Taking influence from the dark and atmospheric sound of 90s My Bloody Valentine and blending it with a more indie-pop direction, ‘Beg’ continues the bold genre-bending aesthetic that the artist is quickly making a reputation for. Psychedelic and textured throughout, this new delight is making him a firm favourite as one of the best new discoveries we have heard all year.
So with yet more fantastic offerings in the pipeline throughout 2020, we thought now would be a good time to find out more about Trevor James Tillery’s background and what his plans are for the coming months.
Words by Chris Bound
Discovered via http://musosoup.com
Chris) Hi Trevor, how are you today?
Trevor) I’m doing alright, thanks. Just trying to make the best out of these strange times.
For those that haven’t heard of you yet, how would you best describe your sound and who have been your biggest influences so far?
I suppose the best way to describe me is that I try to never paint the same picture twice. Stylistically, I’ve always been all a little over the place —which fortunately, being genre-less is more widely accepted now. As far as biggest influences, I am most inspired by the artists/songwriters that are changelings and not afraid to experiment while still remaining accessible and relatable.
You have just released your new single ‘Beg’. Can you tell us how that track came about?
The initial idea with the guitar progression and beat came out over a year ago. I was trying to blend my newfound love for early 90’s shoegaze music with some modern electronic vibes. For months, I went through various melodies and lyrics, never finding the right fit until April of this year — it just clicked and flowed out in thirty minutes. Lyrically, I was very pissed off with the “leaders” of our world — so its about all of those greedy assholes —especially #45 (aka The Orange Goblin, as I like to call him). I finished the track with my partner James Michael Kelley co-producing and mixing it. I was surprised with how psychedelic it ended up being as well, that just kind of happened.
And was there a particular style you were looking for when you wrote it?
I just wanted to finally write a guitar-based song again. It had been a few years since I had really written on guitar and I was inspired by all this early 90’s shoegaze stuff like My Bloody Valentine and it came from that. I think I just needed a break from guitar for a while to reproach it and find a way to bring back my first love, my first instrument, in hopefully more of a fresh way.
Can we expect a new EP, or even an album from you in the near future?
I would love to. Maybe next year. This year, my focus is just to put out some singles and keep it really loose. It’s hard too, because people just don’t pay attention to things for as long as they used to —especially if you’re not a big artist. The singles are my attempt to just throw out something bite sized in hopes to hold people’s attention. I’m also enjoying experimenting a little more with this batch of singles. I think they will lead to some new territories for me when it comes time for a full-length album.
I do think to really understand me however, is to listen to me in an album format. I am an album person naturally, so doing the singles is kind of difficult for me to do because I like the songs to connect and flow in a track listing and tell a story. So yeah, I definitely want to put out another album sometime soon. Its been since 2017 that I have put out a proper LP and I miss that process. So listen to my LP, Together. Alone, first if you’ve never heard of me.
The coronavirus outbreak has obviously affected everyone’s plans, but what have you got in store for the rest of the year?
I plan to release at least two more singles by the end of the summer, write more, and record more. I am also in an online bootcamp learning UI/UX design — now is the time to learn and a new skill and honestly music doesn’t keep the lights on sadly.
And finally, what has been your fondest memory as an artist working today?
I can’t think of any particular moment right now, there are so many. Right now, I’d have to say every time a song of mine connects with someone I don’t know, and I see them singing it back word-for-word, or writing me a lovely message about how much it means to them. Those times hold some of my fondest memories with music.