 How did the band come to be?
This project started when we, Ask and Carol, the two members of Ask Carol, became friends right after high school. We were studying music in southern Norway. We were always talking about starting a band, but it would take about 7 years before we finally went through with the idea. The summer of 2015 we stayed at a cabin in the Norwegian mountains, with no electricity and no water, far away from people and civilization, only a few sheep outside the windows. That's where our first songs were made, and where the seed to what would become Ask Carol started. One more year went by before we started for real, and Ask Carol was officially born, in 2016. Our first concert ever was at a small blues club in Seoul, South Korea, called Strange Fruit. At that point, Carol was already a somewhat known guitarist-for-hire in the Oslo music scene, and had never ever sung in front of people before, or at all for that matter. That's why we wanted to try out our music and hold our first concerts far away from our hometown. After thinking hard and long about the band name, with many pretty good suggestions, we ended up with the simple band name Ask Carol, the first names of our two members, Ask and Carol, put together. Ask is a real Norwegian name, coming from Norse Mythology, the Viking religion; Ask was the first human being, created by the God Odin, out of a piece of Ash-wood. Do you have any releases coming up this year? Yes, we are currently working on our debut album, which will be released in the coming Fall. Before the album we’ll have a couple of singles coming up. We’re in the studio as we speak, and can’t wait to show you guys the new stuff :D What is something you want listeners to take away from your music? That is up to the listener. We create music, and if it makes someone feel anything, at all, that’s great. With everything that is going on in our world what is one cause or organization that you are passionate about? There’s so much happening in the world at the moment, there is no one thing that is more important than the other. Many things are important. The most important thing is to be a little bit engaged, and not totally ignorant or apathetic. There are important issues like climate change, women’s rights, and there are issues which are more directly affecting us like the handling of the Covid crisis in the cultural sector. It is important to educate yourself, and we try to keep up with what’s going on. What is your writing process like? We usually start out with the ideas separately, and then later on in the process we get together to finish up the songs. We often do the songwriting and production process in parallel, but it all varies very much. At the moment we are in two separate locations, so we use the internet and the cloud to send ideas back and forth. The most important thing is to get the initial ideas down as fast as possible, cause those often tend to slip away if you don’t get them our of your head and down on paper/computer/phone/recorder. To follow up with the last question, what inspires your sound? We are both inspired by so many different things. A few of our biggest common inspirations are Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd, which I think you can really hear in our music. In addition to that, Ask is very influenced by The Clash, and Carol draws inspiration from amongst others, Nirvana. A place that has inspired us a lot in the past has been Carol’s cabin, high in the Norwegian mountains. There is no electricity and no water, so it’s a very old school way of life. And no internet. That means less distraction, and room for inspiration. The inspiration might always be there, but with all the constant impressions and distractions from the internet there is just no room for it. That is where we wrote our first songs as Ask Carol, in that cabin. Any tours coming up soon? At the moment there are no tours planned, as the government does not allow any traveling at all. We can’t play any concerts here either, but that might change the coming months. Hopefully. But, when the situation in the world becomes a little better, we will definitely tour a lot! There are so many cool places we wanna go to and play. Anything you would like to tell our readers? Stay tuned for our upcoming debut album and new singles after the summer! Meanwhile you can check out the new music video for our latest single, «Darkest Hour»: https://youtu.be/ 1O1uWrwT2_o Oh, and btw, if you want you can sign up for our newsletter here, and you’ll get a free download of our song «Come Closer»: https://askcarolmusic.ck.page/comecloser
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How did the band come to be?
Before being a band, we were childhood friends! We met each other at school and didn’t separate from this time! We started covering songs from our favorite bands and then wrote our own songs… Twenty years later, the story is still being written with the same crazy team! Do you have any releases coming up this year? There’s a lot of new stuff coming up! We just launched our new music video for our song “9th Life”! Then 2021 will be marked with the release of new music videos, new songs… And a lot of surprises! So, stay tuned!!! What is something you want listeners to take away from your music? Perséide will remind you of your adolescence!!! We want to make music as we always loved it: with energy and chills! All that we want for our listeners is to enjoy. To feel free to love the music as we love it, no matter the style or influence. In a day of your life, you can be happy, sad, angry, or crazy. The best way to live these emotions is to let them flow through you and to express them without holding back… That’s what we want to share with our music and live shows: you can be all these things at once and music helps us to escape; even for the time of a song or a concert. Living and sharing this with our listeners to make them live these emotions with us to feel better is the most important thing for us. With everything that is going on in our world, what is one cause or organization that you are passionate about? Julien (vocals/rhythm guitar): I’m a medical doctor. I usually spend several days in the year travelling in Madagascar to help people in need with the aid organization I’m in at my hospital. What is your writing process like? The guitar players start with a basic framework that we propose to the other musicians. Then, we all make musical arrangements to fit everyone’s taste and we play the song in rehearsal and then we play it live. If the song pleases the audience, we keep the final version for recording and drop it right to your ears! To follow up with the last question, what inspires your sound? As a medical doctor in anesthesia and critical care, the things I’ve seen in the hospital make me remember that when you’re in good health, you must love your life and seize the day! That’s a concept we like to inject in our lyrics and chords: enjoying the little things that are enjoyable, listening to music, losing yourself in a rock show and live it up! Any tours coming up soon? If the situation remains stable, our next tour will take place during 2022! Fingers crossed!!! We hope that it will allow us to book some great gigs with bands we love and keep the inspiration to carry on with this great experience! Anything you would like to tell our readers? The shame is to be ashamed. When you give 100% in your passion, you don’t have to be ashamed, you have to be yourself, and enjoy, no matter if you don’t please everybody. The few ones you will please will enjoy with you and truly live the moment.  What made you want to be an artist?
Well, I guess I was inspired by music and arts from a very early age thanks to my mother. She was a piano teacher and often taught students at home, so music was around me at most times. It was mainly classical music and also some jazz later on. My mother was also a history of arts teacher and very often took me with her to see concerts and go to exhibitions from an early age. I’ve got to admit that at the time, I didn’t use to enjoy going to all these classical concerts and galleries, but later on as I grew up, I realised how important all this was in my development as an artist. I am forever thankful for all she did for me in that sense. What inspires your sounds? The inspiration I got into developing my sounds come from listening to a lot of different genres of music. As I mentioned earlier on, classical music was my grounding then later on jazz but I listened to a lot of other genres of music in between. From metal to hip-hop, alternative dance to electro-pop, reggae, dub, folk, rock and afrobeat to name but a few! I guess I am always interested in discovering new music no matter what style or genre it is. If it’s good, well so be it! I think these days (mainly in western culture) we have the luxury to live in a global village where all cultures entertwine with each other and often these mixtures of genres create really interesting fresh new sounds. All that is very exciting! With everything that is going on in our world, how is it to release music at this particular time? I think these days, with music being mainly distributed digitally online, it hasn’t really changed much of my process with distributing new music. Throughout this global pandemic more people have been gravitating towards online streaming for new music. Regarding physical sales, I am thinking of producing a limited series of collectors vinyls to sell directly to my hardcore fans on tours but other than that, my music will always firstly be available to be streamed on most online distribution platforms. Has the pandemic affected your music? Yes, it has affected it a lot! Throughout the lockdowns, I’ve got to admit that my songwriting and lyrical content overall got a lot more darker sounding. By living these times of isolation and spending a lot of time on my own, I got to dive in deeper into my personal emotions and that was translated directly into my creative output flow. What is something you want listeners to take away from your music? I would hope that it could make them feel something special they can relate to and help them bring out their inner emotions, may they be sad or happy as well as questioning the meaning behind my lyrics. I get really excited about cool wordplay and poetry and admire artist wordsmiths such as Kate Tempest and more obvious ones such as Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. I like the idea of story-telling as well with lyrics and it is something I feel more inclined to do in my latest songs. What are your goals? I want to collaborate with other artists, rappers and music producers around the world and keep releasing new music regularly. I also want to expand my fanbase globally and tour the world so I can connect with my fans more closely. Other than that, I plan to design my own streetwear using original artwork I have created. Any tour coming soon with the reopening of venues? I am definitely planning to tour as soon as possible. Right now, I am first concentrating on my next single releases and building-up momentum towards these releases. Once these are out, I will look into booking a tour. I can’t wait! Anything you would like to tell our readers? Yes. My journey into becoming an artist has been filled with constant hurdles and learning curves. It took me some time to find out who I really am as an artist and actually I am still learning a lot about who I am today to be honest! From my very early days as an artist until now, there sure were moments when I thought of giving it all up, but I realised along the line that I was given a gift from a higher power above me to be an artist and my mission in this life is to create music and arts. There is nothing else that can fulfil me more than creating music or a piece of art and sharing it with the world as a gift. Listen to "Winner Today" here. Check Can Guru? socials for more: https://www.instagram.com/canguru_music/ https://twitter.com/CanGuru90535341 https://www.facebook.com/cangurupage Interview by: Laury Verdoux  How did the band come to be?
It all started years ago when Simon became Emil’s guitar teacher. They pretty fast found each other and started playing in a cover band together with different constellations and a lot of different gigs. After a few years they got tired of playing covers and started rearranging and rewrite and translate the lyrics of a lot of known and popular rock/pop songs to spice things up. By this time, they released that they also wanted a lead singer and they found me Olof. When I joined the band we first worked with Simons and Emil’s rewritten covers. But pretty fast we did our first own song, and as soon we started walking that path there was no going back. No more covers. It has taken us about 1-1,5 years to find our sound. We play “story metal” and it’s a mix from many different genres. We use the heavy sound from Metal Rock to tell different stories. We are really proud of our sound and will probably keep working and develop our sound as time goes on. We have been playing together for 2 years now. Do you have any releases coming up this year? We have at least four planned releases. On the 7th of May we will release Our first album “Path Of A Shadow” and on the same date a single called “Ingen Som Hör Dig – No One Can Hear You” Than one or two month later we will have one more single release, and after that probably sometime in September we will release an EP in German. This is what is planned but there will probably be something more. What is something you want listeners to take away from your music? We really hope you “feel the pressure”, he he. No seriously, we but a lot of thought into our lyrics and write about real life stories and pressures that often can be interpret in different ways, many times in both a good way and in a bad way, it’s up to the listener do decide. But many of the the songs wants you keep on fighting, believe in yourself, and dare to live life. With everything that is going on in our world what is one cause or organization that you are passionate about? For me it’s the three things. Taking care of the elder and try to be there for the even though we can’t meet in real person. I know its really tough for many people that feel isolated. And I also feel for all people that’s got their life’s work ruined because of the pandemic. And finally take care of mother earth and each other. What is your writing process like? Simon, (the collector) collects stories all around him, by talking and interacting with people. That gives him ideas for lyrics riffs and melodies. He records everything from drums, bas, guitars and vocals. He shows me and Emil his idea/draft, and I (Olof) intervjus Simon about what he wants to say, to be sure everybody will get the message. I re-record it with my vocals, and pretty often changing the key, parts or words of the lyrics and parts of the melody. (Sometimes almost no changes at all) After that Simon and I start recording together, setting harmonies, take it home and all of us listen to it. Comes up with more ideas/changes, rerecord it. Take it home listen to it… And after a few rounds when we feel, we can’t do it better than this, we record the “final version” and send it to our fantastic producers for mixing and mastering. To follow up with the last question, what inspires your sound? We are influenced by ordinary everyday people that have a real self-experienced story to tell us. That’s the base of our music, to tell real life stories. When it comes to musicians it is every musician that do music with their soul. It is not one band, person, or genre, it a little mix of many of them. But if I have to give you some examples, this is what you could expect if you listen to our music. A heavy sound with a lot of guitar melody’s and a lot of vocal harmonies. If you take the Vocals from Rammstein, Volbeat or Thåström and the backing vocals from Queen or Aerosmtih mix it with the guitars of Bon Jovi, Guns ´n Roses and Mötley Crue and add the drums of DIO or Whitesnake and the lyrics of Skid Row or Bob Dylan and add the bass of Metallica or Korn, and finally add a little bit folk music into that mix then you have our sound. Anything you would like to tell our readers? Check us out! You can listen to us on all the different streaming channels and see a lot of videos on Youtube. On YouTube we also have videos “From The Dome” that’s kind of a diary and give you a glimpse about what we are doing and working on. It’s a raw cut, edited or planned videos so you will see the real behind the scenes of Pressure. We also have pretty cool merch with very high-quality products, check it out if you want something new for your wardrobe. https://shop.spreadshirt.se/pressure And if you want to listen to us and follow us, here are some links for you https://www.instagram.com/pressuresweden https://www.facebook.com/pressuresweden WWW https://www.pressure.band Youtube https://www.youtube.com/c/Pressuresweden Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/7a9rKp03MYJv4leDN7Mm8k Merch https://shop.spreadshirt.se/pressure  How did the band come to be?
The band came about just from jamming on Saturday morning between, Russell, myself and Ray. Slowly it progressed, we started to get some songs together, and we’ve picking up steam ever since. Do you have any releases coming up this year? We released our second our EP “1996” this year in March. However, we’ve just been studio we’ve producer Mark Myers getting some more songs down, that we’re super excited. One of them will be a single that we will release this year. What is something you want listeners to take away from your music? In the end, I just hope they relate etc, and get some enjoyment from it. With everything that is going on in our world what is one cause or organization that you are passionate about? The ABC (Australia) ;). What is your writing process like? We don’t really have a process, Ray will come in with an idea or riff, and I’ll add some lyrics and figure out melodies. Or I might come in a completed song form. To follow up with the last question, what inspires your sound? We have a wide range of influences going from, The Cure, Violvent Soho, Powderfinger, Silversun Pickups and pop punk hero’s Green Day. Anything you would like to tell our readers? Give some of our tracks a listen - https://open.spotify.com/artist/4serq8W7kitDHuSTd4DhjF  How did the band come to be?
The history of our relationship, how we got to know each other, goes way back to the past. Initially, it was not music at all what put us together. Our paths crossed because of our common “research/obsession” of a mysterious entity that we inherited from our parents. And this “research” was later on the main impulse to found Blitz Union. Do you have any releases coming up this year? We have released our new, second EP “NOT PROUD” on 16th of April which closed another chapter of Blitz Union. However, you can expect new music, in various forms to be released till this fall - Then we would like to start another chapter of Blitz union in big style! - We would like to release our very first, debut, full-length album. What is something you want listeners to take away from your music? Anything they need to take away from it at the given moment they are listening to. You can never plan in advance how the listener will interpret the song. That’s what I love about doing the music - the various feedback which you received - sometimes it is very interesting and exciting what can be found in your music. With everything that is going on in our world what is one cause or organization that you are passionate about? I cannot think about some specific example, but in general - I am passionate about everyone who cares about the whole, who cares about life in general and does not focus exclusively on their personal profit. I have huge respect for people like this. What is your writing process like? I usually bring some lyric ideas with a very simple instrumental. If everyone likes it, we do the general arrangements together. Once the main structure of the song is done and agreed, Schtorm (bassist, producer) starts to work on the final production of the song. In regards to the themes of our songs and inspiration itself - It is directly connected to the overall story of Blitz Union. As mentioned in my first answer, there is a background “research” of a mysterious entity (let’s call it/him “Mr.Blitz” for now) which was actually the main reason for Blitz Union’s foundation. There were a lot of unusual events which happened to me which led to some kind of communication with this force. We are still learning about what it means and going to reveal how those events influenced our music. There will be a lot to be found out by fans around the Union and our story which we can’t wait to start sharing. To follow up with the last question, what inspires your sound? We were all raised on Nu-metal bands and generally rock/metal bands which have been popular around year 2000 (Korn, Mudvayne, Static-x, Rammstein etc.). So I think the foundations of our songs come from there. But since we also love the new wave of electronic music, electronic dance music (EDM), we implement its typical elements into our songs too. So we’ve started to call it EDM-Rock. Energy-driven rock riffs + EDM catchy hooks = Blitz Union’s EDM Rock (Laughter). Anything you would like to tell our readers? I would like to tell that those who are not afraid to ask themselves unpleasant questions and who have the courage to face their personal but also external problems - are more than welcome in our Union and can contact us directly at any time and contribute their knowledge and experience. There are lots of exciting things regarding our story/research of Mr. Blitz coming your way.  How did the band come to be?
It all started with this: WHEN WE ARE TOGETHER, WE ARE STRONGER. The Last Element originates when we face the passing of one dearly loved, the hardship of a broken home or the breaking of hearts – it is the first spark, the first sense of emotion, a first feeling that evolves into a creative mind. Bringing these elements together they find a way to grow - Broken hearts fit like pieces of puzzles and these pieces mend into one big heart. We believe there are many like us, waiting to join our hearts. Together we are stronger, together we are The Last Element. Do you have any releases coming up in the new year? I Think we have multiple planned, we just released our latest, Cut it off. We hope to release about four songs this year and we might release some B-sides in a different way. We just want to keep growing and do cool things so it might all change in the blink of an eye when we think of something different. What is something you want listeners to take away from your music? I think it’s in my starting statement as well. We as humans aren’t made to live life alone, to depend only on ourselves. We are so much stronger and better off when we share our lives with people we love. The songs we write are very personal, it’s pure and open, we all deal with shit, we all deal with difficult times. Sometimes things feel hopeless, but honestly if you focus on the broader picture there is always something or someone to lift your spirits. That’s what we try with our music, showing the duality of life, the dark and the beauty, the good and the bad. We try to reach out our hands to pull you back up. With everything that is going on in our world what is one cause or organization that you are passionate about? There are so many! But we see the damages done to the music industry, the small time bands, the venues, the big bands and everything around it. Now more than ever we believe it’s important to unify as one and feel good with each other. So keep supporting culture and keep making it possible that there is more in this world than just capitalism, money makes things possible, but heart makes things last. So we can’t wait till the day we can play live shows again and meet everyone out there. What is your writing process like? Jumping back into moments and emotions. We mostly tap from the well of experiences and let that influence what we want a song to sound like. The creative process has multiple layers mostly. It can start with a guitar riff or a piano chord progression from there we just take it wherever. It’s such a cool thing, each of us has a way to add to the songs. Sometimes it’s either Jan or Noah dropping a fully made instrumental and giving me the space to sing melodies and lyrics, afterwards we adjust the instruments and Robert records all the drums to be a perfect match with vocals and the rest of the instruments. In that way each song always unifies. To follow up with the last question, what inspires your sound? So I think I covered this one haha, but to sum it up: That would be life, simple as that, a lot of emotions arise from the daily, when I write lyrics it's always inspired by real life events that I go through, some I've been through and some are happening, but mostly I just write what pops up in my head. I need a pen and paper to clear my head, screaming and singing it all out of my head when I record. In the end it's something we all face and we all have different ways of expressing what we feel. I'm sure a lot of people can relate to the lyrics, cause honestly it's not about me... it's about you. Any tours coming up soon? Sadly no ! Guess the bigger artists are first in line, but we hope to get some really cool support shows and maybe if things go well get a tour going too . Anything you would like to tell our readers? Sure! shout out to us, you can reach us at info@thelastelement.net you can get merch, you can just say you hate or love us, it’s all good! We love to meet all of you! Also visit our channels, it helps us out more than you know! https://open.spotify.com/artist/7L9ieGr5a3eLcVo9fvVipB https://www.youtube.com/c/thelastelement https://www.facebook.com/thelastelement.net  After a two-year hiatus, Mae Krell is back with their newest single 'are you sure?'. A deeply personal story with enough space for the listener's own interpretation, combined with Mae's one of a kind voice is what makes 'are you sure?' so memorable. We were lucky enough to have a talk with Mae and get a glimpse into their life as an artist, the process behind 'are you sure?', and more, so let's have a look! Hi Mae! We are so happy to talk with you about your beautiful new single ‘are you sure?’. How does it feel to finally release it? Hi! Thank you so much for having me and listening to "are you sure?"! I'm stoked it's finally out- this ones been sitting and waiting in the depths of my computer for at least a year now. You’ve had three other releases in 2020 that did very well, each one having over 500.000 streams already. What a milestone! Has it ever been overwhelming for you? Oh god yes. So overwhelming but in the best way possible! It's super exciting but at the same time kind of terrifying that so many people are listening. You were on a 2-year break before releasing those singles. What new insights and perspectives did you gain during that time? For a long time I was super focused on if I was good enough to try to do this as a career or not. The more time I took to focus on making music, the more I realized that I don't really care if I'm good enough or not. I love making music, and I love playing shows and connecting with people, and that's what really matters to me. How was it to finally release music again after that time, with so many new experiences? Exciting, and also really scary! The main reason I took a break after releasing Anabasis and touring it was to focus on making and releasing new music in a sustainable way. I recorded and wrote a lot of new tracks before beginning to release again so I could be consistent while not losing my mind (or so I hoped). Releasing music now feels scarier than ever, but at the same time I'm more confident than I was before. I guess what I'm trying to say is that not much has changed, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. In ‘are you sure?’ you sing about a ‘moment of cognitive dissonance’. Can you tell us more about this? Recovery, from anything, is hard and requires constant work. Naturally, when you're working hard to get better, you're going to doubt yourself. are you sure? is about those moments of doubt- when although you know that you've improved and things have changed, you question and convince yourself that they haven't. That's where there's a disconnect- you know consciously that things have changed, that you have improved, but your feelings are saying something else. It is clear that the lyrics are close to your heart, the way it is written and sung is very poetic. So it is not surprising you have a background in poetry, and photography too! Were you already involved with so much creativity as a child? I didn't do much proper art as a kid, but I do remember we would make paper mache art and paint for fun at home. My mom is super creative- she used to make her own books for us and draw photos on our napkins / banana peels for school lunches. You actively use your creativity to spread mental health awareness, and you even volunteer for Musicians on Call. That’s very impressive! How do you see your role as a musician in spreading awareness about mental health? I almost feel bad saying this, but I don't really actively make an effort to raise awareness for mental health. I think since my music is so personal, it opens up a conversation about mental health, though- and being open and honest when that does happen is super important. I try to use the influence I have to encourage people to be vulnerable as a way of connecting with others. What do you wish for your fans and listeners to feel while listening to ‘are you sure?’ I hope it makes them feel something. Can you tell us a bit about your creative plans for the future? What’s next? Yes! I'm working on a ton of new music and am planning to release as much as I can! No exact date yet, but my next single is going to release in late April :) Is there anything else you would like to tell your fans and our readers? Thank you so much for taking the time to read and listen! Mae, thank you so much for telling us all about ‘are you sure?’. We can’t wait to stream it and to hear so much more from you in the future! Thank you! :) x Guusje Hulsbosch Euphoric Pop/Neo Soul vibes, Argentinian excellence, and a strong message about what it means to be loving at your own risk, and your own terms. This is how I would summarize Natalia Soul’s debut EP ‘Hurt You’, but there is a lot more to unpack. Natalia herself let us in on the story of ‘Hurt You’, het career, and her inspiring path to self-love. Hi Natalia! Congrats on finishing your beautiful debut EP, we are so happy to have a chat with you about it. How does it feel to finally release it? It feels like crossing the finish line at the end of a marathon race! (haha) So much went down. We had all kinds of technical issues. But We finally did it and It feels great! You’ve studied opera, composing, guitar, and acting. That’s a prestigious list! Were you already involved with this much creativity as a child? One of the earliest memories I have is of me being a toddler playing with a tiny drum set and xylophone for hours on end. And making up stories that I would act out for my very patient grandma. My parents love music and photography, and my mom still is a genius artisan. So me and my sister grew up exposed to a lot of different artistic expressions. In your ‘Hurt You’ EP you use a lot of Spanish guitar, and the Argentinian energy you put in really shines through. Have your culture and these sounds from your home country always been an inspiration for you? You could say that. What's really interesting is that it wasn't until I moved to the States that I realized just how much! And then, you moved to the United States. What made you take on such an adventure? I wanted to learn the business side of music. I wanted to learn how to write songs and all the music I loved had the U.S. as a common denominator. Since then you have suffered losses and managed to pull yourself out of a toxic relationship, which I can imagine have affected your life greatly. You said that as you change, your music changes with you. How would you say it impacted your musical style at the time? It made me appreciate humor a lot more! Laughter saved me. Finding the right balance between depth and lightheartedness. I re-Learned how to have fun, and how to be vulnerable. And The fact That in the beginning I could only do so little, inspired me to go for a raw, more natural approach. Hence the strong acoustic feel and the live recording of real guitars. In what ways has making music been playing a role in your journey to healing and self-love? Music has given me everything. And while taking care of my "relationship" with her I learned a lot about myself and how my personal wellbeing affects my capability to connect and create. It really is more complex than this, but for example; If I don't sing, If I'm too quiet when I'm not intending to be, I know something is wrong, I know my Joy is not there and I have to pay attention to my everyday habits and correct course. Self-care is a difficult one for me. How did creating ‘Hurt You’ specifically help you in this process? Well, I suck at relationships and feelings (I'm an 8 for all the enneagram enthusiasts out there) and also, I have trust issues... I know, I'm just a delight to be around. Hurt You made me face myself in a very honest way. What do i like now? Who am I doing this for? Why this? Why now? What motivates me? And in answering these questions an EP was created and a part of me I thought lost forever was found. Not to mention the fact that I had SO MUCH HELP and I accepted it and welcomed it and It felt great to learn this very rare skill of asking for help and then accepting it. I know, It's funny...But I bet you can relate. What do you wish for your fans and listeners to feel while listening to ‘Hurt You’? Whatever they need to feel. I just hope it's as much a catalyst as it is a safe/sacred space for them to be themselves and simply feel. Can you tell us a bit about your musical plans for the future? What’s the next step? We're filming videos! yay! And already producing some Fully produced singles as well as in the process of writing another EP. Maybe Album? we'll see. Is there anything else you want to tell our readers and your fans? Thank you, I am so blessed to have you in my life. I feel so lucky that someone like you, finds value in my art and decides to take time to connect with it. Thank you! and Please reach out! I love to connect through social! You can listen to 'Hurt You' now on Spotify: open.spotify.com/album/0lfKZFCNQcinBmjIAFXcZB?si=s30T7ky6SUO9VRsaCjIshw And follow Natalia on social media: Guusje Hulsbosch First of all, congratulations on the release of Hasta Abajo. We know that it can be hard for
artists during this time with everything going on right now. What is it like releasing music during these difficult times? And how are you holding up? Thank you! Releasing music at this time is actually very rewarding and fulfilling! It makes me feel good. It makes me feel like I am part of the good that is being shared with the world right now. I am staying sane by working on my new JChris brand. We have had a very successful start in August 2020 and we have continued to grow as a team. I want to keep that momentum going because I know that greater things are on the horizon. I stay motivated by writing new music. My fans a lot of times don't know that while I am releasing one song/video, I am already working on another song/video for them! Seeing the positive engagement keeps me encouraged and working with other artists and professionals in my career keeps me challenged and determined to succeed. Has it been difficult to stay motivated and inspired during a pandemic? It can be difficult to be inspired during this pandemic & recession. Isolation is part of the solution for the pandemic but it can be very painful for artists. As performers, we thrive on collaboration and getting ideas from our fellow artists in the room. But taking advantage of the new online mediums to stay connected is something good to do in the meanwhile. Writing makes you feel like you are going to be part of that glorious reopening when it's finally happening. We have to know that when society reopens again, we should all be ready to take the world by storm in our own unique way. What excites you to create? What helps you in the moments whenever you are feeling uninspired and stagnant? My fuel for creation is to think about the final product that is going to have impact with my fans and with those listening to & watching me for the first time online! I want to create a unique, edgy experience through each song/video I release to the public. Coffee helps me when I'm feeling uninspired and stagnant. What was your inspiration or thought behind your latest single, Hasta Abajo? My producer and I wanted to make a contrast with this single. We wanted something sexy and edgy. I think the beat we found on beatstars.com helped us do that. The beat was made by dannyebtracks and Fabybeats. @johnnytechaudio and I co-wrote the song. I knew that I wanted this video to have snakes, which was inspired by the iconic Britney Spears performance at the VMAs years ago when she held that beautiful Burmese python around her neck. She was so fierce for doing that! I wanted to exude that same energy in my visuals. I also was inspired by breakdancing from my time in New York and riding the subway there. There are so many talented breakdancers and street performers in NYC so I wanted to include that urban, street like element in my video, which we shot at a mansion in Maryland. I think that it's good to mesh settings and ideas together so that they create a unique visual effect for the viewers. What is your writing process like? For my JChris brand, I teamed up with my writing partner & producer, Johnny De Jesus (@johnnytechaudio). He is one of the most talented engineers I know and he has a very authentic, Latin urban sound. I write songs over beats with him over Skype or in person in the studio. We get a lot of inspiration in the studio and work very efficiently there, too. Latin pop has gotten a lot bigger in the last couple of years, has this been an advantage for you, in terms of getting opportunities to collab with artists or getting gigs? For now, it has mainly been an advantage for me getting exposure online. Our audience has increased tremendously through my team's effective branding and marketing strategies. When the live music venues open back up, we will totally be doing a lot of touring and shows. For 2021, I have started the process of collaborating with other Latin pop artists now that the JChris brand has been established. I will be working on a music video in Brazil this February. The song will feature two famous Brazilian artists, Naldo Benny and Rick Joe. Both have big followings and will be helpful in solidifying my sound and identity as a Latin pop artist. You’ve been able to have quite some impressive shows already, what’s a performance that you won’t forget about? Performing the national anthem for the Hispanic Swearing-In Ceremony for the 119th Congress at the U.S. Capitol in 2019. I got to sing for Nancy Pelosi, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Chuck Schumer, among other distinguished guests. It was such an honor as a Latino being selected to honor my country and represent the Latinx community in such a prestigious way. It was also super cool that Ed O'Keefe from CBS News introduced me. Can you recall the moment you decided you wanted to pursue a career in music? And what led to this decision? I was in high school and I started taking composition lessons. I had a very knowledgeable and demanding teacher at University of Maryland which was very good for my development. He expected nothing short of hard work and discipline in his class. I knew without a doubt from taking those courses, and taking them seriously, that I wanted to be a professional musician and make a positive impact with my music. How do you think you have progressed as a musician since you first started making music? I have found the right team! It took a long time. But I had to start very small and work my way up in the music industry. I learned a lot from trial-and-error in live performances, making demos, albums, and touring. But now, I feel very confident that I am in the right direction as an artist and that my team will continue contributing to our success as a whole. What is the main thing that you would really like for people to take away from your music? I want people to feel, through my music, that they will succeed. Through the hard times they face, they have to remember to sing, dance and be joyful. Through my music, I also want people to forget about the norms that they might have grown up with, be they gender norms, stylistic norms, cultural norms, etc. Let's forget about all of our biases and be unified with one another through love. What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given? Talent alone is not enough! You need talent and tenacity to be successful. Highlight your strong parts. What advice would you offer to others who want to follow in your footsteps and chase after their dreams? Never give up and keep dreaming big! Dreaming big will lead you to greater heights. Dreaming big will make you bold enough to get yourself out there as an artist and naturally meet the right people you need to meet to help you in your career. There are like-minded individuals out there who share similar visions of success that you do. Pay attention to those you bump into and network with. Without networking, we cannot be successful as artists. We need each other to thrive. What have you been listening to lately? I've been listening to a lot of musical theatre soundtracks lately; "Dear Evan Hansen", "Hamilton", "Assassins", "Sunday In The Park With George", "Mean Girls" and "Wicked", to name a few. I'm writing a musical comedy called "Mr. Manhattan!", with lyricist Jordan Silver in New York City. We are working on the musical so that it is ready for presentation once this long intermission is over. Do you have anything that you would like to tell our readers? Spread love and encourage one another. These are hard times and we should let our pride down as people. Let us be big-hearted citizens and lift each other up. We will make it through this storm together. Check out JChris on his socials: Twitter: twitter.com/jchrismusic Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jchrismusic Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/thehumanipod14 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jchris_music/ Interview by: Anissa Steijns |