Your New Nobody 

Words: Georgina Daniels

Photo: Cathryn Farnsworth

Growing up, which artists helped shape your love for music? What are some of your earliest musical memories?My earliest musical memories were listening to the soundtracks of the now-cancelled Song of the South and West Side Story as a young child – and you can definitely still hear the influence of show tunes and Tin Pan Alley in general in my music, say in the way my songs often have a specific voice or point of view of an implied character. I also use a lot of wit and recitativo which ironically means my creations are regularly dismissed by haters as novelty comedy songs or spoken word over music. I blame American Idol and The Voice for creating a hegemonic snobbism which today would prevent singers like Bob Dylan from ever making it through to the second round.Your new single, 'Only Sixteen' is out now. What can you tell us about the writing and recording process of the track?I first heard the original song as backing on an Instagram reel, and, as the lyric goes, I knew I had to record an adaptation. I can’t play a note on any instrument, so all the music is by session players in LA. I also struggle to sing a note, but the engineers and mixers did an amazing job with my vocal to make it almost melodious while not losing the rawness.As the songwriter, what is the story of the song?The original song was written by Drast and Lil Kaneki of the Italian band Psicologi. It’s about a toxic teenage relationship and suffering as a child affected by domestic violence. In adapting it into English I took the song’s resentment, expressed in calling the lover a “bitch,” and turned it back on the protagonist by adding a last verse where he calls himself a bitch for dredging up his old gripes and adds that he is doing so in the hopes of re-connecting. So in the end, despite the sexist slur, it’s an expression of love – or possibly a cry for something we all crave when we feel nostalgic – ex-sex.The model and influencer ‘No Gender’ Jude Karda appears in the music video for 'Only Sixteen'. How did that collaboration come about and what can viewers expect from the video?I also discovered Jude on Instagram – so Zuckerberg’s clearly doing something right with their algo. Like with the song, it was like love at first sight, and so we approached Jude’s management to request a collab. We had a storyboard for the clip but supported Jude to express a range of personae in the different scenes. We actually shot the clip in Toronto though astute viewers will notice that some of the rooftopping shots are filmed in Central Park West and at the Heli Lounge Bar in Kuala Lumpur. So you can imagine the magnitude of the budget: tiny – we had to use any stock footage we could find.

We recently had the opportunity to chat with Craig Douglas Miller of Blueburst whose album 'Significance' is out now.Growing up, what are some of your earliest musical memories?When I was just a toddler, I used to listen to my parents’ records on their big stereo. It was one of those ones that’s a big piece of furniture with the turntable inside and the speakers on the side. I would lift the lid, put the record on, and stand there watching it go round and round while I listened, while the lid rested on my head. My parents thought it was pretty weird, especially when I started to develop a bald spot from where I’d rested the lid of the stereo on my head. At some point, they just told me the stereo was broken. In retrospect, I think I just liked being in that sweet spot right in between the two speakers where you’d get the most stereo separation. I’ve always loved big wide stereo sounds,