people like it or view it
556
00:34:59,130 --> 00:35:02,410
if it didn't have that frame. Right. Doesn't matter. Like,
557
00:35:02,490 --> 00:35:06,290
it's. You just have that. You just put this, like, standard on what you
558
00:35:06,290 --> 00:35:09,690
think personally, what you want it to look like.
559
00:35:10,010 --> 00:35:13,850
Absolutely. You know, I could see how there's, like, no compromising.
560
00:35:13,850 --> 00:35:16,850
And it's like, no, this is. This is my art. I want it to be
561
00:35:16,850 --> 00:35:19,090
a certain way and it's going to be that. Yeah, I want it to be
562
00:35:19,090 --> 00:35:22,810
great. I don't want to have the regret of, like. Man,
563
00:35:22,810 --> 00:35:25,210
every time I listen to the song now, all I'm going to hear is that
564
00:35:25,210 --> 00:35:28,950
one little thing that I. No, I should have changed that or.
565
00:35:28,950 --> 00:35:32,710
You know what I mean? No, yeah. There is one song. To be.
566
00:35:32,710 --> 00:35:36,350
To be honest, there's one song like that. And every time I listen, I
567
00:35:36,350 --> 00:35:39,830
should have done, but it's okay. But nobody else will ever
568
00:35:39,830 --> 00:35:43,150
notice. You know what I mean? I don't think. Yeah. Oh, I love
569
00:35:43,550 --> 00:35:47,390
my, like, Prayer changes everything Cup. This is so funny. There you
570
00:35:47,390 --> 00:35:50,750
go. Like, all the
571
00:35:51,070 --> 00:35:53,550
mugs in my house are, like, inspirational.
572
00:35:55,630 --> 00:35:59,230
That's cool, though. Faith prayer. I love
573
00:35:59,230 --> 00:36:02,910
it. Yeah. But, yes, I totally agree with you. You.
574
00:36:02,910 --> 00:36:06,710
You get it. Because once you're. What, you're on that train, it's hard to get
575
00:36:06,710 --> 00:36:10,270
off. Right? Yeah. But I mean, it also. It
576
00:36:10,270 --> 00:36:13,990
shows that you work. Yeah. Yeah. And everything. Because
577
00:36:13,990 --> 00:36:16,670
it's like, yeah, it's one thing if
578
00:36:17,390 --> 00:36:20,190
absolutely no one cared. And then you're like, no, this has got to be the
579
00:36:20,190 --> 00:36:23,100
greatest thing ever. And you're like, well, I. Well, you have already kind of set
580
00:36:23,100 --> 00:36:26,020
a bar for yourself, you know. Yeah. Doing this project.
581
00:36:27,860 --> 00:36:31,420
So with this album verse, the last
582
00:36:31,420 --> 00:36:35,260
one, or even with your. The ep you did. Because you did both
583
00:36:35,260 --> 00:36:38,940
of those solely with Chris Hart, Craig or mainly.
584
00:36:38,940 --> 00:36:42,540
Oh, no. Yeah, yeah, I did. I did
585
00:36:42,540 --> 00:36:46,300
Madam Gold solely with Chris, and then. Okay, I worked with a few different people
586
00:36:46,300 --> 00:36:50,140
on the releases before that. Okay. So, yes, you
587
00:36:50,140 --> 00:36:53,900
worked solely with him on Madam Mad Gold. And so going into this one,
588
00:36:53,900 --> 00:36:57,700
it was like, yeah, you had more people. You had more
589
00:36:57,700 --> 00:37:01,260
people on the. On your staff as far as, like, yeah,
590
00:37:01,260 --> 00:37:04,860
Money song, more producers More people and.
591
00:37:05,180 --> 00:37:08,980
Yeah, yeah, it was. I. I thought it was important. And I think for the
592
00:37:08,980 --> 00:37:12,060
next project, too, because I've already started the next thing, it's
593
00:37:12,860 --> 00:37:13,900
for me to be
594
00:37:16,620 --> 00:37:20,170
diversifying, like, who I'm working with
595
00:37:21,210 --> 00:37:23,850
so that I can.
596
00:37:25,450 --> 00:37:28,890
Yeah, I think, like, it's an energetic thing. Maybe it's just, like,
597
00:37:29,290 --> 00:37:33,050
moving around the pieces and not getting too attached to
598
00:37:33,770 --> 00:37:37,610
one person's vision for what it should sound like.
599
00:37:38,730 --> 00:37:42,530
And it helps me kind of take a step back. And
600
00:37:42,530 --> 00:37:46,340
as a songwriter, working
601
00:37:46,340 --> 00:37:50,180
with different producers brings out different elements of what I can do,
602
00:37:50,180 --> 00:37:53,940
like, in what I can bring to the table. So. Sure. Yeah, I. I'm.
603
00:37:53,940 --> 00:37:57,660
I'm pretty. I'm pretty into that idea. Like, Spencer
604
00:37:57,660 --> 00:38:01,500
Ludwig was the primary producer for. For Diva of the
605
00:38:01,500 --> 00:38:05,260
People. I think he did. I think he did six songs, so he
606
00:38:05,260 --> 00:38:08,980
did a lot. Yeah, five or six. And then.
607
00:38:10,330 --> 00:38:14,010
And then a few other producers. Seven.
608
00:38:14,010 --> 00:38:17,610
Davis Jr. Did one with a guy
609
00:38:17,610 --> 00:38:21,410
named Leaf. They did Anybody Home, which is. Turns out to be, like,
610
00:38:21,410 --> 00:38:25,250
a song that a lot of people are connecting with now. And
611
00:38:25,250 --> 00:38:28,610
then Art of Tones, who is an amazing French
612
00:38:28,610 --> 00:38:32,370
producer. He. He did Disco Boots and you and
613
00:38:32,370 --> 00:38:35,930
Me. So. Yeah, I think it was mainly those.
614
00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:40,200
Those three producers. That's amazing. Yeah. You
615
00:38:40,200 --> 00:38:43,320
have some shows coming up, right, to support it. You're playing the Casbo in San
616
00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:47,040
Diego, which is my favorite venue. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think you're
617
00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:50,560
playing there. Wait, on Thursday or something, right? Wednesday. Wednesday,
618
00:38:50,720 --> 00:38:54,520
yeah, yeah, Wednesday. Louisiana. San
619
00:38:54,520 --> 00:38:58,240
Francisco, New York and D.C. so it's a. It's a short run,
620
00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:03,240
kind of just to celebrate, like, the release of the album, and then we'll probably
621
00:39:03,240 --> 00:39:06,040
do something more extensive,
622
00:39:07,720 --> 00:39:11,520
either. Well, I'm thinking probably next. Next year we'll probably
623
00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:14,640
do something a little bit more extensive, but, yeah, love it. Well,
624
00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:17,480
congratulations on the album, and thanks again for
625
00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:22,600
coming back and. And talking to me about this release. Yeah, thank you.
626
00:39:22,600 --> 00:39:26,400
Exciting. I have one more question. I asked you the same question
627
00:39:26,400 --> 00:39:29,760
last time, but I'm gonna ask it again if you have any advice for aspiring
628
00:39:29,760 --> 00:39:32,580
artists. Oh, I love this question.
629
00:39:33,860 --> 00:39:37,460
I think now that I've released a
630
00:39:37,460 --> 00:39:41,180
slew of projects by myself or independently. Not by
631
00:39:41,180 --> 00:39:44,980
myself. I have a team, but independently, I would
632
00:39:45,060 --> 00:39:48,900
say to trust your vision
633
00:39:49,060 --> 00:39:52,780
over someone else's vision for you, in
634
00:39:52,780 --> 00:39:56,580
terms of your visuals, in terms of the
635
00:39:56,580 --> 00:40:00,370
sound of your music. Like, trust the vision
636
00:40:00,370 --> 00:40:03,970
that you have. And usually kind of the first
637
00:40:05,090 --> 00:40:08,850
vision that really hits your heart and, like, that really resonates with
638
00:40:08,850 --> 00:40:11,570
you is the one that will take you
639
00:40:12,370 --> 00:40:15,490
to the next level. So like, for me,
640
00:40:16,050 --> 00:40:19,810
I always kind of had a visual of me, like, as this modern
641
00:40:19,970 --> 00:40:23,690
disco queen. And every time I really committed
642
00:40:23,690 --> 00:40:27,480
to that, I felt myself, like, moving forward and, like, taking
643
00:40:27,480 --> 00:40:31,320
steps in the right direction. And then the times where I got sidetracked from
644
00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:34,760
that vision, I felt myself kind of get
645
00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:38,520
stagnant and frustrated and not sure what to
646
00:40:38,520 --> 00:40:42,159
do, because I wasn't trusting that. And so, yeah,
647
00:40:42,159 --> 00:40:44,520
trust. Trust the vision that you have for yourself.
648
00:40:50,680 --> 00:40:52,200
Bring it backwards,
649
00:40:55,960 --> 00:40:59,540
bring it back. Bringing it backward,
650
00:40:59,700 --> 00:41:03,220
Bringing it backward. Bring it backward,
651
00:41:03,380 --> 00:41:05,060
bring it backwards.