Joey Contreras

Catch up with Joey Contreras, check out the video for his single "Ohio" and get your copy of Young Kind Of Love, available now.

What got you interested in music?

Joey Contreras: Well, I come from a really musical family. My mom - my mom and my dad are both in a band and they used to perform all over - she kept on singing while she was pregnant with me so I kind of soaked in that music very early and then I actually started as a tap dancer at four years old, so that's sort of when I started really getting into music and did a lot of theatre and just kind of went from there. 

You do have this contemporary, theatrical feel to your music and a background in writing for theatre, so how has musical theatre most influenced your sound?
You know, I sort of feel more like pop music has always influenced my sound when I was writing for theatre. I kind of just always loved infectious melodies and catchy choruses and big choruses and all of those thing so, I mean, a lot of the kind of response for my theatre writing has always been, 'oh, it's very pop influenced,' and now that I'm sort of going back to my pop roots and everything, it's a little bit more storytelling, a little bit more theatre, than just pop music. Kind of an interesting blend. 

Which artists have inspired your sound?

I always think of Britney Spears actually [laughs] but mainly, all of Britney's writers, the big pop writers like Max Martin, Dr. Luke; they've been a huge inspiration. But then, also, Sara Bareilles and Jason Mraz and Maroon 5. 

Are there any tracks you're hooked on right now?

Yeah, I am obsessed with "Nobody Love" by Tori Kelly. It's on constant rotation for me and, goodness, it's awful but I'm totally still listening the Taylor Swift record. Those are the things that I'm listening to a lot.

How would you describe your sound?

I would say it's musical pop. I kind of like straddling those worlds of both giving you something you can dance to, something that you can sing along to, but also have strong storytelling to it so, yeah, musical pop.

Is there anything you try to keep in mind while writing?

It's hard to get out of your head in general, in life, and so when I'm writing I try to stop thinking about what people expect from me or what I think people are going to want to hear and just keep on staying true to what I dig and I'm like, if that feels cool to me, if that feels hot to me, if that feels emotional or effective to me, I just kind of have to trust my gut because, you know, that's gotten me the accomplishments and successes that I've gotten so far and I think the second that you start trying to give in to something or trying to write a certain way to be somebody, I think it doesn't feel genuine.

How would you describe Young Kind Of Love?

I am really proud of this record. It basically is the last four years of my life in New York. Those are stories from relationships and accomplishments and disappointments and I think that because New York is such a crazy, emotional roller coaster of a city, I feel like, and I hope that, I would be able to kind of inject some of that New York life into this record too within the specificity of this story. Then, on top of that, this record has a lot of great collaborations with other vocalists that I was super excited to work with. So, yeah, that's what's kind of interesting about this record; I kind of treat it like almost like a David Guetta or like a Calvin Harris kind of record where the main theme is that I've written all the songs and my voice lends texture to the instruments and I'll do a lot of back-up vocals if I'm not singing lead, but then there's a lot of lead vocalists on it that are featured and everything. And I wanted people to be able to just connect to it and have fun to it and cry to it and all those things. I just think about the overall feel of a record because I like the feeling of like, is this record from top to bottom going to be a journey and that's really important to me when I'm putting together music or when I'm putting together an album.

Have you been working on new music since that release?

I've been writing a couple new songs. Yeah, I've been writing some new stuff, I'm about to shoot a music video for another song off the record so that's what I'm currently on, like we were just doing that this weekend so that's been occupying a lot of my time, but I've been playing around and kind of testing out some new material here and there and seeing how people like it. 

What's the best response you've gotten since releasing the music video for "Ohio"?

Most recently, it was posted on a site and there was a whole bunch of reader comments and everything and one person was like 'I had the worst day today, I had a head cold and all these things and this video just completely snapped me out of it and pepped me right back up' and I was like, that's really cool, that's good, I'm glad to see it can be like a nice dose of Sudafed for your head cold. Cute boys will do that to you. 

What do you want to say about your music?

I mean, honestly, just for the people that haven't heard my music I think I would say, hey, give it a try [laughs]. I honestly just want to offer up a unique point of view and a unique perspective on all the things that we ultimately go through and do that in a fun way, in a quirky way, in an emotional way, a relatable way, and a catchy way. I think music, for me, has been such a therapeutic thing, both writing it and also just being a human and listening to music, and I just feel like, to be able to connect or to help someone else get through something or not feel alone in whatever they're going through, that's what I get excited about when I'm writing music and what I hope I'm saying with my music; that it's okay, we're all going through it, we're all going to figure it out and, yeah, we're going to figure it out. 

Buy my album, tell all your friends, watch the video. 

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No Dry County - Trent Langford

Catch up with No Dry County's Trent Langford and listen to single "Till The Wheels Fall Off" from The Night Before, available now.

What brought the band together?

Trent Langford: I was asked to join NDC in 2009 and strangely enough there are no longer any original members in the band.  The group has kind of evolved over the last six years with a number of Lubbock musicians coming and going. Our current lineup has been together for 2 years and this is our first album together.

Any artists or bands you take inspiration from?

Stylistically bands like U2, The Head and the Heart, Rodney Parker & Fifty Peso Reward, Foo Fighters and Sons of Bill provide plenty of genius we find ourselves drawing from. The list of songwriters could go on for days but I’ll limit it to Robert Earl Keen, Ryan Adams, Jason Isbell and Paul Overstreet.

How would you describe your sound?

It’s difficult for me to describe our own sound but others have called it melodic but gritty at times, guitar driven with an emphasis on harmonies and I wouldn’t argue with those assessments.

Is there a song from The Night Before that stands out for you? A favorite to have written or to perform?

“Till The Wheels Fall Off” is one of my favorites simply because we’ve never done anything with that type of groove before. We were able to get some really sweet tones from the guitars on that record and the lyrics have a vulnerability that helps make the concept of the song credible.

What's the best compliment you've received from a fan since releasing the album?

We’ve had a handful of other musicians and people who are in a somewhat transient stage of life say the album relates well to those of us in uncertain times, periods of transition etc. I have a friend who is a truck driver and his response was that the record “helped me wrap my head around the last ten years of my life.” I thought that was pretty cool.

How would you sum up The Night Before in one sentence?

The album is an honest look at the band both lyrically and musically and is the best depiction of our live show that we’ve been able to capture in studio to this point.

What do you hope to do with your music?

I don’t know that we ever established set goals for our music other than for it to be well written and in tune. We obviously have some milestones that we’d like to reach as a band but that’s purely a business minded approach to art, which is not a reason to make it. We started making music because it’s something inside of us that needs to get out. The first song I wrote as a 15 year old kid was after the death of a friend and I found that attempting to express those emotions through music was the best way for me to cope with or try to comprehend the situation. If there are ancillary benefits to our work that’s an added bonus but as long as we have something to say and there are people with a desire to listen, then that’s what we want to “do” with our music.

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Tru Fam

Catch up with brothers  Shareef  “Sha” and Tyreef “Just I” Nealy of Tru Fam and listen to their latest single "Janet Jean".

What got you interested in music?

Just I: We went to high school for acting so we got used to the stage. It was really intriguing acting on stage, having to learn so many different vocals and lines so, when it came to music, it became a little bit more easy because we were used to being on stage and had done our years in high school. 

Do you plan on doing more acting?

Just I: I mean, we're definitely not against it; we're not planning on doing it, but we wouldn't mind, you know, taking a role here or there. It's actually like part of our background. Sha, he actually writes a cartoon called "Cool Kidz".

Sha: We are working on another episode actually in a couple of months, but we're still in the process of writing right now.

Were there artists that inspired your style?

Sha: I would actually say Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Dev Hynes from New York City, so, all those different artists inspire us to be creative and think outside the box and try to really push the envelope.

How would you describe your sound?

Sha: Our style is just like indie alternative hip hop, I guess. We pretty much just know it's all about emotion and just being attached to the music and the sound and feeling the lyrics and just a dark production. We got a great stage show; you gotta check us out. 

Just I: Yeah, that's really us. It's about emotions and the feeling is real.

What do you guys try to keep in mind while writing?

Just I: Just stay true to who we are and we're doing this for our fans and we just keep creating new stuff, big and real, and just doing it for our fans. I mean, you might not have a million fans, but the fans that you do have, just capture them and bring it to life.

You've just released "Janet Jean" are you working towards an EP?

Sha: Yes, we actually are in the process of an EP called Going To The Ceremony. "Janet Jean" was something that we really, we heard the beat and we just kind of clicked. It was produced by one of our in house producers, King Faro, and the beat just kind of stood out and we just thought 'Janet Jean' and it just took off from there. It's like a real vintage '80s type of vibe throwback and it just captured our hearts and we just fell in love with Janet Jean.

Is the EP going to sound like your older tracks or more like "Janet Jean"?

Sha: It's going to be more type of "Janet Jean" record.

Just I: Yeah, that's the style that we found that we actually really love and we own that sound so that's the sound for us. That's the sound that Tru Fam is bringing out.

What do you want to say about your music?

Sha: We just want people to be able to feel it. People go through things in their lives and just playing Tru Fam, they can feel the passion and feel how bold and different we're trying to be.

Just I: Yeah, we just want people to respect it and it's about love, it's about girls, it's about real issues, and just a lot of energy - and it's definitely well written lyrics - and just give it a chance and open your ears and open your heart.

Just I: The next single hopefully should be at the end of this month called "Wild" produced again by King Faro and we have two shows at the end of the month. Should be setting up, hopefully, joining a tour probably in the summer. Just working hard and shout out to the whole team and PR, shout out to the Ultra Culture fans.

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Survival Float - Jess Hal

Catch an interview with Survival Float's Jess Hal and look for new music to come soon. 

What got you interested in music?

Jess: I was forced into piano lessons when I was seven or eight years old and after a few years I kind of dropped out of that and became interested in guitar; my dad actually taught me and got me started on guitar. Then, I remember the time that I started to really get excited was maybe when I was about twelve and I played with one of my cousins who was playing drums and it was the first time I'd really played with someone that wasn't my dad on the guitar and that's when I really started to get excited. Later on down the road I got re-interested in piano in my late teens and, obviously, along the way I had some inspiration from music that I liked in general, but that's kind of my story with how I got started playing.

Which artists inspired you?

When I was a kid, I think one of the earliest that I got inspired by with guitar, I was into a lot of blues for awhile so I really loved Stevie Ray Vaughun, and then I got into classic rock - I loved Creedence Clearwater Revival, they were really inspiring to me. Went through a whole Brit Pop era in my teens, was very much into Blur and Oasis and, onto more modern that I'm really sticking with for years now, like Rufus Wainwright, Warren Zevon and I still like all the old stuff, but that's kind of what I've been stuck on for the past ten or twelve years.

Why begin this solo project?

I've been in many bands over the years and, I don't know, I guess I'm kind of over the idea of being in a band. I still love making music, but I don't like the whole 'in or out' status that comes along with bands and having band members; I prefer to have complete creative control, for the most part, and then work with people that inspire me and that I like to work with and, obviously, I hope to have frequent collaborators. My last band put out an album in 2011, I believe, and that long hiatus from not doing anything live or putting out any recordings, I feel like doing this as a solo artist makes sense right now.

Why choose the name 'Survival Float'?

In short, that's a name that I got from swimming lessons as a child. I failed my swimming lessons because I couldn't do the survival float and I hated it when I was a kid and it turns out, down the road, that they were teaching me something that was completely counterintuitive - I had a friend later on who was an actual swim coach who was appalled when I told him what the survival float was. So, a lot of the lyrical content of the upcoming album sort of has to do with your notion that you grow up with things that you're taught and how those sometimes are simply not true, sometimes they're maybe even harmful, but they could be taught to you by someone who thinks that they're helping you, somebody that cares for you, so I thought the name Survival Float was appropriate in that context.

How would you describe your sound?

I think it's pop music but, then again, working with right now a guy who's playing saxophone, he asked me if I should throw some pop songs in there, which was funny because I think they're all pop songs; I think they're simple in structure for the most part, but I feel that there's a lot of complexity in the actual texture of the music. But, I mean, I call it pop rock, I guess, it's hard to put anything in a genre really. The style is, there's a lot of piano and it's organic, some of the previous project that I was in was a little bit more in the electronic side and I'm still finding a lot of those production techniques as I'm recording this album but, I think a lot of the tones and the samples are a lot more organic sounding. 

Is "Claw and Bite" indicative of what we can expect to hear on the forthcoming album?

I think it is. I think "Claw and Bite" that's out right now, yeah, I think it's definitely indicative of what the album is going to sound like. That one has maybe a little bit more variety in instrumentation. A few of the songs are a little bit more varied in instrumentation like that one but, there are several songs that are as simple as acoustic guitars, piano, drums, vocals in there, but I think that that's one of the more aggressive, tapping songs on the album. 

Do you have a writing process?

I don't know, I just try to stay immersed, I keep my piano and guitars and all my recording gear readily at hand for when inspiration strikes me and the only thing that really seems to come out of nowhere is maybe a riff or a lyric or a melody here or there, and then the song's usually just an elaboration upon that. Sometimes I work on songs for years, if I'm not totally inspired to complete the song at that time, if I'm not feeling that the idea has matured in my own mind yet, I'll kind of put it in my back pocket and wait a while but, obviously, things are a little bit more expedited once I get into production. I don't have a tough one, I guess is what I'm saying, I just try to stay in it really and let the ideas mature until I feel like they're ready. 

Was there anything you were trying to express with this album?

Oh sure, yeah, there's no agenda particularly, a lot of the lyrical content is just, I guess, rather dark, especially for the sound of the music, so the lyrical content is darker than a lot of the music itself sounds. A whole lot of it is really dealing with sort of growing up in a religious environment and sort of my exit from that, from my culture, and everything positive and negative that goes along with that is the loose concept of almost every song on this collection. So, there's nothing I'm trying to convey, there's not necessarily an agenda, it's mostly a personal story and, hopefully, people infer something positive from it.

What do you want to say about your music?

Hopefully it speaks for itself when people hear it. I'm definitely passionate about it, I'm inspired, and I'm not just doing it for the fashion of being in a band or the industry, like I touched on before, but it's truly something I love and, again, hopefully others might infer something positive from it.

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