Alec Benjamin

Alec Benjamin

Photo: Recording Academy

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Alec Benjamin On Working With Alessia Cara, Meeting His Idol John Mayer & Chasing Dreams

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"People can't enjoy your art if you don't show it to them," Benjamin, who played more than 150 parking lot shows in 2016, told the Recording Academy in an exclusive interview
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Jun 13, 2019 - 4:22 pm

Phoenix-born, L.A.-based pop singer/songwriter Alec Benjamin calls himself the "narrator," going so far as to name his 2018 debut mixtape Narrated For You.

Over the last year, he's been actively growing his fan base and living his dreams. He's gone from playing more than 150 shows in parking lots outside of other pop artists' concerts in L.A. in 2016 to bringing out his idol, John Mayer, as a surprise guest during his headline show at the El Rey Theater this past May.

We caught up with the rising star to learn more about how he manifested Mayer into his life and how relocating from Arizona to California has shifted his musical career. We also found out what it was like working with recent collaborator (and GRAMMY winner) Alessia Cara, with whom he collaborated.

Alec Benjamin Talks Pursuing Music Dreams

So you just performed at Bottle Rock in Napa. How was it?

It was awesome. It's the first time in a long I've performed at a festival and the first festival I've done in the U.S. When I first started making music I had the opportunity to do a couple of festivals abroad. But those are actually tented, so it felt like I was inside. This is the first festival I've played that was open air. I had a great time. I've never been to Napa before, it was beautiful.

I learned a lot from that experience because there's so many new things happening. The crowd was great and overall it was fun, but I was really nervous. It's just going to take some getting used to. I have a few more festivals that I'm going to be playing this summer. I'm happy that that was the first one that I did because the crowd was really welcoming and super friendly and also forgiving because I was really, really nervous.

Do you have any lessons from that experience going into Lollapalooza, and other summer festivals, that you're excited to showcase?

Yeah. I think I have a couple of changes that I want to make to the set. I'm excited about Lollapalooza. I'm excited about all of the festivals. And I'm excited about Lollapalooza because of the history that it has and there's so many people playing there. There's going to be a lot of artists that I'm going to get to see that I have never seen before, so that will be great. I'm just trying to go into with an open mind.

That's awesome, it is totally huge. Speaking of touring and live shows, you also wrapped part of your headline tour recently. What was your favorite city that surprised you on the tour?

There's one city that I hadn't spent a lot of time in before I started touring. Not even just for the show, the show was great, but I really like Seattle as a place. I thought it was beautiful and we got there on a really sunny day and we got to go down by the water and really try the food and hang out. People were really friendly.

And then I had a great time in Detroit. I thought Detroit was really, really cool. The crowd there was crazy. But I think overall every city was pretty awesome. I think that was probably the most surprising thing is that how great the crowds were everywhere that we went. Sometimes you don't get to spend as much time in the city exploring as you like. So that was a bit of a bummer, but ultimately I think all the shows were great. That was probably the most surprising thing. Not that I'm surprised the shows were good, but I didn't expect it, you don't expect every crowd to be so amazing and they were.

What do you think was one of the biggest challenges that you maybe didn't expect while touring?

Maybe the biggest challenge is getting adjusted to life on a tour bus. I was in a tour bus accident three years ago. That was a really short tour. This is the longest period I've lived on a tour bus, for almost seven weeks. I didn't realize how much that affected me. That was the first real near-death experience that I had. So getting back on a tour bus and have dreams about it and stuff, that was the hardest part. Just getting adjusted to living life on the road. That was difficult.

You often refer to yourself as a "narrator," and your album is called Narrated For You. Can you speak to how this idea guides the stories behind your music?

I wanted to define myself in that way just because, well, it made it easier in my music videos because then I didn't have to act in them. I could just tell the story. I'm really not great in front of the camera. I also think that sometimes it's nice to take words that you don't necessarily hear in the context of music and repurpose them. I mean, I'm a singer/songwriter, essentially, but that was the thought process behind it.

You released a new version of "Let Me Down Slowly," bringing on GRAMMY winner Alessia Cara, resulting in a great pop duet. How did that collaboration come about?

That came about because one of her fans sent me a message and was like, "She's doing promo right now and she was talking about your song!" So I tweeted her. I'm a huge fan of hers. I was like, "Yo, I love your music. We should work together." And she was down, like, "Oh, that would be great." Which was really exciting for me and I was surprised. We couldn't organize a time to write a new song together because we were both on tour. I was like, "Would you wanna do a verse on this song?" So she sent me a voice note of her verse. I was like, "That is amazing."

She has the best voice I've ever heard, ever. On a voice note with no editing. It's crazy. She sent it to me and I was like we should just put this on the song. It's super easy to work with her. She's just a good person.

That's so cool. Have you guys met in person yet?

Yeah. The first time we met was when we made the music video together. It was her and her friend that she travels with, and then I bought them both dinner. I was like, "This is the least I can do." The crazy thing is that we went to Downtown L.A. to get food. And we walked past the GRAMMY Museum, where they have all the people that have won GRAMMYs and one of them is for Best New Artist, which she had won [at the 60th GRAMMY Awards]. We took a picture next to her thing on the sidewalk, which was really cool.

Are there any other artists that you have your eye on working with?

I like it when it's a surprise who you collaborate with. When I thought about it after the collaboration had taken place [with Cara] I was like, oh, that makes sense. But I haven't really been thinking about it that much. I just want to improve my own music and then if the right collaboration comes along that would be great.

You've talked about how John Mayer is one of your biggest inspirations. Do you have any other musical inspirations who made you want to pursue music?

I really love Eminem. I love his storytelling. I'm a big fan of Paul Simon. I love Leonard Cohen. I like Citizen Cope a lot. I listen to a lot of different types of music, I also really like System of a Down. I listen to a lot of rock music and stuff. [Pauses.] Oh, I love Coldplay too.

Can you tell us a little bit about the backstory behind your song "Death of a Hero" and getting to perform it with John Mayer?

Yeah. It was really cool. I was just sitting in my van at that time, we were on tour. One of my friends was like, "Yo, wake up, man. You gotta check Instagram. John Mayer is posting about your music." It came out of nowhere. It was crazy. I had sent him a message in 2017 or 2016 just being like, "I love you. You don't understand. Thank you for everything." And then he saw it and responded to it. That was so cool. So he invited me over to his house to do "Current Mood," the show that he does on his Instagram. We just kept in touch since then and hung out. He came out at my show at the El Rey and performed with me; it was awesome.

You grew up in Phoenix and live in L.A. now. What was the moment that made you want to move out here? And what was the biggest shift you felt once you then were in L.A.?

I moved from Phoenix to L.A. because there's such a great creative community out here in California for songwriting, and there's a lot of labels and studios and things. When I decided to move my parents were like, "Well, if you want to go to California you have to go to college." So I went to school for a year and then I dropped out because I got a record deal. I was signed for two years and then I got dropped. So I moved back home, but luckily my parents had actually moved to California. Not because of me, it just worked out that way. My parents moved to California for work. So I moved back home and I started playing parking lot shows on the street in front of other artist's concerts to get fans. The last six months of 2016 I played 170 different shows. So I printed out tens of thousands of cards at Staples and handed them out anywhere I went.

It took a long time before I really felt a shift, like oh, this is the right decision. I think sometimes I often even now that I've been on tour and I'm not playing in parking lots anymore. Even though I still would. I'd do whatever I had to do. But even now sometimes I have doubts. I'm like, was this the right choice? But I think when I got to meet John Mayer, the person I looked up to and who he's the guy who inspired me to make music. So when he was like, "You done good," I was like okay, cool. That's dope. Because I was like, "I want to be you." And then he said, when I was doing his "Current Mood" Instagram show, "You're kind of like a version of me." I was like, "Dope." That's what I'm trying for. That moment I was like, okay cool. This was not a terrible decision.

I feel like that's part of being a human, no matter what we do.

Especially in this industry. It can be very fickle. You never know. I don't necessarily always feel like I'm on firm footing. This could all go away tomorrow. But that's the same with anything, you never know what's going to happen in life.

"People can't enjoy your art if you don't show it to them."

What's the biggest piece of advice you would give to someone at the start of their career?

One thing that I can say that was very hard for me to do, which I wish I would have understood sooner, is when you're writing songs and it kind of feels weird to show off your music. You don't want to be like, "Oh, check me out." You don't want to be that person, but at the same time, people can't enjoy your art if you don't show it to them. They're not just going to find it magically. It took me four years to get that. Even if it feels uncomfortable at first, show people your music. Post it, even if it's not perfect. Because it's never going to be perfect. Even the music I put out now, even my favorite songs that I put out I'm like, "They're not ready. Wait." I'm happy that I have people behind me being like "No, it's time."

Even if it takes you finding someone in your life to motivate you to just get your music out, just get it out there because even after it's out and it's solidified even if people like it or whatever, you're still going to be like, "Oh, but I could have... if I was only." It's never going to be perfect so you just have to go and show people and sing for people. If people at a party hand you a guitar, sing. You never know who's going to hear your stuff. Even if it's hard. Just do it.

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Dermot Kennedy

Dermot Kennedy

Photo: Recording Academy

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Dermot Kennedy On 'Without Fear,' Bon Iver & Coachella | Up Close & Personal

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The Irish singer/songwriter talks new music, gratitude for his growing fan base, love of Bon Iver and more in a recent interview with the Recording Academy
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Sep 16, 2019 - 10:53 am

Dublin-born folksy singer/songwriter Dermot Kennedy has had a great run recently, and he's just getting started. This year alone, he's shared his smoldering vocals and uplifting lyrics with major performances at Coachella, Glastonbury and on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, to name a few. Later this month, on Sept. 27, he'll drop his debut full-length album, Without Fear.

Dermot Kennedy On Debut LP, Bon Iver & More

The "Power Over Me" singer recently stopped by the Recording Academy headquarters for our latest episode of Up Close & Personal to share what fans can expect on the new album, as well as insight into the story behind one of its lead singles, "Outnumbered." He also spoke to his biggest influences, which include David Gray and Bon Iver, and how he stays fresh while on tour. You can watch a portion of the conversation above and read the full interview below. You can also visit on our YouTube page for a longer version of the video, as well as for other recent episodes.

You're releasing your debut album, Without Fear, soon. How are you feeling about it?

Excited. These are a bunch of songs I've known for a long time, for the most part. I've struggled with that for a while, the patience you need to have if you've got a certain song that you are super proud of but need to wait because it will exist on a project. So this is that moment where all of the things I'm most excited about get to come out. And up until now, there's been so much singles and EPs and stuff, and I'm excited to have a body of work out in the world.

What was your favorite part about working on this project in terms of that it was a full album?

I think that's always been really, really important to me. I think it would be very easy to just work away and find the songs that click and then put them all together and have a project of these songs, but any time I think about artists that I'm inspired by, like Kendrick [Lamar] or Hozier and stuff like that, I think about these bodies of work that are cohesive projects and every song works with the next and all that kind of thing, so that was really important to me to do that. I think it's like another thing where you put a bit more pressure on yourself, but it's worth it, for sure.

One of your most recent singles is "Outnumbered," which, to me, feels very powerful and empowering. Can you talk a little bit more about the backstory on that song and then the video that came with it?

They line up in a way. I wrote the song quite a while ago, and it was one of those lovely things that kind of came together in a day, almost. It was this really organic thing where—my favorite days in studios are when you don't second guess everything. I didn't know it was going to be a single, and I didn't know what the plan was for it, so I guess it was a good thing I was just there to make music. If it worked, happy days, and if not, then it was fine.

It was a different stage in my life, I guess, and a different set of circumstances. What it meant for me was just I wanted to almost send a message of comfort to somebody and to just remind someone that despite how difficult things might be and how. You know that feeling of being in a rough patch, and realistic-you knows there's the next chapter, and that will end and you'll be on the other side of that. But when you're in it, it's not very easy to see that. It was me trying to remind somebody that there is that next part where that bad patch has just gone away.

Then, I guess it was written by me for someone in particular, but on a bigger scale that message could translate to anybody.

It feels like that for sure, especially with the music video specifically, as there are different people in the video.

For sure, yeah. I thought that was important. We did that with the video for "Lost" too, because, again, it was like, be aware of everybody because everybody's got their own thing going on. You might think you've got the worst set of circumstances out of anybody, but everybody's got their own struggle. You know what I mean? I think that's a big part of my songwriting, to try and just provide comfort to people.

I think if even one person can relate, you know?

Oh, exactly. I'm sure, through the ages, so many artists are thinking of one specific person when they do that, but you end up writing a song that can work for a lot of people, hopefully.

Once the album comes out, then you'll be touring in the U.S., and then Europe and U.K. this fall and winter. What are you most looking forward to with this tour?

The venues. The venues are getting better and better all the time. It's this really lovely way of gauging how your career is going, too. It's really cool. I try not to take it for granted because I know some people can come and tour the U.S. and play to 10, 15, 20 people, and so I've been so lucky that gigs sell out. It's that lovely thing of you play to, say, three hundred people and then come back in a few months and you play to a thousand people. It's this beautiful way to watch the rooms grow.

This tour, I'm just excited. I feel like there's certain things on the journey that you figure out. Currently I'm fixing the way I sing to have proper technique locked in, things like that. I can't wait to not be exhausted after a gig. And I can't wait to play all the new songs. It's constantly evolving, yeah. It's this lovely thing of always, when you finish a tour, you're like, maybe this could have been better, so you address that next time. But then you are on to a new set of things that you think you could improve, so it's this cool thing to chase.

Speaking of big shows, you did Coachella and Glastonbury, which are both epic in their own right. How did those two experiences feel for you when you were in them?

Coachella was awesome because I was shocked by the amount of Irish people there. Obviously, you do the two weekends, and the second weekend I was quite sick. I was like that guy before I went on stage with my face in the steam, trying to melt everything here, so that was a tricky one. But I went out and it was just a lot of Irish flags. So many Irish people go to things like New York and Boston, but I didn't know if people went to Coachella from Ireland so it was this really lovely boost to get when I walked out onstage.

Then, Glastonbury was amazing because leading up to it you just realize it's a really important thing to be a part of. Even if you never do it again, you've had your little moment of Glastonbury history where you play your part and do your best. It was just fun.

I think one of the things that touring a lot does for you is it means I don't necessarily—I'm sure this is case-by-case—but I don't get nervous before I go onstage. I get excited. Obviously, there's a certain amount of nerves, because if it goes wrong, that's a bad thing. But it's mostly just excitement.

Also, things are so fast-paced, so I like that you play Glastonbury and then literally you're back on a bus and you go play a different festival. I think that's something that is quite difficult. Sometimes you don't get to let things sink in and you just move on very quickly. To play Glastonbury, if you told me that eight years ago, not in a cheesy way, you would not believe it. To do those things now week in, week out and then move on so fast, you've got to check yourself and take a moment.

When you are on tour, is there anything that you do to keep yourself grounded?

I think two things that are really important when you're on tour is obviously to stay in touch with home. I think that would keep me grounded, for sure. And then I think it's also important to try and stay active creatively because it's very easy to fall into a routine of bus, venue, gig, bus, sleep and just be like, "Perfect. This is what I do for a month," and not necessarily feed yourself any art.

If you have a day off, to go to a museum or go to the cinema or something. I feel like that stuff is really important, if you don't, when you come off tour and go to the studio its like, oh, I haven't used this part of my brain for a long time.

It's a very strange bubble to live in. We're really lucky because everybody's close in our crew. It's not this thing where I show up to the venue and then we do a show and then we all split up. Everybody spends all day, every day together, so it's this lovely thing. That's really important in terms of if you're down, just knowing there's people to lift you up and talk to and that kind of thing, so I am really lucky with the crew I've got too. There's a lot of things that have fallen into place in a really nice way.

Last year, you worked with Mike Dean for your collaborative mixtape. I was curious if you had any other dream collaborators, be it producers, songwriters, other vocalists.

There's a few, for sure. There's an act from Ireland, it's not traditional Irish music, that's where its roots are, but it's this really interesting, sort of a step on from that, and they're called The Gloaming. I won't even try and describe it, but it's just this super ethereal music. It's just really magic. They play the National Concert Hall in Dublin. I've seen them like five, six times, and it's just the best. The [Irish] President always goes to see them. They are the best at that.

And then in terms of people who, say, influence me, I would love to ever be in the same room as Justin Vernon or anybody from Bon Iver and just be involved in that. When I watch interviews with him and when I watch things about Bon Iver, I just realize they've been so successful but just maintained the same values the whole time. It's always only been about music, and that really appeals to me.

I would love to get way outside my comfort zone too. If I could be involved with the likes of Stormzy or J. Cole or anything like that. Yeah, stuff like that would blow my mind.

Speaking of musical influences, who would you say are your biggest influences to this day?

I started off wanting to do the acoustic thing, like to play in theaters with just a guitar and a piano. When I started out it was like David Gray and Glen Hansard were the people I wanted to be, basically. Then, obviously, that evolved. Again, Bon Iver were instrumental for me. The reason I wanted to do that [acoustic performance] was because lyrics were what impacted me most, and when I saw someone telling a story through a song, it just hit me. It was this really potent thing. That's why I love hip-hop so much, because to me it's the same type of thing.

I figured if you put too much music around that or if you had these big arrangements, you'd lose that intensity or that intimacy and the power of the lyrics getting across. Bon Iver were huge for me in terms of realizing the amount of people on stage can grow, the arrangement can grow, and you can still keep that closeness between you and whoever's listening. That helped me get out of my own way and start working with musicians and wanting it to grow. I was lucky enough in the last few years to start working with producers who could bring that to life.

I would say it started off like acoustic, lyrics; folk music, basically. Then the Bon Iver thing happened, and then hip-hop started influencing what I do, in a way, so it's just this big mess of things.

What was the first CD you every bought and first concert you attended?

The first CD I ever bought, it was a live album by an Irish band called The Frames. Do you know them? It's Glen Hansard's band from when he was like 19 to this day. Every now and then they'll play a show in Dublin, they're the best. Couldn't tell you what age I was, maybe 11, 12, I saw them on TV. I barely even owned a guitar yet, so I hadn't awakened that part of my brain where I would judge music, but just whatever Glen Hansard was doing, I was locked in to him expressing himself. I was so drawn to that, so I bought the album the next day. Just incredible.

It's so funny because even when you tour, and every night you're like, oh, my vocals were okay but not on it. But if you listen to that album, it's like every single thing is perfect. It's super demanding music vocally and he just nails it. And the first concert I went to, which I won't talk about much at all, was Westlife. It was because of my sister, I had to go.

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Conan Gray

Conan Gray

Photo: Recording Academy

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Conan Gray Talks "Checkmate," Feeling Inspired By Adele & What To Expect On His "Darker" Debut Album

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The Texas-raised, L.A.-based indie-pop star also discusses his self-directed "Crush Culture" video, his love of Taylor Swift and why he wants his songs to be as honest as possible
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Sep 5, 2019 - 1:12 pm

20-year-old singer/songwriter/video director Conan Gray just released his first EP, Sunset Season, last year, but he's already making noise in the D.I.Y. pop world. Spending his teen years growing up in quiet Georgetown, Texas, he began writing and singing songs and uploading them to what swiftly became his popular YouTube channel, which now (at the time of this writing) has 1.4 million subscribers. In 2017, the creative teen left his small-town life for Los Angeles to purse undergraduate film studies at UCLA.

"I started making the EP the second I moved from my hometown in Texas to L.A. I was going to college at UCLA and I was going to classes and I was recording at the same time. I wasn't signed yet, either," Gray recently told the Recording Academy. It wasn't long after relocating to La La Land that he got signed to Republic Records, who released Sunset Season. Despite his fast-growing fan base and rise towards pop stardom, the charismatic artist is incredibly humble and remains in awe of where he is today.

Conan Gray On Adele & Lorde, Music Videos & Tours

The "Generation Why" singer recently stopped by the Recording Academy headquarters for our latest episode of Up Close & Personal to share what he's most looking forward to for his upcoming Comfort Crowd Tour, and how he tends to visualize music videos as he writes songs. He also explains how hearing Lorde's and Adele's music for the first time inspired his own songwriting, what fans can expect on his forthcoming debut album and more. You can watch a portion of the conversation above and read the full interview below. You can also visit on our YouTube page for a longer version of the video, as well as for other recent episodes.

Last time I saw you, you were making your Lollapalooza stage debut, your first festival show. How was that experience for you?

That was pretty crazy. I didn't really know what to expect. I think the seven-year-old, tiny, afraid me would have thought no one comes, but a lot of people came and it was really bizarre. I feel like I have moments every once in a while where I'm just like, this can't be real. That was definitely one of those moments.

And how was the crowd?

The crowd was great. I was like, oh maybe since it's like a festival they won't be as interactive, but they were wild and they did everything that I wanted them to do, their little hands and stuff. It was awesome. I was very much, "I don't know what's going on right now." I think this is just a glitch in the simulation or something.



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Starting in October, you have a bunch of shows lined up for your Comfort Crowd tour. What are you most excited about performing in all these different places?

I feel like my favorite part about being on tour is just being busy all the time. I feel like you have this unique routine, like you wake up and you do a bunch of things, you meet a bunch of fans and you go to sleep, the whole entire day is packed. And I just love being able to go out there and see all the different kinds of people. I feel like touring kind of just made me realize how people are just so different but also like we're all kind of just exactly the same. Like no matter where you go. So it's pretty incredible. I think it's my favorite thing about being able to do this.

Let's talk a little about one of your most recent releases, "Checkmate." The video is amazingly creepy and hilarious; what's the backstory on that song?

"Checkmate" is a song I wrote about this person who was always playing games with my heart and I just needed to get a little revenge. So I figured, with the song and video, I was like if you're going to play with my heart all the time, if you're going to treat love like it's a game, then I'm going to win the game. So in the video I just tried to get as much of my cathartic revenge out as I possibly could and, you know, kidnapped the people who are cheating on me and sent them to a deserted island to starve to death because, I mean, what else am I supposed to do? I did what I had to.

Speaking of music videos, you edited and directed the one for "Crush Culture." What was your vision going into that video?

With "Crush Culture," I knew that I just wanted to ruin a bunch of couples' dates. That was my main intention. I'm the kind of person where like if I'm not happy, then no one's going to be happy. Or at least I used to be. I think I've gotten a little better hopefully, [I'm] growing up or whatever. But yeah, I just wanted to have a lot of wrecking.

I feel like everyone who's ever been single, especially when you're young, where like every one of your friends isn't single, you just kind of want to punch someone in the face. When they're like talking about, "Oh and then he did this and it was so cute." I don't want to know. I don't care. I don't relate. Like leave me alone, I'm going to punch you. That's kinda what that video is about and what that song is about.

Do you feel like when you're filming the video and creating a visual element for the song, that it kind of creates a new life for it or takes on a different form?

Absolutely. Every time I write a song I usually have an idea of what I want the visuals to be. It's all very much hand-in-hand to me. But I also feel like the second you put out the song or make the video, it's not really yours anymore. People can interpret it how they want to interpret it and everyone has interpreted every single one of the videos in completely different ways, which I feel like is kind of the point, you know, the song is what it means to you and I can only do so much by explaining. Also, that's what makes the song special to someone. I guarantee like all of my favorite songs don't actually mean what I think they mean. But I think they're special because I feel like they're written for me even though they're totally not.

When you were younger, was there an album or artist who really resonated with you?

Well I think the first person that kind of opened me up to songwriting was Adele. I was like 12 probably when that first album [19] came out. And I feel like that was when I first realized that you can actually write a whole song. And before that I was always kinda writing jingles and stuff like that. But I didn't really realize that you could express an emotion. And I feel like Adele was the first person that made me realize that humans have emotions that you can relate to. And then I think, you know, when I was a teenager, the older I got the more into like pop music, I really started to just like grow really fascinated with and I was just obsessed with it.

And then I think when Lorde's first album [Pure Heroine] came out it just blew my mind. Because it was the first pop music that I'd heard ever in my whole life that wasn't about, you know, like this wild fantasy life that I couldn't relate to. It was about being in suburbia and I grew up lower-middle class. So I, you know, I didn't relate to those other songs and that's the first time I was like, oh my God, this song is about me. Like I relate to this. All I do is sit in the car and that's what she wrote about. So yeah, she was a big point for me.

You started songwriting and putting your music online when you were 12. At that time, did you think you were going to be making music professionally in the future?

Honestly, I don't think I really knew what I was doing when I was putting songs up on the internet. I just really loved writing songs. And the second I started writing music, I didn't stop. I had a journal and I wrote a new song every single day. And I think by putting them up on the internet it was just kind of like my way of like spitting them into the void. I wasn't expecting to get signed and I wasn't expecting, you know, everything that happened. I was just really bored and I lived in a small town, and what else are you supposed to do, I guess? And I think, you know, I just was very surprised when people started to listen. It wasn't something that I was expecting or really even wanted. It just kind of happened and then I just kept doing it because it just was very interesting to see the way that people were reacting to these, you know, very weird songs that I was writing as a 12-year-old and just kind of snowballed into a career. But I had no clue, no.

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What was your dream job when you were a kid?

I really wanted to be specifically a middle school biology teacher. My middle school biology teacher had a pet snake and I was like, if I'm going to be a teacher, I should be a biology teacher that way can have a pet snake. And I've always been really obsessed with science and I'm also such a nerd. I was definitely a big school kid, so that was the route for me. So I guess conceptually I failed at that career and I'm a failure.

I want to talk a bit about the Sunset Season EP, which "Crush Culture" was on. What was your main goal with that, your first EP and first project?

I started making the EP the second I moved from my hometown in Texas to L.A. I was going to college at UCLA and I was going to classes and I was recording at the same time. I wasn't signed yet either. I think that, you know, most of the songs on the album I wrote during my senior year of high school, so basically I wanted the whole EP to be like a time capsule of what my senior year felt like. All of the missing home and also just like not really knowing what's going on and having all these like extreme emotions that make no sense all the time, which I still feel. But I think when you're in high school it's this kind of like very specific feeling that you just never ever have ever again. I wanted to just get it all into a little package, that way I can remember it forever.

"For me, the best way to be good at songwriting is to just tell the truth… I think my goal always is just to be as honest as I possibly can."

Another of the songs on the EP, "Generation Why," stood out to me as kind of a statement on just being a young person and the uncertainty that comes with it. What is your biggest goal right now as a young artist representing other young people?

I feel like my main goal is just to be as honest as I can. You know, "Generation Why" was a song that I wrote literally about me and my friend. I wasn't like, "This is my generation." I was just me and my friend, like "Our parents don't believe that we're going to do anything good with our lives." And that's what I wrote about.

For me, the best way to be good at songwriting is to just tell the truth. Because people relate to the truth and people relate to problems. Sometimes you feel like you're the only person who has them, but you're not the only person who has those feelings. I think my goal always is just to be as honest as I possibly can. I feel like I say so much more in songs than I ever do to people in real life. And I feel like if I just keep my head on and try to be as genuine as possible, hopefully people will keep relating.

If I'm not mistaken, I don't think you've put out any collab songs yet. So if that's something that you're interested in doing in the future, do you have any dream collaborators in mind?

I mean, there's so many people, like all the people that I was raised on. I would like chop off my finger to make a song with Taylor Swift. Honestly, I'd chop off my hand just to sit in a room and write a song with her. She was my big pop music icon growing up. "Teardrops On My Guitar" was the first YouTube video I ever really watched of her. So yeah, that'd be really fun. But I mean, there's a ton of people. I feel like with my [upcoming] album, a lot of the writers that I've really wanted to work with and stuff I've had the opportunity to work with. So I feel like I'm satisfied, I'm happy.

In terms of your debut album, do you have anything that you want to tease about it? I'm sure your fans have already been asking about it a lot, but what can they expect?

I think they can definitely expect the music to get darker. The past year has been really chaotic and I feel like my album absolutely represents how chaotic it was. Also, I think they can expect a good cry and a good little riot. Just a good like package of chaos, is what my album sounds like so far.

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BANKS

BANKS

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BANKS Talks 'III,' Exploring Life's Messiness In Music & Loving Fiona Apple | Up Close & Personal

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The "Gimme" singer stopped by the Recording Academy headquarters to discuss her latest album and the themes and sounds behind it
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Dec 11, 2019 - 11:45 am

L.A. native Jillian Banks, a.k.a. ethereal pop singer/songwriter/producer BANKS, is a creative force of nature. In 2014, she confidently asserted her presence with the first major dose of her sultry voice and trippy beats on her debut album, Goddess. Earlier this year, on July 12, she dropped another powerful project, with a big dose of empowerment; her third studio album, III.

BANKS On 'III,' "Contaminated" & More

Before she finished the U.S. leg of her III Tour, the "Gimme" singer stopped by the Recording Academy headquarters for our latest episode of Up Close & Personal to talk about the new album and the intricacies within. She also shared what she's most looking forward to on tour, which artists drew her in at a young age and more. You can watch part of the conversation above and read the full interview below. You can also visit our YouTube page for a longer version of the video, as well as for other recent episodes.

You released III not long ago. How are you feeling about having this project out in the world?

I feel amazing. I was writing it for two-and-a-half years and so it feels exciting, scary, liberating. I'm just excited to tour it and perform it and all that stuff.

What are you most looking forward to about sharing the songs in that element?

I don't know. The more you perform songs, the more personality they all have. There's a different vibe to each one, and so I'm kind of just excited to get in the groove of each vibe and each world of each song. It's fun to see the reactions of the crowd, which ones resonate the most. I have a lot of movement in my show, so it's going to be fun.

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The album, to me, feels very powerful and bold, and also very vulnerable and honest. Can you tell us about some of the overarching emotions and themes that you explored on it?

Wow, that's a big question. It's a lot of self-love, learning that life is not just black and white. There's a messiness in there, very messy. Perfectionism. Trying to be okay with not being a perfectionist. I have been one and it's been quite painful at certain times in my life. Yeah, owning everything. Owning yourself, what your desires are, who you are, what you stand for, your body, everything. It's just [about] being a woman, I guess. But that's kind of awkward because it's not really just for women. So, being a human.

There's a lot of really great sonic texture across the album, which you executive produced with BJ Burton. What was it like working together on the production aspect of it?

Yeah, it was really fun just because I have so many layers to who I am, and each song kind of tapped into a different part of who I was. Certain songs, I felt like, needed a lot of grit and distortion and stuff like that, songs like "Stroke." Then there's a lot of songs that feel, I wanted it to be very stripped back, like "If We Were Made Of Water," "What About Love." There's an innocence that I wanted to capture on a lot of it sonically, because a lot of what this album is about is going from this innocent person, like a child turning into an adult. It's like you go from being really quite naive, but maybe in a romantic and a really positive way, you're not jaded or bitter or anything, and then you go through heartache and all that stuff for the first time. Coming out the other side but maintaining that innocence, I think, is really important.

I feel like I captured a lot of that. "Alaska" is a very sassy song, but it has that playfulness to it. Yeah, every song is different, it was fun. Each album I do, I don't really work with a big group of people just because it's almost like therapy sessions every [studio] session. It was pretty much just, I had a few people, and me and BJ went in on every song, and made sure they all flowed.

One song that I want to look at specifically is "Contaminated." Can you talk a little bit about that song?

That song is like a hard lesson in being an adult. It's funny because this album is a lot about how things are not black and white and how things can be messy, and opening your mind and allowing to understand things in a different way. But then there are certain things in life that you wish were not black and white. Like usually the things that you want to be black and white, good or bad, are just really messy and gray and confusing. Then there are certain things that you want to be really gray and confusing, but they're just black and white. "Contaminated" is a song about a relationship that is just toxic and it's bad for you. That's it, it's a black and white thing, and you don't want it to be bad for you.

Because when you want something to continue, it's like you're addicted to it, so it's like you want to find the gray in there. But there are certain things that are not gray, they are black and white, and you have to kind of be a savage about it. And so with that type of situation, I had to be, and I wrote about it.

And then can you speak to the "Contaminated" lyric video?

I think that there's beauty in learning and pain. I guess it sounds kind of cheesy, but the video, it's very human, but it's painted in a million colors. You go through life and you're just this body, and you're just a human, and you have all these emotions and you go through all these experiences that are really beautiful. But they can hurt you, and it could be colored dark and it could be colored light. That video is about showing the earth, but contaminating it in certain ways. So there's the body with paint moving around, and these may be really beautiful ways and there's also really contorted ways. It's a little bit like the graphic part of life. I've always had a lot of black and white in my visuals, so it's been really fun on this album to have a lot of colors, in my own way.

You recently published a poetry book, Generations Of Women From The Moon, which is so cool. Were you working on that while you were working on the album? What's the story behind it?

Well, every song is kind of like a poem, and I've always written poems. Before I even got into songwriting, it was more of just this stream of consciousness thing that turned into to having melodic chants behind it, and just turned into a song. But with poetry, I just got really into writing and there's definitely a theme to my poems.

It's funny, writing music and writing poetry comes from, it fulfills the same need in me, but they come from different voices. Sometimes, I feel like my music is about the nitty gritties of life, different dynamics and relationships and stuff like that. And then my poetry feels like it's bigger concepts, like speaking from this wise woman voice that I have in my stomach. There's a lot of moon imagery in my poetry that I didn't even plan on. The first poem in the book is called "Generations Of Women From The Moon." It's a two-part poem.

When do you tend to feel most creatively inspired?

God, I don't know. For me, creativity just comes. There's not really a setting. I mean, I do like to have a nice couch in a studio, a really comfortable zone to get in there. But, I mean, any time of day, it's more whenever a certain mood hits.

When you were younger, were there any artists that you admired that made you think, I want to go into music or I want to make something like they're making?

Anybody with a voice that didn't feel perfectly trained, but you felt their soul in, that was for me growing up, any voice that I heard that had that grit, and lyrics that weren't just—you can tell when an artist writes their own music. For me, that's what it's always been about. Fiona Apple was somebody that I always loved. Ben Harper, I used to listen to all the time. Tracy Chapman. And Brandy's voice kills me, still kills me. It's like butter. My dad would play a lot of Peter Gabriel, which is always amazing. Yeah, I'm really into atmospheres as well, so a lot of stuff that just took you into another world but maybe didn't even have lyrics.

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SiR 2019

SiR

Photo: Christian San Jose

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SiR Is 'Chasing Summer' And, With A Little Help From Kendrick Lamar & Others, Making His Dreams Reality

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"It feels different, it feels evolved and it feels like a great direction. And I'm really proud of the work to say the least," the Inglewood singer/producer says of his vibey new album 
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Sep 24, 2019 - 3:08 pm

You may have already jammed out to SiR's big 2019 summer mood single, "Hair Down," featuring the one and only Kendrick Lamar. If so, you already have a good starting place for understanding who the smooth R&B singer/producer, born Sir Darryl Farris, from Inglewood is. The vibey track is driven by SiR's warm, rich vocals over a slow-bubbling trap beat, elevated even further into the golden summer sunset by Lamar's verse. It's confident but laid-back—two words which also describe the artist himself well—a true slow-burn of a fire track.

"Hair Down" is the first track and the lead single to SiR's third album, Chasing Summer, which he dropped during Labor Day Weekend, on Aug. 30. It is his second LP released since he was signed to heavy-hitting Los Angeles label Top Dawg Entertainment. As he explains, it sets the tone for the rest of the album and also marks a major point of growth in his musical career and self-confidence.

"This time I was more direct about what I wanted, and I think that's huge. Your intentions when you go into things have to be put in the forefront if it's important. So this time around when I went into sessions, I was very vocal about exactly what I wanted, and the sessions went a lot better when I did that," he recently told the Recording Academy over the phone.

You recently dropped Chasing Summer, which is just such a perfect mood as summer comes to an end. What has the experience of this release felt like for you?

Man, it's one of a kind. Being the type musician I am, I'm very involved with each release, and this one feels different than the last two. Everybody around me was locked in, not just me. All the musicians and all of my team, my management had the common goals set almost a year ago, and just were building on this idea. So, it feels different, it feels evolved and it feels like a great direction. And I'm really proud of the work to say the least.

That's amazing, and I'm sure that's a really just great feeling to sort of be marinating in right now.

Yeah. It's awesome. It's definitely new territory for me. I'm just trying to keep up with myself now, which is fun.

 "It's a very honest album, and I think that's a big reason why people gravitate towards it because I didn't really hold back this time around. I kind of made sure I was as honest as I could be and I think that's shining through for sure."

I love that. Can you speak to what your main vision for this album was?

The vision for the album is, it was all based off of my life on the road and all my experiences that I had accumulated over the last three or four years. With seeing my peers and just dealing with personal relationships, business relationships and trying to balance home and the road, and just my evolution as a human. I kind of put a lot of it into wax. It's a very honest album, and I think that's a big reason why people gravitate towards it because I didn't really hold back this time around. I kind of made sure I was as honest as I could be and I think that's shining through for sure.

I feel like it really does. I wanted to talk about the producers on the album. You worked with a handful of different people including Kal Banx and Sounwave from TDE as well as Boi-1da and a few others. How do you feel that working with these different creative minds helped challenge you and shape the trajectory of the album?

I'm going to answer this question, but I have a very specific thing about me that I really like. I work with people that want to work with me, so I don't chase beats; there's no rhyme or scheme. I didn't select certain people. I just put my head down and kept writing songs until we felt like we had a body of work. And then, what I do with most of my production is I'll get players to come in and add actual instrumentation to a good beat so that it has more life to it. I'm hands-on with all my mixes and masters. With all of the production, I was blessed to have really talented musicians around to help just elevate the sound, and I think that helps so much, man.

Working with cats like Boi-1da was an honor, of course, but I wouldn't hold him in higher regard than I would a Kal Banx, who damn near had six records on the album that he helped me produce and work on. So, I feel like everybody added their own sauce to it and it ended up being way bigger than I expected. But as far as like who produced what, I think that's not as important as the overall body of work, and we all knew that. With Kal, he wasn't worried when I told him I got a new base plate on the recipe. He didn't ask any questions, he just knew it was going to be saucy. You know what I mean?

I think, like I said, we all had a common goal. Once I laid out the plan and the vision for everybody, they were on board. So, we went into the every session with a specific goal in mind and we executed properly and I think it's going to pay off for all of us in the long run. I'm so excited for Kal. I'm excited to share this moment with him and see the response to his hard work, and it's all a blessing, really and truly.

It really seems like it was everything you would hope for in the studio, that everything is moving forward and flowing together, even with all the different people.

Yeah. I learned a lot from November and just how I kind of let a lot of people in the process in certain points where I didn't really necessarily mean to. This time I was more direct about what I wanted, and I think that's huge. Your intentions when you go into things have to be put in the forefront if it's important.

So this time around when I went into sessions, I was very vocal about exactly what I wanted, and the sessions went a lot better when I did that, and I think that helped give people an idea of what they should be doing when they come around. If you're a producer, I might not need you to make a whole beat, but I might need you to make these drums, or I might need you to play keys. Just be prepared to translate what I need, I'm not coming to you to get what you need. I produce myself, so I think this time around I was able to really fine-tune things the way I like, and it shows, man. This is my baby for sure. I feel like this is a very special project.

The album opens with "Hair Down," featuring Kendrick Lamar, which you also released as the lead single. Can you give a little bit of the backstory on that song and video and what it was like working with him?

That was probably the first song I wrote for the album that we were probably going use as a single. We usually don't try to shoot for singles, you know what I mean? When we're building a project, we'll make sure that the songs can all stand on their own two legs. As soon as I did that one, it just felt like what I wanted the album to look like, and to me it was the perfect starting point. It was the perfect launch point for what we were trying to accomplish, and I didn't get the [Lamar] verse until two months ago or something like that. I wrote that song probably a year ago while we were on the road at [TDE's 2018] Championship Tour.

That's not something you ask for. It was something that we talked about, but that's not something that you ask for. It's like the Jill Scott thing, I didn't really ask for that. You got to let them make that decision. I think with working with artists like Kendrick, Jill Scott and Lil Wayne, it's a blessing and I think I do everything I can to just make myself someone that people want to work with. I think I do a good job of standing on my own two feet, and that's something that I had to embrace over the last two years.

Just working with your idols is always awkward. It's weird. I met [Childish] Gambino at the BET awards. I wish I could take that back because it was so awkward, you know what I mean? And I still go through the everyday life stuff of I'm human and if I see somebody that I'm not used to seeing, it's going to be weird. This year, I had to really step outside of that and become SiR, and really accept that. I think it shined through when I sat and talked to people about the project, they were more open to it because I was more confident in myself, and that really helped a lot, just giving me that confidence. [Lamar's] conversations are more important to me than that verse ever will be. I'm appreciative of the verse for sure, but I can really say that's my mentor. This dude really takes care of his team and really cares about us, man. So, it's definitely a blessing to have him on deck.

And what would you say the biggest thing you learned from the collaborators on this project?

Spread love. Because I feel like most of them, they didn't have to do what they did. Miss Jill, she's getting so much love on her acting career, as she should be. She really doesn't need to feature on anything. All of these artists, they got their own things. People are looking for them and checking for them.

When I get on, if I'm ever in a position to bless somebody, and I feel like they are working hard and they've got their thing together, I definitely would want to be what they are to me. I'd want to be a blessing and give back to the community. They see that I'm a part of the same community, I have the same common goal with music. It's not me trying to get on or be a flashy type. It's not that. I really care about the music. So, I think they saw that and they wanted to reciprocate the same kind of love I'm trying to get off it.

That's all it's really about, is spreading love and giving back to what you want to see thrive and flourish. And I think they really see something in what we got going, and I was just lucky. I really feel like it's the right place at the right time, but I don't want to make it that simple. But I feel like they really are just spreading love, man, and they blessed me. I'm still in shock. I can't really process it. It's all new territory for me. It's lovely though. I don't take it for granted.

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How would you describe the L.A. music community now? From that explanation, it sounds very supportive and nurturing, but I'm interested in your perspective, whether it's just like that with TDE or just in your experience with who you've worked with.

L.A. is a weird place. It's very divided, with the people that are actually from L.A. to the people that come out here and claim L.A. The music industry's a weird place in general. I'm from L.A., so I definitely abide by the L.A. rules before I abide by the music industry rules. But when it comes to the music scene, there's a small community. What I'm learning is the further along I go in my career, the community gets smaller and smaller, and that's a great thing. You find people that are like-minded, and you got to let some friends go sometimes.

But for the most part, the goal is to find common ground that you can really build on. And I feel like I've found my community of people, from Mind Design to Kiefer to D.K. the Punisher to Kal Banx to all of my musician friends, The Catalyst, my band. My brothers, and just all of the musicians that I've been working with for the last 10 years, I still work with the same cats. L.A. is small, it's big, but at the time it's small, and I really want to keep it that way. I'd appreciate it if it stayed that way.

What does that summer mood look and sound like to you?

Well, summer mood has that sunset tint to it. It's like, to me, this album is best listened to riding down Malibu about six o'clock sunset. That's the vibe. I'm a Cali kid through and through, and I hope it translates through with the music. I think we hit it on the ball. If you want a glimpse at what summer's supposed to be, just take a listen to the album, close your eyes, and it should do the trick.

Stepping back, who are your biggest influences?

Oh man, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway. These are people that my mother listened to when I was growing up. I grew up in the church, so I love Fred Hammond and Noel Jones. I don't know if you know who Noel Jones is, he's a preacher from L.A., his voice is so crazy. My mom sang background for Chaka Khan back in the day, and Michael Jackson. So, I grew up with an ear to R&B for sure, from the '60s, '70s, '80s. Of course I have hip-hop influences, but my spectrum is wide. We could have a 30 minute conversation about all the music I listen to, I promise you.

Lately, I've been listening to a lot of The Beatles. "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds" has been on repeat for a couple of weeks, then Innervisions [Wonder's 1973 album]. I go back and forth between [Wonder's] Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life. Then, my real guilty pleasure is John Mayer, I'm a huge fan.

I love it.

I think with music, and this is my advice to young people, it's like careers almost, you won't know what you want until you taste a few things. I think Gary Gee says that. You got to taste things to know what you want to be. I feel like music is like that too. You can't just listen to country music because you're from the South. You've got to listen to something else just to try it. You don't know, you might like classical music. If you never listen, you will never know.

I did a lot of that when I was younger and I found my vibes for sure. But I listened to some stuff that people probably wouldn't expect. But I think that helps to shape me as a musician in general. I definitely don't shy away from exploring and trying to find different vibes that I really like. One of the most fun parts about music to me, is exploring and finding new things that you never would expect you to enjoy, you know? So, yeah, my spectrum is wide, it's a rainbow for sure.

Growing up in a musical family, how do you feel like that impacted your journey to becoming an artist?

I can't really explain it because it's weird for me to be the artist in my family. I still wake up and kind of laugh because I never expected this. When I was younger, I didn't want to do music. When I was 14, my mom would make us sing in church every Sunday, and I got sick of it. That's when I kind of decided I didn't want to do music. I went on about my life, at about 19, 20 started working dumba** jobs and that turned into me wanting to find something that I was passionate about, and turns out it music was it all along. I had to step away to kind of find it for myself.

But I started really getting serious about music when I was 22, and then I ended up going to school, graduated in 2011 from film school, and just never looked back from there. I think that was what I needed was to really find it for myself, because my brothers' all sing or write songs, and my mother is still active in the industry, and they always said it was what we needed to be doing. I just had to see it for myself and I think that made me a better musician. My life experiences helped shape how I write songs. I appreciate my time away from music, but also I'm glad I found my way back because I don't know what I'd be if I wasn't a musician. I'd probably be—let's not even talk about that.

I'm blessed. My family is amazing. My brother is an amazing singer/songwriter. My older brother Daniel, he's an amazing rapper and he's the writer, and we're all supportive of each other. I know that I probably wouldn't be where I am today without the support of my family and them pushing me to be a better writer and a better musician.



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You come back to where you're supposed to be at some point. You touched on it a little when you talked about your influences, but what advice do you have for younger people that have a passion for music but aren't really sure where to start to pursue music professionally?

Don't be afraid to be wack. Don't be afraid to fall on your a**. You got to start somewhere. But it's just like anything else in life, and I could preach this to the ends of the earth. It doesn't matter what you decide to do or when you decide to do it, but it's about staying dedicated to it and really working at what you want. If you want something then put it in the universe. Write it on a piece of paper, say it every day when you wake up and just don't worry about when it's going to happen. Just keep working.

I think that's the best thing I ever did for myself. I put my head down, I shut the f*** up and I worked for five years on music, and didn't try to release anything, didn't try to do anything. I got to the point where I was so ready to go that I had three projects worth of music ready to go, and we started with Seven Sundays and from there worked our way into being with TDE and all that.

I really developed my craft first and made sure I was confident in what I wanted to hear. So, I think for anybody that wants it, just don't be afraid to fail, and keep working at it. It's not easy, none of this is. But I feel like if you want something, you can just really work at it and it'll come. You just got to be willing to f***ing eat dirt and mud for a little bit. Eventually, hard work pays off, no matter what you do. If you want to sell ice cream, sell ice cream every day. Get up, get your cones right, make sure your freezer's at the right temperature, make sure your music's playing and hit the block and get on that ice cream.

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