Can you explain a bit about the current music projects you are apart of and how you got started?
For me it started with my love for electronic music. I couldn’t focus on anything else but these beats that were rattling in my head. At this point I couldn’t play an instrument to save my life, but I was DJing a lot and was playing music for friends at house parties. When my cousin introduced me to Ableton I became obsessed with learning about music and production. I loved (and still love) making ANYTHING from Electro House to Orchestral Music, Trap, Indie, Ambient Noise, or steel forks being rubbed together by two 5th dimensional elves. I like noise.
I then started a friendship with musical sensei Jacob (the best guitarist I’ve ever seen). We’d sit around and make Pink Floyd style tunes, and he’d teach me his wizardly ways. One day his mom bought an electronic drum kit from Costco, and it started a new Era in my love for music. We’d spend days out in his shack writing songs about mystical toads, some guy who stole my chair at a party, and other things you can’t be sober to understand. We started jamming every Thursday at The Golden Palace in Beaumont, where we met our future bassist and rad vocalist, Alex. That is how ‘Guests: The Band!’ was born.
Now I play in two bands, teach lessons, write my own solo music, produce my own beats, score films, and try to read a good book once in a while.
How do you maintain inspiration?
To this day the one thing that keeps me making music is the freedom of knowing I don’t have to make it for anyone else.
How would you describe Fields?
I can only describe it with a dream I had when I was young. I was sitting in what seemed like a McDonald's lobby, and I was looking out the windows. In my hands I had a control panel that was straight out of Sci-Fi movie. As I turned the knobs, I was changing the outside world surrounding me. I could make it dark, I could make it snow. I also realized I could make the people do or feel things. It was kind of like I was playing Sims.
It sounds really weird (because it was), but it has always been my way of conceptualizing what I’m doing. It’s like I’m creating a world filled with different emotions, textures, colors, sounds, and smells. It needs no further interpretation other than the way it feels in the moment you are listening. That’s how I like to think of it, and it also allows me to avoid limiting my sound to one thing. Even if I wanted to devote my time to one genre or one instrument, I would be too A.D.D. to follow through with it, so it’s kind of a win-win.
Tell me something about yourself that most people don't know.
I meditate regularly, and I do all that hippy Buddha shit. I look like your typical Alberta bro-dude, but I love to get weird.
What impact would you like to have on this world?
If I could teach 10 people to breathe and appreciate this beautiful and chaotic world moment by moment, then I have made a difference. If I can teach 2 people that they don’t need to take shit from anyone, then I have made a difference. If I can make 1 person break out of their shell and dance like a fool, I have made a difference. I think anybody who thinks they can change the world is delusional (ambitious, yes, but also delusional). Everyone can make a small difference, and that’s what makes the world better in the end. It may sound like a dream-killing statement, but to me it’s completely the opposite. Live your life, help people when they need it, and lead by example. Don’t drown yourself with expectations!
Who are the most influential people in your life?
I am influenced by everyone in my life in some way, but I can pick a couple that stick out.
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Jim Carrey. I’ve always loved him from a young age. He is one of the best examples of pure, unadulterated expression, and that is so powerful to see. His movies have made me laugh hysterically, or even made me cry. I immensely appreciate his sense of self- awareness, while at the same time holding onto his strength and love for himself. He is crazy as hell, but so am I, and I love it.
2. My parents. They have given me more love and support than anyone in my life. All my opportunities and privileges come from their hard work.
If you could do anything in the world without consequence, what would it be?
Damn, this one is really making me think. I’d honestly just love to drive my car around without any pollutants coming out of the exhaust. I like driving, but I like the planet way more...great question!
What do you believe it takes to make your music authentic?
Being conscious of decisions you make while creating something. Did you pick something because someone else might like it? Yeah? Well, try again. Make creative decisions based on what sounds good to your ears, and trust your intuition! How does your favorite song make you feel? Your own music should make you feel the same, in fact, probably even stronger than your favorite songs.
If you could choose your final words, what would they be?
“I’m not dead yet!”
**spoken in an old english accent**