Can you tell us a bit about your early days and what led you to pursue music?
From a very young age, I took piano lessons and enjoyed performing on piano. During high school, I started collaborating with a wide range of musical artists, mostly rap, in New York City while I was attending the performing arts high school in New York for piano. I found the classical constraints were not what I was interested in and began exploring various types of music. I felt a calling to music and had to figure out on my own how to record/mix, how to get artists to work with me, and how to publish and promote my music.
Who were your musical influences growing up, and how have they shaped your sound?
My earliest influences were the Cuban musicians who were friends of my father who is from Havana. We traveled to Cuba a lot to see my grandmother and later, we lived in many places during my childhood, so I was influenced by music from New York, Oakland, California, New Orleans and Cuba. I’d say these influences have given me have an eclectic taste and an ear for rhythm. I am fluent in Spanish and to me, music feels like another language I love to explore.
Could you walk us through your creative process? How do you go from an idea to a finished song?
I usually get in my vibe and write out my lyrics in a notebook when I am most relaxed at home, just smoking and writing. I find inspiration from my girlfriend, my family and problems I may go through in my life. It helps to process things to write the songs. When I have a song I like, I record at my home studio and work with an amazing sound engineer/mixer Chris Marcel to get the mix just right. This process sometimes takes weeks. Once the song is finished, I decide whether to produce a music video, in part depending on audience reaction to a song on Istagram.
What was the inspiration behind your single ‘Hard to Find’?
“Hard to Find” is probably best described as my ode to my introverted personality, where I sometimes prefer to be alone or with small groups of people I know well.
Is there a personal story connected to ‘Hard to Find’? How does it reflect your personal experiences?
Covid hit when I was a freshman in college at Loyola in New Orleans. “Hard to Find” is also a comment on the experience our generation has had since Covid, where many of us spent formative years alone or feeling a bit trapped, and it’s affected our way of living since then, our view of the world.
How do you think you’ve evolved as an artist since your debut?
My music is constantly evolving I hope and I am not done yet. I am pretty prolific and like to try out a lot of combinations of music styles, so my rap roots are still there, but layered with everything from Punk Rock to Electronic hip hop to Jazz. I feel like I really found my voice about a year ago, a way to express the music from within. Now I want to dig deeper for my lyrics and truly express what’s inside.
What major obstacles have you faced in your career, and how have you overcome them?
Beyond the financial struggles that most modern musicians experience, it took me quite some time to figure out how to get a hold an audience on social media and the streaming services. The biggest lesson I have learned so far is patience. Keep expressing what you have inside and keep building your audience. It takes time.
What are your main goals as a musician in the next few years?
My biggest goals at the moment are to upgrade my music videos to a more cinematic feel and to perform live with other musicians who I admire. I am working hard on a new album and some new collaborations right now.
Can you give us any hints about your upcoming projects?
I tend to find musicians who’s sound I really like and make collaborations happen, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise. Just know that you can expect more interesting, genre-bending work in the near future.
Can you share a piece of advice for aspiring musicians who look up to you?
There is nothing holding you back except yourself. If you want to make it happen, work hard, save money and find the best people in the field to work with. Have patience and faith that if this is what you are meant to do, it will work out.
