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Feature: Pisceze On Genre Blending, Asian Culture, Gaming and Giving Back

Pisceze
Pisceze

Pisceze can do it all. The genre-blending artist has taken Canada by storm, releasing bops like “Dodging Bullets,” “Red Handed” and “Five” to great reception. With a unique Korean-Japanese background juxtaposed with her Canadian upbringing, one would be remiss to try to fit Pisceze into a box. Rather, the multi-hyphenate infuses elements of R&B and K-pop in her music with vocals that captivate a wide variety of listeners. Her latest single, “Crush (Sped Up)” featuring 12AM was released just in time for Halloween weekend (Oct. 28).

Her efforts have been paying off. Pisceze was listed in Complex Canada’s “Top 6 Canadian Artists You’ve Been Sleeping On.” She is part of RBC’s notable “19 Rising Canadian Music Artists” to join First Up with RBCxMusic. Earlier this year, she made Triller’s renowned Artist Spotlight.

In addition to creating genre-defying sonic cocktails, Pisceze has written for some of the biggest artists in the game, is a makeup and beauty entrepreneur, and consistently streams gaming content on Twitch. Besides her immeasurable talent, the artist has overcome insurmountable odds including a tough educational upbringing and homelessness to give back to her community through fundraisers and clothing drive efforts.

Terzel Ron spoke to the multi-hyphenate to pick her brain about her music, emotions, upbringing and education, captivating visuals and future goals as she takes the music world (amongst others) by storm. 

Pisceze

First things first. I love your name! Are you actually a Pisces?

No, I’m a Scorpio. Haha yes, I’m a Pisces! 

What part of being a pisces do you most identify with to choose it as your name?

Emotional. Very emotional. I mean, a lot of people, I feel like, kind of take being emotional as a bad thing, as a bad thing or something that’s weak, but I feel like that’s there it’s a very powerful thing when you know how to embrace and be in in tune with your emotions, especially, like, creating in this time. 

A lot of people in this generation are in that, like, I don’t care vibe. For me, I’m always choosing my emotions. If something makes me sad, I’m going to always embrace that I’m sad. And if something is making me happy, I’m always going to embrace that I’m happy.

I feel like a lot of people should know how to be in tune with their emotions. 

Absolutely. Yeah. Even in this generation, people don’t really know how to express their emotions. Right. And I used to be that person where I didn’t know. Coming from an Asian household, we’re not really allowed to express our emotions because it kind of gets shut down. 

Interesting. By your parents or by your community? 

The Asian culture, you know, with my family growing up, was very strict. I’d come home with, like, a B plus, and I’d be like, ‘why wasn’t it an A?’ Like, it was never good enough. But I mean, I don’t regret it just because it molded into the person that I am right now. I’ve learned to express my emotions through my music, and that was probably, like, the easiest for me to express it. And then, you know, I’m kind of molded into, like, expressing how I feel in my day to day life. 

So, say for example you had a tough day and your parent’s wouldn’t necessarily understand. Would you go to the studio and make a song or go to your room and experiment with itunes and make your own music? 

Yeah, basically, even if it’s not from my parents, like anything, like friendship, relationship, any emotion that I feel, I feel like it comes from my creativity. It comes from my emotions. 

You mentioned that you’re both Korean and Japanese. Has there been a sort of clash of those two separate cultures that you’ve had to overcome while growing up? For example, have you ever felt like you needed to be more one thing and less of the other thing? 

Of course. My mom is Korean, my dad is Japanese, and both cultures are very traditional in different ways. So, yeah, growing up I was a little bit confused because my mom’s side would tell me one thing, like what tradition and culture is to her. And then my dad’s side would be like, no, this is culture, and stuff like that. And even like learning the language growing up, it’s like, ‘this has to be your first language.’ Oh, no, ‘this has to be your first language.’ 

Oh wow. Are you fluent in both?

Yes, both. So actually my first language is Japanese and then my mom kind of took over and was like, no, you need to learn how to speak Korean only. So I’m very fluent in Korean because my mom decided to just talk and communicate with me in Korean only in the house. Music wise, I haven’t really tapped into the J-pop side, but I’m very tapped into K-pop. 

Yeah, ‘Crush’ definitely sounded like more of a K-pop kind of record in comparison to ‘Red Handed.’ 

Yeah. And then that’s basically how my music kind of came about, too, because, like, the culture, like, the style, the aesthetic, it really comes from taking it from my culture. 

When I heard ‘Crush,’ I was like, this is, like, really good. This is kind of soulful. But also, some elements of K-pop. So you definitely have a lot of different styles of music infused in your music. Would you say it’s kind of like your own genre in a way to infuse all of these types of elements? 

Yes and no, just because I’m still in the process of finding my sound. I am very into rock and punk music, and I try to incorporate that into my music and try to make it have a vibe where it’s like R&B, but it has some of the rock elements. And then I hear K-pop, and I’m like, Whoa, this is so cool. I know how to speak Korean, so let me try something and try to infuse the R&B melodies within different productions.

Where did you grow up?

I actually grew up well, I grew up everywhere, so I was born and raised in Japan Sunday, and then my parents decided to go to BC, so we were in BC. I didn’t really explore BC just because we were, like, struggling a little bit in that. And then we actually came to Mississauga, chilled there for a little bit, and then went to Oakville and then Toronto

Wow. So it really was, like, a lot of movement. Was there a reason for that? 

Yeah. I mean, a lot has to do with my parents and their side not accepting each other. At what age would you say that you decided, I’m a musician. Like, this is what I do. This is who I am. 

Wow. What was the catalyst for that? What made you realize that?

Okay, so three years ago, there was, like, a period of my time where I was writing for a lot of these artists within the city, and I was getting invited to songwriting camps, and I was writing for BTS, Sabrina Carpenter. Getting invited to these writing camps. And then my friends were like, why don’t you just start doing music? And I’m like, I don’t know. 

So you were writing and were you more of a writer than a person who makes the music? 

Yeah, I just wanted to be a writer. I like to be in a low-key show vibe, behind the scenes. Yes. But my friends really pushed me to put out music, and it’s crazy, because the first song I released, I was like, ‘no, I’m not showing my face.’ I want to be this behind the scenes type of artist. Remember how the Weekend was when he first came out? I like that. And then even my first music video like that. You can’t even see my face. It’s, like, cut off like this. 

So would you say that song three years ago was your first song as PISCEZE? 

Yeah, that was my very first song. “Like that.” Like that. It made me who I am right now. 

Look what you’ve done in three years. It’s amazing. How did you get into songwriting?

I used to write a lot of poetry, too, back in the day. So one day I was in a session with this artist, and I was just like, Just do it like this, please. Then it was, ‘okay, go in the booth and show me what you’re talking about.’ And I literally just laid out some melodies, and he just kept inviting me back into the sessions. And then after that, I really grew, like, a passion to write music and get some ideas for these artists. And then I kind of reached out to people that I knew that were already producing for these artists and their artist camps and stuff like that. 

Were you still in school during this whole time? 

No, I was actually doing makeup. 

So you went from a makeup artist to being a musician? 

Yeah, I went from making clothes. I went to school for fashion – I went to university very early, because I skipped a grade. So 16, I went to university. I went to to fashion school, and then I was actually on probation my, I think, second year because I had a teacher that I believe was racist, and she failed me because she said that I didn’t sell my own dressing. We went to Ryerson Court, where you can actually go to court and prove yourself. I won. I literally sold the pieces. Whatever. And then it just kind of like I just kind of lost taste in fashion because of  that. But I still love fashion. I still love parts of fashion, but going through the whole university side of fashion, I lost. 

What was your upbringing like?

I was just, like, this little emo kid, and I got into a lot of fights. I got expelled from one of my elementary school, and my parents were like, oh, my God, what’s wrong with my daughter? Our daughter? And they put me into an all girls private school, and then it made me worse. And then they were just like, if you get good grades, then we’ll put you in a quad school for high school. So I skipped the grade, and then they put me into a quad. 

You went from being expelled to skipping a grade?

When the odds are against me, I go hard. I went from grade seven to grade nine. I went to a quiet school. This is where I really studied on changing up my looks and really knowing how to do my makeup. Just coming up to your own like, being your own person. In grade nine, I got asked to prom by a senior. I’m like, okay, I got gassed a little bit. And then from there, I was just yeah. My focus is not on my studies. It was on boys, to be honest. Yeah. 

Talk to me about entrepreneurship with makeup.

I started working for Anastasia Beverly Hills. She actually hit me on my DM. Because on my Instagram, on my makeup Instagram. Back then, I used to do these makeup videos, and one of them really just hit off. It got like 2.3 million views. It just went viral. And then she messaged me. She’s like, hey, would you like to work with me and make me? I love her. Shout out to Anastasia. But retail wasn’t my thing. She was trying to expand to Canada. So she opened her first Canadian retail shop at Eaton center, and she asked me to work there and represent. Yeah, I was like, that’s amazing. And, yeah, I worked there for a bit and then just found out that retail was in my bank. I did that part time and then I did my makeup thing on social media. That’s how I made my income. And then I just really tapped into the music side and yeah, that’s how it kind of happened. 

That’s awesome. And I noticed one thing that you’d like to do is give back. So you’re always giving back. And doing school giveaways, where did that come from? 

Honestly, it’s because me and my family lived in a car for like twelve months. Not having anything and to see my parents still giving, and then their blessings came. So I’m really a true believer of you give or you get what you give. 

What made you focus on the back to school stuff and helping, whether it’s a local artist, or throwing concerts. This is a whole entrepreneurial venture. Have you ever thought about starting like a nonprofit? 

Eventually, yes. It also comes from because I love animals, too. I always say when I’m older, my number one goal is to really travel around the world and save animals and have this huge farm with save animals. 

You have a big heart. 

Yeah. It’s like you just want to help everything and everybody and then cry and make music. Basically, and even the back to school stuff. Growing up, I was not very fortunate to have these cool items and stuff. And I know how it is when you’re young and when you’re it, and you want these cool pencils and backpacks and stuff, so I just wanted to do that for the kids. 

What are five things that are so near dear to you that make you you? 

God. First of all, second, energy. Third, my family. Fourth, probably my heart. And the fifth, my team. 

Give me some gaming tips. What’s the first game I should start playing? 

Call of Duty, because honestly, it’s a shooting game, right? If you’re good at Call of Duty, you’re really good at every other shooting game. So you can be good at Apex, Fortnite, Battlefield, Halo, etc.

You want a sponsorship from Call of Duty one day? 

Of course. Very much. Follow my gamer tag on Xbox at Pisceze. 

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Feature: Ray Garrison (Silos Band)

Ray Garrison is a writer, producer, and EDM DJ based in Los Angeles, CA. The multi-dimensional artist blends the genres of Pop, Heavy Metal, and Nu Metal. In 2022, the Garrison teamed up with David Rhemann, the drummer for Grandson, to create the Silos band. 

The band includes members Philip “Proto” Nielsen (bass), Nick Dromin (guitar), and Ramon Blanco. They are currently signed to Judge & Jury Records and released their first single, “Flowers” – a new take on Miley Cyrus‘ acclaimed hit – on March 17, 2023. 

Sound of U Live caught up with Silos frontman Ray Garrison to talk about his musical journey, upcoming projects, and more. 

When did your music journey begin?

I wanted to be able to record myself playing guitar and uh like I was listening to Blink-182, and I wanted to like the guitar melodies that made me feel like I was high or something so I was like I wanted to be able to do that myself and make it home. Iit really just started with me wanting to be able to listen to myself and then later I was like, ‘oh it would be cool if other people listen too.’

Who are your top three inspirations?

Blink 182, Eminem and Bring Me The Horizon.

When did you begin taking it really seriously?

When I was 16. I would drive home from private school and there was this pro audio shop that was on the way home in downtown Atlanta. I knew that like all the big Atlanta producers got their gear from there, like Jermaine Dupree, Bush Walker, all these big time guys. I would just stop in there and look at stuff and then I would eventually show the guy at the front of my demos and he was like, ‘oh this is cool.’ That was where it started and then I learned a lot from them.

Were you self-taught from there?

Yeah, you know, I was a combination of self taught and then every time I went into the studio to record I like was a mutant fly on the wall. I was extra attentive and asked a lot of questions. Just like information. 

When did you join Silos? 

Silos was born in November of 2022. I was a solo artist, and then my friend David just parted ways with Grandson, and he wanted to be in a project that was more oriented around a band. And at the time, I needed a good drummer, and I really liked David.

I’d known him for years, and I always wanted to work with him. So we kind of had a meeting, a lunch, and then decided to start working on a new project. And almost instantly, I knew I was going to no longer do a solo artist thing.

And I was going to just mix. Just like natural chemistry.

Do you guys have any music coming out for the rest of the year?

We got a song coming out in June with DJ, with someone coming out in July with Escape the Fate. Nice. The title of the next one is ‘Hold Me Close.’ Right now, we’re putting out all singles from the album. So, I think that album is going to drop in the fall. It’s going to be on vinyl and CD.

Are there any dream collaborations that you have?

I’d love to do a song with Oli Sykes from Bring Me the Horizon. I’d say it’s a closer goal, within two years. 

Is there anything that you think people should know about you?

Yeah, we have an awesome fan base emerging. We have a Discord where we’re in touch with our fans and kind of have a continuous conversation. So I’m going to plug that. “Silos Fandom.” There’s a link for it on our Instagram stories highlights.

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Feature: Devon Thompson

Devon Thompson

What  are  you  looking  forward  to  the  most  in  2024? 

No  bullshit.  No  bullshit  2024.  That’s  what  I’m  looking  forward  to. I’m  gonna  like  leave  all  the  negative  stuff  behind  and  like  try  and  change  my  mindset  about  certain  things.  So  I  feel  like  that’s,  and  also  work  harder  and  practice  more. Just  be  more  disciplined  within  myself,  I  think. 

Can  we  say  what  those  certain  things  are? 

Yeah,  practice  sitting  down  and  practicing  my  guitar  every  single  day  more. Because,  it  gets  hard  like  when  you  play  shows  it’s  easy  to  just  like  only  play  when  you’re  at  shows  or  during  band  practice  for  me  I  want  to  sit  down  and  be  disciplined  also  not  beat  myself  up  over  stuff  that  I  can’t  control.

A  lot  of  people  are  really  upset  with  themselves  when  they  like  especially  living  here  when  you  feel  like  and  you’re  an  artist  and  you  feel  like,  ‘God,  I  wish  I  was  doing  more.  I  wish I  could.  Why  don’t  I  have  this,  why  don’t  I  have  this,’  like  you  can’t  control  that  the  only  thing  you  can  control  is  your  personal  growth  and  what  you  put  into  it  and  like  you  know  if  if  you  got  something like  it  you’ll  get  it  out  if  you  really  work  hard.  You  can’t  just  sit  around,  you  can’t  expect  it  to  come  to  you.  You  have  to  work  for  it.  I  think  that’s  a  really  good  piece  of  advice  to  give  artists  in  general  because  you  know  we’re  in  a  new  game  social  media,  and  a  lot  of  it  is  like  creating  content  yourself,  and  I  know artists are making  a  lot  more  of  their  own  music  videos in  a  way  that  I’ve  never  seen  before,  have  you  noticed  that?  – I  have  noticed  that  because,  you  know,  TikTok  did  that.  TikTok  made  like  making  your  own  mini  music  video  a  thing.  So  I  actually  think  it’s  amazing  because  it  allows  artists  to  have  more  freedom  with  what  you  do.

I  think  that’s  really  special  and  it’s  really,  but  it’s  also  really,  really  hard to  do  that,  because  this  is  what  you  have  to  do. Every  day,  I’ve  struggled  with  that.  I  used  to  hate  it  and  now  I’ve  like  changed  my  mindset  we’re  like  no  I’m  gonna  like  do  this  and  embrace  it  and  really  show  people  like  what  I’m  about.

 I  think  everything  is  easier  when  you  have  a  team  of  people  and  people  who  just  really  like  add  to  your  circle  as  time  goes  on.  They  see  your  mission  and  your  vision.

Has  it  been  easy  for  you  to  find  your  team?

It,  surprisingly,  has  been  easy.  It’s  because  I’ve  been  putting  myself  out  there.  It’s  been  easier.  And  I  have  a  wonderful  team  that  I’m  working  with  right  now  already.

But  I’m  always  looking  for,  like,  expansion.  We  need  more  people  involved.  We  need  all  the  people  involved.  You  know,  your  fans  are  your  team.  You  know,  you  are  your  team.  Like,  everyone  a  part  of  it  is  important.

So,  like,  that  being  said,  I’m  always  looking  for  new  kingdom.  to  work  with  and  being  over  minded  So  like  I  feel  like  it’s  easier  now.

What  other  goals  do  you  have  for  the  year? 

My  goals  are  to  be  be  more  social.  I  can  easily  double  down  and  just  just  be  by  myself  and  working  on  stuff,  but  my  plan  this  year  is  to  make  more  friends  and  to  be  more  social with  my  family,  friends  and  with  new  people.  I  push  myself  further  this  year. My music  breaks  down  barriers  and  standards  for  female  guitar  players.  It’s  a  big  one,  because  we’re  still  it’s  still  really  stigmatized.

Talk  to  me  about  that  stigma  that female guitar  players  face.

So  many  women  are  scared  to  play  guitar,  and  a  lot  of  them  tell  me  they’re  like  I  am  too  scared  to  get  up  there  and  play  it  or  even  if  they  do  play  if  they’re  like,  um, ‘I’m  the  rhythm  guitar  player,’  or  whatever. You  don’t  see  a  lot  of  female  guitar  players  out  there  because  it’s  so  stigmatized.  If  they’re  not  like  an  insane  shredder  people  are  like  you  got  them  stuck  it  happens  so  much  and  i’m  a  Gibson  sponsored  artist,  so  i  they  saw  something  in  me  that  gave  me  hope  to  keep  pushing  myself  so  now  i  tend  to only  play  in  three  pieces. I’m  the  lead  guitar  player  and  lead  vocalist  this  year. That’s  what  I’m  going  to  push  on  people  because  I  have  some  really  not  that  good  like  okay  like  that’s  fine.

 It  used  to  get  to  me  and  now  I’m  like  just  use  that  to  practice  practice  and  be  disciplined  and  safe  off  it  just  do  it  you  know  that’s  what  I’m  doing. 

Do  you  think  that  female  artists  in  general  also  get  that  sort  of  stigma  and  is  it  coming  from  the  butthurt  men?
Absolutely.  Yeah,  no  totally.  It’s  the  main  the  main  thing  like  I  get  comments  online  that  are  like,  you  know  They  can  be  really  really  derogatory  and  and  it’s  you  know  what  it’s  Generally  men  or  very  jealous  women  who  don’t  like  themselves  and  hate  their  lives. And  I’m  like,  ‘why  do  girls  girls  hate  me?  Why  do  certain  men  hate  me?’

And  it’s  nothing  that  you’ve  done.  It’s  just  you  have  to  remember  that  there  are  people  that  just  love  to  hate  you  out  there.

They  love  it,  especially  because  you’re  doing  what  they  want  to  do.  They  want  to  do  what  you’re  doing.  And  you  just  have  to,  like,  you  literally  just  have  to  understand  and  recognize  the  personality  traits.  They’re  like,  no, that  is  not  a  person  who  is  cool  or,  like,  wants  to  help  or  even  knows  what  they’re  talking  about.  about,  you  know  what  I  mean?  Tell  us  a  bit  about  the  music  that  you  have  dropping  this  year  though.  Do  we  have  anything  to  look  forward  to  in  the  first  few  months?  Actually,  I  have  a  new  single  coming  out  in  like  a  week  and  a  half. And  my  goal  for  this  year  is  to  have  a  songwriter  and  I  want  to  be  a  part  of  it.  really,  really  creative  with  what  I’m  doing  this  year.  All  my  music  videos  are  like  mini  movies  type  situations, like  the  Twilight  Zone  kind  of,  and  I  like  creating…  I  really  just  want  to  pay  homage  to  the  universe  and  a  whole…  I  mean,  to  put  it  simply,  a  sort  of  vibe  on  everything.

 Like  with  my  branding,  with  my  merch,  like  this  is…  is  I  don’t  know  if  you  can  see  it  – oh  I  have  a  lot  of  teeth  in  in  like  my  merch  stuff  like  that  and  in  my  songs  just  like  really  Really  visceral  and  really  guttural, but  also  have  been  also  with  an  imperial  edge  And  I  want  my  music  videos  to  translate  that  it’s  gonna  mean  soon  So  I  want  to  be  cohesive  so  new  singles  out  and  then  we’re  gonna  have  and  I  have  a  lot  of  music  dropping  this  year.  And  I’m  playing  a  lot  of  shows  shows  and  that’s  what’s  been  happening  this  year  So  yeah  in  January  17th.

 What’s are you releasing?

It’s  called  I  love  you,  but  it  hurts  like  hell.

Who  are  some  of  your  favorite  musical  inspirations  from  Los  Angeles?

 Well,  I  don’t  don’t  sound  anything  like  her,  but  I  love  Phoebe  Bridger’s  ability  to  be  anti.  So  like  what  LA  is  not,  and  I  think  that’s  really  cool.

 So  I  like  that  she  can  do  that.  How  about  some  of  your  most  influential  artists  that  you  listen  to  growing  up  that  have  really  kicked  yourself?  Yeah,  growing  up.  Blondie  is  a  big  one  for  me.

 I  have  a  lot  of  80s  music  and  70s  music.  has  really  shaped  what  I  do.  So  Blondie  and  then  a  big  big  goth  like  inspiration  to  me,  Suzy  and  the  band  she’s  really  big  and  then  some  newer  stuff  like  or  kind  of  newer  some  like  some  deftome  stuff  some  my  bloody  Valentine  stuff  and  it’s  harder  for  me  to  find  newer  inspirations  just  because  like  I  don’t  know  it’s  just  it’s  it’s  hard  it’s  hard  for  me  and  then  uh  yeah  so

 those  are  some  of  my  inspirations  for  sure.  Dice  was  there  anything  else  that  you  want  to  grab  about  before  being  grabbed?  Yeah  I  think  that  a  lot  of  people  don’t  talk  about  again  what  I  said  before  about  how  disparaging  this  can  be  and  how  how  much  self -doubt  can  be  involved  with  this  um  and  I  have  been  my  worst  enemy  base  in  doing  this  and  um  you  know  my  I  think  a  lot  of  that  has  to  do  with  people  you surround  yourself  with.  You  can  tell  who  really  supports  you  and  who  doesn’t  and  who  are  out  to  get  you,  who  poses  your  friends,  but  they’re  not.  Make  sure  you  surround  yourself  with  loving  people  and  people  who  value  you  really.

 Some  talk  about  it  enough  here,  especially  with  people  who  aren’t  from  here  and  who  are  from  here.  It’s  just  like  both.  So  find  the  right  people  who  lift  you  up.  Both  of  you  guys  are in  a  relationship  sort  of  thing.  And  also,  just  walk  out  of  the  bullshit.  It’s  what  I’m  going  to  do  this  year  and  I’m  going  to  work  on  it.

 So  for  everyone  who’s  struggling  out  there  with,  you  know,  artist  identity,  sort  of  the  like,  “What  am  I  doing?”  You’re  here  for  a  reason,  you’re  here  for  a  reason.  And  just  believe  in  yourself.  Believe  in  yourself.

 Don’t  talk  but  thank  you  for  your  time.  Thank  you  so  much.

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Feature: Leonte

Leonte

Leonte here! Tell us a little bit about the different things that you do. 

Yeah, so I mean, first and  foremost, I’m a person. And I like to be that way. I come with a lot of emotions and a lot of  ideas and feelings that I bring into my art and my work. I’m a model. I love to create very vivid images and stuff with posing and stuff like that. I’m also a creative director for a magazine called Lex Style Mag. It’s about creating a vibe between fashion and music, and really creating a home for that to collaborate and become real is something important for us.

But I also make music. I’m a singer. I make like alternative R&B, pop and rock vibes. I’m really just taking all of those and really just adding my own spice into it, adding a little bit of me and really my goal with that music is to create an environment and create an  environment where people can feel emotions that they may not you know be privy to or may not  have understanding of but you know they can empathize with the pain, empathize  with  the  joy,  empathize with the yearning, love, right? I want to create an environment that you  can experience those things safely amazing so how long have you been doing modeling yeah  so I’ve been modeling for 10 years I’ve been singing all my life I started off in my church choir  shout  out  yeah  so  for  like  most  people  that  started  off  in  the  church  like  singing  was  a big part of my life it was a big  part of my life I expressed myself. I started making my own  music physically about a year and a half, two years ago, is when I actually started that.

How has your journey in fashion really impacted your journey into music? 

Honestly, I think the fashion in the music industry is so interwoven that it was like a seamless  transition. I went from, you know, trying to figure out how to… create very vivid pictures and, you know,  how to do really crazy poses to, like, saying, “Well, how do I create a vivid sound with my voice?

If I do this type of movement while I’m singing, will the sound come out differently from this?”  Right? So everything just kind of translated differently, right? Saying like, “Okay, well, when I  do this performance, I want to wear this type of outfit  so  that  it  conveys  this  message while I’m performing this  song.”  Right?  Really  aligning  the  fashion  with  the  music  and  the  tone  with  the  environment  to  create  a  full  image  and  a  full  picture  is  kind  of  where  that  fashion  piece  really  really  locked  me  in.

As you said, you are now involved in the magazine. What has it been like going from  being the model to being the subject and actually having that creative control?

Honestly, becoming  the  creative  director  of  Lex  Style  magazine  is  one  of  my  biggest  accomplishments  today.  I  think  being  in  charge  of  the  visual  outlook  of  a  project  such  as  Lex Style  Mag has  put  a  huge  weight  on  my  shoulders  that  I’d  love  to  take  on. It’s really  giving  me  the  opportunity  to  take  my  wildest  dreams  and  put  it  out  into  a  visual  medium  and  share  it  with  the  world  is  something  that I  don’t  take  lightly.  I  think  it’s  something  that  takes  a  lot  of  time  and  effort,  it  takes  a  lot  of  attention  and  I  think  because  of  that  I’ve  been  able  to  take  all  of  my  years  of  modeling  and  understanding  what  poses  look  good  and  what  poses  don’t.

Kind  of  the  energy  behind  the  photo  and  what  clothes  will  look  good  and  what  poses.  I’ve  been  really  able  to  create  really  detailed  outlines  of  like  this  that  I  want  to  create  and  I  think  that’s  something  that  you  know  I’m  looking  to  bring  out  the  best  in  myself  for  this  magazine  and  for  others. I  also  do  freelance creative direction  for  other  brands, so  it’s  like  always  fun  to  be  able  to  express  myself  in  this  place. 

All  of  the  work  that  you  do  is  truly  so  inspirational  and  incredible. What  do  you  think  is  the  hardest  part  about  continuing  that?

Thank  you  so  much  for  joining  me.  Being  a  artist  and  how  you  feel.  I  think  the  hardest  part  about  consistently  releasing  creative  pieces  is  understanding  your  value  but  also  understanding  the  value  of  the  people  around  you.

I  think  as,  when  you’re  the  model,  everything’s  centered  around  you  and  how  you’re  feeling  and  what  you’re  getting  paid,  like  you’re,  you  know, the  experience.  you’re  getting,  but  when  you’re  really  the  creative  director,  when  you’re  really  at  the  top  of  that  situation,  it’s  more  about,  okay,  how  do  I  make  sure  these  people  that  are  helping  me  create  this  vision  that  I  have  feel  valued  and  feel, you  know,  I  see  the  best  of  our  abilities  and  feel  comforted  in  these  aspects.  I  think  that’s  one  of  the  hardest  things  because,  you  know,  obviously  in  this  world,  you  live  in  and  you  want  to  cut  down  on  costs  as  much  as  possible, but  also  it’s  like,  you  want  to  pay.  people  what  they’re  worth,  so  they  pay  for  what  they’re  worth.  I  like  saw  that,  it’s  like  trying  to  get  people  with  disabilities. 

What  has  been  like  your  biggest  inspiration,  both  in  fashion  and  music? 

I  played  football  in  college.  And  so  a  big  inspiration  in  my  fashion  sense  was  Odell Beckham  Jr.  Like,  he  was  getting  big  and  popular  in  football. His  outfits  on  and  off  the  field  were  always  the  same.  The  field  outfits  were  always  icy  and  dripped  out  with  the  signed  sneakers,  the custom likeness, you know,  how  he  used  to  do  it.

But  then  off  the  field,  it  was  also  him  showing  up  to  events drippy,  showing  his  style  off.  I  think  things  like  that  really  pushed  me  to  actually  work  towards  being  more  creative  with  my  outfits  on  and  off  the  field. In  terms  of  music,  I  think  somebody  that  really  inspired me was  Juice  Wrld,  I  think  I  will  say  “Lucid  Dreams”  came  at  a  time  that  I  needed  it.

And  I  think,  you  know,  just  that  being  his  day…  debut,  like,  hit  that  popped  off  for  him  and  that  was  the  one  that  caught  me  and  then  ever  since,  like,  I  listened  to  every  single  song  that  he  put  out  like,  that  was  someone  that  really  inspired  me  to  be  more  of  a  leader,  but  he  also  inspired  me  to  just  be  creative, I  don’t  think you  could  ever  say,  “Oh,  Juice  Wrld’s  gonna  rap  like  this  on  this  flow.”  It  was  always  something  completely  different  than  his  last  song,  something  completely,  you  know, new  but  it  had  the  same  feel,  the  same  environment  around  him,  right?  And,  you  know,  he  had  a  way  of  talking  about  like  really  hard  subjects  with  a  light  tone  that  made  him  want  to  party  while  you’re  listening  to  it, right?  Which  is  something  that  I  want  to  create,  but  also  different.  So  for  mine,  like,  I  definitely  don’t  take  as  much  of  the  drug  abuse  and  alcoholism  into  my  music. It’s complex  idealist,  you  know, abandonment. Heartfelt  pain.  The  concept  of, like,  where  you’re  supposed  to  be  and,   you  know,  like  flirting. I  want  to  do,  like,  really,  like,  take  those  archetypes  and  really  create  stories  in  my  music.  I  think  that’s  really  what  I’m  focusing  on  right  now.

I  think  that’s  really  the  beauty  of  music.  You’re  able  to  take  inspiration, and  take  ideas, while  also  interacting  with  your  own  personality,  your  own  blood, which is so  incredible  and  great  to  see  from  you. 

And  what  are  we? 

So  what  I’ll  say  right  now  is  there’s  going  to  be  an  influx  of  art, an  influx  of  modeling  and  an  influx  of  music.  Right  now  my  goal  is  in  this  2023.  year  are  to  get  three  good  releases  and  build  up  a  catalog  behind  them  so  that  I  have  a  lot  to  push  out  for  everybody, as  well  as  create  four  really  good  covers  and  magazines  to  release  out  to  the  public  and  to  collaborate  with  as  many  talented  artists  as  I  can.  Like  my  goal  is  not  to  get  up  there  by  myself, my  goal  is  to  bring  everybody  out  here  at  50  and  I  think  that  when  we  create  a  community  of  people  that  support  each  other  and  uplift  each  other  in  this  fashion  and  music  space,  that’s  when  we  really  drive, right?  Because  you’re  only  as  good  as  your  network,  and  it’s  only  as  good  as  how  many  people  you  have  with  you  in  your  team,  right?  And,  you  know,  what  they  like  to  say  is  network  federally,  don’t  network  forward.

Because  you  never  know  who  in  your  circle  is  going  to  be  the  next  one  up,  and  you’re  all  riding  together.  So  that’s  going  to  be  good.  there.  So,  it  just  supports  people  around  you,  it  supports  the  day  one,  it’s  going  to  come  the  day  zero, it’s  going  to  rock.  Well,  I  am  so  very  excited  to  see  what’s  next  for  Beyonce.  Everybody  should  be  on  the  watch  for  what’s  coming  next.  He’s  going  to  be  hitting  us  with  new  music,  have  sure  new  books, new  shoots.  So  please  be  on  the  lookout  for  him!

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