Last week, I wrote about New Class Music and interviewed the absurdly talented people that are involved, this week- as promised- features the one-on-one interviews! Getting to know these guys was so much fun and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Keagen Gulley (Keags):
So, tell me about your family and influences
"I got most of my music from my mom... I always grew up with my mom dancing around the house. I always wanted to be a dancer- since I was like, three years old. I swore to everything, up and down, that I would be a dancer... and then I found poetry and it [music] just kinda grew from there.
About two years ago, I found out my mom was on heroine when I was, like, ten... and I stopped talking to my dad, cause we didn't get along... And that Christmas, when I found out she was on heroine, I got into a fight her boyfriend and she kicked me out, so I live with my grandparents now. So that was kinda rough, but also kinda bittersweet, because if I didn't have that, I wouldn't be making the music that I am today."
Does some of that pain maybe show itself in your songs?
"Oh, most definitely. You can hear me talk about my mom in... a lot of my songs. So that's another reason I joined New Class. Zach has always been there to talk about it and everything... it's kinda good to have that outlet."
You have a show coming up...
Oh, yeah! At the Mag Frog! Okay, so I have a funny story. I think it was sophomore year, there's this thing we do at our school- it's called "The Best of Oak Hills"-
It's a talent show, right? I've heard of it...
Yeah! The talent show... So I was like, 'I'm gon na do this thing and blow everyone's minds'. So I rehearsed for months at a time and I get up there and I just completely don't say the right words at all"
No!
I was so let down! It's funny now... but I ran off stage and out the back door of the school and walked home... and I sat by a lake in the middle of the winter and just started crying. But, anyway, that's funny... I hope that doesn't happen now. I'll be a little bit embarrassed. Even if it's small, it'll still be scary. Like, I'm holding tickets in my hand, right now- that's scary. And it's exciting."
Unfortunately, by the time this article comes out, the show will have already happened, but fingers crossed for Keagen, anyway!
Nicholas Willis (Willis):
"Music has always been influenced on me, ever since I was born... my family was playing music in front me- anything from the 70's and up."
"I... *laughs* hated rap music for a very long time. I was actually very heavy into hard rock and more of that style... I'm two years apart from my brother, so he was playing music around me and almost kinda forced me to start listening to it [rap] and I got forced into learning the songs because they would play around me so much! After that, I started following it on my own and it became what I love to this day.""I learned how to play the viola,starting in fourth grade all the way to tenth grade-
The "viola"?
*laughs* "People don't know what the viola is, a lot of the time..."Isn't it like- the violin?
"Slightly bigger violin, yeah"
Have your brother's been supportive?
"They've always been my biggest role models... I consider them to be my best friends. I could go to them about anything... they're there for me for everything and I'm there for them in whatever they'll need and that's how it always is.
MitchWilly:
How did you get involved with music, in general?
"I actually got recording equipment for a Christmas present one year and ever since then I was just trying to progress... Every time I would make a song, I would critique it and try to progress on that. And then Zach hit me up for New Class... It made me feel good- reaching people outside my little town in Beavercreek."
You're featured on Zach's album, is there anything else you're working on?
"I just released a song called "Ascension", ayeceezy is the producer on that- he's actually outside right now, working on another beat for me. So we're just trying to keep dropping stuff and releasing music to stay relevant."
Joe Anderson (Jander):
"Around senior [high school] year, I started working on
songs again and then Zach hit me up, and that's when New Class started but that kinda disappeared... and then around the end senior year, early freshman year of college, Zach came back in and said 'we're bringing new class back but we're gonna turn it into more of a business'"Do you find yourself struggling to split your interest between your major (Game Development) and your music, or does it come naturally?
It kinda comes naturally... Right now, I'm not too heavily involved in my major. Usually what I'll do is just throw on some games and I'll have beats playing in the background, just letting my mind come up with lyrics and brainstorming. The nice thing about it is that I can kind of intertwine them- cause if I'm ever like, writing code for something I can throw on music in the background and that draws inspiration."
Zach Smith:
New Class is super diverse... can you tell me a little more about that?
"I'm glad that you picked up on that, but that is the absolute goal. We don't want to have repeats of the same person, I mean, obviously no person is the same- but we definitely pride ourselves in finding a very diverse group... So with all their differences, they come together and they make this absolute work of art."
Tell me more about Double-Sided Tape
"So the whole point of Double-Sided Tape was that the first four songs... are meant to engage the listener, they're
supposed to be the upbeat, kinda positive messages... after that, it flips over to "side two", which is the more personal stuff- that's where I really kinda dive into what music means to me."
What was it like to record and perform with your girlfriend (She goes by "Gracie Carol" on the album)? What an interesting experience!
Being able to record a song with her... it sounds cheesy, but it was something out of a movie. We sat in my room, just bouncing ideas off of each other... Coming up with "Cinematic", talking about how we feel like we're in a movie. Just to have that one person I've known for so long to actually be my life-partner now... it's something out of a fairy-tale."
So... the future of New Class- how do you see this expanding? Where do you see this going?
Expansion is the key. I plan on applying for my business licence to turn New Class into an official label... so if that happens, New Class will be an official entity in the business world, and from there- we grow. The plan is to turn New Class into a record label and just bring in as many diverse people, who really have that passion for the music, as we can."
Quick side note: Almost every single one of them mentioned the Music Technology class at their high school, Oak Hills, in Cincinnati. They all claimed that it was where they really got the inspiration and support they needed to grow as artists and make New Class Music what it is today.
Working with such talented and diverse people was so much fun and I enjoyed every second of it. I have no doubt that New Class Music will be a huge hit, these guys definitively deserve it.
