We sat down with Kailee Morgue to chat about her new song, “Knew You,” her influences and aesthetic, and more.
Check out Part 1 of her Spotlight here.
We sat down with Kailee Morgue to chat about her new song, “Knew You,” her influences and aesthetic, and more.
Check out Part 2 of her Spotlight.
What is Music Spotlight?
Music Spotlight is where we’ll be highlighting new artists on a bi-weekly basis to 1) give real talent the recognition they deserve and 2) keep Music.tumblr fresh with new artists to check out.
For this week’s spotlight, we are delighted to feature Rebbeca Marie Gomez, who is better known by Becky G. Want to get to know her better? Scroll down to our interview with her.
Describe each of the following in one word: who you are / what you value the most / who you’d be if you were a food item?
My name is Rebbeca Marie Gomez AKA Becky G.
I value family the most.
I would be a taco. Who doesn’t love tacos? Actually wait….. maybe an In-n-out burger too.
Based on your musical journey so far, what’s your biggest takeaway / piece of advice so far?
Starting out so young in this industry I feel like even in the beginning the pressure was so big, Then I would prioritize the effort of trying to not let everyone around me down but realized that I was only letting myself down trying to please everyone. Self happiness is key to getting through life. ️
What sets your music apart from the rest?
I tell people all the time, “I’m not doing the crossover, I am the crossover.”
I’m a Mexicana doing reggaetón music, there’s not many of us. Plus I also sing English urban music.
Outside of music, what are you most passionate about and why?
Family. It’s just in my being. Bonding time with my parents, siblings, cousins. Growing up family has always been number 1. I even talk about how I can’t wait to have my own family one day.
Would you rather speak all languages or be able to speak to all animals?
Speak all languages!!!! I could swing songs in Japanese, French, Italian, portugués! All of them! That’s a dope concept.
If you’re curious and want to hear more from Becky, check out her latest single, “Zooted” here.
And if you’re even more curious, follow Becky G on Tumblr at @iambeckyg.
New year, new you, same Music Spotlight. We’re kicking off 2020 with New York-based singer-songwriter, Michael Blume. His last few months of 2019 were exciting, to say the least. He was on tour with AJR and released his new single, “In Between”, which is a soulful, R&B-inspired track that leaves us wanting more. We were lucky enough to land a little interview with the man himself to talk about his inspiration, insights and what’s next for him. Check it out.
For a lot of of my life I’ve been taught to define things, to categorize. And I’ve been taught that fully understanding and categorizing a thing is a form of success. You figured it out! That’s what it is! In Between is about celebrating uncertainty, un-categorizability. Some of the original verses were inspired by a situation-ship I was in with a guy I really liked who kinda pulled me back and forth. But as I finished the song, it became more about the infinite in-betweens that so many of us experience in our daily lives around our identities, relationships, careers, and general life journeys.
Sheesh, that’s a good question! I’d have to say it’s to pray everyday on the fact that you are the only you. And sometimes only you know what you know, only you see what you see. And it’s easy to forget that and feel like — oh, this other person knows best for me, lemme do what they say. Sometimes that might be true. But at the end of the day, you’re the only one on your journey and maintaining faith in yourself and your vision requires daily upkeep and practice.
We did meet and greets after every show and got to meet so many fans which I loved. One group of fans in Texas were all on a cheerleading squad and instead of just taking a picture they quickly taught me how to do a lift and fully lifted me into the air on their backs/hands. It was hilarious/definitely out of my comfort zone!
I think the major digital streaming platforms are great because they have made it so much easier for more artists to make work and share it on the internet. But the playlisting economy has meant that consumers have less agency in what they listen to. Instead of paying 99 cents to listen to a specific song, consumers are passively listening to playlists that streaming companies believe will maximize profit. I think this makes it tougher for new artists or artists that don’t “sound” like those platforms to gain exposure. I wish we could expand the ways artists and listeners connect, and give listeners more agency to choose the sound, themes, and feelings they want in their music.
I was a Latin American Studies major! I speak Spanish and Portuguese and lived in Brasil for a while, where I taught and ran a choir in 2011!
I have a lot of new music that I am excited to share. I’m getting it all lined up and finished and I am very excited to put out this next batch. Also locking in some performance dates and hope to be back in some of the cities I was able to play in last year :)
Check out Michael’s latest single, In Between, available everywhere now and stay tuned for more in 2020!
In our latest Music Spotlight, we’re highlighting Taiwanese-American singer, rapper, songwriter, and member of South Korean girl group f(x), Amber Liu.
Amber is currently on her first solo tour, titled Gone Rogue, after releasing and directing the video for her new single Countdown. We caught up with the singer following her visit to BUILD Series to discuss her tour, Asian representation in the media, and what the word ‘idol’ means to her.
Shaking my butt. Shake That Brass is just shake that ass and I’m actually doing it. The crowd’s enjoying it and I’m very happy that they’re enjoying it because I’m just acting incredibly dumb.
I hate how fast paced it is. Maybe it’s due to the competition of everybody doing music? Songs back then would be on the charts for a lot longer, but now everything’s just very fast paced. People just want more and also people listen to it differently. I know that there are a lot of people that still listen to music and try to feel it, but a lot of people just hear music now, which is okay, but an art form is an art form. There’s always intention behind songs that are written. Looking back into those intentions is very important.
Don’t listen to unnecessary things and don’t worry about unnecessary things. People can be really crappy, but just go with your ambitions and your feelings and your intuition.
It can only get better, right? I think can people can guess the seeds that are being planted right now, so I think it’s just the right time for everybody to plant their seeds, and then the seeds that are planted right now can start blossoming. We’ve been here for awhile, we’ve been here doing our thing. There’s Jackie Chan, there’s Lucy Liu. Now it’s our turn for our generation to take that and to see where we can take it, too.
I’ve always been very uncomfortable with the word “idol” because it’s a strong word. For people to idolize me, it’s flattering but also very uncomfortable because I started off when I was 16. Why would you idolize a 16-year-old? I’m out of my mind, I’m stupid, I’m immature, and I am still stupid and immature. Just to have that title put on you, it’s very pressuring and I’ve never liked that word. But I understand that it’s perceived in a different way when it’s used onto music artists in Asia. I think it’s limiting. K-pop idols now, we’re different. Everybody’s writing their own music, doing their own thing. Having that idol title actually constricts us from being taken seriously. You have people like Zico, Big Bang, the list goes on and on. There’s so many idols right now doing their own thing and people still just want to treat us like we’re just kids that are doing music and listening to our labels. There are K-pop idols out there that are serious about their own music, who write everything from their heart and present that to their fans.
I don’t know if it relates to the music I’m doing now. I guess I’m just another one of those idols out there right now that just want to do their own music and do my own thing. If people want to call me an idol, go ahead. It’s where I started, I’m not going to deny it, but for it to relate to the things I’m doing now? Maybe not so much. The industry is evolving and the good is coming. They’re going to listen to the songs for what they are, and look for meaning and intention and emotion.
Want more of Amber? Check out her music and follow along with the conversation here.
New year, new you, same Music Spotlight. This week we’re highlighting singer, songwriter, and actress Alison Sudol. You may recognize this triple threat from 2016′s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them as well as its more recent sequel, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
We talked to her about what it’s like having so many career oaths, what her newest music means to her, and listened to her open up about her struggles with anxiety and depression.
It’s definitely a challenge, trying to balance two careers. They each feed and challenge me in different ways, and I’ve found that going from one to another makes me much more creatively fulfilled than if I just focused on one. Thankfully, I have an incredible team who work together beautifully so the overlap is generally kept to a minimum.
What I have learned from doing it for some time now is that sometimes you have to make sacrifices in one field to give the other the attention it needs. I’ve been very focused on acting for a while now, and now it’s time for music. I think the most important part of creating balance, though, is doing what I can to stay grounded personally. Slowing down, taking care of my body, taking deep breaths—these little acts of self-care keep me from turning into a total stress-ball. Oh, and CBD.
I’m particularly connected to my songs about anxiety and depression at the moment, because when I wrote them, I was in a fairly dark place and really didn’t know what was going on with me. I wrote about the things I did because I had to. I was trying to figure stuff out that really didn’t make sense at the time. Writing has always been a kind of therapy for me. I had a lot to work through at the time, and I felt so lost. The melodies coaxed words out of me, out of my subconscious more than anything else, and it took me a long time to process what I had written. It becomes meditative, when you sing words again and again. The meaning shifts and changes, depending on my mental state at the time, but each time, I find myself untangling a little more of the mystery.
I didn’t know [I had anxiety and depression], not for a long time. I was afraid to admit that I was having a hard time, even to myself. When I finally sought help, it was because I felt like I was going crazy and I didn’t know what else to do about it. I couldn’t stop crying, I couldn’t pull myself together and I couldn’t see a way out of it. For a while, I took a mild antidepressant and started doing more intensive therapy. The antidepressant gave me the energy and strength to dig into things in my past that were causing a lot of the depression, which I hadn’t been able to get into before without disassociating.
It was life-changing. But then the antidepressant started to give me intense anxiety. I started taking medicine for that too. That got to be a bit of a mess, especially when a third medication was prescribed to help even out the other two. What I’ve learned is that it’s really important to be on the right stuff, and have the right people advising you. It may take some work to get there. What was right for me for 8 months turned out to not be right in the long run, but those months were incredibly important. I made countless changes to my life, breaking old patterns and choosing healthier behaviors across the board, and as a result, my mental health state improved greatly.
The best advice I have for you is to follow your instincts around your wellbeing—find ways of creating quiet space in your day to check in with yourself. Learn how to listen to your body. Cultivate friendships that support your health, and your friends’ health in return as well. Find a good doctor who can talk to you. Get a counselor of some sort, if you can.
Most importantly, just know if you’re suffering from mental health issues, there is no shame in it, or in asking for help.
Trying to be “perfect” is a gigantic waste of time. Mistakes are human, and we all need to see others embrace their own humanity so we can embrace our own. Also, stop trying to please everyone, and make something that makes your body hum with joy instead.
It’s a shrinking business, and there’s a lot of fear in it these days, which leads to people being very invested in keeping things familiar and easily assimilable. There’s a great affection for things which fit in boxes, which make people feel safe. I wish that we could strip off the sticky shiny vanilla veneer that is slapped on most popular music and go back to a time where you could hear a person’s soul in their songs.
So much music to me sounds like plastic these days. It all sounds like it was written by a couple of dudes in a windowless room in Santa Monica or some fancy song-factory in Sweden. I just wish people would take more risks and stop trying to sound like each other and make some actual music. I feel like we’re hungry for it, and as long as we keep getting fed more and more junk food, the value of music is going to keep going down and the business is going to suffer worse and worse because of it.
We need to share our true selves with each other, and make way more music from that. And I hope that more people on the business side of things will get fed up with the boxes too and start taking more risks, so more unique, heart-driven music can have a chance to be heard.
Want to hear more from Alison? Check out her latest music video to “Escape the Blade” here, and follow her on Tumblr, too!
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health issues, please know there are free and confidential help lines, text lines, and other resources for you to use no matter where you live. Take care of yourself, Tumblr. <3
In our latest Music Spotlight, we’re highlighting writer, singer and fiddler, Lillie Mae. She’s been on the road since childhood, singing and playing the fiddle in her family band, the Forrest Carter Family Band. She has since toured with Jack White and is fast becoming more and more recognized for her blend of pop-infused Americana, though you’ll learn below that she doesn’t like to categorize herself into one specific genre. Check it out:
Honestly, it’s always been a struggle. My whole life, either in my family band or the music that I make now, I think we’ve been starting new genres. I think people all over the place are. There’s so much music out there that people haven’t named yet. Mine is pulled from influences everywhere. I have a bluegrass background, a country background, but I’m a huge jazz fan and a huge classical fan, and a big rhythm and blues fan. I might play a fiddle, but I’m super driven by the groove and the beat of this other music. I think it’s hard to put a name on it - unfortunately that can box you in and people don’t know what to do with that.
I don’t aim to force messages down people’s throats or anything, I personally write honestly and what’s true to me. If you pull something from it, that’s incredible. If you get something out of my music, that’s incredible. If someone feels inspired or it makes someone feel a certain way that’s as much as I could ever ask for.
I mean, dream collaborations - dare I ever suggest myself good enough to collaborate with these people - Ray Charles, Billie Holiday, Waylon Jennings…but currently, Rihanna - that would be amazing. I think she’s a badass.
I would be a great mascot. I could goof off and do funny shit, but no one would know who I am. I get super shy in front of the camera, but I can be very animated in costume.
Probably my sister Scarlett! But I’ve always loved fashion, and have been influenced by the classics, like Audrey Hepburn, Edie Sedgwick. I really dig eclectic shit, and other cultures that aren’t afraid of color.
Want to hear more from Lillie Mae? Yeah, we know you do. Swing on over here to listen to her new music.
Two for two this week with our Music Spotlight series! What can we say? We see an emerging artist we know you’ll love, and we feel compelled to show ‘em off.
Today, we’re featuring the very mysterious Swedish singer Mio (@reachingmio) whose tunes take you on an urban pop, occasionally Latin-inspired journey. We talked to him about gender neutrality, what it feels like to release music, and taking time.
I am extremely picky with how I choose the melodies for my songs. It’s a sensitive process for me to find the balance and I feel like I’ve really found it in these songs on the EP. Apart from that I feel there’s a something unique by how the Scandinavian writing approach mixed with a somewhat Mediterranean melody angle gives it a unique sound, even in a space of pop.
I like to not have the stories be based upon a specific genders perspective. I believe anyone can recognize themselves in the situations I’m writing about, hence not ever writing ”him” or ”her” in any of my songs.
As most artists I want people to recognize themselves in the situations I draw up through my music. The songs are written straight out of situations coming from my life. It can be described a musical diary mixed with a notebook filled with thoughts and scribbles.
Something that both excites and scares me is releasing my own songs for the first time. Why it scares me is probably because of how personal it is. If people dislikes the music it’s almost as if they dislike me, cause the music IS me and my stories in a way. Why it excites me is because a freaking love these songs so much and have been waiting for so long to finally let them see the light.
When I was in 5th grade I used to wear a red beret every day. Thought it made me look cool. It didn’t.
Don’t think that it’s all about “talent.” It’s really about the time and effort you put into getting somewhere that will take you there. Talent is only hard work in disguise, that sometimes the people being ”talented” don’t even realize they’ve put in. Also, give everything the time it needs. You can’t force a flower to grow, it’s the same thing with your music and your own artist identity. Let time show you the way and let the pieces fall into place naturally. You have time, don’t worry so much.
Gotta listen? Check out Mio’s latest music video to “Lost” here, and be sure to give him a follow at @reachingmio.
We got a real treat for you for this Music Spotlight. Come and get to know Peruvian-American R&B artist, songwriter, and producer, A.CHAL (@cityofgaz). His latest new single, “000000,” from his EP, EXOTIGAZ is out now. You’re gonna wanna hear this one.
Prince, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, Kanye, and music from Peru.
Dream collaboration…have none at the moment.
2019 I’m excited about showing people A.CHAL as a whole.
Lomo Saltado.
Outside of my music, I’m passionate about helping people, especially ones who had a similar struggle. Being an immigrant and balancing two cultures is a very unique experience. That experience and the outcomes of that fascinates me.
Want to hear more from A.CHAL? Follow him on Tumblr at @cityofgaz, and then swing on over here to listen to his music.
(This interview has been edited for clarity.)
This week in Music Spotlight, we’re featuring singer Morgan Saint, who is an artist that embodies moody pop - something we’re fully embracing now that the seasons are changing. Check out what she has to say about herself and her takeaways on her musical journey so far.
1) Describe each of the following in one word:
Who you are
Alien
What you value the most
Love
Who you’d be if you were a food item
A peach
2) Would you rather speak all languages or be able to speak to all animals?
Definitely all animals!
3) Based on your musical journey so far, what’s your biggest takeaway / piece of advice so far?
Have patience and don’t compromise yourself for anyone else.
4) For someone who’s never listened to your music before, how would you describe your music to them?
Honest and warm.
If you want to hear more from Morgan, check out her new seductive, sultry track, “On Fire”, from her upcoming sophomore EP, Alien, due out October 5. Oh, and she’s on Tumblr, too.
With Alien, Morgan embraces feeling like an outsider and learns to find empowerment in her singularity. Share your own “alien” experiences on your own Tumblr by posting stories of times you have felt like an outsider and overcame it using the tag #MorgansAliens, and Morgan will reblog her favorites and share them on her socials.
