Zachary Knowles – GOALIE

By starrymag | September 2, 2022

By: Lisa Steinberg

 

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

A) I’d say it’s a blend of chill pop with some upbeat indie flair to it, whatever that means. [laughs] I like to think it’s equally good for chilling and studying as it is hanging with friends on the beach or jamming in your car.

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

A) I grew up listening to a lot of different stuff. Being a pop artist from Texas I heard a lot of country and still really love that side of music, but I was also really into other artists like John Mayer, Sean Kingston, Chris Brown, Justin Bieber, etc. I became very interested in pop and what people could do with their voices, so I loved listening to those I just mentioned as well as Jon Bellion, Bon Iver and a handful of others once I really got into music so I could study different types of vocal approaches.

Q) Talk about the story behind you new song “CRUSH.”

A) I wanted to make a smooth kind of flowy love song with “CRUSH.” I think the idea of being with someone for a really long time and still having this “crush-like” interest in them is really cool. Like even though you know everything about them, they still give you butterflies type love. That’s the idea I wanted to write about with “CRUSH.”

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

A) The lyrics are relatable, so I think a lot of people can connect with the idea behind it for sure. It’s also really easy on the ears, so I think it’s calming but its up-tempo nature is really inviting.

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

A) Well, the song is essentially this moment between two people, where I’m basically just proclaiming my love the whole song, so we felt like the video should have this level of intimacy as well. Something about an empty poolhall with me dead center with just a keyboard and vocals felt really intimate and personal. We had an idea to have people playing at the pool tables but quickly scratched that because the pool hall being empty just felt like it matched the energy of the song more.

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you create lyrics?

A) Yeah, most of the time I’ll start with some chords, just strumming the guitar or playing the keys and humming random stuff until something I like pops out. Every now and then I’ll write something from a lyric idea, but usually I play the music and let the lyrics follow how it feels.

Q) How much of a hand do you have in the production of your music?

A) I have a large hand in the production, I’d say. I’m very intentional about how things sound, so I’m always messing around with variations of production with whoever’s hands on producing the song.

Q) What can you tease about the themes you’ll be exploring on your upcoming EP GOALIE?

A) I dive deeper into some personal stuff than I feel I ever have with this project, honestly. I really pushed myself creatively to get outside of my comfort zone so I think listeners will get a good sense of that with this project. The visuals, production and creative direction all have new flavors that I’ve never really leaned into until now. There are definitely some familiar sounds on the project, but I think people will enjoy the direction and theme of this project for sure.

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?

A) I honestly haven’t gotten to perform a ton just yet, but I’m definitely segwaying into it more. From what I’ve done in the past though, LA was super fun because it was the first place I’d played outside of where I’m from in Texas, so the whole experience was crazy awesome.

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

A) Oh, that’s a tough one. Biebs will always be a dream collab of choice because I’ve drawn a lot of inspiration from him through my music journey. I also think Jon Bellion is a genius and would love to do something with him. This dude Sam Tompkins out of the UK has a really cool direction though and his voice is wild, so I think collabing with him would be crazy.

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them?

A) I’ve been listening to this project Aldae – Vol. 1 by Aldae. It’s crazy good. The production elements used are just really unique. Paired with his vocal and melodies it’s pure butter.

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

A) Social media gives you the power to connect with so many people from so many places. I think it’s incredibly important for connectivity with fans. Connecting with fans is really important to me for many reasons. One of the biggest, though, is that it brings more purpose to making music. It’s one thing to make a song for myself and to let out my emotions that way, but when another human connects with it, that’s crazy. It brings whole new life to how important the music is knowing that others may connect with what I’m saying or how the song sounds. Social media definitely gives the opportunity to reach more people and to have more of those personal connections, so yeah, it’s very important to me.

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

A) I just want to say thank you. There are days as a creative where things can get overwhelming and can feel pretty low. Creating and putting yourself into music, knowing that you’re going to share personal stuff with the world can be scary. So, knowing that there are people out there that really connect with it and really do appreciate my work is really amazing and humbling. I am where I am because of those who chose to listen and who are listening, so I’d just say thank you, and to stay tuned because there’s a whole lot more music on the way