.irg – Pick Up The Phone

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) How would you describe your sound?

A) I would say it’s very peaceful and melodic. It’s a sound that can be used for all different types of walks of life and different types of stages of life that you’re in. It could be used when you’re driving down the highway late at night. It’s a very relaxing vibe where if you’re also trying to fall asleep it is something that will calm you and help you relax. Also, if you’re trying to turn up with your friends it will get your heart pumping and in the mood for that. I guess in regard to a genre, it would be electronic indie pop. For the vocals that I have, I can’t really say that I sound like anyone else. It’s the way that I song and what I intentionally do with my voice to get that different sound. Beat-wise, it can be categorized into electronic indie pop. I’ve been compared with beats kind of like a Shallou or a Jon Bellion type of vibe – just for the music aspect and not including the vocals.

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

A) Jon Bellion and Jeremy Zucker are my top two for everything regarding music. All the way from the writing and the structure of their songs to their social media influences – they’re tweets and the stories they put up. Hearing them on interviews and how they respond and talk to people – how they treat others and how they respond to certain things when someone comes to them with a negative or positive comment – that all influences me. I’d say a couple other artists that influence me regarding strictly on the music and sounds that I have I would say probably blackbear, Nav (that hip-hop influence there) and Chelsea Cutler.

Q) When did you realize you had a talent for performing and singing?

A) I’d say I kind of always knew in high school. I knew I had that drive and I had that talent there, but with where my life was at and things going on at that time, I never really dove into it or was too scared to dive into that just based on everything else I had going on just with school and sports. I just kind of felt that I couldn’t handle everything at the same time. I didn’t really understand what it took to actually do something in the music industry. I kind of just thought people put out one song and then would go viral. I didn’t understand that a lot of the people that we are listening to now that are viral have been doing this for like ten plus years. I didn’t realize at the time it takes hard work and you can have talent, but that won’t take you so far if you don’t have determination behind that. I realized where I finally took my singing and writing seriously was December of 2017. I started to fall in love with everything about music – not just the sounds and songs of it, but the background stories of where they came from and the artists behind it (where they were from and how did they start). I fell in love with that aspect of it as much as hearing the final product come out. I wanted to know everything! Once I knew that and the struggle they went through to get to where they are at, I wanted to be a part of it. That grind and determination and hard work they put in it made me want to do the same. It made it just so much more perfect at the end of the day to find out that song that I loved to listen to on repeat took months and months to make and it wasn’t something that they just sat in their bedroom and made over a couple of days and then just put out there. It opened my eyes.

Q) What does your family think of you pursuing music?

A) They don’t really actually think that much about it. It’s one of those things that if it happens than it happens. They are not my biggest supporters, but they’re not haters either. They don’t want me to fail. They are not as involved. They don’t know when I’m going to release my songs or when I work on it. They don’t see any of the background of that. They don’t get to hear any of the stuff that happens behind the scenes of who I talk to. I’m doing everything in the background and in the shadows. I keep it to myself because I don’t ever want to put in their minds that this is going to blow up and then it doesn’t happen so then they’d be like, “The reason it didn’t blow up when you said it would is because you’re not good enough.” I’d rather keep it to myself and not really build up the hype around it in my household and just do my own thing.

Q) Your latest single is called “Pick Up The Phone.” Talk about the story behind it.

A) I wrote that song actually in ten minutes. I was chasing a girl at that time that I’m actually dating now. In the beginning it was a little strange because she’s been hurt in the past and wasn’t sure if she even wanted to get into anything. She had just transferred to a new school and wanted to focus on whatever she had going on and not really get involved with anyone. The whole point of the song is getting her to give me a chance in the first place and try to impress her enough to make her want to go out with me. She didn’t even want to let me in enough to even try to see where things could go. I think a lot of songs today talk about whether you either got the girl already or whether she broke your heart. They don’t talk about her even allowing you to have the chance to try and make her yours. I think It was kind of a different perspective to talk about.

Q) What is your songwriting process like? Do you need a beat before you can write lyrics?

A) I usually need some type of sound or something to get a melody down or a rhythm down just so I can have a structure behind it. I usually have an initial theme before I hear anything. For example, college life and trying to balance that with a relationship. So, that would be my theme and I’ll lay down a very, very simple track of like maybe drums and a piano and just try to it together and make it very personal able with certain lyrics that wouldn’t only apply to me. It would be applicable to other people as well and kind of change it to whatever they want the song to mean to them if they were to listen to it. My process is different every time because sometimes I start with one single word and then make the song around that single word. Sometimes I can start with a full beat and just kind of make that because it sounds cool and then add lyrics afterwards.

Q) How does the video for the song play into the message behind it?

A) The video is just going to show a lot of the emotions that not too many people get to see through my socials. It’s going to be kind of a very raw and real me in a sense. For all my album art, I want it to be about the music. I never use a picture of me for album art. For “Pick Up The Phone,” it’s actually the closest to a picture of me that I’ve used and it’s like a drawing. It’s not actually me. It’s me, but not a photo of me. I want it to be about the music so because of that I’m not using pictures of me. They don’t really get to see my facial expressions. They don’t really get to see how I’m looking at them through those photos. Even on my socials I do have photography of me, but it doesn’t really show the emotions about the music. It might show that I’m happy about releasing music, but I’m not showing how that song made me feel when I wrote it or how it made me feel when I was actually recording it into the mic. The video you will see is just going to be me and when I’m singing that in the video and people are seeing that they are going to see my facial expressions and how I was feeling at that time. I think it’s going to be a very, very different side to me that people haven’t seen – not even my closest friends. I’m the type of person that I can be emotional sometimes, but only around people that I trust and that’s a very, very small circle. I usually keep that to myself when I can. This video will be out there though so people will be able to see that.

Q) Is there a full album or EP in the works?

A) There is an EP called Bittersweet Memories that is going to be coming out on St. Patrick’s Day, which is March 17^th. I’m working with six different producers on that and they are each going to do a take on a song. It’s just going to be an EP of remixes to my first single “Bittersweet.”

Q) Who are some artists you dream about collaborating with?

A) It would definitely be Jeremy Zucker. I love Jon Bellion, but I think if I had to pick one it would definitely be Jeremy Zucker as my favorite. He’s the reason I started to make music. He’s the absolute reason. I literally messaged him on Snapchat when I first started making music. I wanted to let him know he was the reason I was actually doing this because if he could do this as a kid from New Jersey and in the same stage of life that I am…He just graduated college and I am just about to graduate college and you’re making moves…You’re doing things in the music industry that no one else ahs done with just being real about it and just not caring…You’re experimenting with your sounds. As long as it sounds good to you that’s all you care about. You don’t care if other people don’t like it. That’s huge to me! I would not be where I am at right now without his influence regarding listening to his music. We had a little conversation when I sent him that. At that time, I don’t even think he had 50K followers on Instagram yet and now he’s at almost 200K. He’s so down to earth and he was like, “I can’t believe I’ve influenced someone like this, who started to make music because of me and what I’m doing.” I’m so happy that I reached out to him and told him that. It makes me want to be the exact same way if I get to that point.

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

A) I think we live in a time where it’s just necessary. You don’t need a label to put your stuff out there. You can be totally independent and if you play your cards right and know what you’re doing, and you can have that personal relationship with your fans and have a way to get that music out there. You can connect with people who share the same vision as you with your music. Networking and learning from each other I think is super important because none of us would be where we are at if we were not influenced by others. I’m not just influenced the people I listen to for music, but I’m also influenced by my fans. There are a lot of people who have messaged me about different things that I think have really impacted me and my music by what they’ve said. I love constructive criticism for my music and what I’ve put out. People will message me and say, “This is what I like. This is what I don’t like.” I don’t always listen to it, but I do take it into consideration and think, “Maybe they have a valid reason for thinking that,” instead of just looking at it as a bad thing. I can try to improve in that area if it’s a valid reason. It’s very helpful to grow, especially as an artist. Being an artist is one of the hardest professions to do as of right now just because of all the rejection they get every day. It’s all about your mindset and I think if you are open to taking that rejection and learning from other people it can be super helpful. I think that’s one of the biggest reasons to connect with your fans. You can learn just as much as from them as they do from you with your music.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter to you and your music?

A) I’d say it’s just starting. I started making music with no intention of ever blowing up or being famous or making money from it. It was just something that I love, and it makes me feel certain ways that I know having a proper 9-5 wouldn’t make me feel. I’m just super thankful and appreciative of every single person who does listen to my music, even once. If it makes it feel some type of way or they message me about it, I really appreciate it. I’m thankful for them and I love my fans. Anybody who has been there from the beginning, if they come now or if they are there in the future, I care about all of them. I hope that I get to meet all of them one day when I get to go touring and just walking down the street. If people notice me, then great! I would love to have conversations with those people and get to know them better like they’ve taken the time to get to know me through my music.

Watch The Video For “Pick Up The Phone”

Follow .irg on Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/irg_music

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/irgmusic/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/irgmusicc/

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/irgmusic

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/irg/1330039112

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyCOued5gitF_SVXhgINA9Q

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1R1TK0jfKGGyKy975brqOt?si=RZiuQWsaR2SSaRrR2cHrpA