May 14, 2021 • 44 mins
From voice memo to release day, emerging artists Jereena Montemayor and Pretty Boy Aaron deep-dive into their creative process, sharing the songs and stories that have shaped their journey to date.
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Episode Transcript
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Jay (00:06):
Welcome to the Drop the MIC podcast where we'll dive into
conversations with some of themusic industry's most
established professionals Likeall of our episodes, what you
will hear today has been createdand curated by Stanford students
who are breaking their way intothe music scene.
I'm Jay LeBouef and I leadStanford University's music
industry initiatives.
Whether you're aspiring tolaunch your career in the music
industry are already a musicindustry pro, or just curious to
(00:29):
learn more.
We've got you covered.
Malachi (00:38):
Hello, and welcome to Drop the Mic, Stanford's music
industry podcast.
We're your hosts (00:43):
Malachi Frazier, a freshman at Stanford.
Clara (00:47):
Clara, a Senior at Stanford.
Hasan (00:50):
Hasan, a sophomore at Stanford.
Malachi (00:52):
This episode is all about songwriting in the music
industry.
Sit tight as we welcome two upand coming artists with unique
songwriting abilities.
First we have JereenaMontemayor, a singer song
writer, best known for her viralsong Rose.
And later in the episode, we'llget to talk to Pretty Boy Aaron,
whose song Comb My Hair has beenfeatured on Spotify's curated
(01:12):
Bedroom Pop playlist.
Now let's get straight into it.
Clara (01:16):
Thank you so much for being here.
We're so excited to have you wewanted to ask when did you start
getting interested in singingand songwriting?
Did you come from a musicalfamily?
What was your background inmusic and where did it all
begin?
Jereena (01:27):
Yeah.
So first thing I'd like to sayI'm Filipino.
So that kind of correlates to alot of creativeness, I think I
grew up in karaoke, like singingkaraoke.
I don't think there was ever atime where I was just like, nah,
I want to sing.
It's always just been like,karaoke has been in like every
Filipino party I've been in.
So it's kind of been embedded inour culture to kind of just sing
(01:51):
it doesn't have, we don't haveto be good, but surprisingly,
like, I just got into it becauseof my culture and everything
like that.
So I would lie if I didn't saybeing Filipino, wasn't a big
part of it, but it really hasbeen because everyone is just so
creative at like some pointeither it's dancing or singing
(02:12):
or whatever it is like, I thinkwe all just have that kind of
aspect in us, so yeah.
Clara (02:19):
What has been some of your biggest creative influences
growing up?
Jereena (02:22):
Ariana Grande Miss AG.
I watched a lot of her videos,so the way.
I sung.
And like, I always wanted toreach the high notes that she
did, like all that.
So I guess the technique I usefor singing is also stemmed off
from her.
So that's why some people arelike, Oh, you sound like Ariana
Grande.
And I'm like, which is cool.
(02:43):
But I'm like, no, I sound likeJereena.I think I've just always
loved her music and like nowshe's gotten more into like
writing and even behind thescenes, for other artists and
also Olivia Rodrigo, I know somepeople are like, okay, Driver's
License is like, all right.
But I followed her for a whileand she's just insanely good at
(03:05):
lyrics.
I try to, I feel like I tend tojust write about the same things
or my lyrics are kind of thesame, but when I watch her and
she's like only like 18, 17 orwhatever, and I see her writing
all these other different songs,like not even love songs.
And I feel like that's what Istruggled at.
I always write love songs.
(03:25):
I always have to write somethinglike what he's breaking my heart
or whatever.
So that's why I feel like I tryto stem off from love songs.
Now I try to reach other kindsof perspectives and other
subjects to write about, becauseI've seen like Olivia Rodrigo
put in such differentperspectives and songs.
Clara (03:44):
And I know YouTube has been somewhat of a big part of
your life and your growth.
Like what prompted you to make aYouTube channel?
How did that take off?
Jereena (03:52):
I mean, I've had my YouTube channel for a while and
I actually uploaded videos whenI was even younger, like seventh
grade, eighth grade, but thoseare like deleted now those are
private, but like the recentones that got popular and stuff.
Those are probably like threeyears ago but that was when
Daniel Caesar was popping offbut like the reason why I feel
(04:13):
like I started my YouTube wasn'tbecause it wasn't because I knew
I was going to get followersbecause I know YouTube is a
tough ground to, you know, getfollowers on.
So I wasn't really ever doing itfor the views.
I just like wanted to have aplace to put my covers in
thankfully, luckily enough, Igot some recognition off of
(04:33):
those.
So yeah.
Malachi (04:38):
So I guess we talked a little bit about your process
and song writing, and I guessthe first place in that is where
do you usually start with, witha new song or a new idea?
Jereena (04:47):
Well, first I have to have the chords.
I have to have the music, atleast like the background of it.
For me, I usually start off withmy guitar.
Majority of my songs come offfrom the guitar and if, if
anything, sometimes I do thepiano, but I have to have the
chords first.
I'm not the person that thinksof lyrics in their heads or
melodies in their heads justlike that.
(05:09):
I have to have the background.
So it's kind of hard for mebecause sometimes I'm not too
musically inclined where, I canhear everything by ear and I
know which chord can go withwhat.
I literally have to pick everysingle chord and play every
single chord before I could evertry to transition off a next
one.
But yeah, I have to kind of havethat first and then I'll go on
(05:31):
my phone and I'll use my voicememo app and I'll just start
humming melodies.
And I just be like, whatever.
Once I like something that Ihummed or whatever, I'll try to
put the words into it.
that's also kind of hard becauselike I said, I feel like I
always do love songs.
So finding the inspiration towrite something about is kind of
(05:52):
hard, but sometimes it comes offquick, but at the same time,
majority of the time, it's, it'shard to find something to write
about that I don't want to betoo, you know, too similar to my
other songs or too similar toany other songs.
So, yeah.
Malachi (06:05):
So when you're doing the voice memo thing, when
you're mumbling, the melodies,do words ever come out
naturally?
Or is that kind of somethingyou'd pick and choose?
Jereena (06:13):
Sometimes it does.
Sometimes it does, but majorityof the time, no, it doesn't like
I have like a hundred voicememos.
I was just going nnnnn whateverwith my guitar, not knowing
anything and majority of thetime, it sounds bad, but the
ones that are like cute andstuff, of course I pick it up.
Malachi (06:31):
So take us through the journey of writing your first
song, if you can remember.
Jereena (06:36):
Yeah.
It's a song on SoundCloud, aukulele song.
Shoot.
I don't even remember what thesong title is called, but it's
on SoundCloud and I was reallyinspired by Latiya and
lullabies.
Also lemonade by Jeremy Passion.
And I was like,"Ooh, I reallywant to make a really cute
ukulele song too." So I boughtthis condenser mic that was like
(06:58):
$50, the USP, like plugin oneand I was like, yo like this
will work, you know, no one willever know, no one will ever
know.
I was in my dad's apartment andI was in the bathroom because I
didn't have a place to record orwhatever.
So I had it in my condenser micand just my ukulele, I had no
(07:19):
plugin, it was just my ukuleleon the mic.
And it was so bad, but yeah, itwas, it was just me trying to be
like, Oh, I wanna make a cutesong about a boy, I meet a boy
and he likes me and whatever.
So it was typical.
It's not, not my best work, buthey, we've gotten far.
Clara (07:37):
And you mentioned that you have a friend who mixes and
masters for you, how did youfind that person?
What's the process with that?
Jereena (07:43):
It's actually.
I don't know if you guys knowthe artist Rini.
Rini, if you hear this, I loveyou.
They found me actually.
A blessing.
Yeah.
Aldwin commented on one of my,singing videos on Instagram and
tagged Rini.
And I was like, Stop.
I was like nah, and this waswhen Rini wasn't as big we met
(08:05):
like three years ago orsomething, but yeah, they were
like tagging each other and Iwas like, Stop.
And then they followed me and Ifollowed them back.
And then we just DMed.
Then I was like, Hey, Iliterally watched y'alls YouTube
videos, a while ago and it'sinsane and stuff.
So it was cool.
I don't know if you know this,but Rose was produced by Aldwin
(08:26):
too.
And Rini's playing the guitar inRose.
I was supposed to actually justhave Rose, my acoustic version,
just me and my guitar, like nobass, no, beats, no nothing.
And Aldwin actually saw theacoustic version and was like,
Hey, let me get on this but Iwas already trying to work on it
with someone else and I justwanted the guitar and just my
(08:49):
voice kind of thing, so this rawacoustic.
But then like after I justdidn't really like how the other
one turned out, I asked him,cause I remembered.
I asked him, I was like, Hey,did you still want to be on it?
And he was like, yeah, For sure.
And literally, I don't know howmany days it was probably like
two days after, he sent me whatyou hear.
And I was like, Whaaat?
(09:10):
I was like, I didn't ask for anyof this, but it's everything
I've ever wanted.
Like what the heck?
If I were to ever decide, Ialways told them if I were to
ever describe my genre or justmy music, it would be Rose.
Like Rose is such a distinctsong to compare me by, because
that's what I feel like Irepresent in my music.
(09:32):
So it was really cool.
I didn't give him any direction.
I sent him the guitar recording,the three minute guitar
recording, and just my voice.
And he literally did not use asecond of my guitar recording.
Yeah.
But he was like, I felt reallybad, so like I tried to add it
in the end.
I was like, dude, no worries.
(09:52):
You made it better.
Clara (09:54):
That's amazing.
Do you work with them now?
Like, are you signed to them orwhat's that relationship?
Jereena (09:58):
No, but I, I still talk to them and I still have stuff
working with them.
I have an EP coming out.
Majority of the songs is mixedand mastered by Aldwin and one
of the songs is produced by him.
So, yeah, it's cool.
It's cool, I still talk to themand they're really cool and
supportive too.
Clara (10:16):
When you dropping the the EP?
Jereena (10:18):
Shoot girl! I'm getting the pictures today for the EP
cover.
So I'm trying to figure outwhich ones I want.
And then after that, I just haveto send my EP to my label and
then we can decide on a date,but girl, it's done.
It's literally done.
Clara (10:34):
With the photography how do you get connected with that
and figuring out what to do?
I had someone in mind actuallyto do my EP cover, who was like
a friend, but it, it was justnot working out.
And luckily someone that I wasalready following and I loved
his work already, tweeted in thereply on one of my tweets,and
was like, when are we working?
And I was like, Oh, Perfect.
(10:54):
I was like, I have an EP thatI'm dropping and I don't have
pictures for it.
And I had someone that was gonnatake pictures for me, but it was
just not working out.
So this is perfect for me.
When are you free?
And then we just starteddeciding off on a date and he
lived in Dallas.
Which is like four hours fromHouston.
So he had to make a day trip ornot a day trip, but like he had
(11:15):
to go home right after theshoot.
So it was insane, but I wasdefinitely thankful that he hit
me up because it came all inperfect timing.
Cause the other photographer wasjust not working out.
So yeah.
Malachi (11:29):
I guess I do have a few questions about just your
journey as an artist.
Did that start fully on YouTubeor were you on Spotify?
Jereena (11:36):
I think it started off on Twitter actually.
I made a Twitter like jokingly,because I was like, dang,
obviously I've had that idea oflike I wanna be a superstar, you
know, like as a kid and stuff.
And like I knew I could hold anote.
So I was like, I know thatthings get viral there more
quickly, because you canretweet, you can all that.
(11:57):
So I made my, I made my Twitterpretty late.
I made mine sophomore year ofhigh school.
So 2016 I made it and then I wasjust posting covers on there.
And for a year it was getting 20likes.
And if it broke a hundred, I'dbe screaming at the top of my
lungs, you know?
And then my first viral cover,it was Redbone.
And I remember freaking out,cause I was in high school.
(12:20):
So there was school the nextday.
And I was like, Oh my God, I'mgoing to have to like walk down
these halls, I don't want to seeanyone.
I don't want to do anything.
Because like I knew a wholebunch of people from my school
were retweeting it.
And I was like, okay, cool,whatever.
I mean, at the same time, Istill sat alone in my second, my
second class, I was just like,Hey, cool.
(12:40):
Somethings they're not you know,some things don't change, yeah,
it started off on Twitter and Iwas just posting a whole bunch
of covers.
And it got a lot of attention.
And after that, I just was like,okay, cool.
People will like the songs thatI make on Twitter.
Cause I would post a lot like ofmy song, like one minute songs
that I wrote on Twitter.
(13:02):
And people are like, seem toenjoy it.
And I was like, okay, maybe Ishould actually not just stick
with SoundCloud and also put iton Spotify and Apple music,
because for awhile, I was like,I was one of those artists,
well, I don't know if a lot ofartists are like this, but I was
like, I'm going to make my musicfree.
I don't get why people wouldlike make people listen to music
(13:24):
for money.
Like, I'm going to puteverything on SoundCloud, all
those, all those.
But like,at a certain point,like, you girl gotta eat, you
know, like I gotta, I gotta makesome money somehow, but yeah, I
started putting it on Applemusic and Spotify.
And I asked my friend Dane, Iwas like, how do you get your
stuff on like Apple music orlike Spotify.
(13:45):
And he showed me the website andthose literally the easiest
thing.
And so I was like, okay, cool.
I have a route, I know what todo with that.
So.
After, knowing what to do withputting it on Apple Music and
Spotify it was just kind ofwhether or not I wanted to post
or not.
So, or if anything it was enoughfor me to post, because as you
(14:06):
can tell, I don't post a lot,but it's only because I feel
like I value quality overquantity, which is also which
sucks sometimes because I knowpeople do want a little bit more
of my songs and stuff.
So it's a battle for sure.
Malachi (14:23):
How purposeful were your song drops when you did
them and did, did you kind ofget more purposeful with it over
time?
Like on social media or just onany other platforms as well as
Spotify?
Jereena (14:33):
The first song I posted, I was like, okay, like,
it's a song, it's a cute song tostart off from.
I wouldn't say it was myproudest song, but I felt like I
just wanted to post something tojust keep people realizing like,
Oh, I'm going to start postingon Apple music and stuff.
But when I was making Rose, Idon't know if this is the same
with any artists.
(14:54):
But when I was making Rose, Iwas like, oh, this is that song.
It's going to be that song thatbreaks it for me.
And of course it was a toughcouple months, because after I
posted it, I posted it aroundApril.
It was not, not blowing up, itwas getting like 4,000 plays per
day, which is, which is a goodamount.
But at the same time, time, whenyou felt like, Oh, it's going to
(15:14):
be that song that blows up.
And it's just not like, ofcourse you get a little
discouraged, but it was thatDecember where I was on people's
taste breakers, like on the endof the year kind of playlists.
And I was on like everyone's.
So it went from like 4,000 playsto like 15,000 plays per day.
And that's when I'll was likewhat the heck?
(15:36):
Yeah.
I was like, what's going on?
And keep in mind, I literallydidn't do any, I didn't promote
anything.
It was just luckily I was onpeople's Spotify, like
algorithms, you know, which iscool and stuff.
So for a while, of course I wasa little bit discouraged because
I was like, dang, I thought itwas going to be that song.
You know, that song that blowsme up.
But it wasn't for, I don't know,five months.
(15:57):
So it was a little discouraging,but at the end, I definitely
realized that I just gotta giveit time.
I'm a little impatient.
Malachi (16:03):
So every stream for Rose, you never promoted it or
anything?
That's impressive.
Jereena (16:07):
I literally did not put anything into it.
Everything was just it happenedfor me.
Like, I was only signed to mylabel, last summer.
So anything that happenedbetween that and what I had
streams-wise, I never promotedit once I never have it on
anything.
I also have a lot of Asianfollowers.
So there are a lot of them makelittle cute montages of their
(16:30):
cute, like.
K-pop idols and stuff like that,which is the cutest thing.
And they use my songs.
So I feel like that's also whymy songs get a lot of attention
because I know K-pop is, youknow, it's popping everywhere.
Clara (16:44):
Final question.
You've been amazing.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
What is your vision for thefuture of your music?
What are your goals?
Where do you see yourself infive years?
Jereena (16:53):
Yeah.
Shoot.
Yeah.
I hope there's at least moremusic that I've released, you
know, because I know I'm such aperfectionist with that.
I feel like I am a little toohard on myself where, to the
point that whenever I hear asong and it's I don't like a
slight bit of it.
I'm just like, no, throw it allaway.
But you know, I just, I feellike, I think I need to work on
(17:16):
that more.
And I think in the future,that'll help me realize like,
Hey, some songs are not gonnafeel like they're good, but you
know, some people are going tofeel like that.
I also joke around, I would loveto freaking perform at
Coachella, insane dream, insaneidea, but you know, we can make
(17:36):
it happen.
We can manifest it.
Clara (17:38):
That's amazing.
Yeah, we loved having you it wasso wonderful.
Jereena (17:42):
It's honestly, thank you so much for having me.
Malachi (17:47):
Wow what an amazing session with Jereena now we're
going to move on to ourconversation with Pretty Boy
Aaron.
Let's go! What was your firstexperience in music and how did
that evolve to what it is now?
Pretty Boy Aaron (17:59):
I think my first experience of music was in
high school cause I was in bandAnd stuff like that.
And so I did music with that.
Of course the music you'replaying in high school band
isn't the type of music you likeplaying, it's like you're
playing some old stuff.
Or I went to a really white highschool.
So it was the, like even thestuff we were playing at pep
rallies and stuff was like songsI didn't really enjoy.
(18:21):
So I've always had kind of likea musical background and I've
known how to play instrumentsand stuff.
I started dabbling a rappingwith uh, some of my friends and
we like performed at my friend'sbirthday party, like made her a
birthday rap.
And so I was like, Oh, thisrapping stuff's cool.
Let me keep doing it.
And I kept doing it.
And then like later in highschool, like I think I was like
(18:42):
my senior year, I wanted tostart making beats because I
wanted to learn how to make uh,like background music, that was
Royalty free and stuff forvideos that I was making at the
time.
And so I then kept making beatsand I was like, Oh, this is
really fun.
Oh, let's see if I can startrapping on these beats and
started dabbling in that.
And then college that's when Ilike, actually started focusing
(19:03):
like, okay, I'm gonna make asong.
I'm actually going to do thisbecause before it wasn't even
songs, it was just a bunch ofideas thrown around and it was
never, ever like reallystructured.
Malachi (19:11):
So you said you had a group with your friends in high
school.
Was that it was that likeHooligan Island?
Is that what that was called?
Pretty Boy Aaron (19:16):
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, it was calledHooligan Island.,
Malachi (19:17):
Where'd you guys get the name from?
Pretty Boy Aaron (19:19):
I don't, I think it was my friend Ray at
the time he came up with thename and we, because we were
really trying to be Odd Future,like really badly.
Cause Odd Future was just comingup then.
And so we were really trying tobe Odd Future.
And so we're like, Oh yeah,we're Hooligan Island.
And so cause there was HooliganIsland and then there was like
another rap group in our school.
And I think there was two otherrap groups, but at the time
(19:39):
there, it was like another onethat we were friends with.
And so we were really justtrying to be better than them in
a sense.
It was kinda like competitiveand we beefed with them and
stuff like that.
And so we were like, oh yeah,we're hooligan Island where
we're quirky.
We like rapping over MF DOOM,instrumentals and stuff like
that.
And it was interesting.
Malachi (19:55):
So you said you started producing in college and what
would you say is been the mostlike transformative moment in
your artist journey so far?
Pretty Boy Aaron (20:05):
There was a time, me and my my best friend,
his name BRUHNICE, like featuredon my songs and stuff.
We had drifted apart, as friendsfor a little bit.
And, he was just starting tomake music.
And I was like, and I wasworking on music as well.
Through college, we always werelike together making like music.
And then that was the first timewhen we split.
(20:25):
That was the first time where itwas like, okay, now we can't
rely on each other.
We can only work on music byourselves.
And that's, what's really, whenI figured out a sound that I
wanted to do, I was like, okay,maybe I should start learning
guitar.
Maybe I should make moreInternet.
Cause like I'm, I was a big fanof The Internet and in college
in college.
And so I was trying to makemusic like that and I was like,
okay, let me actually figure outhow to make this type of music.
(20:47):
And so I was working towards tomake music like that.
Malachi (20:50):
So you said you did some collabs with BRUHNICE, is
it.
Yeah.
BRUHNICE, that's that's TreyPatton, right?
Pretty Boy Aaron (20:55):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's Trey Patton.
Yeah.
Malachi (20:56):
Okay.
So you guys had a, I see youguys had like a duo.
Pretty Boy Aaron (21:00):
Yeah.
Malachi (21:01):
That was Ray andrews.
Pretty Boy Aaron (21:02):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That was Ray Andrews.
Malachi (21:03):
Did you guys like, did you release any songs or was it
live shows or
Pretty Boy Aaron (21:08):
The worst part about it we have, we made a lot
of music.
We released like maybe two orthree songs, like towards the
end of Ray Andrews, but we wouldperform.
We perform like a lot and wewere performing the unreleased
songs and I think that's anissue I still have now where
it's like, we'll perform andwe're performing.
Like people are Loving the musicand they were like, all right,
(21:28):
the music is going to come outin a few months and it just
never drops.
I struggle releasing musicbecause it's it's very strange
to me.
So cause I'm not like at first Iwas very like Oh yeah, I'm going
to drop.
I can drop whenever I want to.
But now I kind of have to planit and I can't be as careless as
I was anymore or I used to be.
And so now, I have to figure outlike, okay, this is how we're
(21:50):
going to market this.
This is how we're doing this andthis.
And so it's just a process andyeah, just when I release stuff
now I just have to actually havethought to it.
Malachi (21:58):
Where do you think that like, change in mentality came
from?
From then to now?
Pretty Boy Aaron (22:02):
I think it's like after seeing my stuff
starting to do well and peoplelike being very receptive to it
cause Cause like in 2017, that'swhen I, or I would say 2016, I
was dropping snippets on Twitterand Instagram and I wasn't
posting the songs on SoundCloud.
Cause I was like, I had no onethat's going to listen to this.
And then people were like, Oh,you should put, please put this
on my SoundCloud.
I'm trying to listen to this.
(22:23):
And so then I had to startdropping that and then or
putting stuff on SoundCloud,just because people were liking
it.
And then I realized, I was like,man, okay.
Maybe I should actually besmarter about this and actually
like figure out how to do dropseffectively.
And so I would say like 2017,that's when I had to start doing
it.
Malachi (22:40):
So when you were in when you were in, Texas going to
college, when you were playingin the duo with BRUHNICE, what
kind of venues or scenes did youplay at?
Pretty Boy Aaron (22:48):
We had a lot of friends that were into like,
math rock.
And it's there's another type ofgrunge.
I forgot what it's called, butit's not really grunge.
Oh it's noise.
Like noise bands.
Like we were friends, a lot ofpeople and noise bands and
stuff.
So we were always doing showswith them, and then we had
started to work with rappers andbeyond the same lineups.
And then that didn't go toowell.
(23:09):
And that was part of the reason,like Trey and I split.
But it was mostly like most ofour friends were in these like
rock and indie music, they'reshowing up with guitars and
Trey, and I would just show,with backpacks and computer
cables and shit like that.
And so it's it was veryinteresting, but we would always
like the same people who wouldlisten to that stuff, they would
listen to ours and they're like,oh, we love y'all, y'all are
doing something different.
(23:29):
And we were like, okay, likemaybe we should keep performing
with these people because therap stuff isn't working out like
that.
Malachi (23:34):
So like in that time, were you performing similar
stuff as you do today?
Or was it more of the indiegrunge, like rocky type?
Pretty Boy Aaron (23:41):
Neither low key.
I wouldn't say it wasnecessarily like trap stuff, but
it was, if you listen to StoneMountain by Childish Gambino it
was like a lot of the beatssounding like that, where it's
like, at the time, cause thiswas like 2014, 2015.
it wasn't necessarily likeboom-bap, but it wasn't trap or
it was like this weirdin-between mix of things.
(24:04):
And so we were making beats likethat and making more music like
that.
Malachi (24:07):
That's cool.
So I guess talking aboutinspirations still is there any
like.
I guess besides artists andother music, are there any, like
other things you draw a lot ofinspiration from experiences or
any values or art in general?
Pretty Boy Aaron (24:19):
Yeah.
Right now, at least a lot of myinspiration has been, from the
stuff I'm consuming uh, TV andvideo games.
So for example, there's a gamecalled Persona and like a lot of
the music from the Personaseries I've been incorporating
the same styles within my musicjust like sonically, but also
draw heavily from inspiration,inspiration from experiences.
(24:41):
There's a couple of songs that Ihave where it's, okay, if I
listened to this, I know exactlywhere the song is going to put
me, because it reminds me ofthis person from this time at
this event.
And it just, connects like that.
Hasan (24:53):
Awesome.
We'd love to jump in talkingabout songwriting.
Tell us about your song writingprocess.
How do you write songs?
Pretty Boy Aaron (24:57):
It's always different, I have certain songs
where I was like, okay, I'mgonna make a song about this.
And I made a song like aboutthat.
Or there's a couple of times,for example um, Comb My Hair,
that song, I didn't write thehook.
I just sent the beat to Tesia,but I named the beat Comb My
Hair.
Cause I needed to comb my hairbecause my hair was like nasty
at that time.
So I just named the beat Comb MyHair and I sent it to Tesia and
(25:20):
she recorded that hook.
And then she sent it back to meand I was like, oh, you didn't
have to write about combing yourhair.
But then I was like, wait aminute.
This shit might work.
A lot of my music, is justalmost coincidental where it's
like, Oh, this happened.
So somehow it created a song.
It's very strange.
Hasan (25:38):
With life on hold right now what's your inspiration?
Like, do you write about thingsthat happened a couple of years
ago?
Are you digging for things tofind inspiration from, like how
do you get your lyricalinspiration, your musical
inspiration when so much aboutliving is on hold because of
COVID.
Pretty Boy Aaron (25:50):
Some of it's past stuff, but then also,
because I've had a lot of growthfrom now, I'm talking about
stuff that's happening, rightnow.
For example, like I have a newsong that I'm working on, where
it's talking about peoplehitting you up after seeing you
do well.
And it's like, I haven't talkedto you in a long time.
And it's now you're hitting meup now.
Now you're trying, it feels likefake relationships and stuff
(26:12):
like that.
I'm talking about that.
And then also about like, I haveanother song that I'm working
on.
It's it's pretty much aboutlike, it feels like we're in our
final days.
So it's it's my relationshipwith the person talking about
Oh, this might be the last time.
We might ever find love againor, be together.
So let's make what we have,work.
Hasan (26:29):
And does that translate into lyrics or melody?
Which one comes first?
Do you say this is a story thathappened?
How do I translate this intoincredible lyrics?
Or do you start with a great,incredible beat, like Comb My
Hair and then put lyrics on topof that.
Pretty Boy Aaron (26:41):
Right now it's been I'll have the beat and
then, I'll be like, okay, maybelet's think of something that
comes onto it.
And so I'll either send it offto a friend and see if they can,
if they have something and I'llfeature them or it's been like
okay, I had this idea.
So let me just run with it orso, so it's like an idea first,
and then I make the song.
Hasan (27:01):
Are you someone that in the very beginning, likes to
work with other people whencrafting that idea?
Or do you like to bring them onlater?
So let's say you make a beat oryou have a melody.
Do you do that with other peopleinitially?
Or do you bring them on, afterthat's already created?
Pretty Boy Aaron (27:13):
Right now, at least it's been after the fact
when the beat has been createdwhere like, okay, this person
would sound good on this.
And so I reach out to them andthen they record their stuff.
And I would say for the lastcouple of songs, it's been kind
of like that actually, except Iwould say, except my song
Collect.
I think that was the last songwhere it was like, okay, we're
gonna work together on this.
(27:34):
But everything else has beenlike, yeah, I like this voice.
So let's throw it on here.
Hasan (27:38):
And what are your tips for songwriters young
songwriters listening to this?
How do we get better?
What do you tap into to get suchincredible melodies?
Pretty Boy Aaron (27:44):
I would say don't be married to an idea or
married to a melody and becauseit can take any kind of form.
I've had ideas for songs where Iwas like, okay, this song is
going to be about this and Ihave to beat for it.
And I can not think of anylyrics or anything.
If I leave the idea and thenmake something new.
I'm like, oh wow.
I can actually take that idea Ihad for this song and put it on
(28:07):
this song.
And it immediately clicks, likefor Nicotine at least, I went
through five or six differentversions before, the one that
came out so it took me a time tofigure out, okay, I have this
idea and it doesn't sound goodon this week so let me try a new
beat and let me try new beat andlet me try a new beat until I
find okay, this is where it'ssupposed to be.
Hasan (28:25):
So you're not trying to force anything.
If the beat needs to be keptaway for a bit of time, you're
happy to keep it away for a bitof time and come back to it
later.
Pretty Boy Aaron (28:31):
Yeah, exactly that.
Clara (28:32):
You said you started off rapping and then got into
production.
How much production do youtypically do when you're
writing?
Pretty Boy Aaron (28:38):
I honestly, I tend to have almost all the
production done before I startsongwriting.
I don't know why I worked likethat, but I usually have I want
to say 75%, 85% of productiondone before I start songwriting.
And then the last 15% is reallyjust like tweaks where it's
like, okay, I need to transitionthis part to this part.
(29:00):
So let me figure that out.
And that's usually after I haveall the writing done.
Malachi (29:04):
I do have a couple questions about Comb Your Hair.
You just sent the hook to a toTesia and she just, she came
right back with the lyrics forit.
So like how did that go fromjust the hook and end to that
from what it is now?
Pretty Boy Aaron (29:18):
It was crazy.
I didn't even send her the hook.
It was just the beat.
And the beat was called comb myhair.
That's it and she sent it and itwas on a voice memo.
And I just had the voice memo,on the beat for the longest.
And when I was like, we can makethis into something like this.
Cause the first beat was veryslow and, slowed down and stuff
like that.
(29:38):
And then I eventually sped it upbecause a friend said I should
keep working on it and stuff.
And so whenever it got to thatpoint, and it was like weird
with the With the bark sampleand what else was on that?
Like the synth the Moog bass andstuff like that.
I just kept building that andadding guitar and then I just
kept building into the song itis now.
And then like, I wanted to startperforming that song because
(29:59):
like I said, I have a really badhabit of performing songs that
are not out.
So I want it to start performingit at shows.
And I told her to record thehook like officially, and she
recorded it.
And then she came here.
I forgot why she came, but Ithink she was visiting her
parents and she came in, werecorded the the verse or her
like bridge stuff, and then wejust kept building.
Malachi (30:18):
So the whole song came from like a voice memo then?
Pretty Boy Aaron (30:21):
Yeah.
Literally it was literally justthe voice memo.
And I was like, I was, I'm beingdead serious.
I was so unsure.
I was like, should we make asong about like hair?
Like I'm not sure if I'm rockingwith this a little I'm not sure
if I liked this idea, but then Ieventually just was like kept
listening.
And I was like, yo, this songcould be like something great.
Hasan (30:39):
Was there a moment that you knew wow, this is something?
Or was it a response?
What sort of, what was thatmoment where you were like, we
have something here?
Pretty Boy Aaron (30:46):
This is gonna sound really petty, but I was
trying to like shove some peopleon Twitter.
I think'cause someone didn'tmention me or something on like
Instagram.
And I was like really upset andI was like, you know what, I'm
going to post a snippet of CombMy Hair.
And then it went crazy and I waslike, oh shit, I shouldn't have
done that.
Cause then like that wholesummer, everybody was like, oh,
when are you going to drop thissong?
(31:07):
Please leak this.
And I was like dog, the song'snot even done.
It was literally just the hook.
But then after that, then Irealized okay, this could be
something bigger than anythingI've worked on so far.
So let's actually take thisserious.
Malachi (31:20):
So does the voice memo thing, does that, do you use
that a lot?
Is that a big source of ideasfor you?
Pretty Boy Aaron (31:27):
Yeah, actually, yeah.
I use a lot of voice memos likeNicotine was on a voice memo,
but I was I was singing like theNicotine, hook, like the other
second half.
I was singing that on top of ABOY IS A GUN*.
Because I think the snippetvideo I just dropped and I was
just singing on top of it.
And I was like, oh, this isfire.
Let me continue working withthis.
And so I recorded on my voicememo and then I just built it
(31:48):
from there.
Malachi (31:48):
So was it, are they just things like you'll be
randomly like sitting in yourcar and you'll be like, Oh wait,
let me try this out real quick.
Pretty Boy Aaron (31:54):
Yeah.
Or I be listening to a song andI'm like, they didn't hit that.
Let me show you how, let me showyou what I would do.
And so I would record it on myphone.
I'm like, oh, let me build this.
Hasan (32:04):
When you're listening to music are you one of those
people like, that sounds wrong,that sounds off.
I would do it this way.
Or when you listen to music, areyou in the vibe, like how do you
listen to music, especiallymusic that you would make?
So you're listening to Kanyealbum or you're listening to, a
Travis Scott album or any genre.
Are you critiquing it whenyou're listening to it?
Pretty Boy Aaron (32:19):
Not really.
I just, I don't know.
There are just sometimes whenI'm like, I hear something else
on top of it.
And it'd be cool if they hadthis harmony in the back or this
if this switched to this.
And so that's when I, like Irealized okay, I can actually do
something with my own music.
That same idea.
When I listen to music, Iusually listen to music to build
ideas.
When Swimming had came out byMac Miller, Ladders was a big
(32:42):
song I was listening to becauseI was a huge, I mean, I still am
a huge fan of that song.
And when I was listening to thatsong, I was like, oh, I can make
something like this.
And so it was just more likeinspiration.
Hasan (32:51):
Awesome.
We're super excited aboutobviously you and your music.
What does the future look like?
Is there an album coming out, anEP?
I know you've been releasingsingles recently.
What does the next year looklike for you?
Pretty Boy Aaron (33:01):
Yeah, I haven't released a project since
2017 and so I have a lot ofstuff in the back.
So I'm trying to release that.
I don't know, you probably can'tsee you, but I have like track
lists on the wall, of a projectthat I'm working on and that's
going to be, it's going to belike the older stuff.
And then I'm trying to, release,I'm trying to release all the
stuff we've been working withthe last year.
Cause that's in a differentmindset than it was like the
(33:22):
Comb My Hair.
And and so I'm really justtrying to figure out how to put
stuff together again, because Ihaven't put like a track list
together in a long time.
Hasan (33:30):
So can we expect an album soon?
Pretty Boy Aaron (33:32):
Yes and no.
We'll see.
We'll see.
I want to drop, I want to dropsomething this year, so I'll
just have to see how everythingplans out.
Hasan (33:40):
Sure.
And your live show, I'm sure.
I'm sure you want to get up andperform these songs.
What does that look like to you?
How do you think about your liveshow, your visuals being on
stage?
What does that all look like inyour head
Pretty Boy Aaron (33:49):
Before Corona stuff started, I realized, I was
like, Oh, I need to start.
I want to build a band because Ithink a lot of my music would
sound better in a band setting.
So I've been trying to figureout how to do that.
But since Corona I haven'treally had the chance to do it.
Previous before that it wasreally just like me and Trey,
just like on a stage Treydeejaying and I'm rapping.
(34:10):
And then whoever has a guestfeature on a song they'll come
up or something and perform withus.
Hasan (34:15):
Incredible.
Yeah.
One thing I love about yourmusic is you blend incredible
beat making, but live elements.
I think there's a song 2127, ifthat's the right.
Yeah.
So 27 21 actually.
Yeah.
Incredible saxophone playing.
How do you think about songslike that?
Putting those in your track listwhere there's no vocals,
Pretty Boy Aaron (34:30):
There's just some songs that I have where.
I can't think of lyrics oranything.
And I'm just like, this justsounds good by itself.
So why can't I just release itjust as an instrumental?
And I think that's what I'mtrying to add more into my stuff
again, because the last threesongs I've dropped are all
vocals and stuff.
And so I know I want to keep,making stuff like that
(34:51):
especially like, 27, 21, I wantto make more jazz stuff and like
more go into more of that sideof things.
Cause even since Stay PrettyI've made like Bossa Nova type
beats and I just haven't droppedthem.
And so that's why I'm liketrying to collect everything
that I've made in the last, Ithink it has been like four
years and see okay, this is whatI'm gonna drop.
Hasan (35:16):
Talk to me about space in music.
I feel like all your songs havesuch an incredible sense of
where to leave things out whento put things in, they don't
feel overburdened at any moment.
Do you think about likeconsciously, like how do you
leave things out?
How do you know what to put in?
Because I'm sure when you makean incredible beat.
You want to get everything andget everyone on there.
And that is sometimes a harddecision not to.
So how do you think about that?
Pretty Boy Aaron (35:35):
I do have a problem with over producing and
then I think I have to realizethat, okay, now I have to bring
it back.
And I think You ever listened towell, you probably have like
Yeezus by Kanye.
Hasan (35:46):
For sure.
Pretty Boy Aaron (35:46):
And like, yeah.
And so like Rick Rubin, he likechanged what the album was
originally.
The original Bound 2 soundscompletely different than the
version that's out.
And especially since that albumcame out, I realized it was
like, Oh, you don't have to have10 different harmonies in the
bag.
It doesn't have to be some kindof epic.
You just put what's needed.
Put what sounds good.
(36:06):
I think that's where originally,where I was really realizing
space and leave room for vocals,leave room for, people to not
get.
What's I don't want to sayover-focused, I don't think
that's a word, but like, they'retrying to listen to the
harmonies or they're trying tolisten to the guitar, but really
you need to listen to thelyrics.
And so that's where I've beentrying to or that's where I've
learned not to overproduce andtake a step back.
Hasan (36:26):
Yeah.
I recognize that in yourmelodies as well.
Like you'll get a great melodyin there and we hear that melody
throughout, but it doesn't everfeel like, we're hearing it too
much because it's such greatmelody.
Do you think about the samething when you're writing
melodies, do you have a bridgein there?
Do you have a chorus?
Do you have a verse or whenyou're making a beat, like Comb
My Hair, are you saying, youknow what?
Let's just have this on loop.
It feels because it feels great.
Like, how do you think aboutthat?
Pretty Boy Aaron (36:44):
I have a really bad attention span of
like in songs.
So I'm like I like to changethings up.
And then I also like to not havethe same thing, repeat too much.
Cause it's I get like nervousOh, people are gonna hate it if
it's kept looping like that.
And so that's where I kinda ah,I think that's, if that answered
it.
Hasan (37:01):
For sure.
For sure.
You definitely did.
Yeah.
On those lines are thereconstraints, especially in the
Spotify world and we'rereleasing music two minutes
songs, three minutes songs, oneminute songs, have you ever felt
constrained by that?
Do you want to, release an eightminute track?
A 10 minute track?
Like we saw 30, 40 years ago.
How do you navigate that and howdo you shorten stuff and, cut
things out.
Like how do you navigate thatwhole sort of digital streaming
world?
Pretty Boy Aaron (37:20):
Nah, like I said before, I have a really bad
attention span, so I can't makea song for nine minutes.
But you know, what's funny.
Whenever I first started makingPretty Boy Aaron stuff.
A lot of the stuff was reallyshort.
And I was when I was submittingto like blogs and playlists I
was using, I didn't know.
I was like spending on SubmitHub, a lot of the critiques that
people would have on my music.
(37:40):
They'd be like, oh, this soundsreally great, but it's really
short.
And it sounds more like aninterlude.
And then that really like boggedme down.
Cause I was like, damn, thisthese short songs ain't it huh?
And then and then you see likeLil Nas X.
Old Town Roads, like two minutesthumping.
And it's just reassurance whereit's like, okay, maybe the short
ideas thing was a good idea.
(38:00):
And so that's why I try not tohave them as short as much
anymore, but, I don't, I can'tmake anything above five minutes
unless it has a beat switch orthree beats switches.
Hasan (38:11):
Gotcha.
Talk to us more about blogs andgetting your music out there,
especially in the early stageswhen you didn't have such a big
following like you do now.
How did you submit things toblogs?
What did you include in there?
Was it a long spiel about whoyou were?
Was it just a link to yourmusic?
How did you navigate that wholeprocess.
Pretty Boy Aaron (38:25):
Man?
Those are, that was, those aredays I hated it because.
It was like a lot of okay.
Hey, my name is Pretty BoyAaron.
I'm from Dallas, Texas.
This is my newest song, blah,blah, blah.
And like a lot of the responsesI was getting weren't as
positive and they would be like,oh, we're not going to listen to
this.
Like they would specifically sayoh no, this ain't good.
(38:45):
We're good.
We're okay.
And.
And just I was really againstblogs.
I still am.
Yeah.
But up until I think it was likein the last couple of years when
blogs actually started pickingup my stuff and I'm like, oh,
damn, this is crazy.
It's just a shock to me because.
Like a lot of these like blogsand stuff were saying, like I
was saying, my music is tooshort.
(39:05):
They don't like the sound, itsounds real messy.
And it's now it's, I've moredeveloped that style and my
style and stuff, but it's stillthe same sonically in my
opinion.
And so it's just interesting tosee blogs picking up my stuff
and being like, okay, yeah, thisis what's next.
We love this.
Hasan (39:21):
I'm curious, like how have you dealt with those
rejections and those sorts ofthose people saying your songs
are too short or your songs aremessy?
Do you take that on the chin?
Do you use that to change yourmusic?
Or do you say, you know what,this is what my music sounds
like.
I want to stick with it.
Like, how do you navigate thatcriticism and rejection and sort
of the harder parts of being anemerging artist?
Pretty Boy Aaron (39:37):
I would say it drives me because, I like.
I'm not saying I like to beright, but I like to be like, Oh
no, this idea.
I think this is the idea that Ineed to push with.
And it's especially if I feel itwhere, so if I get rejected or
something, I'm like, okay, let'sjust keep pushing.
Because if one person doesn'tlike that doesn't mean the next
person is not going to like it,or especially because of fans
(39:58):
and stuff.
Fans love, fans love my music,so it's not.
I don't take rejection asserious.
I'm just like, oh, they justdidn't like it.
So let me just keep moving.
Hasan (40:07):
So before we end, is there anything you want the
audience to know any upcomingplans live shows, coming to
Stanford soon, performing hereat the Frost Amphitheater?
Pretty Boy Aaron (40:15):
I'll be down.
Yeah, no.
I would say.
I guess I probably, I don't wantto say the product name just
quite yet just in case I changeit, but.
Hasan (40:22):
Yeah.
Pretty Boy Aaron (40:23):
I'm definitely releasing stuff soon, very soon.
And it's not, I'm not going tosay it's my best work yet,
because I feel like the bestwork is going to come later
because it's just like all theideas I've had in the past, like
three or four years.
So that's coming soon and thenwe'll see how that goes.
And then hopefully we'll havelike a good, like a full
(40:43):
project, like completely newstuff very soon
Hasan (40:46):
The question on production that I wanted to ask
you, actually, his instrumentsdo you have to recommend an
instrument for someone to pickup and learn?
What's been the most useful foryou when you're producing?
Is it getting on the keys?
What instruments would yourecommend for sort of 15, 16
year olds, even older to pick upand learn?
Pretty Boy Aaron (40:59):
I would say it depends on what you're trying to
do.
If you're trying to make beats,definitely learn piano.
As a cause, especially nowadaysyou can play any instrument,
quote on quote, with MIDI.
So yeah yeah, picking up pianoand just playing like maybe the
piano and then see if you canadd other instruments on top of
that.
And I think that's very helpfuland that helped me a lot.
And I would say guitar.
(41:19):
Cause I, I write a lot on guitarnow and then I'll just transfer
that over into the keys.
And so that's helped me a lot
Hasan (41:27):
Essential albums that people should listen to?
Pretty Boy Aaron (41:29):
U Know What I'm Saying?
by Danny Brown.
That's definitely like, rightnow that's very essential to me.
And that's what I've beendrawing a lot of inspiration
from that Swimming.
Oh, Circles by Mac Miller.
That's another one.
I think that's the best way youcan do a posthumous album in my
opinion.
Especially cause it doesn't feellike.
Like he passed.
It just, it's it's, it feelscompletely fresh.
(41:50):
And especially cause some of thesongs are like two or three
years old.
It's a not from the release.
And I think that's just, it's abeautiful album, and I love that
album.
Hasan (41:58):
It's so clear that you do so much, you write you record,
you're producing your music.
Does it ever get overwhelming?
And do you try and focus on justthe creative process?
Or are you thinking about thingslike, the star music industry is
huge, there's touring, there'sdistribution of music.
How do you market your music?
Where do you release your musicwith who do you can get through
this endless cycle?
So how do you think about that?
Or are you just you know what,I'm going to focus on the music.
(42:18):
First and everything else willcome after that.
Pretty Boy Aaron (42:21):
How would I say this?
I would say, yeah, I definitelytry to focus on the creative
stuff, but a lot of theadministrative stuff, that's
what we'll call it.
Hasan (42:28):
Yeah,
Pretty Boy Aaron (42:29):
A lot of that stuff does bog me down sometimes
and cause I don't have a manageror anything.
And so it's just strictly me andmy friends just running this
shit right now.
And so it sometimes bogs medown, and I won't make music for
a long time.
Especially in the falls, I havea hard, I have trouble making
music nowadays.
But when it hits like originallyI just got out of a really bad
(42:50):
creative block.
And I, it was like January, Iwould say it was January when I
figured things out.
And so after that I realizedthat, okay, I should just focus
on the music and not worry aboutthis administrative stuff.
And so I'll just let it come tome.
And so that's what I'm likeleaning towards now.
We're just like, I'll just letit happen.
Hasan (43:07):
Awesome.
When you're, in this creativemess and you're, you bang your
head against a wall, trying towrite songs, you're trying to
write melodies.
Do you step away from that?
Or do you say, you know what?
I want to keep working on thistill I get, some creative spark.
Pretty Boy Aaron (43:17):
Yeah.
I usually step away andespecially with like when I was
saying that bad creative block Iwas having I will start making
like sample beats.
Like for some reason I always goback to making sample beats and
I just make them, I just pumpthem out really quickly.
But and so I hadn't touched likemy personal music, I think it
was from, I want to say it wasAugust to January.
(43:38):
That was like, I didn't touchany of my personal music through
there.
And I usually just try to livelife, make the sample beats and
see what happens.
And then something like,sometimes I'll just get.
Either something will happenwhere I'm like, Oh, I have an
idea or something.
For example, I would say likethe, I think the reason I got
out of the creative bug thistime like Issa Rae had posted
Comb My Hair on her Instagramstory.
(44:00):
And that inspired me.
And I was like, all right I needto get this stuff popping
because it feels likesomething's about to happen and
I'm not ready.
So let me get to work.
And so that.
Somehow it picked me up and I'vebeen like working really well
recently.
Hasan (44:14):
You can tell you think a lot about, where you put songs
and where you put melodies andwhere you, how you make a track
list.
And I think that's superinspiring for young artists and,
emerging songwriters.
So thank you so much for stayingtrue to yourself and to the
music.
Thank you, thank you, that meansa lot to me
Malachi (44:27):
What an amazing session.
I just want to take a moment tothank Jereena and Pretty Boy
Aaron for their time.
I learned so much about thesongwriting process and I'm sure
as a listener, you did too.
This has been the Drop The MICpodcast, and we'll see you in
the next one.
Welcome to the Drop the MIC podcast where we'll dive into
conversations with some of themusic industry's most
established professionals Likeall of our episodes, what you
will hear today has been createdand curated by Stanford students
who are breaking their way intothe music scene.
I'm Jay LeBouef and I leadStanford University's music
industry initiatives.
Whether you're aspiring tolaunch your career in the music
industry are already a musicindustry pro, or just curious to
(00:29):
learn more.
We've got you covered.
Malachi (00:38):
Hello, and welcome to Drop the Mic, Stanford's music
industry podcast.
We're your hosts (00:43):
Malachi Frazier, a freshman at Stanford.
Clara (00:47):
Clara, a Senior at Stanford.
Hasan (00:50):
Hasan, a sophomore at Stanford.
Malachi (00:52):
This episode is all about songwriting in the music
industry.
Sit tight as we welcome two upand coming artists with unique
songwriting abilities.
First we have JereenaMontemayor, a singer song
writer, best known for her viralsong Rose.
And later in the episode, we'llget to talk to Pretty Boy Aaron,
whose song Comb My Hair has beenfeatured on Spotify's curated
(01:12):
Bedroom Pop playlist.
Now let's get straight into it.
Clara (01:16):
Thank you so much for being here.
We're so excited to have you wewanted to ask when did you start
getting interested in singingand songwriting?
Did you come from a musicalfamily?
What was your background inmusic and where did it all
begin?
Jereena (01:27):
Yeah.
So first thing I'd like to sayI'm Filipino.
So that kind of correlates to alot of creativeness, I think I
grew up in karaoke, like singingkaraoke.
I don't think there was ever atime where I was just like, nah,
I want to sing.
It's always just been like,karaoke has been in like every
Filipino party I've been in.
So it's kind of been embedded inour culture to kind of just sing
(01:51):
it doesn't have, we don't haveto be good, but surprisingly,
like, I just got into it becauseof my culture and everything
like that.
So I would lie if I didn't saybeing Filipino, wasn't a big
part of it, but it really hasbeen because everyone is just so
creative at like some pointeither it's dancing or singing
(02:12):
or whatever it is like, I thinkwe all just have that kind of
aspect in us, so yeah.
Clara (02:19):
What has been some of your biggest creative influences
growing up?
Jereena (02:22):
Ariana Grande Miss AG.
I watched a lot of her videos,so the way.
I sung.
And like, I always wanted toreach the high notes that she
did, like all that.
So I guess the technique I usefor singing is also stemmed off
from her.
So that's why some people arelike, Oh, you sound like Ariana
Grande.
And I'm like, which is cool.
(02:43):
But I'm like, no, I sound likeJereena.I think I've just always
loved her music and like nowshe's gotten more into like
writing and even behind thescenes, for other artists and
also Olivia Rodrigo, I know somepeople are like, okay, Driver's
License is like, all right.
But I followed her for a whileand she's just insanely good at
(03:05):
lyrics.
I try to, I feel like I tend tojust write about the same things
or my lyrics are kind of thesame, but when I watch her and
she's like only like 18, 17 orwhatever, and I see her writing
all these other different songs,like not even love songs.
And I feel like that's what Istruggled at.
I always write love songs.
(03:25):
I always have to write somethinglike what he's breaking my heart
or whatever.
So that's why I feel like I tryto stem off from love songs.
Now I try to reach other kindsof perspectives and other
subjects to write about, becauseI've seen like Olivia Rodrigo
put in such differentperspectives and songs.
Clara (03:44):
And I know YouTube has been somewhat of a big part of
your life and your growth.
Like what prompted you to make aYouTube channel?
How did that take off?
Jereena (03:52):
I mean, I've had my YouTube channel for a while and
I actually uploaded videos whenI was even younger, like seventh
grade, eighth grade, but thoseare like deleted now those are
private, but like the recentones that got popular and stuff.
Those are probably like threeyears ago but that was when
Daniel Caesar was popping offbut like the reason why I feel
(04:13):
like I started my YouTube wasn'tbecause it wasn't because I knew
I was going to get followersbecause I know YouTube is a
tough ground to, you know, getfollowers on.
So I wasn't really ever doing itfor the views.
I just like wanted to have aplace to put my covers in
thankfully, luckily enough, Igot some recognition off of
(04:33):
those.
So yeah.
Malachi (04:38):
So I guess we talked a little bit about your process
and song writing, and I guessthe first place in that is where
do you usually start with, witha new song or a new idea?
Jereena (04:47):
Well, first I have to have the chords.
I have to have the music, atleast like the background of it.
For me, I usually start off withmy guitar.
Majority of my songs come offfrom the guitar and if, if
anything, sometimes I do thepiano, but I have to have the
chords first.
I'm not the person that thinksof lyrics in their heads or
melodies in their heads justlike that.
(05:09):
I have to have the background.
So it's kind of hard for mebecause sometimes I'm not too
musically inclined where, I canhear everything by ear and I
know which chord can go withwhat.
I literally have to pick everysingle chord and play every
single chord before I could evertry to transition off a next
one.
But yeah, I have to kind of havethat first and then I'll go on
(05:31):
my phone and I'll use my voicememo app and I'll just start
humming melodies.
And I just be like, whatever.
Once I like something that Ihummed or whatever, I'll try to
put the words into it.
that's also kind of hard becauselike I said, I feel like I
always do love songs.
So finding the inspiration towrite something about is kind of
(05:52):
hard, but sometimes it comes offquick, but at the same time,
majority of the time, it's, it'shard to find something to write
about that I don't want to betoo, you know, too similar to my
other songs or too similar toany other songs.
So, yeah.
Malachi (06:05):
So when you're doing the voice memo thing, when
you're mumbling, the melodies,do words ever come out
naturally?
Or is that kind of somethingyou'd pick and choose?
Jereena (06:13):
Sometimes it does.
Sometimes it does, but majorityof the time, no, it doesn't like
I have like a hundred voicememos.
I was just going nnnnn whateverwith my guitar, not knowing
anything and majority of thetime, it sounds bad, but the
ones that are like cute andstuff, of course I pick it up.
Malachi (06:31):
So take us through the journey of writing your first
song, if you can remember.
Jereena (06:36):
Yeah.
It's a song on SoundCloud, aukulele song.
Shoot.
I don't even remember what thesong title is called, but it's
on SoundCloud and I was reallyinspired by Latiya and
lullabies.
Also lemonade by Jeremy Passion.
And I was like,"Ooh, I reallywant to make a really cute
ukulele song too." So I boughtthis condenser mic that was like
(06:58):
$50, the USP, like plugin oneand I was like, yo like this
will work, you know, no one willever know, no one will ever
know.
I was in my dad's apartment andI was in the bathroom because I
didn't have a place to record orwhatever.
So I had it in my condenser micand just my ukulele, I had no
(07:19):
plugin, it was just my ukuleleon the mic.
And it was so bad, but yeah, itwas, it was just me trying to be
like, Oh, I wanna make a cutesong about a boy, I meet a boy
and he likes me and whatever.
So it was typical.
It's not, not my best work, buthey, we've gotten far.
Clara (07:37):
And you mentioned that you have a friend who mixes and
masters for you, how did youfind that person?
What's the process with that?
Jereena (07:43):
It's actually.
I don't know if you guys knowthe artist Rini.
Rini, if you hear this, I loveyou.
They found me actually.
A blessing.
Yeah.
Aldwin commented on one of my,singing videos on Instagram and
tagged Rini.
And I was like, Stop.
I was like nah, and this waswhen Rini wasn't as big we met
(08:05):
like three years ago orsomething, but yeah, they were
like tagging each other and Iwas like, Stop.
And then they followed me and Ifollowed them back.
And then we just DMed.
Then I was like, Hey, Iliterally watched y'alls YouTube
videos, a while ago and it'sinsane and stuff.
So it was cool.
I don't know if you know this,but Rose was produced by Aldwin
(08:26):
too.
And Rini's playing the guitar inRose.
I was supposed to actually justhave Rose, my acoustic version,
just me and my guitar, like nobass, no, beats, no nothing.
And Aldwin actually saw theacoustic version and was like,
Hey, let me get on this but Iwas already trying to work on it
with someone else and I justwanted the guitar and just my
(08:49):
voice kind of thing, so this rawacoustic.
But then like after I justdidn't really like how the other
one turned out, I asked him,cause I remembered.
I asked him, I was like, Hey,did you still want to be on it?
And he was like, yeah, For sure.
And literally, I don't know howmany days it was probably like
two days after, he sent me whatyou hear.
And I was like, Whaaat?
(09:10):
I was like, I didn't ask for anyof this, but it's everything
I've ever wanted.
Like what the heck?
If I were to ever decide, Ialways told them if I were to
ever describe my genre or justmy music, it would be Rose.
Like Rose is such a distinctsong to compare me by, because
that's what I feel like Irepresent in my music.
(09:32):
So it was really cool.
I didn't give him any direction.
I sent him the guitar recording,the three minute guitar
recording, and just my voice.
And he literally did not use asecond of my guitar recording.
Yeah.
But he was like, I felt reallybad, so like I tried to add it
in the end.
I was like, dude, no worries.
(09:52):
You made it better.
Clara (09:54):
That's amazing.
Do you work with them now?
Like, are you signed to them orwhat's that relationship?
Jereena (09:58):
No, but I, I still talk to them and I still have stuff
working with them.
I have an EP coming out.
Majority of the songs is mixedand mastered by Aldwin and one
of the songs is produced by him.
So, yeah, it's cool.
It's cool, I still talk to themand they're really cool and
supportive too.
Clara (10:16):
When you dropping the the EP?
Jereena (10:18):
Shoot girl! I'm getting the pictures today for the EP
cover.
So I'm trying to figure outwhich ones I want.
And then after that, I just haveto send my EP to my label and
then we can decide on a date,but girl, it's done.
It's literally done.
Clara (10:34):
With the photography how do you get connected with that
and figuring out what to do?
I had someone in mind actuallyto do my EP cover, who was like
a friend, but it, it was justnot working out.
And luckily someone that I wasalready following and I loved
his work already, tweeted in thereply on one of my tweets,and
was like, when are we working?
And I was like, Oh, Perfect.
(10:54):
I was like, I have an EP thatI'm dropping and I don't have
pictures for it.
And I had someone that was gonnatake pictures for me, but it was
just not working out.
So this is perfect for me.
When are you free?
And then we just starteddeciding off on a date and he
lived in Dallas.
Which is like four hours fromHouston.
So he had to make a day trip ornot a day trip, but like he had
(11:15):
to go home right after theshoot.
So it was insane, but I wasdefinitely thankful that he hit
me up because it came all inperfect timing.
Cause the other photographer wasjust not working out.
So yeah.
Malachi (11:29):
I guess I do have a few questions about just your
journey as an artist.
Did that start fully on YouTubeor were you on Spotify?
Jereena (11:36):
I think it started off on Twitter actually.
I made a Twitter like jokingly,because I was like, dang,
obviously I've had that idea oflike I wanna be a superstar, you
know, like as a kid and stuff.
And like I knew I could hold anote.
So I was like, I know thatthings get viral there more
quickly, because you canretweet, you can all that.
(11:57):
So I made my, I made my Twitterpretty late.
I made mine sophomore year ofhigh school.
So 2016 I made it and then I wasjust posting covers on there.
And for a year it was getting 20likes.
And if it broke a hundred, I'dbe screaming at the top of my
lungs, you know?
And then my first viral cover,it was Redbone.
And I remember freaking out,cause I was in high school.
(12:20):
So there was school the nextday.
And I was like, Oh my God, I'mgoing to have to like walk down
these halls, I don't want to seeanyone.
I don't want to do anything.
Because like I knew a wholebunch of people from my school
were retweeting it.
And I was like, okay, cool,whatever.
I mean, at the same time, Istill sat alone in my second, my
second class, I was just like,Hey, cool.
(12:40):
Somethings they're not you know,some things don't change, yeah,
it started off on Twitter and Iwas just posting a whole bunch
of covers.
And it got a lot of attention.
And after that, I just was like,okay, cool.
People will like the songs thatI make on Twitter.
Cause I would post a lot like ofmy song, like one minute songs
that I wrote on Twitter.
(13:02):
And people are like, seem toenjoy it.
And I was like, okay, maybe Ishould actually not just stick
with SoundCloud and also put iton Spotify and Apple music,
because for awhile, I was like,I was one of those artists,
well, I don't know if a lot ofartists are like this, but I was
like, I'm going to make my musicfree.
I don't get why people wouldlike make people listen to music
(13:24):
for money.
Like, I'm going to puteverything on SoundCloud, all
those, all those.
But like,at a certain point,like, you girl gotta eat, you
know, like I gotta, I gotta makesome money somehow, but yeah, I
started putting it on Applemusic and Spotify.
And I asked my friend Dane, Iwas like, how do you get your
stuff on like Apple music orlike Spotify.
(13:45):
And he showed me the website andthose literally the easiest
thing.
And so I was like, okay, cool.
I have a route, I know what todo with that.
So.
After, knowing what to do withputting it on Apple Music and
Spotify it was just kind ofwhether or not I wanted to post
or not.
So, or if anything it was enoughfor me to post, because as you
(14:06):
can tell, I don't post a lot,but it's only because I feel
like I value quality overquantity, which is also which
sucks sometimes because I knowpeople do want a little bit more
of my songs and stuff.
So it's a battle for sure.
Malachi (14:23):
How purposeful were your song drops when you did
them and did, did you kind ofget more purposeful with it over
time?
Like on social media or just onany other platforms as well as
Spotify?
Jereena (14:33):
The first song I posted, I was like, okay, like,
it's a song, it's a cute song tostart off from.
I wouldn't say it was myproudest song, but I felt like I
just wanted to post something tojust keep people realizing like,
Oh, I'm going to start postingon Apple music and stuff.
But when I was making Rose, Idon't know if this is the same
with any artists.
(14:54):
But when I was making Rose, Iwas like, oh, this is that song.
It's going to be that song thatbreaks it for me.
And of course it was a toughcouple months, because after I
posted it, I posted it aroundApril.
It was not, not blowing up, itwas getting like 4,000 plays per
day, which is, which is a goodamount.
But at the same time, time, whenyou felt like, Oh, it's going to
(15:14):
be that song that blows up.
And it's just not like, ofcourse you get a little
discouraged, but it was thatDecember where I was on people's
taste breakers, like on the endof the year kind of playlists.
And I was on like everyone's.
So it went from like 4,000 playsto like 15,000 plays per day.
And that's when I'll was likewhat the heck?
(15:36):
Yeah.
I was like, what's going on?
And keep in mind, I literallydidn't do any, I didn't promote
anything.
It was just luckily I was onpeople's Spotify, like
algorithms, you know, which iscool and stuff.
So for a while, of course I wasa little bit discouraged because
I was like, dang, I thought itwas going to be that song.
You know, that song that blowsme up.
But it wasn't for, I don't know,five months.
(15:57):
So it was a little discouraging,but at the end, I definitely
realized that I just gotta giveit time.
I'm a little impatient.
Malachi (16:03):
So every stream for Rose, you never promoted it or
anything?
That's impressive.
Jereena (16:07):
I literally did not put anything into it.
Everything was just it happenedfor me.
Like, I was only signed to mylabel, last summer.
So anything that happenedbetween that and what I had
streams-wise, I never promotedit once I never have it on
anything.
I also have a lot of Asianfollowers.
So there are a lot of them makelittle cute montages of their
(16:30):
cute, like.
K-pop idols and stuff like that,which is the cutest thing.
And they use my songs.
So I feel like that's also whymy songs get a lot of attention
because I know K-pop is, youknow, it's popping everywhere.
Clara (16:44):
Final question.
You've been amazing.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
What is your vision for thefuture of your music?
What are your goals?
Where do you see yourself infive years?
Jereena (16:53):
Yeah.
Shoot.
Yeah.
I hope there's at least moremusic that I've released, you
know, because I know I'm such aperfectionist with that.
I feel like I am a little toohard on myself where, to the
point that whenever I hear asong and it's I don't like a
slight bit of it.
I'm just like, no, throw it allaway.
But you know, I just, I feellike, I think I need to work on
(17:16):
that more.
And I think in the future,that'll help me realize like,
Hey, some songs are not gonnafeel like they're good, but you
know, some people are going tofeel like that.
I also joke around, I would loveto freaking perform at
Coachella, insane dream, insaneidea, but you know, we can make
(17:36):
it happen.
We can manifest it.
Clara (17:38):
That's amazing.
Yeah, we loved having you it wasso wonderful.
Jereena (17:42):
It's honestly, thank you so much for having me.
Malachi (17:47):
Wow what an amazing session with Jereena now we're
going to move on to ourconversation with Pretty Boy
Aaron.
Let's go! What was your firstexperience in music and how did
that evolve to what it is now?
Pretty Boy Aaron (17:59):
I think my first experience of music was in
high school cause I was in bandAnd stuff like that.
And so I did music with that.
Of course the music you'replaying in high school band
isn't the type of music you likeplaying, it's like you're
playing some old stuff.
Or I went to a really white highschool.
So it was the, like even thestuff we were playing at pep
rallies and stuff was like songsI didn't really enjoy.
(18:21):
So I've always had kind of likea musical background and I've
known how to play instrumentsand stuff.
I started dabbling a rappingwith uh, some of my friends and
we like performed at my friend'sbirthday party, like made her a
birthday rap.
And so I was like, Oh, thisrapping stuff's cool.
Let me keep doing it.
And I kept doing it.
And then like later in highschool, like I think I was like
(18:42):
my senior year, I wanted tostart making beats because I
wanted to learn how to make uh,like background music, that was
Royalty free and stuff forvideos that I was making at the
time.
And so I then kept making beatsand I was like, Oh, this is
really fun.
Oh, let's see if I can startrapping on these beats and
started dabbling in that.
And then college that's when Ilike, actually started focusing
(19:03):
like, okay, I'm gonna make asong.
I'm actually going to do thisbecause before it wasn't even
songs, it was just a bunch ofideas thrown around and it was
never, ever like reallystructured.
Malachi (19:11):
So you said you had a group with your friends in high
school.
Was that it was that likeHooligan Island?
Is that what that was called?
Pretty Boy Aaron (19:16):
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, it was calledHooligan Island.,
Malachi (19:17):
Where'd you guys get the name from?
Pretty Boy Aaron (19:19):
I don't, I think it was my friend Ray at
the time he came up with thename and we, because we were
really trying to be Odd Future,like really badly.
Cause Odd Future was just comingup then.
And so we were really trying tobe Odd Future.
And so we're like, Oh yeah,we're Hooligan Island.
And so cause there was HooliganIsland and then there was like
another rap group in our school.
And I think there was two otherrap groups, but at the time
(19:39):
there, it was like another onethat we were friends with.
And so we were really justtrying to be better than them in
a sense.
It was kinda like competitiveand we beefed with them and
stuff like that.
And so we were like, oh yeah,we're hooligan Island where
we're quirky.
We like rapping over MF DOOM,instrumentals and stuff like
that.
And it was interesting.
Malachi (19:55):
So you said you started producing in college and what
would you say is been the mostlike transformative moment in
your artist journey so far?
Pretty Boy Aaron (20:05):
There was a time, me and my my best friend,
his name BRUHNICE, like featuredon my songs and stuff.
We had drifted apart, as friendsfor a little bit.
And, he was just starting tomake music.
And I was like, and I wasworking on music as well.
Through college, we always werelike together making like music.
And then that was the first timewhen we split.
(20:25):
That was the first time where itwas like, okay, now we can't
rely on each other.
We can only work on music byourselves.
And that's, what's really, whenI figured out a sound that I
wanted to do, I was like, okay,maybe I should start learning
guitar.
Maybe I should make moreInternet.
Cause like I'm, I was a big fanof The Internet and in college
in college.
And so I was trying to makemusic like that and I was like,
okay, let me actually figure outhow to make this type of music.
(20:47):
And so I was working towards tomake music like that.
Malachi (20:50):
So you said you did some collabs with BRUHNICE, is
it.
Yeah.
BRUHNICE, that's that's TreyPatton, right?
Pretty Boy Aaron (20:55):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's Trey Patton.
Yeah.
Malachi (20:56):
Okay.
So you guys had a, I see youguys had like a duo.
Pretty Boy Aaron (21:00):
Yeah.
Malachi (21:01):
That was Ray andrews.
Pretty Boy Aaron (21:02):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That was Ray Andrews.
Malachi (21:03):
Did you guys like, did you release any songs or was it
live shows or
Pretty Boy Aaron (21:08):
The worst part about it we have, we made a lot
of music.
We released like maybe two orthree songs, like towards the
end of Ray Andrews, but we wouldperform.
We perform like a lot and wewere performing the unreleased
songs and I think that's anissue I still have now where
it's like, we'll perform andwe're performing.
Like people are Loving the musicand they were like, all right,
(21:28):
the music is going to come outin a few months and it just
never drops.
I struggle releasing musicbecause it's it's very strange
to me.
So cause I'm not like at first Iwas very like Oh yeah, I'm going
to drop.
I can drop whenever I want to.
But now I kind of have to planit and I can't be as careless as
I was anymore or I used to be.
And so now, I have to figure outlike, okay, this is how we're
(21:50):
going to market this.
This is how we're doing this andthis.
And so it's just a process andyeah, just when I release stuff
now I just have to actually havethought to it.
Malachi (21:58):
Where do you think that like, change in mentality came
from?
From then to now?
Pretty Boy Aaron (22:02):
I think it's like after seeing my stuff
starting to do well and peoplelike being very receptive to it
cause Cause like in 2017, that'swhen I, or I would say 2016, I
was dropping snippets on Twitterand Instagram and I wasn't
posting the songs on SoundCloud.
Cause I was like, I had no onethat's going to listen to this.
And then people were like, Oh,you should put, please put this
on my SoundCloud.
I'm trying to listen to this.
(22:23):
And so then I had to startdropping that and then or
putting stuff on SoundCloud,just because people were liking
it.
And then I realized, I was like,man, okay.
Maybe I should actually besmarter about this and actually
like figure out how to do dropseffectively.
And so I would say like 2017,that's when I had to start doing
it.
Malachi (22:40):
So when you were in when you were in, Texas going to
college, when you were playingin the duo with BRUHNICE, what
kind of venues or scenes did youplay at?
Pretty Boy Aaron (22:48):
We had a lot of friends that were into like,
math rock.
And it's there's another type ofgrunge.
I forgot what it's called, butit's not really grunge.
Oh it's noise.
Like noise bands.
Like we were friends, a lot ofpeople and noise bands and
stuff.
So we were always doing showswith them, and then we had
started to work with rappers andbeyond the same lineups.
And then that didn't go toowell.
(23:09):
And that was part of the reason,like Trey and I split.
But it was mostly like most ofour friends were in these like
rock and indie music, they'reshowing up with guitars and
Trey, and I would just show,with backpacks and computer
cables and shit like that.
And so it's it was veryinteresting, but we would always
like the same people who wouldlisten to that stuff, they would
listen to ours and they're like,oh, we love y'all, y'all are
doing something different.
(23:29):
And we were like, okay, likemaybe we should keep performing
with these people because therap stuff isn't working out like
that.
Malachi (23:34):
So like in that time, were you performing similar
stuff as you do today?
Or was it more of the indiegrunge, like rocky type?
Pretty Boy Aaron (23:41):
Neither low key.
I wouldn't say it wasnecessarily like trap stuff, but
it was, if you listen to StoneMountain by Childish Gambino it
was like a lot of the beatssounding like that, where it's
like, at the time, cause thiswas like 2014, 2015.
it wasn't necessarily likeboom-bap, but it wasn't trap or
it was like this weirdin-between mix of things.
(24:04):
And so we were making beats likethat and making more music like
that.
Malachi (24:07):
That's cool.
So I guess talking aboutinspirations still is there any
like.
I guess besides artists andother music, are there any, like
other things you draw a lot ofinspiration from experiences or
any values or art in general?
Pretty Boy Aaron (24:19):
Yeah.
Right now, at least a lot of myinspiration has been, from the
stuff I'm consuming uh, TV andvideo games.
So for example, there's a gamecalled Persona and like a lot of
the music from the Personaseries I've been incorporating
the same styles within my musicjust like sonically, but also
draw heavily from inspiration,inspiration from experiences.
(24:41):
There's a couple of songs that Ihave where it's, okay, if I
listened to this, I know exactlywhere the song is going to put
me, because it reminds me ofthis person from this time at
this event.
And it just, connects like that.
Hasan (24:53):
Awesome.
We'd love to jump in talkingabout songwriting.
Tell us about your song writingprocess.
How do you write songs?
Pretty Boy Aaron (24:57):
It's always different, I have certain songs
where I was like, okay, I'mgonna make a song about this.
And I made a song like aboutthat.
Or there's a couple of times,for example um, Comb My Hair,
that song, I didn't write thehook.
I just sent the beat to Tesia,but I named the beat Comb My
Hair.
Cause I needed to comb my hairbecause my hair was like nasty
at that time.
So I just named the beat Comb MyHair and I sent it to Tesia and
(25:20):
she recorded that hook.
And then she sent it back to meand I was like, oh, you didn't
have to write about combing yourhair.
But then I was like, wait aminute.
This shit might work.
A lot of my music, is justalmost coincidental where it's
like, Oh, this happened.
So somehow it created a song.
It's very strange.
Hasan (25:38):
With life on hold right now what's your inspiration?
Like, do you write about thingsthat happened a couple of years
ago?
Are you digging for things tofind inspiration from, like how
do you get your lyricalinspiration, your musical
inspiration when so much aboutliving is on hold because of
COVID.
Pretty Boy Aaron (25:50):
Some of it's past stuff, but then also,
because I've had a lot of growthfrom now, I'm talking about
stuff that's happening, rightnow.
For example, like I have a newsong that I'm working on, where
it's talking about peoplehitting you up after seeing you
do well.
And it's like, I haven't talkedto you in a long time.
And it's now you're hitting meup now.
Now you're trying, it feels likefake relationships and stuff
(26:12):
like that.
I'm talking about that.
And then also about like, I haveanother song that I'm working
on.
It's it's pretty much aboutlike, it feels like we're in our
final days.
So it's it's my relationshipwith the person talking about
Oh, this might be the last time.
We might ever find love againor, be together.
So let's make what we have,work.
Hasan (26:29):
And does that translate into lyrics or melody?
Which one comes first?
Do you say this is a story thathappened?
How do I translate this intoincredible lyrics?
Or do you start with a great,incredible beat, like Comb My
Hair and then put lyrics on topof that.
Pretty Boy Aaron (26:41):
Right now it's been I'll have the beat and
then, I'll be like, okay, maybelet's think of something that
comes onto it.
And so I'll either send it offto a friend and see if they can,
if they have something and I'llfeature them or it's been like
okay, I had this idea.
So let me just run with it orso, so it's like an idea first,
and then I make the song.
Hasan (27:01):
Are you someone that in the very beginning, likes to
work with other people whencrafting that idea?
Or do you like to bring them onlater?
So let's say you make a beat oryou have a melody.
Do you do that with other peopleinitially?
Or do you bring them on, afterthat's already created?
Pretty Boy Aaron (27:13):
Right now, at least it's been after the fact
when the beat has been createdwhere like, okay, this person
would sound good on this.
And so I reach out to them andthen they record their stuff.
And I would say for the lastcouple of songs, it's been kind
of like that actually, except Iwould say, except my song
Collect.
I think that was the last songwhere it was like, okay, we're
gonna work together on this.
(27:34):
But everything else has beenlike, yeah, I like this voice.
So let's throw it on here.
Hasan (27:38):
And what are your tips for songwriters young
songwriters listening to this?
How do we get better?
What do you tap into to get suchincredible melodies?
Pretty Boy Aaron (27:44):
I would say don't be married to an idea or
married to a melody and becauseit can take any kind of form.
I've had ideas for songs where Iwas like, okay, this song is
going to be about this and Ihave to beat for it.
And I can not think of anylyrics or anything.
If I leave the idea and thenmake something new.
I'm like, oh wow.
I can actually take that idea Ihad for this song and put it on
(28:07):
this song.
And it immediately clicks, likefor Nicotine at least, I went
through five or six differentversions before, the one that
came out so it took me a time tofigure out, okay, I have this
idea and it doesn't sound goodon this week so let me try a new
beat and let me try new beat andlet me try a new beat until I
find okay, this is where it'ssupposed to be.
Hasan (28:25):
So you're not trying to force anything.
If the beat needs to be keptaway for a bit of time, you're
happy to keep it away for a bitof time and come back to it
later.
Pretty Boy Aaron (28:31):
Yeah, exactly that.
Clara (28:32):
You said you started off rapping and then got into
production.
How much production do youtypically do when you're
writing?
Pretty Boy Aaron (28:38):
I honestly, I tend to have almost all the
production done before I startsongwriting.
I don't know why I worked likethat, but I usually have I want
to say 75%, 85% of productiondone before I start songwriting.
And then the last 15% is reallyjust like tweaks where it's
like, okay, I need to transitionthis part to this part.
(29:00):
So let me figure that out.
And that's usually after I haveall the writing done.
Malachi (29:04):
I do have a couple questions about Comb Your Hair.
You just sent the hook to a toTesia and she just, she came
right back with the lyrics forit.
So like how did that go fromjust the hook and end to that
from what it is now?
Pretty Boy Aaron (29:18):
It was crazy.
I didn't even send her the hook.
It was just the beat.
And the beat was called comb myhair.
That's it and she sent it and itwas on a voice memo.
And I just had the voice memo,on the beat for the longest.
And when I was like, we can makethis into something like this.
Cause the first beat was veryslow and, slowed down and stuff
like that.
(29:38):
And then I eventually sped it upbecause a friend said I should
keep working on it and stuff.
And so whenever it got to thatpoint, and it was like weird
with the With the bark sampleand what else was on that?
Like the synth the Moog bass andstuff like that.
I just kept building that andadding guitar and then I just
kept building into the song itis now.
And then like, I wanted to startperforming that song because
(29:59):
like I said, I have a really badhabit of performing songs that
are not out.
So I want it to start performingit at shows.
And I told her to record thehook like officially, and she
recorded it.
And then she came here.
I forgot why she came, but Ithink she was visiting her
parents and she came in, werecorded the the verse or her
like bridge stuff, and then wejust kept building.
Malachi (30:18):
So the whole song came from like a voice memo then?
Pretty Boy Aaron (30:21):
Yeah.
Literally it was literally justthe voice memo.
And I was like, I was, I'm beingdead serious.
I was so unsure.
I was like, should we make asong about like hair?
Like I'm not sure if I'm rockingwith this a little I'm not sure
if I liked this idea, but then Ieventually just was like kept
listening.
And I was like, yo, this songcould be like something great.
Hasan (30:39):
Was there a moment that you knew wow, this is something?
Or was it a response?
What sort of, what was thatmoment where you were like, we
have something here?
Pretty Boy Aaron (30:46):
This is gonna sound really petty, but I was
trying to like shove some peopleon Twitter.
I think'cause someone didn'tmention me or something on like
Instagram.
And I was like really upset andI was like, you know what, I'm
going to post a snippet of CombMy Hair.
And then it went crazy and I waslike, oh shit, I shouldn't have
done that.
Cause then like that wholesummer, everybody was like, oh,
when are you going to drop thissong?
(31:07):
Please leak this.
And I was like dog, the song'snot even done.
It was literally just the hook.
But then after that, then Irealized okay, this could be
something bigger than anythingI've worked on so far.
So let's actually take thisserious.
Malachi (31:20):
So does the voice memo thing, does that, do you use
that a lot?
Is that a big source of ideasfor you?
Pretty Boy Aaron (31:27):
Yeah, actually, yeah.
I use a lot of voice memos likeNicotine was on a voice memo,
but I was I was singing like theNicotine, hook, like the other
second half.
I was singing that on top of ABOY IS A GUN*.
Because I think the snippetvideo I just dropped and I was
just singing on top of it.
And I was like, oh, this isfire.
Let me continue working withthis.
And so I recorded on my voicememo and then I just built it
(31:48):
from there.
Malachi (31:48):
So was it, are they just things like you'll be
randomly like sitting in yourcar and you'll be like, Oh wait,
let me try this out real quick.
Pretty Boy Aaron (31:54):
Yeah.
Or I be listening to a song andI'm like, they didn't hit that.
Let me show you how, let me showyou what I would do.
And so I would record it on myphone.
I'm like, oh, let me build this.
Hasan (32:04):
When you're listening to music are you one of those
people like, that sounds wrong,that sounds off.
I would do it this way.
Or when you listen to music, areyou in the vibe, like how do you
listen to music, especiallymusic that you would make?
So you're listening to Kanyealbum or you're listening to, a
Travis Scott album or any genre.
Are you critiquing it whenyou're listening to it?
Pretty Boy Aaron (32:19):
Not really.
I just, I don't know.
There are just sometimes whenI'm like, I hear something else
on top of it.
And it'd be cool if they hadthis harmony in the back or this
if this switched to this.
And so that's when I, like Irealized okay, I can actually do
something with my own music.
That same idea.
When I listen to music, Iusually listen to music to build
ideas.
When Swimming had came out byMac Miller, Ladders was a big
(32:42):
song I was listening to becauseI was a huge, I mean, I still am
a huge fan of that song.
And when I was listening to thatsong, I was like, oh, I can make
something like this.
And so it was just more likeinspiration.
Hasan (32:51):
Awesome.
We're super excited aboutobviously you and your music.
What does the future look like?
Is there an album coming out, anEP?
I know you've been releasingsingles recently.
What does the next year looklike for you?
Pretty Boy Aaron (33:01):
Yeah, I haven't released a project since
2017 and so I have a lot ofstuff in the back.
So I'm trying to release that.
I don't know, you probably can'tsee you, but I have like track
lists on the wall, of a projectthat I'm working on and that's
going to be, it's going to belike the older stuff.
And then I'm trying to, release,I'm trying to release all the
stuff we've been working withthe last year.
Cause that's in a differentmindset than it was like the
(33:22):
Comb My Hair.
And and so I'm really justtrying to figure out how to put
stuff together again, because Ihaven't put like a track list
together in a long time.
Hasan (33:30):
So can we expect an album soon?
Pretty Boy Aaron (33:32):
Yes and no.
We'll see.
We'll see.
I want to drop, I want to dropsomething this year, so I'll
just have to see how everythingplans out.
Hasan (33:40):
Sure.
And your live show, I'm sure.
I'm sure you want to get up andperform these songs.
What does that look like to you?
How do you think about your liveshow, your visuals being on
stage?
What does that all look like inyour head
Pretty Boy Aaron (33:49):
Before Corona stuff started, I realized, I was
like, Oh, I need to start.
I want to build a band because Ithink a lot of my music would
sound better in a band setting.
So I've been trying to figureout how to do that.
But since Corona I haven'treally had the chance to do it.
Previous before that it wasreally just like me and Trey,
just like on a stage Treydeejaying and I'm rapping.
(34:10):
And then whoever has a guestfeature on a song they'll come
up or something and perform withus.
Hasan (34:15):
Incredible.
Yeah.
One thing I love about yourmusic is you blend incredible
beat making, but live elements.
I think there's a song 2127, ifthat's the right.
Yeah.
So 27 21 actually.
Yeah.
Incredible saxophone playing.
How do you think about songslike that?
Putting those in your track listwhere there's no vocals,
Pretty Boy Aaron (34:30):
There's just some songs that I have where.
I can't think of lyrics oranything.
And I'm just like, this justsounds good by itself.
So why can't I just release itjust as an instrumental?
And I think that's what I'mtrying to add more into my stuff
again, because the last threesongs I've dropped are all
vocals and stuff.
And so I know I want to keep,making stuff like that
(34:51):
especially like, 27, 21, I wantto make more jazz stuff and like
more go into more of that sideof things.
Cause even since Stay PrettyI've made like Bossa Nova type
beats and I just haven't droppedthem.
And so that's why I'm liketrying to collect everything
that I've made in the last, Ithink it has been like four
years and see okay, this is whatI'm gonna drop.
Hasan (35:16):
Talk to me about space in music.
I feel like all your songs havesuch an incredible sense of
where to leave things out whento put things in, they don't
feel overburdened at any moment.
Do you think about likeconsciously, like how do you
leave things out?
How do you know what to put in?
Because I'm sure when you makean incredible beat.
You want to get everything andget everyone on there.
And that is sometimes a harddecision not to.
So how do you think about that?
Pretty Boy Aaron (35:35):
I do have a problem with over producing and
then I think I have to realizethat, okay, now I have to bring
it back.
And I think You ever listened towell, you probably have like
Yeezus by Kanye.
Hasan (35:46):
For sure.
Pretty Boy Aaron (35:46):
And like, yeah.
And so like Rick Rubin, he likechanged what the album was
originally.
The original Bound 2 soundscompletely different than the
version that's out.
And especially since that albumcame out, I realized it was
like, Oh, you don't have to have10 different harmonies in the
bag.
It doesn't have to be some kindof epic.
You just put what's needed.
Put what sounds good.
(36:06):
I think that's where originally,where I was really realizing
space and leave room for vocals,leave room for, people to not
get.
What's I don't want to sayover-focused, I don't think
that's a word, but like, they'retrying to listen to the
harmonies or they're trying tolisten to the guitar, but really
you need to listen to thelyrics.
And so that's where I've beentrying to or that's where I've
learned not to overproduce andtake a step back.
Hasan (36:26):
Yeah.
I recognize that in yourmelodies as well.
Like you'll get a great melodyin there and we hear that melody
throughout, but it doesn't everfeel like, we're hearing it too
much because it's such greatmelody.
Do you think about the samething when you're writing
melodies, do you have a bridgein there?
Do you have a chorus?
Do you have a verse or whenyou're making a beat, like Comb
My Hair, are you saying, youknow what?
Let's just have this on loop.
It feels because it feels great.
Like, how do you think aboutthat?
Pretty Boy Aaron (36:44):
I have a really bad attention span of
like in songs.
So I'm like I like to changethings up.
And then I also like to not havethe same thing, repeat too much.
Cause it's I get like nervousOh, people are gonna hate it if
it's kept looping like that.
And so that's where I kinda ah,I think that's, if that answered
it.
Hasan (37:01):
For sure.
For sure.
You definitely did.
Yeah.
On those lines are thereconstraints, especially in the
Spotify world and we'rereleasing music two minutes
songs, three minutes songs, oneminute songs, have you ever felt
constrained by that?
Do you want to, release an eightminute track?
A 10 minute track?
Like we saw 30, 40 years ago.
How do you navigate that and howdo you shorten stuff and, cut
things out.
Like how do you navigate thatwhole sort of digital streaming
world?
Pretty Boy Aaron (37:20):
Nah, like I said before, I have a really bad
attention span, so I can't makea song for nine minutes.
But you know, what's funny.
Whenever I first started makingPretty Boy Aaron stuff.
A lot of the stuff was reallyshort.
And I was when I was submittingto like blogs and playlists I
was using, I didn't know.
I was like spending on SubmitHub, a lot of the critiques that
people would have on my music.
(37:40):
They'd be like, oh, this soundsreally great, but it's really
short.
And it sounds more like aninterlude.
And then that really like boggedme down.
Cause I was like, damn, thisthese short songs ain't it huh?
And then and then you see likeLil Nas X.
Old Town Roads, like two minutesthumping.
And it's just reassurance whereit's like, okay, maybe the short
ideas thing was a good idea.
(38:00):
And so that's why I try not tohave them as short as much
anymore, but, I don't, I can'tmake anything above five minutes
unless it has a beat switch orthree beats switches.
Hasan (38:11):
Gotcha.
Talk to us more about blogs andgetting your music out there,
especially in the early stageswhen you didn't have such a big
following like you do now.
How did you submit things toblogs?
What did you include in there?
Was it a long spiel about whoyou were?
Was it just a link to yourmusic?
How did you navigate that wholeprocess.
Pretty Boy Aaron (38:25):
Man?
Those are, that was, those aredays I hated it because.
It was like a lot of okay.
Hey, my name is Pretty BoyAaron.
I'm from Dallas, Texas.
This is my newest song, blah,blah, blah.
And like a lot of the responsesI was getting weren't as
positive and they would be like,oh, we're not going to listen to
this.
Like they would specifically sayoh no, this ain't good.
(38:45):
We're good.
We're okay.
And.
And just I was really againstblogs.
I still am.
Yeah.
But up until I think it was likein the last couple of years when
blogs actually started pickingup my stuff and I'm like, oh,
damn, this is crazy.
It's just a shock to me because.
Like a lot of these like blogsand stuff were saying, like I
was saying, my music is tooshort.
(39:05):
They don't like the sound, itsounds real messy.
And it's now it's, I've moredeveloped that style and my
style and stuff, but it's stillthe same sonically in my
opinion.
And so it's just interesting tosee blogs picking up my stuff
and being like, okay, yeah, thisis what's next.
We love this.
Hasan (39:21):
I'm curious, like how have you dealt with those
rejections and those sorts ofthose people saying your songs
are too short or your songs aremessy?
Do you take that on the chin?
Do you use that to change yourmusic?
Or do you say, you know what,this is what my music sounds
like.
I want to stick with it.
Like, how do you navigate thatcriticism and rejection and sort
of the harder parts of being anemerging artist?
Pretty Boy Aaron (39:37):
I would say it drives me because, I like.
I'm not saying I like to beright, but I like to be like, Oh
no, this idea.
I think this is the idea that Ineed to push with.
And it's especially if I feel itwhere, so if I get rejected or
something, I'm like, okay, let'sjust keep pushing.
Because if one person doesn'tlike that doesn't mean the next
person is not going to like it,or especially because of fans
(39:58):
and stuff.
Fans love, fans love my music,so it's not.
I don't take rejection asserious.
I'm just like, oh, they justdidn't like it.
So let me just keep moving.
Hasan (40:07):
So before we end, is there anything you want the
audience to know any upcomingplans live shows, coming to
Stanford soon, performing hereat the Frost Amphitheater?
Pretty Boy Aaron (40:15):
I'll be down.
Yeah, no.
I would say.
I guess I probably, I don't wantto say the product name just
quite yet just in case I changeit, but.
Hasan (40:22):
Yeah.
Pretty Boy Aaron (40:23):
I'm definitely releasing stuff soon, very soon.
And it's not, I'm not going tosay it's my best work yet,
because I feel like the bestwork is going to come later
because it's just like all theideas I've had in the past, like
three or four years.
So that's coming soon and thenwe'll see how that goes.
And then hopefully we'll havelike a good, like a full
(40:43):
project, like completely newstuff very soon
Hasan (40:46):
The question on production that I wanted to ask
you, actually, his instrumentsdo you have to recommend an
instrument for someone to pickup and learn?
What's been the most useful foryou when you're producing?
Is it getting on the keys?
What instruments would yourecommend for sort of 15, 16
year olds, even older to pick upand learn?
Pretty Boy Aaron (40:59):
I would say it depends on what you're trying to
do.
If you're trying to make beats,definitely learn piano.
As a cause, especially nowadaysyou can play any instrument,
quote on quote, with MIDI.
So yeah yeah, picking up pianoand just playing like maybe the
piano and then see if you canadd other instruments on top of
that.
And I think that's very helpfuland that helped me a lot.
And I would say guitar.
(41:19):
Cause I, I write a lot on guitarnow and then I'll just transfer
that over into the keys.
And so that's helped me a lot
Hasan (41:27):
Essential albums that people should listen to?
Pretty Boy Aaron (41:29):
U Know What I'm Saying?
by Danny Brown.
That's definitely like, rightnow that's very essential to me.
And that's what I've beendrawing a lot of inspiration
from that Swimming.
Oh, Circles by Mac Miller.
That's another one.
I think that's the best way youcan do a posthumous album in my
opinion.
Especially cause it doesn't feellike.
Like he passed.
It just, it's it's, it feelscompletely fresh.
(41:50):
And especially cause some of thesongs are like two or three
years old.
It's a not from the release.
And I think that's just, it's abeautiful album, and I love that
album.
Hasan (41:58):
It's so clear that you do so much, you write you record,
you're producing your music.
Does it ever get overwhelming?
And do you try and focus on justthe creative process?
Or are you thinking about thingslike, the star music industry is
huge, there's touring, there'sdistribution of music.
How do you market your music?
Where do you release your musicwith who do you can get through
this endless cycle?
So how do you think about that?
Or are you just you know what,I'm going to focus on the music.
(42:18):
First and everything else willcome after that.
Pretty Boy Aaron (42:21):
How would I say this?
I would say, yeah, I definitelytry to focus on the creative
stuff, but a lot of theadministrative stuff, that's
what we'll call it.
Hasan (42:28):
Yeah,
Pretty Boy Aaron (42:29):
A lot of that stuff does bog me down sometimes
and cause I don't have a manageror anything.
And so it's just strictly me andmy friends just running this
shit right now.
And so it sometimes bogs medown, and I won't make music for
a long time.
Especially in the falls, I havea hard, I have trouble making
music nowadays.
But when it hits like originallyI just got out of a really bad
(42:50):
creative block.
And I, it was like January, Iwould say it was January when I
figured things out.
And so after that I realizedthat, okay, I should just focus
on the music and not worry aboutthis administrative stuff.
And so I'll just let it come tome.
And so that's what I'm likeleaning towards now.
We're just like, I'll just letit happen.
Hasan (43:07):
Awesome.
When you're, in this creativemess and you're, you bang your
head against a wall, trying towrite songs, you're trying to
write melodies.
Do you step away from that?
Or do you say, you know what?
I want to keep working on thistill I get, some creative spark.
Pretty Boy Aaron (43:17):
Yeah.
I usually step away andespecially with like when I was
saying that bad creative block Iwas having I will start making
like sample beats.
Like for some reason I always goback to making sample beats and
I just make them, I just pumpthem out really quickly.
But and so I hadn't touched likemy personal music, I think it
was from, I want to say it wasAugust to January.
(43:38):
That was like, I didn't touchany of my personal music through
there.
And I usually just try to livelife, make the sample beats and
see what happens.
And then something like,sometimes I'll just get.
Either something will happenwhere I'm like, Oh, I have an
idea or something.
For example, I would say likethe, I think the reason I got
out of the creative bug thistime like Issa Rae had posted
Comb My Hair on her Instagramstory.
(44:00):
And that inspired me.
And I was like, all right I needto get this stuff popping
because it feels likesomething's about to happen and
I'm not ready.
So let me get to work.
And so that.
Somehow it picked me up and I'vebeen like working really well
recently.
Hasan (44:14):
You can tell you think a lot about, where you put songs
and where you put melodies andwhere you, how you make a track
list.
And I think that's superinspiring for young artists and,
emerging songwriters.
So thank you so much for stayingtrue to yourself and to the
music.
Thank you, thank you, that meansa lot to me
Malachi (44:27):
What an amazing session.
I just want to take a moment tothank Jereena and Pretty Boy
Aaron for their time.
I learned so much about thesongwriting process and I'm sure
as a listener, you did too.
This has been the Drop The MICpodcast, and we'll see you in
the next one.
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