Nash Overstreet – U Don’t Get 2 Do That

By starrymag | February 11, 2017

By: Lisa Steinberg

 

Q) You have all this new music and an EP, all co-written by you. You do it all!

A) I may have gotten a little micromanagement on it, but it the way to make sure it is representing me a hundred percent. It is keeping me happy so far.

Q) How long has your new music been in the works?

A) It took me like the last thirteen years, honestly, to find myself a hundred percent in a sound and a style. When we were Hot Chelle Rae I refused to take away my attention from that and not give it a hundred percent. So, I spent a ton of time writing when we were not busy for other people. Maybe with me singing the vocals, it was never really able to have the focus that it needed to click. So, once I started really working on this solo record I kind of bounced around a couple of things and went back to the songs and style of that I loved growing up, which is pop R&B soul. I let that just come out of me. And once I wrote “U Don’t Get 2 Do That” it really showed me what the rest of the natural progression of my solo career would be.

Q) It’s an exciting time for you!

A) It is an exciting liberating thing. Starting off and doing this kind of in a way where I am able to shape all of it is a risk because everything is in my own brain (or at least in my computer) until I pull the trigger and let everybody hear it. So, I’m super happy that everyone so far – the reviews and feedback – have been positive. Everybody is loving it!

Q) Talk about the journey of writing your own EP.

A) It is very different when I write songs for other people versus when I write songs for myself. A lot of the times I don’t know until I start writing it who it is going to be for, but I always try to write from a real place. When that real place is really teasing me emotionally and firing off all the memories and flashbacks and bringng these kind of feelings and visuals then it starts pulling me in as an artist. That is what happened with “U Don’t Get 2 Do that.” We were writing a song and my co-writer Shane Stevens asked, “What about the title ‘U Don’t Get 2 Do That’?” Immediately, I recalled this story of a girlfriend I dated years ago who had a massive problem with me going to the same bars that she went to in town. I had a problem with her telling me where I could and couldn’t go. So, that feeling hit me as something coming from both sides and a specific moment. So, I started playing the guitar and I sang this melody. Then, like the words for half of it spilled out and we started filling in the pieces. It felt natural and organic and like it just spilled instead of having to be forced and that’s a sign of something that really needs to be my song as an artist.

Q) It helps you get this emotional weight off yourself when you put it into this outlet.

A) I think that’s one of the things that I love about collaborating and co-writing so much, especially when you have someone in the room who has met the person you are thinking of or saw you in that scenario or encountered them themselves. The song “Ride” on the EP is one I wrote with Shane Stevens and David Marshall. David, for sure, had hung out with the person the song was about. It was a very fair-weather friend that disappeared as soon as I didn’t have a current Top 20 single on the radio. The knowledge you gain and the experience you realize form what that type of friendship is – I think that’s super important. That song is just about both of us talking, sitting around discussing the sadness of someone who was a really good friend of yours and then you realize it was a short period of time and only for a reason.

Q) This sounds like a new, free Nash.

A) It is definitely a lot of first times for me. As much as we did with Hot Chelle Rae, I’d come up with a concept and then take a song and make it into a music video without leaning on a label’s video department to do that or anything else. It’s me collaborating with the director and the people in the video as we went. I’m super excited and proud of the video, but that was a big learning process – for sure.

Q) How does the video express the emotions or message of the song?

A) I wanted to do the least obvious thing. So, instead of having the video act out word by word what the song is saying I wanted to have it represented by visuals. If you think hard enough and watch it enough times you see things that kind of speak for the lyrics in their own way, but if you are watching it to see something that looks dope it is going to do that for you too.

Q) What were some of the challenging aspects of handling it all?

A) I think the hardest thing for me, because I self-produced it, was allowing the songs to speak the same way they were written on a single guitar or piano and not get in the way of the actual song at its core. I can add different sounds, drums and noises all day long, but at a certain point it starts ruining the record. Finding the balance of leaving enough space where you hear who I am musically and you hear the meaning of the song while adding the feel and the pocket and something that excites you with music to keep it sexy was the hardest part to really figure out where to call it a day and not add anything else.

Q) Talk about piecing the EP together and flow of the order of songs.

A) There is definitely some method to the madness. The song “U Don’t Get 2 Do That” is the first thing that resonated with as what my solo music was going to sound like. So, that’s what I wanted to open the project with. Then, the second song “Magnetic” gives you a little different side to me since it is piano based. That one I wanted to mix it up a little bit and show you that there is more than just an acoustic guitar involved. It has a feel and an energy that is a little more hype. Then, you go into “Brand New Man,” which I wrote on the same trip back in Nashville as “U Don’t Get 2 Do that.” I love it and the responses have been really heavily towards that song. I wanted to keep re-interesting people in the EP as it went and I just think that song is so strong and heartfelt that you are three songs in and still actually paying attention. Then, “Ride” is the fourth song and feels, to me, so good. There is actually a sample that of almost a scream from an artist that I was in the studio when I first played the beat that we had going for “Ride.” He was like “Woo!” And I sampled that of him since the microphone was on and it is part of the beat now. So, that excitement and that energy while the music is a little smoother and it is called “Ride.” I feel like it actually takes you on a ride. Just being the outro song makes a lot of sense to me.

Q) What is your process for writing songs?

A) All the songs on the EP, there is a moment where I either picked up a guitar…Because I’m a fairly limited piano player (I would say), I worked with David Hodges on “Magnetic.” The rest of them I played guitar on. There was always an instrument that played something magical and struck me. Then, instead of having to force something whenever that would happen whether the melody or the verse or chorus would almost come out in an entire shape. That was how I knew it was really personal for me and was something that I wanted to make for me as an artist instead of pitch for someone else. So, we would write a song regardless of circumstance to this single instrument and then once that was finished I would produce around that, fill in the vocals and give it whatever was needed while trying to keep it as simple as possible.

Q) Where do you think music needs to go creatively to express ourselves in the current political climate? Should artists push boundaries more and speak up?

A) Without using names, I have seen a massive artist who is one of the top five in the world get shade because of a lack of speaking out and having a public opinion. Partially, I think that being a musician never means that somebody liked your music because they were interested in what you had to say about politics or the way of the world. So, I don’t have anything negative to say about someone who doesn’t voice their opinion because I don’t think that is why people were interested in them in the first place. On the other side, if you have an opinion and you feel strongly and you believe that something is wrong or right that you absolutely should use your platform to stand up for whatever your beliefs are and support causes you can support and to make a difference in the world. The artist I signed last year, Sidnie Tipton, we put out two songs for her. One is called “President” that is about female empowerment, whether it is the fact that she talks about wanting to be kissed, to feel pretty, wanting to feel powerful and run stuff – the fact that a lot of people in the world can say you can be pretty or be feminine or be powerful. In actuality, you can do all of that as a women and be strong. Then, the other song we released was called “Speak Up” and we literally wrote it in about forty-five minutes. It’s about people being upset and rioting in the country, that day especially. We had a short time and I played a piano part where she said it reminded of her of what is really going on. So, “Speak Up” is about when do you do tell people your opinion, stand up and try to make a difference and try to help change something that isn’t going the way you think it should go.

Q) How are you helping to push the boundaries now with music – whether it is your own or with other artists?

A) My job as a songwriter and producer with other artists is to tell their truth. When I worked with Rachel Platten she was living in New York at the time and we talked about all the people you see and all the different happiness or sadness or joy or struggle that you can watch on their faces. It’s about imagining the circumstances getting better and paying it forward and things getting better. It’s a very inspirational song. Then, you’ve got Meghan Trainor’s song “Woman Up,” which is all about really being able to be strong and confident. You have Britney Spears’ song “Liar,” which is sassy and kind of rebelling against whatever situation you are coming from. They are all totally different meanings and feelings, but the truth for what each artist wanted to represent. So, if someone wants to push the bounds then I love seeing how far we can take an idea and how edgy it can become. So, if someone wants to do that I’m always down to do that. Like, “What’s the awkward truth? What can you say that makes people turn and listen whether they hate it or love it?” And it was that real. If I can accomplish that then I’m having a really good day in the studio!

Q) It is now more important to do than ever.

A) Absolutely! Whether it is giving back in the sense of physically going to help the cause or talking about something that brings awareness or writing a song that says something about it – even to the point of writing a song that someone feels is their own message in a way they didn’t know how to put it. It gives them something to be strong throughout the day. Any and all of that is why we constantly create music as songwriters and performers. I think the most important age where you fall in love with music is probably twelve to eighteen years old, really concentrated around fourteen and fifteen years old. I remember being in my room as a kid and whether I was depressed, in love, sad or just trying to figure out who I was music was the thing I leaned on more than even friends just to even give myself a look inside my soul. I love the idea of keeping that in mind when creating. If someone wants to do something and you can be the soundtrack to that moment in their life that is really cool tome!

Q) Will there be music videos for other songs?

A) Obviously, the “U Don’t Get 2 Do That” video is out and the response has been great. I have several other unending ideas for other songs. The director who did the video with me is a genius with visuals and coming up with ideas and ways to execute them. So, we have more plans in the works, absolutely. I uploaded a remix to “U Don’t Get 2 Do That” with Frank Pole and I’m super happy with that. I went through a couple remix options before I found the one he did. It is super exciting! I’m definitely happy with that and everyone should go check that out!

Q) What do you hope listeners take away from “U Don’t Get 2 Do That?”

A) I think everybody’s experienced someone trying to have a place in their life that they didn’t deserve or earn. Maybe they broke your trust and can no longer be there. So, for me I just want it to be an anthem and a hashtag of when an ex wants to come over or hits you up like nothing bad happened. Or if you are a parent and you have a kid who is trying to act out and you have to ground them…Anything and everything in between any of those scenarios I feel is what I want that song to do for people. I want them to put that song on when they feel like they are taking back their power!