Pause is one of our Musicclout.com contest winners and what attracted us to him was the lyrics, voice and the honesty of his music. Pause describes himself as being a part “of a generation of recording artists who grew up long enough ago that they can understand what honest music sounds like, but has a grasp of the modern tools, software, and sounds, enabling them to do basically anything they want to. I’m a complete DIY musician. My mic skills got me placed in Saints Row IV and Ray Donovan this year, but I can also pick up a guitar and sing you a lullaby I wrote for my daughter. I can smash out a beat on my MPC, or program an Americana-folk song that sounds like real players with software. I’ll rock a flute solo at my shows and follow it up with some funky shit on my talkbox.”
Pause is the musician of today one that will do whatever it takes to make it. Meaning he will do it himself and will not sacrifice himself to do so. Check out this great interview we did with Pause especially since he took some time to really think about each question before answering.
Why did you select this song as your current single?
Although largely due to the fact that it was in the Saints Row IV video game, “Caroline” has been by far the most popular song off of Pacific Rose. Caroline has been one of those songs that people of all ages and walks of life can get down to. The instrumentation has a soulful sort of groove to it, smooth and easy to listen to; the lyrics are thoughtful and honest. Plus I have a video for it.
How does this single relate to the rest of the Album, EP or Mix-tape?
Thank you for asking this. Pacific Rose was (for the most part) about overcoming change. We are creatures of habit; we’ll avoid change at great cost because it’s just too stressful. So stressful that we generally would rather let ourselves be miserable in, say, a job or a relationship, in order to avert the stress that comes from actually getting ourselves out of the very situation that is making us anxious or upset. I’ll try not to get into too much detail, but basically, my life has been filled with these types of changes. For instance, my family moved ALL THE TIME when I was young — many times either from the U.S. to Italy or vice-versa. By the time I started the 4th grade, I had never lived in the same place longer than 2 years. Anyway, from all of the moving, I became really good at adapting to my surroundings. So much so, that by the time I was in high school, I completely lost track of who I was. Then about three years ago, during a very low and depressed point in my life, I finally made the realization that I was depressed because I didn’t recognize the person I had become. I basically left everything behind, moved to Venice Beach, and decided to spend as long as it would take finding myself.
Pacific Rose is mainly about the things I encountered during my journey of self-discovery.
Caroline is the peace and sense of calm that I was trying to get to. Basically what I hoped I would find by the end of my journey.
What was the writing process for the song?
I wrote the verses slowly over a few weeks. I just wanted to be sure every word I used was the right one. So, it took me a little longer usual.
Another random note, a friend of mine was supposed to come sing the hook for me and flaked on me for what I think was the third or fourth time in a row. So I was like, “you know, fuck it, I’ll just try singing it.” That ended up being the first published track that I have ever sang on, and one of the most successful songs, to date, that I have done.
What would it be like to see you in person performing this song?
That would probably depend on how drunk you were. Or I was, for that matter.
Seriously, I play out with a fairly big band behind me (drums, bass, guitar, dj, horn section, back-up singers). Occasionally we have another guitar player or a keyboard player. I play several instruments so I like to switch it up, play a flute solo, and then follow it up with some funky shit on the talkbox next. Or play something more bluesy on the guitar or harmonica and then jump to some super-live hip hop shit.
Could your fans summarize who you are as an artist by this song?
I hope not. If one song, or one anything for that matter, summarized who I am then that would be pretty boring.
Is there a video planned and or completed and if so, what was the idea behind the video?
There is a video. Before I got my deal through INgrooves/Universal, my buddy and I just took a camera out into my neighborhood and filmed me smashing around getting ready to go on a trip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?
One last question, what is your motivation behind your music?
I have an undeniable need to create. I’ve been writing music since I was 12. That is probably the only thing that has been consistent in my life. Different emotions, feelings, thoughts, will motivate each individual song, but the motivation behind all of it, is just that I need to — and always have.
Social Media:
Twitter.com/pausemc
Facebook.com/pausemc
Youtube.com/pausemc