Sitting down with us and letting us profoundly inside his courageous artwork which illumes many to hold on regardless of the carnage, MASSIVESAD opens us up and tells us all about Austin, Steadiness, staying wholesome mentally, and his upcoming full LP idea report.

Llewelyn: Hello MASSIVESAD, we’re tremendous joyful you’re chatting with us right now. First, once you shut your eyes and picture your best sound and viewers, what does it sound/seem like?

MASSIVESAD: When my eyes are closed, just a little grin begins to creep onto my face, as a result of I can see an viewers of people that grew up loving and discovering new music that they found in movies. A lot of my favourite and deepest sonic influences come from filmscores or soundtracks (particularly from “Keep in mind the Titans” or “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”) and so my music has taken on a cinematic nature of expression that makes the listener really feel like every music of mine that they hear form of suggestions their life (or not less than the second) over into the climax of the “movie.” I think about my songs being those who play when the plot turns and the characters begin to make sense of their environment. I believe my viewers would be the type of one who feels that they’re dwelling within a film, and that my music is a soundtrack that helps them to get wherever they’re going. And … once I open my eyes, I do suppose that I’m beginning to see that take form !

Llewelyn: Alright. Let’s get into your new single referred to as Steadiness. How did you first conceptualise this launch and what’s the that means of it? Additionally, who was concerned within the venture and who do you hope this single reaches?

MASSIVESAD: “Steadiness” is the fifth “Chapter” within the idea report that I’ve been writing and releasing one music at a time since February 2020. The entire idea tells the story of psychological breakdown and whole burnout … basically the trail from what I’ve dubbed, “Breakdown to Brilliance.” “Steadiness” finds us in the course of that story, properly after the preliminary tremors of burnout have shaken all the things up and set listeners (and me, as a form of information or narrator) on the trail towards therapeutic, and finally pleasure. “Steadiness” is the chapter that explores the query of, “How do we discover steadiness when life feels unsure and rocky? How will we pursue or interact in relationships once we really feel unstable, mentally and emotionally? How will we compartmentalize (healthily) all of the completely different “lives” we really feel we dwell when our life feels prefer it’s been turned on its head? How will we search steadiness as we do the arduous work of travelling the highway from sorrow to pleasure, particularly when it’s tough and uneven floor?” So, now that now we have “Steadiness” (Chapter 5), we are able to start to parse by the solutions to these questions and proceed to make headway towards a extra sustainable psychological well being, way of life and relationships.

Llewelyn: You’re primarily based in Austin, Texas. What’s the scene like there as we’ve heard such nice issues? The place are a few of your favorite native spots to observe dwell music at?

MASSIVESAD: I’ve gotten to turn out to be embedded in a very nice scene of singer-songwriters right here in Austin. We name our group “Hoboglabotribin” … and likewise, affectionately, “The Hobo Boys.” We’re only a small handful of artists devoted to spurring each other on as all of us work as arduous as attainable to attain our inventive objectives and visions. When one among us is feeling worn down and discouraged, there’s the remainder of us to lend a shoulder and encourage us. After we need assistance getting ready for exhibits or assist selling new songs, all of us soar in because the frontline of the fanclub and assist group. We’re all attempting to be each other’s largest followers and encouragers. Everybody wants that, regardless of how unbiased they’re. And, particularly as literal, unbiased artists, we’d like that rather more assist. We’ve established a very stable group of comradery and it’s been an enormous assist to me since shifting to Austin. Regionally, we love Gap within the Wall and The Spiderhouse Ballroom for exhibits!

Llewelyn: You courageously talk about burnout and psychological breakdown in your music. That is such a significant concern in modern-day society. What do you’re feeling is the remedy to those points and the way can our readers be sure that they’re staying wholesome mentally in such a rush-filled world?

MASSIVESAD: I might write a e-book attempting to reply this query. I believe crucial factor is to be sincere in recognizing how usually discomfort or frustration or disappointment or bitterness or so many different feelings that accompany burnout may truly be simply this small, susceptible seed of unhappiness deep down inside of every one among us. After I realized that every one the stressors and detrimental feelings had been simply the outpouring and expression of pure unhappiness inside me, then I used to be lastly in a position to deal with that unhappiness and select the right way to transfer towards pleasure from THAT area. MASSIVESAD is that portal for me. It’s like a gate. MASSIVESAD is the place I found that below all the things, all of the armor that unhappiness had dressed itself in, I used to be in a position to start to know the “why” behind my unhappiness after which deal with it like a wound that wanted safety, dressing and nurturing. For me, burnout and breakdown got here from a very palpable sense of disappointment and frustration surrounding how my life was panning out, so once I acquired to the very core, the place that unhappiness was fending for itself, I used to be in a position to then be part of within the good battle for my very own pleasure and progress. Slowing down and taking the time and area to pinpoint that unhappiness could make a profound distinction on how we strategy and step into the longer term. I hope MASSIVESAD creates a protected area for individuals to try this work.

Llewelyn: We’re so excited to see you’re releasing a full LP idea report. One single at a time proper? That seems like life typically proper now. 1 step and 1 day at a time. Please tell us all about what’s subsequent and the vitality behind this fashion of releasing music.

MASSIVESAD: Because the idea report is launched and evolves over time with every music, I believe we’ll see the sonic panorama transfer from a really experimental and different soundscape to a extra lighthearted and hopeful environment. We’re solely midway by with “Steadiness” so we’re simply now coming across the nook (I believe you may hear that crux within the bridge), and we’ll begin to hear the sound shift with coming releases! However, I can assure MASSIVESAD will at all times keep true to what I’ve coined because the “Cinematic Singer-Songwriter” sound! I believe that speaks for itself!

Llewelyn: Do you’ve got any humorous gig/touring/musician or fan interplay tales you don’t thoughts sharing? For instance, a narrative from an occasion that made you snigger or a second once you simply knew…because of this I really like being a musician.

MASSIVESAD: What an awesome query! I’ve had loads of foolish and heartwarming interactions with pals and followers at exhibits, and many others, however I believe probably the most “because of this I’m doing what I’m doing” was just lately at a home present at The Windfall Home right here in Austin, TX, the place my buddy and trusted photographer, Mason “Sasquatch” Mansfield hosted a fundraising occasion for a documentary movie that he’s making concerning the concern of wrongful convictions and plea bargaining within the American judicial system. Sasquatch and I every have private tales of our fathers being wrongfully accused and convicted, after which additionally being compelled into actually horrible plea bargains that took them from our household and fairly severely altered all of our lives ceaselessly. So, when Sasquatch invited me to put in writing some songs for the doc (wilcodoc.com for extra data on the venture), I used to be each honored and really challenged, as a result of I’d by no means ever written a single factor about that have in my childhood. It’s a really tough headspace for me to enter into, simply due to the best way that that point affected me and my household. However, I wrote a music referred to as “Don’t Cry for Me, I’m Already Gone” that I acquired to play for everybody on the fundraising occasion, and it was one of the vital viscerally highly effective performances of my whole life. I felt like I used to be a tsunami, (gently, one way or the other) crashing over all the viewers there, and I felt seen and really profoundly heard, and in that second I knew that because of this I write, and because of this I sing, and because of this I share my artwork with the individuals I really like – to assist individuals to heal. That music, and Sasquatch’s documentary, and the songs that a number of the different Hobo boys wrote for the fundraiser had been a ravishing gate into a really sacred area that all of us acquired to share in that evening. I’ll always remember how highly effective that complete night was, and I can’t anticipate the documentary to characteristic these songs as properly. It’s going to vary some essential issues, and assist lots of people.

Llewelyn: Lastly, what do you hope for the longer term and what phrases do it’s a must to consolation those that are struggling proper now?

MASSIVESAD: That is in all probability probably the most boring reply, however I’m struggling to financially sustain with the quantity of songs I write. Recording as an unbiased artist can get to be very costly, and although I might “do all of it myself,” it’s extra enjoyable and fulfilling to be part of one thing with different artists, however for everybody to make a dwelling and be supported, it simply takes some huge cash … cash that streaming doesn’t convey, and exhibits solely assist just a little with. So, I’m looking for sustainability in my craft, when and the place I can. It’s a wrestle, but it surely’s worthwhile! When individuals come to my exhibits and buy my music, that may be a enormous assist and encouragement!

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