EKLY new music discussion in latest rBeatz Studio interview

Hey everyone, welcome to Local Music Somewhere here at rBeatz.com. My name is Annalise and today in the studio we have EKLY. He’s a singer, songwriter, producer, and he is here to talk with us today about new music, his new management, and making big moves towards LA. Thank you so much for being here today with us, EKLY.

Yeah, super nice to be back.

Yeah, how you doing?

I’m doing great. How are you?

I’m doing fantastic. So tell me about your new music.

I would describe my new sound coming up pretty different. The entire album concept, I mean, we’ll get into some stuff. It’s changed. We got a lot of change going on. I’m just glad to be back. Thank you for having me. You know, as always. But yeah, it’s super, super dope. I mean, there’s just a bunch of stuff going on and change. It’s just really big change. That’s the main concept.

Yeah, and I’m sure that’s really exciting for you. And I know you just turned 18, which is awesome. What has been the biggest change for you in releasing music now versus when you first started?

That’s a good question. Probably like, just more people. I mean, of course, over time, you got more people listening, coming in, new viewers and stuff, like new ears on it. And I guess connections over time, that’s a big thing.

What type of connections have you been making recently? new management?

Yeah, shout out Bennett Sommer. Management is a big thing. It’s our connection with other people that I can’t necessarily connect with. Sometimes it’s better when you got somebody reaching out for you. Being like, I have this artist and everything. That’s what he does for me, reach out to venues and everything. He gets all that done for me. And you know, he’s also a videographer and super talented. He’s just moved out to LA. He’s doing what he loves.

So yeah, why did you get connected with him in the first place?

It’s my cousin.

Oh my gosh. That’s awesome. You got family connections and everything that’s awesome. That’s really cool, man. So, who are some of your musical influences? I have to ask.

Musical influences, for sure. Well, early music started off with Juice World and I had to change that because I was just riding off his sound very heavily. But I mean, when you’re starting, you tend to ride off ’cause you have to find your sound. I would say now I could kind of go into more of a Weeknd, like this, Don Toliver type vibe where I emphasize in background vocals. I really love background effects and the ambience of all of that. So that’s what I love doing more.

And you got started when you were in eighth grade.

Yeah.

How’s that evolved and changed since you first started?

Since I first started, production wise has been amazing because at first I wasn’t even creating my own beats or anything. I was getting loops off the internet and stuff. I figured out that you can’t steal stuff, you know? So, had to create my own stuff, you know?

Yeah, yeah, that’s awesome. So you gotta tell us more about your new album. Like, do we have an album name yet?

We have about, I would say like 12, 13, 14 songs on it. We have the newest feature. I don’t know if I want to say the feature or not because I don’t know if it’s happening or not, but I’m gonna meet with him soon. It’s an artist. I don’t know if you know, I don’t want to say his name around Hozier, you know. 

Oh, like Hozier?

Yeah. Oh, he’s not gonna be on this, but somebody who meets with him is doing a show with him. If it’s good, might be on the album. So that’s a pretty big feature. But we have Skylar Rain on it, so shout out to her for certain Skylar very beautiful voice super great talent. So yeah, all around we got like two, three features on there actually. But yeah album name. No, I’m not gonna say it because I don’t know, I’m not too sure with it yet. So, yeah, I’m just keeping it at that, for sure.

And how did you decide that you wanted these specific artists on your album?

I mean, normally I don’t tend to do features like that because, when I used to be in school, it was just people with talking about a lot of stuff like, you know, you know, murder, murder, you know what I’m saying? And I got outside of that, you know, I just not really talking about that. So it was like, I had to find somebody that could really, be more melodic. I knew people who could sing more. And it was really kind of a difficult trying to find that until I did, you know? And so I really utilize that, you know, melodic voices, love female voices really big. So I use that in my background for this upcoming album a lot, so yeah just stuff like that for sure.

Yeah it sounds like you’re really going against the grain with like your sound and who you’re bringing in on your projects and everything like that, which is fantastic. We definitely need more artists like you to really make that impact especially in today’s music. So you’re heading to LA soon. Have you been there before and are you planning on living there? What’s your plan with that?

I feel like eventually the plan would be to live there for at least a little bit to create connections. I’ve been to Vegas before I’ve been to LA to visit like a different cousin, but never to like stay there. I’m gonna be like right in the heart Hollywood, so it’s gonna hopefully meet a bunch of people, a bunch connections out there. So it’ll be fun.

That’s awesome.

Yeah, just making new connections, you know, exploring the city and everything like that.

Do you plan on maybe doing a performance while you’re there?

Probably not. I might work on an EP though while I’m there. Oh, nice. Once the album drops, which is on the 15th or 17th, yeah, start working on an EP. So it’s just like work, work, work, work, and then a bunch of promo stuff. So yeah, it’s just, it’s just a bunch, you know, work. I’m kind of scared that once it starts to really take off, that the fun of it is going to turn into real work. I don’t want it to turn into work. It’s like passion, and I don’t want it to turn to work. But if you really love it, it shouldn’t be too bad.

And I know for some artists out there, there is a pressure to appeal to social media, to TikTok, for example, and on some level, have you ever felt the need to like make a song to like kind of get it to go viral on any case?

No, I mean, recently, I’ve just uploaded on TikTok a lot more than normal. I’ve created like two other pages in my main and just started going crazy with that and just uploading like three videos a day on three different pages. And so there’s just like a bunch of traction with that. I mean, I feel, I was like, why haven’t I been doing this? So I started doing that now. And you know, it’s a lot more work. Of course, I’m not super free with it, but I try to stay free with it. But, you know, it’s just like TikTok, you really have to use it, you know what I’m saying? I mean, honestly, I hate to use it because it’s like, I don’t know, I just feel like it’s better ’cause you know, back a little before TikTok, people go out, you know, that’s when you have A &R and stuff. You know, people go out and really come to see you perform and stuff, but now it’s like everything’s online and it’s kind of like a crutch a little bit, which means anybody can do anything. So I don’t know but I mean it is what it is. You can’t really change it now. It does change by itself. So that’s fair.

Yeah, what has been one of your like favorite places to perform?

I forgot the name of it. It was uptown Charlotte, but that was a couple hundred people were there. That was super fun. I brought a friend on stage. I was performing there and was like, there’s the energy. I love the energy, it’s a real thing. It doesn’t even have to be in music, but I mean music is a prime source of it for sure, but I mean just us talking here, like I’m feeding off your energy, based on the energy that you give me right now. I’m feeding off and laying it back on you and that’s like set out super huge with music and everything. So when it comes to you know performing live, I feed off the crowd, the crowd feeds off me. So it’s perfect

Yeah, that’s awesome. And that’s exactly what you need as a performer. You need that energy. You need that reassurance from the crowd in order to be able to give your best performance overall, because you need that energy. Yeah for sure, so what’s some advice that someone has given you before that has really impacted you on your music career?

I think it was Terry actually. It’s not super recent, but recently I’ve put a lot more faith in God, you know, to be honest with you, just like stopped worrying about things. I used to have this worry about like, oh, what if I don’t make it? What if I don’t, you know, stuff like that. It’s just like, just let it all go, you know, just like do what I love and then where it’s going, it’ll go. You know what I’m saying? But Terry recently, not too long ago, he was like, you don’t have to worry about time man, just keep doing what you’re doing. It’ll go somewhere, you know, I’m saying you’re good at what you do and just keep going with it. I remember the first time I said, I was like probably 16 I was like, I feel like I’m gonna run out of time. It’s like you’re 16, you know, I’m saying but you know It’s just I feel like, you know time is a battle against everything. So but you know, there’s a couple quotes out there that like state that time is like, I think actually it’s like comparison is the thief of joy, but I think that time definitely like it. There’s like an internal clock ticking for all of us. Yeah, that’s what I’m saying.

You have impeccable style, just right off the bat. I can tell like your style is just like, very on point. Like, who’s your style inspo?

Honestly, I’m not gonna lie. Like, before we came here, I asked this girl for a fit. I was like, what should I wear? And she kind of put this together. So I was like, should I wear jeans or like yellow? She was like, yeah, where’s some jeans. I was honestly just gonna wear like some like joggers or some, you know, some light. Honestly, I don’t really like getting all dressed up. I like something really casual. I really like joggers, stuff like that. I really love gray. I like gray, black, just stuff that’s more casual. I don’t like, I just don’t dress out like that.

Yeah, that’s valid.

Comfortable and–

Really comfortable.

Yeah, I love that.

Yeah, that’s so valid and I feel like a lot of people feel that way and I think that that’s what makes people relate to you a lot like as an artist. We’re coming into an age where it’s like relatability is like the most important thing. So what do you think about songwriting now? How has your songwriting changed and evolved since you first started?

Recently I had a conversation with this girl. Before I wrote the song the songs called “Zoo” (gonna be out on the new album) She was listening to some songs, she was like I’m gonna be completely honest with you when I’m listening to it. I was like hey that’s fine, of course. I love honesty. Everybody has their own opinions but she was telling me she was like I do like the music. I really do and she was just telling me. I took it in a certain way, instead of taking it in like you know instead of a taking it in this way where it’s like where it hurt It was more like, it went somewhere in my body to where it was like I took it to use. And then I made “Zoo” and then she heard and she loved it. I feel like if she didn’t say that to me, it wouldn’t have been made which is kind of crazy. So like it’s just inspiration has everywhere for sure.

That’s a big thing for sure. Inspirations everywhere and everything that you seem to do. Yeah, what inspired it?

Her actually, but I was listening so much stuff, too. At first, just like messing, me and my friends. We were just messing around and I was like yo, just I just want you to scream this repeatedly. Yeah, so that was kind of like the main course for that and then we went from there. I just started writing lyrics and stuff.

That’s awesome. What are some of your like goals for the future with music? Besides the EP, what else are you really aiming towards when it comes to music?

I used to look at the future more, now I’ve really just been living in now because I feel like looking forward, it makes me think about time more. I know when I was younger I used to think like oh, I want to perform a big spot that I was gonna perform at was the new dome that got built in Vegas.

Have you visited there?

I have not been to that dome at all. But it looks super cool and I would love to be there. I know U2 was there, they performed there and it looks like a dope spot. So anything’s possible, right?

Yeah, do you feel like you at some point could see yourself being in Vegas?

Yeah, Vegas for sure. Super hot. I mean, I remember walking the strip at night. It was like 118.

Yeah, that’s super hot for sure. So, who has really inspired like a big song for you and like what has been that process, connecting to people, finding inspiration to keep going with music.

Oh, I surf a lot when I listen to my music. I’m very diverse in my music. I grew up with white parents, so you know, naturally that’s put on with more of the rock side. I grew up with rock you know Motley Crew, Guns N’ Roses, people from the hair band era. I honestly didn’t get introduced into rap until my friend, we started listening like fifth grade it was like Panda, you know black Beatles love those were our songs. The black Beatles was huge. So, you know, and then when I want to listen to that, that’s when I think I got kind of more introduced to rap and hip -hop more and It’s kind of started listening to listening to it more from there. And I mean there was times where people would come up to me like like, oh, do you know this artist? I wouldn’t know the artist, you know, but it would be a big artist to like in the hip -hop industry and I just I don’t know. I wouldn’t know it at the time, but just listening to all type of music is for sure inspiration. I like listen to things that are going on in the background sometimes. People’s ears are not trained to listen to things in the background, but your head is picking it up. You know what I’m talking about. Yeah, so like your mind hears it, but you’re not being like oh I hear that in the background. It’s really learning how to do things like that just makes the song so much deeper and that’s what I’ve been putting into my music a lot more and just doing stuff like that for sure.

Yeah, just more detail,  creating from like the ground up that’s incredible. When people listen to your music they might have some thoughts and opinions of their own about how what you type of direction you should go into. How do you listen to your gut in those moments? What is the thing that really keeps you grounded?

I’ve gotten people that’s been like, oh this is terrible, but I mean, hasn’t been on a wide scale yet where it’s been like a bunch of people said all that once. I have a very hard head, I mean whenever it’s a couple people, there’s also the people that do like it but also I’m not doing it necessarily for everybody else you know I’m doing it for because I love it. It’s like really like a passion. If you’re playing sports or anything, someone’s like oh you suck. If you really love doing it, you’re gonna keep doing it. It’s really not a love if somebody can say you suck and then you stop it. Otherwise not a passion. That’s just facts, sometimes you can really take the things that people say and use it. Sometimes you can ask why, you know, or like, what do you mean? And they’ll say it and it’ll be like, oh, okay, either you can take that in a negative or positive way and you can use it in the future. And if you really genuinely don’t think that, like, they’re right then of course just move on with it you know there’s like eight billion people in the world. It really doesn’t matter. My dream is for sure. I was talking about earlier it’s just the energy of people and seeing that fed off of music. I feel like it’s so powerful in so many different ways. And I would just love to see that. And I’ve seen it a couple of times, but I just want to see it on a wider span, you know, the audience. It’s crazy how people can come to like all these people and just watch a person or a couple of people on a stage and just hear music. I mean, I think about that for a second. That’s kind of crazy. You know what I’m saying? Like you’re buying tickets that could be like a couple hundred dollars just to see somebody and hear their music, that’s kind of wild.

Especially nowadays, yeah, like you get like artists, like I know Taylor Swift for sure, the Eras Tour is like massively insane now.

It’s huge.

Yeah, social media especially has taken people like on a journey to discovering new artists. Who are some of us who are some new artists that you’ve discovered recently?

Oh, what’s her name? Can’t even think of her name is I ought to. I don’t know I’ve no I forgot her name, but it’s just new female artists woman artists that she’s blowing starting to blow up. Love her music can’t wait to like reach out to her. Sometimes you just have a gut feeling when something could happen. I don’t want to say it’s looking bright, but it’s like, it’s like, it’s crazy. I just, it’s really crazy. I’m going to tell them to reach out to her and her management, see what I can do with that. But she’s super talented. I wish I knew her name. If I say her name, I would say it, but she is super talented, new sound and everything. And it’s just one thing that I really hate is people that created this new rule in the industry that I just don’t understand and it’s like the 2 % 3 % rule or if you find something that you like, alright, but if you change it up by like 2 -3 % then it’s considered your own and it’s like I just don’t agree with that. To be honest with you and something that’s really came up in the wave is more like people like Ken Carson or what’s the name, Yeet. And people like hear that sound is just, and they write off it like, “Oh, I can, you know, I can create that.” And nobody says anything anymore. You know what I’m saying? Like you create something like that, that sounds like them. And it’s like, nobody says anything. It’s like, they don’t even like, “Oh, this is, you’re copying them.” They don’t even say anything anymore. It’s like, what are we doing now?

Yeah, especially with copyright issues nowadays. Like there’s so many different things like that can happen now. Like, and nobody’s really like brave enough to call people out when they need to.

At all.

Yeah, yeah. Do you feel that pressure to go out of like the box a little bit more and try to, you know, be more like original, or do you just do what you need to do?

I just do what I need to do. I honestly never found it really in any interest in the Yeet or Playboy Cardi sound or anything like that. If you listen to any of my music, doesn’t sound anything like them. So really, I was never put in that box where, I mean, of course, in the beginning, it was like I said, the Juice World era, but like that was very noticeable. And it was also because I was just first starting and everything, but yeah, really broke out recently. They say I really have my own sound. They’re like this is very different and I take that and use that to my advantage all the time.

Yeah, you definitely have your own sound and your own taste. You make music from the heart and that’s the most important thing. We’re gonna be listening to your new song here soon and you just released a new music video for it. And it looks like it’s in the forest. 

Yeah, it’s in the forest.

What was the inspo behind that?

I don’t know, it’s kind of more of a dark setting, you know, Touching Your Soul as it takes place and I flew out to Tampa, Florida. We probably created like it over a span of five days and created like four music videos we’re up like super late hours. That’s work, it was fun but Touching Your Soul is in the forest, really got that vibe. He’s super smart. He hears the music and he sees it, you know what I’m saying? Immediately, like as soon as he gets it, he’s super bright and he sees it and I was like, I agree I mean 100 % trust the process. Yeah, 100 %. You’re super smart when it came to that stuff and all the angles and everything and of course he’s very open to like requests and stuff. I can make a request of course all the time, he’s my cousin I could be like. It’s just never been like a battle at each other. It’s really very neutral with everything, but he’s very smart. The forest was a very good pick. We were out there like two, three in the morning. Oh, yeah, it was cold real cool.

Did you drive to Florida or flew out?

Yeah, flew out the camp, he picked me up and then we were off to work. So got everything done.

Nice. And are like you said there, you record like five music videos? Like are those like for other songs as well?

Yeah, those are for other songs. Yeah, one for Help. Kisses. This was all on my last album, Through My Eyes. Go check that on every platform. Apple Music, anything that you can find music on. Help, Kisses in the Forest, Touching Your Soul and Vice. Those were all for all filmed in Tampa and that was a lot of work. That was late late nights. I mean we wouldn’t get back home to like six in the morning. It was it was worth it for sure.

It’s definitely worth it in those times yeah for sure yeah well we’re gonna take a quick break here and we got some words from our friends and sponsors here at rBeatz.com. So we’re gonna take a quick break and we’ll be right back with “Touching Your Soul” by EKLY.

*break/song

That was “Touching Your Soul” by EKLY. We have to talk about this music video because this is amazing. What goes into making a music video first and foremost?

Camera work.

Camera work.

A lot of camera work for sure.

What kind of camera do you use?

I would have no idea. You’d definitely have to talk to Bennett for that. I just know he drones like two different cameras. A bunch of lighting. You definitely have to talk to him for all that, but yeah, he’s a mastermind and all of that so management, camera work, he’s got it all. He directed it as well, we did a little bit of both, but he’s all that.

That’s awesome. Where did you find this place and is the cabin that you were in for the music video like in the same area?

Yes, a close family friend of ours, she owns that like entire property. We caught her up, she was like it can be here at this time and everything’s all right. She opened the gate for us and we were there for like three or four hours. 

That’s awesome, yeah. Where did you film your other music videos, if you don’t mind me asking, or what’s the vibe for the upcoming music videos?

Upcoming music videos? I would have no idea, I’m not even, well I don’t even think we’re at that point, yeah we haven’t even started talking about it yet.

All right.

But very different, very different from that music. Sometimes I hate listening to old music because I know the new stuff is so much different. I’m very, I go very deep into my change, like changes, just like, as soon as I drop something, the next stuff that I drop, I want it to be so much different. This album is very, very, very different. And the other stuff that I’ve released, I’m a lot more melodic singing a lot more. My voice range production is like key. I produce all my stuff and you know, I’ve really did a deep dive into that for sure. And it’s so much different lyrics and all of it. So yeah, there’s definitely a lot more melodic influences in this for sure

What does Touching Your Soul mean to you?

A back and forth connection that’s very equal between each other you know yeah something that can’t be explained. That’s why the art was there and everything that’s just what that meant so what was the significance of the hand that came in like and was just like, the art of taking over. It was just everything. Yeah, it was just all of it taking over.

I got chills when you said that. Oh, yeah.

It was just all of it taking over. So it was a, yeah, it was a cool concept.

That’s awesome, man. I like the sound of this. I’m hearing like a little bit of Weeknd influences there. What do you want people to take away from this new album?

I’m not sure. The first concept that I came up with for the album was just like kind of being being in a certain area with a bunch of people and throughout the album, you’re taken through different emotions. At first, I was like, you know, whoever you meet in this, wherever you’re at during this album, you feel the same. Imagine this long lost person that used to be with. You’re at like say a club or whatever and you know throughout the night. You’re taken through a bunch of emotions in the way that you’re feeling throughout the night, you know, I mean, there’s a bunch of stuff going on in our club, you know? But, you know, different bunch of emotions and you see this person and it’s like all of them come fluttering back, you know, that she used to feel. And then I feel like later on I’ve taken that idea and kind of changed it instead of feeling those emotions again, kind of letting go of the emotions instead. So that’s kind of what taking away from this, just to let go, once again roll back over to change and stuff. I mean you can’t really change if you’re still stuck on the same stuff so that’s why I mean, as you saw in the music video, I saw hair and everything I cut all of that off, just completely just changing. I feel like when you cut your hair I mean hair carries memories of course not to forget but to move on a little bit and to learn from. And that’s why I cut it and everything. Everything is new, you know, I’m stepping in this, new part of my life for sure.

Yeah, for sure. Like some people even like when they’re writing music, it’s kind of like very much a spiritual experience, you know? Like some people like write stuff down and then like you said, they change and they kind of not really forget about it, but they’re just kind of like, I’m not that person anymore, you know? Like, how does your spiritual experience like evolve and change when it comes to your music?

That’s, I used to use my, not used to, I still do. Spiritual experience and music is very big for me. I just feel like it’s, it’s just a lot of mental stuff going on with the way that I create music. It’s just very intact with it. You know, whenever I listen to my music or the, I love my favorite part and what I’m creating is the synthesizers. And I just feel like listening to the synths and sub and just all of that is just like, you can see it. If you close your eyes, you know, certain time wherever you’re at, you can like see the sound waves almost. That’s how I see it, it’s very cool to like just see them. Chord progressions are very big for sure in this new album too. Very very huge, where it takes you for sure. I was talking to my friend like last night and he was like something that you know that you kind of are starting to do too is kind of letting the beat have its own verse, the music have its own verse, you know what I’m saying? So like take when you’re like writing your own songs or stuff, you have your own verse, you know? Say if you have a feature, they have their own verse. But then if you give the part, you know, if you produce it right enough, it almost takes you to a whole new part. If you give the track that you’re on, you know, its own thing to like do what it wants, you know what I’m saying? Almost for like the listener to hear it and hear how they want to hear it, you know what I’m saying? Instead of you kind of being over the entire time that it’s like, well, what am I hearing now? You know what I’m saying? It’s a whole new, whole new direction to take it.

What’s the process like of making a song? Is it like one of those things where it’s like, you’ll like write maybe a verse and then come back to it later or are you the type of person that’s like when you’re in the zone, like you need to get it like out like all out right there?

I guess it really depends. If I’m in there, then I’m gonna stand there for a couple hours for certain. Then time just passes by but sometimes I do go there and then go in the studio. Then it’s like I’m forcing myself a little bit to like, you know create music because sometimes you gotta push yourself a little bit. But yeah, so, I mean, and then it starts to become natural, you know what I’m saying? When you push yourself and then it’s like, once you really find something that you’re creating that you like, then it becomes more natural than just like forcing yourself to make music.

Yeah, that’s so true. Have you ever felt the pressure to put something out that you weren’t sure if it was good enough and like how do you like overcome that fear? As an artist myself, it’s really hard to put out certain things because I’m just kind of worried about like how it sounds.

That’s a good question. It’s older project that I had I released it and took it off like within like a week or so on all platforms. In a significant project, if I can see every single song on this album inside my head, like I have to see it like it has to be a play by play movie like a walkthrough. I have every single song, every single measure, so if there’s one song where I can’t see, like something that’s going on, it’s like nothing. I made sure very sure that with this new album, I’m seeing every single thing that’s happening.

I’m also the same way where it’s like when you’re listening to music it’s like that movie going on in your head.

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, that’s a big thing too. I mean, once you see in your head, you like to lay it out and try to lay it out in person. So, yeah.

For sure, for sure. I’ve noticed that you have a lot of connections and influences just within your own family. Where do you like draw the line between business and like just family?

It hasn’t really gotten to a point where I had to draw the line yet, but I’m sure I’ll experience that one day where I have to draw the line, but I’m sure it won’t be anything crazy. I feel like when it comes to being partners, then you have to draw certain line. I feel like that could be a little bit dicey for sure, you know, depending on The situation, but I mean if it’s family, it’s family, you know. They can tell you, you can pick up on receive and you can be like, all right, you know and if you say it back to them, they’ll receive it well. You know, if it’s just like a random person, also trust really big, if it’s within the family, you know, trust is usually, I feel like if it’s just a person that you picked up and then you’re learning to trust, it’s a lot different and they can, you know, perceive certain things that you’re saying in a different type of way ’cause they don’t know you like that.

Yeah, so it’s easier to work with family.

I would think so.

Does Bennett have his own management company? Was he just like hey Bennett reached out to and he was like, yeah, I want to be here I would like to be your manager.

It was a hundred percent, you know, and especially where he’s based right now I mean, that’s huge. The connections like he’s making. Super big thing. You gotta check out Spaceship Joyride is his official channel. Also, you can just look up Bennett Sommer on Safari and all that Google, and his page will come right up, but he creates music videos for a bunch of other artists. Spaceship Joyride is an up -and -coming site that he’s making, website and everything, and this entire, that’s where he’s going with stuff, he’s very talented and all that.

Fantastic, that’s really amazing. Yeah, what has been like your favorite thing so far about making this album?

Running back the songs, sometimes when you create a song and then, you know, you’re listening to it so many times, you know, where it’s like, is this even good? You know, because I mean, that happens with any song, even when you listen to it so many times or really anything you do, it so many times you don’t get the same experience that you did the first couple times that you did it. I feel like every single time I play it back, I’m changing something, so it’s like I’m listening to it for the first time again. I’m adding something or I’m adding somebody on it. I feel like every single time I listen back it’s something new. None of it’s really been getting old, so it’s nice.

That’s awesome. You always wanna make sure it feels live, especially to your own ears. That’s the most important thing for sure. Do you have anything else that you’d like to share about this album and everything else that comes with it?

Something to look out for, for sure. I gotta feel like I had cover and I might redo the cover art, but single coming out soon. August 1st, and then we got another single. I have to release three singles before the album at least. So yeah, 15th. And then start working on EP after that, and a bunch of promotion stuff to do. But yeah, I can’t can’t wait for it to come out. I feel like it’ll have a slow rise, but it’s going to rise 100 % honestly, I really have no doubt. I have no doubt. Gonna rise up. I’m very optimistic about it.

So that’s awesome. And that’s all you can be in those moments is like, you know, putting it out there on social media, you know, making sure that you’ve got your singles coming out. What were the names of those three singles again? Can you tell us?

Yeah, “Swear It’s Got Me Sick” is the first single that’s coming out. I’m honestly not sure about the two other singles that I’m gonna release. “Zoo” is gonna be one of them, for sure. But “Swear It’s Got Me Sick” is the first one, the best one to watch out for, for sure.

Yeah, what are the big differences between those two, would you say? What makes them stick out as singles?

I guess Zoo is a little bit more like a beat. Swear it’s Got Me Sick. I love that. I was actually just messing with it today again. So, yeah, and the Zoo is just very, it’s got a chorus. It’s just like very on beat. So it’s just really good. Yeah, like you said, it keeps changing. You keep like, you know, adding stuff to it and everything like that. So I know that once it comes out, it’s going to be like perfect. Yeah, I can’t wait.

Yeah, I can’t wait for you. Well, thank you so much, EKLY, for coming back on. And thank you so much for being here. I’m so excited to see the rest of your journey and where it goes. You’ve been a part of rbeatz now for a hot minute, and we’ve had you on since you were a sophomore, I think.

Yeah, that’s all right.

Thank you for allowing us to come on this journey with you. It’s been a real pleasure. And you can check out on all streaming platforms and social media. Thank you so much for listening to Local Music Somewhere here at rBeatz.com. I’m your host, Annaliese, and we’ll catch you next time.