Male vocalist gnash, behind the song “I Hate U I Love U,” has been touring the nation on his Sleepover Tour for the last month or so. In an exclusive interview between stops in D.C. and Baltimore, gnash let us take a look into his mind and see where his music comes from.
A few months back he released his song “home,” which he had a deep connection with. When asked about what home means to him, he responded with “home is everything to me. It’s where I was raised and where I went to heal growing up.” Gnash also went on to talk about how home wasn’t a place, but a universal feeling of belonging. He said that it is where you feel a strong connection, whether it be with people or somewhere where you feel like you can be yourself. He quoted a line in the song that was “home isn’t where you are, it’s who you’re with.” He said that although he was far from California where he resided, driving down the highway on the way to another show, he felt like he was home because he had some of his best friends right there with him. His favorite part about touring is being able to bring his friends along with him and share the experiences of seeing new places and doing new things.
Gnash went on to talk about how his music is inspired by his feelings. “I always write about something if the feeling sticks around long enough that I have to write a song about it.” His music is unique, but he doesn’t like to set himself apart from other artists. They’re all on the same playing field just doing what they love and making music. Because he writes about what he’s feeling, he is completely honest in his music. He defines his music as a “down-tempo pop,” but his genre is “happy sad.” Everything for him revolves around being either happy or sad or both, which ties in directly with his emotional sound. He wants people, especially his fans, to feel connected to his music. He wants people to hear a song or a certain line of a song, and think “wow, this is relatable.”
Gnash believes that always creating music and putting it out there is the best way to make yourself be heard “regardless of how many plays you get or what kind of fan base you have.” He himself is always releasing new songs. Just in the last few weeks, he has released "Lonely Again" and another song called "Bad 4 U." He has albums, but most of his music is released as singles over time so that he always has something new out there. Even throughout his tours, he is constantly playing new songs. He performed his new song “Belong,” which hasn’t even dropped yet, at a few shows on the tour so far. He’s always wanted a certain level of acknowledgment, not for the recognition, but so that people know that they’re not alone.
The Sleepover Tour is another way that he wanted to reach out and connect with people. The shows are supposed to feel like everyone is just hanging out in his bedroom telling stories. Even his stage setup feels very personal. He has a little teepee set up in the center of the stage with lights, which he sits in front of for a little while. The lighting is dim so that it feels like you’re locked away in your room with you friends, trying not to wake your parents up at two o’clock in the morning. A lot of his music is “sleepy” and light, which adds to the late night vibe.
Gnash collaborates with a lot of other artists. “I Hate U I Love U” was done with Olivia O’Brien. He has also worked closely with Goody Grace, who accompanied him on the U, Me & Us Tour and is with him on the second leg of the Sleepover Tour. A few other artists that he has worked with are Mark Johns, WRENN, Imad Royal, Johnny Yukon. When asked about other artists that he would love to collaborate with, he mentioned Ben Gibbard from Death Cab For Cutie and Jack Johnson, as well as the late John Lennon, who is his favorite songwriter of all time.
It’s only the beginning of his music career and he has a lot left to come. Gnash is definitely an artist to keep an eye out for. He is extremely thankful to be where he is right now and looks forward to what the future has in store for him.
