Interview with PmBata

Hello. It is Adam! Welcome back to bringing it backwards. A podcast where both legendary and rising artists tell their own personal stories on how they achieve stardom. On this episode, we had a chance to hang out with Parker, AKA PM, beta over zoom video PM. Beta talks about being born and raised in Kansas city, Missouri, and how he got into music. Both of his parents are band leaders. They both teach music and run the high school and middle school bands. So Parker was born into music. He started playing piano at a very early age trumpet at a very early age, did that in the jazz band through school, ended up attending college for music, but truly had a passion for hip hop and creating beats. 3 (2m 10s): And he knew he wanted to be an artist around 11 years old. So he did that for a while. He talked about some successful moments he had towards the end of high school. And early in college, he talked about an early success on Tik TOK that he had with the song. Nobody came to my party, teaming up with a gaming streamer who was big in Minecraft and putting out a song called Roadtrip, which is near a hundred million plays on Spotify. And he also talks to us about his most recent success and the huge tick talk viral moment he had with the song called I hate her boyfriend's face, which is the newest song that PM beta has out. He talks to us about how that song was put together, putting the tick tock video out and the future plans for his new music. 3 (2m 57s): You can watch our interview with Parker on our Facebook page and YouTube channel at bringing it backwards. It would be awesome if you subscribe to our channel like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Tech-Talk at bringing back pod. And if you're listening to this on Spotify, apple music, Google podcasts, it would be incredible if you follow us there as well, and hook us up with a five star review. 4 (3m 21s): We'd appreciate your support. If you follow and subscribe to our podcasts, wherever you listen to podcasts, 3 (3m 27s): We're bringing it backwards with PmBeta. 5 (3m 30s): All right, there we go. That's my bad. It was on the, it was on the wrong thing on my, my print. 3 (3m 37s): Oh no, no worries, man. Thank you so much for doing this. 5 (3m 40s): Yeah, no problem. I appreciate the 15 minute grace period, man. 3 (3m 44s): Oh no, no worries. No worries at all. Hopefully. You're all right. And I think they said he had to go to the doctor something. 5 (3m 50s): Yeah, it's all good though. Cause I honestly, I scheduled an appointment after this interview, but I thought this, that was what I thought this interview was at eight 30. I don't know why I thought it was at eight 30. 3 (4m 3s): Oh no worries, dude. Totally cool. I appreciate you being here. I'm excited to chat with you. 5 (4m 8s): Yeah, hell yeah. Me too, man. 3 (4m 10s): Awesome. Awesome. Well, my name is Adam and this podcast is about you, your journey in music. And of course, we'll talk about the new song about 5 (4m 19s): Sweet. I love talking about myself. 3 (4m 24s): Perfect. Perfect. This will be perfectly easy for you then. Sweet. So talk to me. Where were you born and raised? 5 (4m 30s): I was born in Kansas city, Missouri actually. And yeah, a lot of people get that confused with, you know, Kansas city, Kansas, but there's like two of them. So I'm the Missouri ones 3 (4m 43s): From the Kansas city. Missouri side. Gotcha. Yeah. What was it like growing up there? 5 (4m 49s): It was pretty cool. It's you know, I went to this school called Lincoln prep and it's a very culturally diverse school. A lot of like, even like famous jazz musicians would they're like Charlie Parker who I'm named after and like Kevin and everything like that. Yeah. This was a very, it's like a very big city on, on jazz. A lot of jazz clubs and, and barbecue as well. So that's sick. 3 (5m 16s): That's amazing. Wow. So your name Charlie? Yeah. You're named after Charlie Parker then. 5 (5m 20s): Yeah. 3 (5m 21s): Wow. His music must be huge in your household. 5 (5m 24s): Yeah, definitely. As both of my parents are, are band directors. My dad was actually like my jazz band teacher and everything, so 3 (5m 30s): Really? Whoa. Okay. So you were, must've been just thrown right into music then? 5 (5m 35s): Yeah, low key. I didn't even have much of a, I didn't really have much of a choice to be honest. 3 (5m 41s): So what did you start off playing? What was the first instrument you got? Put it on. 5 (5m 46s): First thing was piano. And then I got, they made me play trumpet, which not love and everything. I, I put like all my songs, but yeah, those are my main, my main two. 3 (5m 59s): Okay. So piano and then trumpet. And with that, like how old are you when you start playing piano? 5 (6m 6s): Oh, I was like second grade is when I started taking like actual lessons instead of just like my dad teaching me. So I don't know how old you are in second grade. I was like 10, probably. 3 (6m 17s): Yeah. Maybe a little younger, but yeah. Okay. Wow. So, so Butler real quick, both of your parents are band leaders, you said, do they lead like big orchestras in town or 5 (6m 27s): Another like teachers? 3 (6m 30s): Teachers? 5 (6m 31s): Yeah. My mom teaches like a middle school band and my dad does well. He just retired from the high school me and my sister went to, but now he's about to be an orchestra director, not just band in an orchestra. So he's going to be solely an orchestra director somewhere else for middle school and high school, I believe. 3 (6m 51s): That's amazing. Wow. So you were put obviously in jazz band as a kid and then you did, how was it like going to school with your dad as the teacher was that, 5 (6m 60s): Oh man, that's a great question. No, it's cool. I got a ride to school and stuff, but that ride happened to be like two hours before school started, which sucked. And then he's a very, he's a funny guy at, at my expense. So just a lot of being made fun of in class, but 3 (7m 23s): Really. Okay. So he leaned into the fact that he's your dad. 5 (7m 26s): Oh yeah, he definitely did it. He thought it was funny. And I guess looking back now, yes, it's funny. But like back then, I was like, if you really call me, 3 (7m 37s): Oh really? And you played trumpet in that band or in the jazz band? 5 (7m 43s): Yeah. Jasmine and then like, no, like wind ensembles and orchestra sometimes and all that. I was like, my man. And then I played it through college as well. Then it finished college yet, but for the majority of it, 3 (7m 56s): Sure. Well, it looks like your music career is already like up and running, so 5 (7m 59s): Yeah, it's kinda, it's kind of going there anyways. So 3 (8m 4s): What were you going to school and Missouri? 5 (8m 6s): Yeah, I was going to school in Missouri. It kinda just went to a cheaper one that had music, technology and stuff. Cause I wanted to get into like producing. I mean actually I've always wanted to be like an artist. I knew what I wanted to do since I was like 11, you know? Really? Yeah. So it's like basically over half of my life, but now it's so, but I went there cause I was like, you know, my parents education's important to them and all that. So I was like, oh I gotta, so I, my cat's just like speeding around the room. You got the zoomies right now. 3 (8m 39s): All good. 5 (8m 40s): But his name is chance. I named him after chance the rapper. 3 (8m 47s): Oh, that's cool. 5 (8m 49s): Yeah. So, but basically back to the, back to the college thing. Yeah. I went, I went to university of central, Missouri. Didn't quite finish it, but I was like, like a semester or two away, which I'll get there, you know? Yeah, exactly. 3 (9m 3s): It's like, it's not going anywhere. Wow. Well, when you said you knew what you wanted to do, you wanted to be an artist, you knew that from like age 11, what was it? Was there something that like sparked that interest or did you want to be doing like what you're kind of doing now? Or was it like you want to be a jazz musician or like, was that kind of the route you wanted to take 6 (9m 25s): And we comply. This is your summer. That means six flags in the taste of an ice cold Coca-Cola we're talking thrilling coasters, delicious burgers, real moments together. And this Coke is summer refreshment when you need it most. So you can hop on another ride or race down a slide at the water park, six flags and Coca-Cola come make it yours. Visit six flags.com/coke to save up to $20 on passes. 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So you'll never have to jump through hoops unless you're like a trapezes then by all means, go right ahead, learn more. discover.com/redeem rewards terms apply. 5 (10m 55s): Honestly, it was never, I was never like, oh, I want to be a, you know, a jazz trumpet player or anything like that. Honestly like didn't like the trumpet for a minute. Cause I was like, oh, this, I mean, for us to do this, I don't want to. But like I was always just writing songs. And my favorite part of like piano lessons was when she would let me, you know, compose my own stuff. And I would like record on like some old cassette recorder that my parents had and all that until eventually like I started like really getting into like rap music and I was like, oh, I wanna rap. Like I wanna to be a rapper and stuff like that. So I started leaning into that heavily and you know, recording on old USB mics that my parents had from like college when they had to, that was, if they, I don't know if they had used to be my, maybe it was early teaching or something, it was like an old USB mic that started recording on and like, you know, a computer that was like built with like spare parts and everything. 5 (11m 51s): So learning all that on like, like free programs, like audacity and everything. So I was just kind of like going in on all of that stuff. And then that led into, I don't know, throughout like middle school, high school just rapping. I started like getting more into like singing and then through college, like it was really when I started getting into singing and now it's like, I'm basically like a pop writer, right. Who with like a hip hop influence at this point and jazz influenced. So it's kind of all over the place. It's just because the music is just, there's so many cool aspects of it, you know? Like I never used to like country music and now I can appreciate it and like listen to country music and just be like, oh my God. 5 (12m 33s): Because some of the writing on there is like, 3 (12m 34s): Oh incredible. Yeah. I just leave recently moved to Nashville and I'm from Southern California from San Diego. And I thought I was moving to like a total country town. I'm like, I don't even really know the music. And you know, I moved here, not, I mean, sure. There's a ton of country artists here, but there's also artists from all John Aras. And I never really understood country until I moved here. And I'm like, wow, like these are some of the best like songwriters there are, you know what I mean? Like when it comes to like lyrics and writing a good song, cause I'm just thinking of like, you know, just the traditional, not traditional, I guess like the very far like pop radio, like trucks and you know, bud light and you know, whatever like that, wasn't what I was into. 3 (13m 17s): And then like I come here and I'm like hearing some of these songs like, whoa, like this is credible 5 (13m 22s): That's I want to say. And that's what I'm saying. Yeah. With the national, for like a, a riding trip. And that's when I was like, honestly, like I really love Los Angeles right now. Like compared to like, you know, growing up in the Midwest all my life. It was cool. But I feel like Midwest for me feels like, I dunno, default. Right? It's just kinda like not boring, but like very regular then coming here it's like crazy. And I'm like still caught up in all like the craziness, like, you know, I'm young. So I feel like there's going to be a point in my life where I'm like, yo, this is our, I, this is a little too much. And then I was thinking about that. Like when I went to Nashville, I was like, dang, this is like, you get music out here and all that. 5 (14m 3s): But you could also like kind of chill. 3 (14m 5s): Oh yeah. So, so, so much slower. 5 (14m 9s): Yeah. So it's it's wide. Cause like even out here, it's just a lot of like, well, yeah, like you said, pace of life is slower. It's weird because out here it's just like a lot of people were like doing a lot, just trying to like pretend to be relaxed, you know? Like a lot of stressed out people just trying to like fake it and be like, oh no, I'm in I'm by the beach. I'm chilling. But like, no, you're not. It's like, it's not like on some new York's like, at least in New York people are like, go, go, go, go, go. Not, not lying, not like faking it, not lying about it. Like shit. It's like, no, I'm by the beach. I got to like, I'm not stressed. 3 (14m 41s): Yeah. I'm sure it was like, but meanwhile, like you have to work 50,000 things to live and be chill by the beach. 5 (14m 51s): I don't get it. 3 (14m 52s): That's funny. So where you writing beats and, and all that, when you were 14, 15, when you were starting to write the rap music, were you writing the beats as well? Or just pulling them off of YouTube? 5 (15m 3s): It all started with like first doing like really mixes to songs that I liked. And then it started with like, oh, now I'm getting YouTube beats. And then when I was, and I was like for the first couple of years, and then I started producing for real, like around like four to like in the middle school, beginning of high school is when I started getting into it. And then I just kept that up throughout it. And it became less and less production by other like just by YouTube and stuff like that. YouTube be makers and then more by me. And then until I got to like end of high school, beginning of college and that's when I was like, oh, this is all me. But then eventually, you know, you get to a point when it's like, oh, now like you're not just getting beats off YouTube. 5 (15m 45s): Now you meet these producers. And now you're working with like crazy. That was like, right when COVID happened is when I started like, okay, I'm not just producing everything myself anymore. I met some people that became friends and then we start making music together and it really feels like, like a community thing, you know, like collaboration online and stuff like that. And that's what I was like, okay, cool. I could learn a lot from these people. It's not just like, cause I had it in my head for a minute. I'm like, I don't want anyone else touching my, my beats. I don't want anyone touch it. Like that's all me now. Like I had that in my head. Like I got to do everything myself. Sure. Then it's like, dang, when you, when you have a mindset like that, you close yourself off from a lot of like knowledge. Like you can learn a lot of stuff from producers. 5 (16m 25s): And that's like my favorite thing, you know, going into sessions, I've learned a lot more in sessions I would say than I probably did in school for like for specifically what I want to do. Right. Cause I still use a lot of the like theory, knowledge and everything that I've learned. And even like ear training stuff from school, like every day, I'm not, I'm not gonna lie about that. Even though like there was like a point where I kind of resented going to college because I was like, I want music so bad, but now it's like, no, I actually use a lot of that stuff. But I still, I'm still like actively learning in every single studio session asking questions to these people. And it's really fun to like work with, you know, there's a lot of great producers, but not every great producer is like a great sort of like, does it have that sort of like knowledge of theory? 5 (17m 9s): Like, you know, education-based, 3 (17m 11s): You can speak a language when it, when it comes to the different parts of the songwriting process. Like, you know it, that should go with notes. What ones go where and yeah, I'm sure that helps immensely. 5 (17m 20s): It does. But it's like not a lot of people like really feel the music rather than like analyze it. And that's like something that I really respected because growing up in like where I was just always learning music, it's sometimes hard for me to like step back and like just feel it, but so it's cool. I get that. I get that kinda like, I kind of learn stuff from people who just feel music more than like study it. But then the people who study it, I'm like over here, like talking about progressions, like how does this work? How does this work? What's this passing court. How does this note fit into here? It's not, diatonic like all that stuff and it's, that's really fun too. So I just like try to ask so many questions. And if you do that, it's like, honestly, you get something from every studio session. Even if it's not like a crazy song, you still get something, you know? Cause like I I've, I've really gone to the point where it's like, I do my best writing when I'm just like alone. 5 (18m 6s): Right. But I make the best songs when I'm with other people. So it's kind of crazy. I usually start something myself. It's like with a guitar, piano, just like something that's all me, just a concept. And then I take it and I go somewhere. So it's like have like a demo or a concept. And then when you go meet up with someone else to collaborate on the song, that's when it becomes. Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of like homework. I give myself homework because it's like, I'm like, oh I have a session tomorrow. That means tonight. If I don't have something already, I'm coming up with something that I'm taking to that session tomorrow. And it makes me like also get in the mindset of what, who is this session with, right. Is it with like a hip hop producer? Is it with a pop producers? 5 (18m 46s): A very musical person, a beatmaker right. It's like, no, I take that. And I'm like, okay, that I'm gonna keep that in my head. When I start writing, whenever I write right now, even if it's just like a hook, just like a hook and a verse. Like it, it makes everything go by a lot smoother. I'm not just sitting there feeling like, oh, they're waiting on me to come up with something, you know, and sort of like studio pressure. Those doors opened up more for you when you started getting, you know, a lot of streams and more success on your end. Yeah. They definitely, they definitely did. Like if it wasn't for, I mean, I did this song at first of all, everything was like slowly going up for a minute. And then even with like Tik TOK and just my music in general online, but then a, this Minecraft YouTuber and Twitch streamer reached out. 5 (19m 34s): Cause he saw one of my tech talks where I would just like write songs to people's comments and he's like, yo, I kind of want to get into music. Would you help me? And I was like, bet, we hop in discord. You know, I got some other producers that I met during COVID and all that. We, we link up, we make a song, we put it out and that's what got me a lot of attention, especially from like labels and stuff like that. And w what song was that? I'm just curious. Cause you have a ton of squad. It was a, it was called Roadtrip near a billion plays or whatever it has, like a 95 or like maybe near a hundred, a hundred, a hundred million or some crazy number. Yeah. It's like he has such a big following. 5 (20m 14s): So I'm really blessed that I was able to like, first of all, just meet him. But second of all, like work with him, write the song and feature on it. That was super fun too. 9 (20m 26s): The summer with AC pro and O'Reilly auto parts right now get a $15 O'Reilly auto parts, a gift card after mail-in rebate with the purchase of select AC pro, ready to use refrigerant products that include a hose, engage, beat the heat. Before you hit the road with AC pro at your local O'Reilly auto parts store 2 (20m 50s): Auto 10 (20m 50s): Parts. 11 (20m 53s): When it comes to a backed up gut mirror, lax works better than waiting around while infinitely scrolling on cat videos or fantasizing on real estate sites. And it's absolutely more effective than trying out that weird remedy you saw online, avoid procrastination near lax cuts your wait time in half. So for your gut and your mood will fall in comparison to placebo works in one to three days. Use as directed for occasional constipation. 10 (21m 23s): Zillow makes moving simple, unlike certain real estate terms, that sound like self-help books. For example, acceptance, actual age mediation, corrective work principle of progression, grace period, life cap. Let's keep it simple. Find it, tour it and own it@zillow.com. There's no place like Zillow. 3 (21m 53s): That's awesome. So you, you started off, you said with, is where for your, sorry for your Tik TOK was just like writing songs based on people's comments. 5 (22m 2s): Yeah. Well, even before, before that, like my take talk really started because there was this tick-tock account at the time. I mean, now they don't really just make talks, but it was a six hoc account called live to write live, to create. And they, their big thing was like showcasing all these crazy artists that nobody knows about my song. And then a month later they get back to me and they're like, oh, sorry, I just checked the M's. We love the song. We're about to make a video to it right now. They made a video to it that they put on YouTube. But then they asked me to take like, out of it, he's like, all right, I'm going to post this Tik TOK. And at the time, like their accounts, like everything they would post was like going crazy. Right. So they were like, you should make a Tik TOK account. And I had one, but like, I really get it. 5 (22m 42s): Like, it wasn't really for, with music at all. It was just like some stupid stuff. 3 (22m 46s): Right. 5 (22m 46s): And then I was like, oh, okay. So I like deleted everything. And I, I like edited a whole like, hi, I'm P and beta. This is my take channel. Follow me for the journey, you know, whatever. Right. And then he, he posted his take, talking about my song. Then I posted mine. And then all the people from there came to mind and then boom stuffs started like shooting up. I was like, oh my God, what's happening. Then I made like a whole like series. Like I'm gonna try to make a viral song in a week and that didn't happen. But that got me, like, I don't know, like 200,000 people followers. 3 (23m 14s): Oh my gosh. 5 (23m 16s): Looking for that whole week, I was like, oh my gosh, I'm bad. I'm famous now. Oh, this is weird. This is weird. And like, people would recognize me in the city, just from my little series that I was doing, which I was making a skit about making a song every single day, which was literally took my entire day. Every single day. It took my entire day. I didn't eat, I didn't eat because I was like filming with my friends and then editing and all that. It was like what the, and the song was already made beforehand. So that was lucky. But, 3 (23m 40s): But still, I mean, that's how much work goes into just doing social media. I mean, like that's people think that it's like, oh, he just has to go on his phone for 35 seconds a day and go, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Or whatever. It's like, no, those videos don't land, like the one. And you have to keep pushing content, keep, keep, keep going and going and going. Or it's like, no one will care anymore. Right, right. 5 (24m 4s): Right. And everybody, I know for real like that, that puts out con like it comes from them. Like they edit it, they film it. Like the biggest artists are assigned to like the biggest labels that I'm friends with is like, they're still doing it all themselves. Like they got to come up with ideas because that's how they started. And that's how the label wants them to keep, keep doing it. Right. Like 3 (24m 24s): It will change. Right. The tone of the videos would change. The style could change. If somebody else is doing it there, it's not coming off. What you're doing or whoever is. 5 (24m 33s): Yeah. That's why it's. But, but crazy thing is like, when that live too stuff happened, like, you know, I think that got me more attention, like on 3 (24m 40s): With live too. 5 (24m 42s): So it wasn't actually a, oh, the song that they showcased was nobody came to my party. Yeah. That was nobody came to my party. So I was like a minute ago, 3 (24m 51s): You had two records before that, or an EAP in an album. Right. With the museum before that. And the way facades came out. And those was those just like things that you were putting out, like, as you were 5 (25m 3s): Trying 3 (25m 3s): To do the artist project, like it didn't churn. Like the turning point was when the Minecraft video happened. 5 (25m 9s): Well, there's like a lot of weird turning points. If you go back far enough, like I used to do rap contest, like online, submit them. And like, it's just like so many small things. I just started building up. Like, I remember I got like top 17 on one of them, which wasn't, it was just like, there's a lot of submissions. And then like, I would do rap contest with my friends and then we just keep going up, going up, placing, placing a little higher. And then eventually I got to like college. And then this, this YouTube channel called promoting sounds, started posting my music a little bit. And I was like, oh, that's crazy. Cause I got friends that were like, wait, this is you on there. Cause they listened to their account already on YouTube. And then that's 3 (25m 45s): Close 5 (25m 46s): To the beginning. Yeah. That was, it was crazy for me at the time I was like screaming because it was, I'd like for real nothing, that was like freshman year. 3 (25m 52s): No, I love to hear these stories. That's amazing. Okay. So real quick, so bad. This is freshman year of high school. This is happening 5 (25m 57s): College. This is 3 (25m 58s): College, 5 (25m 60s): But 3 (25m 60s): Still, I mean, wow. That must've been huge and you see your friends are like, oh my gosh, like this is you. Like what? 5 (26m 6s): Yeah, that was crazy to me. And then, you know, I put out the next album that like, I was like producing in the studios, like at my college and stuff that I had access to. And then from there, you know, it goes to, I think the next big thing was like, kind of like COVID well, I got managers and like I started meeting like up with like this producer named Brian Kennedy, just like learning more about the industry. Cause he's from Kansas city as well, the brother of one of my managers and everything. And then COVID happened right there. Middle of sophomore year. I had all this music, like I was like, okay. I kinda like found my sound at that point. At least the foundation of what my sound became and then Tik TOK and live to happen. That kind of blew me up a little bit. 5 (26m 46s): I started meeting other artists and like this thing collective at the time called 4 0 4, just like, you know, for, for Vincent Rosie, like these other artists. 3 (26m 56s): Yeah. 5 (26m 57s): And like the, like the fortnight scene. Yeah. 3 (27m 0s): Yeah. He was, he did that video with the dudes from the phase house or high pass or face 5 (27m 6s): Phase. Yeah. 3 (27m 8s): They're in the video. Yeah. I've interviewed him a few times. He's such a cool dude. I think he just got married or used engaged recently. Yeah. 5 (27m 16s): Yeah. He's a good guy. He's doing great man. And so that plus, you know, I met another manager, then I did a distribution deal with these Fortnite like marketers. So my music started going up on in that scene. And then from there, you know, the dream stuff happened all of a sudden it, cause I just kept the tick-tock like thing going and then boom labels start reaching out distribution companies. And I also signed as a songwriter to APG. So I signed a 300. This was like in 20, 21, beginning of 2021, I signed as an artist at 300, which is now like also Electra. And then I signed the APG as a songwriter. 5 (27m 58s): Then I came to LA. And then after, 3 (28m 0s): When you signed these deals and you were doing that, you were still living in Kansas city. 5 (28m 4s): Yeah. All this stuff. Well actually I was living in Warrensburg, which is where UCM is. It's like a smaller town right outside of Kansas city. And that was interesting. Very, it was like small town. Like I was like isolated from everything. All I had was the internet for real, it was wild. But, and then, you know, I hear her boyfriend's face starts going up just cause I keep learning about songwriting. And just honestly, ever since I got here, I feel like I became the best musician possible just because I've learned so much like possible, like I can keep getting better, you know what I mean? But I've very reached. I've reached my potential in terms of how fast I get, like this is the fastest I've ever gotten better in my life. 3 (28m 45s): Wow. 5 (28m 46s): If that makes sense. 3 (28m 46s): No, it totally does. Just like how, because now you're around what would be probably the best of the best. Right. And so you're picking up from them. It's like, you always want to be around people that can help elevate you get better at baseball. If you played with all the guys that were much better than you, you pick the stuff up faster 5 (29m 4s): Than if you 3 (29m 4s): Were. Yeah. So, wow. Okay. So this thing starts happening. You start getting these deals and this all came out of like the success of maybe the Tik TOK stuff and then having these deals of, you know, w with YouTube and, you know, Fortnite, Minecraft, all that stuff. And then you moved to LA and the is the first time that you've the first song you've put out since living in LA is that I hate my, I hate her boyfriend space. 5 (29m 28s): No, the first one, well, I put out favorite song and then I moved to LA. There's like been a few, like too little too late. Huh. And 85 I put out while I was here, but I hit her boyfriend's face was like the biggest like fucking everything. 3 (29m 45s): Okay. So you put that with the teaser up on Tik TOK, which the video is so rad that you did it for tick dog. It's like the silhouette of you. 5 (29m 52s): Yeah. That was also spur of the moment. Like I was like, I just made that song. Cause again, I did the thing, right. That day I had like a session, but the day before that, the night before that, like I was like, damn, I gotta write something for this session. You know? And so I was like, I was just sending my bed right in. And then also I was going through some stuff at the time too. So it kinda like worked itself out. I kind of like forced myself to write it, even though I probably, it was stuff I didn't want to say. You know, I didn't want to, it's kinda hard to like admit something like that to yourself, much less, put it into a song. But then I took that to the session with me. We finished it up and then I put it on Tik TOK the next day. Right. I was like late to like a concert, like a David Hugo with Nikki or a concert or something like that. 5 (30m 37s): I was late to it because I was, I was making that little, the little silhouette thing. I was like, I hadn't, I don't even know what possessed me to make that honestly. Like, I don't know why. And I, and I posted that at night and which I usually don't and it went up and whatever, man, it just happened. 3 (30m 57s): Oh my gosh. That's so crazy. I mean, to have to like big, big viral moments like that. Right. I mean, cause you had the one huge one in the beginning with that company pushing it out and then it's like, you know, hundreds of, you said a couple hundred thousand followers you get like what? Real fast. 5 (31m 14s): Yeah. Yeah. And then this next one and then a lot of I've always gone like many viral. Right. But like with like sometimes with the low comment songs and everything like that, this last one was my song. Right. I mean, they're all my songs, but it's like one that I want to put out. It's not just like a joke. It's not like somebody else's story. It's like, this is me. Like, this is 3 (31m 35s): Yeah. A vulnerable song. And then like the lyrics and everything. I mean, it's such a cool song. And the fact that it resonated with so many people is I think because of the honesty of it. 5 (31m 47s): Yeah. And also that's like, it's crazy to me to think like how my music can impact people. And this is just a great example of it and not just mine, but like music in general. Right. And I'm just like a small piece in that whole, that whole situation. Like I was like thinking back to it, like I used to wanna rap because I wanted to be cool. Like I know that now, like I wanted to, like, I want people to like me, like I love the music and stuff, but like I wanted to be a rap because like I wanted people to, I want it to be famous. I wanted to be cool, like sure. Center of attention and not be kind of like a joke because I was like kind of like that in middle school when I was doing music. But now, now it's like, I'm at the point where it's like, I could care less about that. 5 (32m 31s): I just want, I would rather my music instead of just a million people hear it. I want like at least like 10 people to listen to it and get something from it. You know? Like that, that sort of thing. It's like seeing the deems I get about how it impacted like people's lives and stuff. That means so much more to me than even the numbers do. Like, it's crazy. Like that's the reason why, like now I know I'm at a point where I know like I, I write music for me. Like I'm making music for myself. Cause I like it. This is my thing. I need it. Like I need air to breathe. Right. But I released music for other people. I know that like when I, when I put out a song, I don't listen to it again. I listened to it so much. Like it's out. Okay, cool. I only listen to my own unreleased stuff when I listen to myself and that just kind of shows me like I release it and it's somebody else's right. 5 (33m 13s): And they get what they get from it. And it's kind of like a trade-off and I, yeah. I just think it's crazy the way that, like, I feel like a superhero sometimes. Right. Just cause it's like, I can make people feel sort of way just from the words that I say 3 (33m 29s): No, for sure. It's amazing though. I mean, if you listen to the song, it's like, wow, like everyone has that, those Mo like you listen to the song, it's like, okay, like this, I would say a majority of people have had those feelings. Right? Like really like, the way that you do is so creative and clever, but it's like, oh, that's why it hit. So with people, cause it's like, oh, I've ha I've felt like that before. Like this, this person is telling my story right now. As I, as I listen 5 (33m 57s): And it's wild because when I, when I wrote the song, I wasn't thinking about anybody but me. Right. Right. And then, but then seeing how like other people can relate to, it just shows me like, they're like, I'm glad I, like, they tell me like, oh, they're glad that you know, they're not alone. They don't feel alone. They listened to the song. It's like someone else I'm like, when you tell me stuff like this, I don't feel alone. Like, it's crazy. It's like, what about like, even me, I'm like, damn, I was just doing this because I was right about my own, my own stuff. But like seeing everybody else's like, yo, I go through this. I'm like, wow. I'm not weird. Like honestly, seeing the reactions to the song when I, when I put it out was one of the things that like helped me get out of that funk. Right. Like I was like, dude, this is, it made me feel like low key strong. 5 (34m 40s): Cause like, I don't know. I got, I felt like that that came as a result of me letting other people like put me through so much stuff, you know, throughout my whole life, because I felt like my whole self worth was determined upon like what other people said and thought about me. Right. Which, I mean, even then like me wanting to make music. Cause I was, I wanted to be cool. Right? Like there's like a whole like realization I had to go through and it's sick that, that like other people was not great. The other people are experiencing this type of negative, negative emotion, but it's cool that I'm not alone. Right. 3 (35m 13s): Right. And it's cool that they have somebody to, you know, like relate to like, oh my gosh, like he's going through the same thing as me. And maybe they're just a fan of your previous Tik TOK videos or your previous things that you're in like, oh my God. And also he also deals with this. Like, eh, it's cool to have, you know, you know, be able to relate with people like that. And that's what I think pulls people pulls people closer, especially with Tech-Talk. I mean, I've heard a lot of people talk about, you know, when it comes to like mental health or whatever, like these people will get like, they'll get on Dick dog and talk about their pro like problems that they're having. And then other people like, oh my God, I was like, I also have those problems. Like I'm dealing with the same stuff. So it's like, you're almost like it's a give and take with everyone else. 3 (35m 55s): Like your fans are essentially directly. 5 (35m 58s): Yeah. A hundred percent. That's like, and that's cool that, that platforms like this are, are, even though it takes time, it can get stressful and everything like that. You can see a lot of people and a lot of people can see you 3 (36m 9s): And everyone has a similar, I mean, essentially everyone's on an equal playing field with tick-tock too, which I think is so crazy. Right. I mean, if you're on Instagram, you it's, I guess that if you haven't like reels or whatever, but like if you have 500,000 followers and I have 10 followers, like I'm 10, maybe 10 people see mine and maybe a percentage of your, your followers will see your stuff. Like with ticks off. If it goes on that for you page, I mean, you have the same chance as everyone else. 5 (36m 41s): A hundred percent. That's why that's like, it's crazy. Like the idea of tech, like again, like I have at first, sometime I held some resentment toward it too, just cause I'm like a lot of stuff. Cause just like something that you post could just go viral out of nowhere, right? Something that, that you post that you put a lot of effort and time into, right. Could do like nothing. Right? So it's, it's, it's like such a, if you hold too much weight on that, right. You can resent it really easily. And, and, but that still doesn't change the fact that like it's a crazy platform that does a lot for so many people. And 3 (37m 17s): I know, I think there's so many, it's made so many careers out of, you know, songwriters and created such a, it changed the music industry. I mean, it legitimately did it's nuts. But the fact that I've actually had a lot of conversations with people that have had, you know, big moments on tick-tock or they have, they are tic Taka influencer or whatever. And it's getting the people, getting people to actually leave the app and go on to Spotify to stream the song. That's a challenge. People are falling into and having, but with your son, I mean, it had like 40,000 pre-sales. So people are obviously like the song enough to be like, I'm going to be listening to this when it comes out, you know, no matter what, like I'm going to save it. 3 (38m 2s): Whereas some people are like, oh, like this is a cool viral moment on Tik TOK. But I, I don't know if I'm going to go like actually get out of this app and then try to find them on Spotify and then do this. Like the fact that it's translating onto your streams is really incredible. 5 (38m 18s): Yeah. That's crazy to me to think that too, just because I know like sometimes I'll be seeing stuff on Tik TOK and they're telling me to go other places. I'm like, no, I swipe, you know what I mean? Exactly. And if I, even if I like, I could like the tic-tac and stuff, but I'm still like, no, I'm going to watch Tik TOK right now. Right? 3 (38m 33s): Yeah. I don't want to have to open another app and then go find it. You know, it's just like adding another step and getting somebody to take the next step, leaving what they're doing, or pre saving something elsewhere, knowing that they're going to have to come back to it. Like that just it's such a whole another level of, you know. 5 (38m 51s): Yeah. It's incredible to me too. Like I didn't expect it. I'm gonna be honest. I've never had like one of my songs, like specifically like that I made like go, I guess, viral like that at least to the extent that it did. And so it was just like, I don't know. I'm not taking that for granted though, because it doesn't mean like that happened once doesn't mean it's going to happen every time. Right. It kind of just raised the bar for me thinking like, oh, the next songs I have to put out, I have to be crazy. Like they got to mean something or they got to make somebody feel a certain way. Like this has to fit. You know? 3 (39m 25s): Does that change how you're writing the next songs that you've been working on or not at all? 5 (39m 32s): I want to say like, no, like I really want to be like, yo, I write all my stuff just without Tik TOK in mind. But now it's like, sometimes I'm thinking like what is going to be the moment that I would put on Tik TOK? Right? Like where would I, that's not, it's not the priority, but it's always something I'm thinking about. Like for example, I hit her boyfriend's face originally that song was at 81 beats per minute, but it just didn't fit into a minute long snippet, like just, and so I was like, oh wow. So we went in and we had a warp all the audio. We had to change it to 82 beats per minute. Just so it would fit in a minute long clip, like from the beginning of the song to the end of the hook, because you need that whole twist in there. 5 (40m 14s): So I literally changed the entire tempo and warped audio just so it would fit in like a Tik TOK clip. 3 (40m 21s): Wow. 5 (40m 22s): Yeah. That's so stuff like that, like definitely I have to keep in mind now. 3 (40m 27s): Right. Interesting. No, for sure. I, I didn't mean like, you're going to go try to chase that song and to do the same thing again, but like, and you have to keep that in mind, like, okay. I was vulnerable and I wrote the song and it resonated with people. Like that's probably something now in the back of your mind, like, okay, when I approach this next song, I need to kind of be as vulnerable as 5 (40m 48s): Yeah, yeah. A hundred percent. And it's crazy. Cause it's like, I mean, a lot of people like sad stuff, but I stopped very vulnerable. Like even I hear a boyfriend's face sounds a little happy, especially at like the, the postcode, like the post. And 3 (41m 2s): That's why I worked. So 5 (41m 4s): I guess, I guess so. And like I even played, I played trumpet in that one too, which is kind of like a happier instrument, the way I played it. And it's like, I it's hard for me to make, like I only have like two songs. I know that like sounds sad that I've ever made. Like not even out, that sounds sad. And they are sad. A lot of the sad songs I have or like, like oppose the beat heavily. Like I have a song called circus that I teased that that's not out yet, but I want to, hopefully it will be soon. And it's literally a song about, you know, being, feeling like you're a clown in this, in a girl circus. Cause she's just playing with you. Right. 5 (41m 45s): Yeah. And it's like, but the whole thing is so happy. It sounds like happy circus music. Like, you know, I take the <inaudible> I take that and I flip it, I make a diatonic and that's the whole post. And like, it's just like a chant. And it's like very pop, a very like upbeat, but it's like so sad and true. So it's like, it's a vulnerable, but like whatever, at least it's like something you could dance there, like vibe too. Right. That's usually the type of sad songs I make are like, they're sad. Like the lyrics are so sad, but Hey, whatever, you can still vibe to it. 3 (42m 21s): Right? Yeah. It's got some step in it like that. That's funny. 5 (42m 25s): Like me, like not wanting to be sad. I think, I think that's where everything comes from. It's like, mm. Yeah. I mean, I'll say, I'll say I'll talk about it, but like, I don't want to feel sad. Like, I'll be sad, but I want to feel sad and like the music 3 (42m 37s): Happy telling you how sad. 5 (42m 40s): Yeah. It's like, I feel like it's like a whole like denial thing, which is why my music sounds like that a lot. 3 (42m 46s): Well, dude, I love what you're doing. Are you just the plan to just continue to write songs and put them out as, as you are, are you going to work on, like, I know you've put out like an EAP before in an album. Is that something that you want to do again, 5 (42m 59s): Right? Yeah. I want to put out an album so bad actually. It's just has to be like the right time. You feel me? I have so many songs. I think it would be crazy. Like I have the best songs I've ever written, like in my, my iCloud drive, you know what I mean? Just like sitting on my phone, just like nobody has heard them yet. I'm gonna start teasing a lot of them on Tik TOK and everything. Just to see, you know, gauge the reaction. Like what, what are people gonna be able to get from this? Cause I'm not, I'm not them again. I wrote that for myself. Right. So, but I guess it's sort of like, I just have to test the waters with, with a lot of this stuff. So I know it's like the right time for the most part. 5 (43m 40s): I just wanted to make the greatest impact that it can, but up next actually is which I'm about to announce today or tomorrow, right. Is a remix of, I hear boyfriend's face of cool featuring Mike, Mike Posner. So 3 (43m 56s): Really? 5 (43m 57s): Yeah. That's crazy. Tik TOK duet to it. And I'm like, we were able to secure it and it's fun. Like it's just crazy to me. It's blows my mind that you even pay attention to something like that. 3 (44m 11s): That's so rad. So there's a remix with, with, with Mike Posner and it coming out. 5 (44m 16s): Yup. Yup. That's that's coming next. I think in, in a few weeks. And then after that there'll be another single don't know what it is yet. I'm gonna let tick tock decide which one comes out next. Right. But then hopefully an EPA slash album after that full of all the rest of everything else that I'm really passionate about, then we'll see where it goes from there. Awesome. Awesome. I love it, man. Well, thank you so much Parker for doing this. I really appreciate it. A hundred percent, man. Thank you so much for having me on, like, it was just great to talk to you. I got to talk to, oh, thank you. I appreciate that. I love again. I love what you're doing. I have one more quick question. I want to know if you have any advice for aspiring artists. 5 (44m 57s): Yeah. A hundred percent. I just want to say, make sure you're making music for the right reason, right? Because if you're doing that and your intentions are good, the night you're going to get there, like there's an, if you have that sort of like passionate about it, that sort of motivation and you like eat, sleep and breathe music for the right reasons it'll happen. And I know that's kind of sounds generic, but if you really think about what I just said, it's like for me, I made the most progress with my music and the most stuff started happening when I started like really appreciating what I had already done. 5 (45m 38s): Right. When I started appreciating the music and falling in love with that. And then appreciating the reactions that I got from people, not just because I wanted to be famous and everything like that. Like you got to really love what you do. And if you really love something, you're going to put the effort in like into it. So it's just like, you know, be honest with yourself. I guess that that would be my, my advice because a lot of people give advice like, oh, make like, make sure you post this and make sure you avoid this. But really it all comes down to fundamentally