#that or every song i could think of is by the same artist/one youve definitely heard already and i wanna give ppl new stuff. u know

[officialspec]

for the music game, it's different for girls by of montreal?

[souichieatr]

wanna be yours, ch2

suna x freader , foxy boy

where in which two opposites fall in love

a/n: for everyone who commented on the posts youve been added sorry i cant reply <//3 if you're interested in being in the taglist send me an ask, i was thinking of making a playlist for the au would anyone be interested? lmk !! sorry if there are any mistakes or if its bad this is my first writing <3

ch1. this voice im hearing rn? , hey bestie

word count: 2,090

the first song- The Ghost of You- my chemical romance

second song- I Bet on Losing dogs- mitski

third song- Crybaby- destroy boys

pocketing her phone after reading tendous message, she opens the door waving to a couple friends and offers friendly smile taking her seat. a pair of pale green eyes follow her. after yesterday suna did a little research about her y/n y/l/n the bassist and youngest in the band called 4u, she has quite a big following on twitter, she's really nice and interacts with the fans. looking at her now you can't imagine her on stage suna thought. breaking away from his thoughts as the teacher walks in. spouting for about what feels like hours and the students taking notes, finally lunch approaches. y/n jumps from her seat grabbing her case she walks to the third year hallway. waving to her friends they walk to her, tendou wrapping his arms around her “y/n!!!!!! i missed you” laughing as she hugged him back “tendou!!! i missed you toooo.” she turns to the grey haired male, “semisemi!!” she says giving him a hug, he rolls his eyes and hugs her back “and ushi!!” she turns to the brunette to which he pats her head “good afternoon y/n.” as they go to the lunch room to grab their lunch, they walk to one of the music rooms they usually occupy. a beep from her phone grabs her attention seeing her friend atsumu asking if him his twin and their friend can join for lunch, “hey guys you dont mind if atsumu and his friends come join us?” she says setting down her case against the wall. “nah you can invite them, atsumu is our biggest hype man” tendou says, grabbing his drum sticks from his back pocket. texting him its cool she goes to unzip her bass. “oh ms lady ive missed you” she says hugging the instrument, “i can't believe you two and always wanting to play, dont yall have any other hobby?” semi says, grabbing the schools given guitar setting the speaker up for y/n. tendou gives a scoff “semisemi dont act like you hate hearing us play i see you listening to our covers alllll the timeeeee” he says “yeah semi besides we have a concert soon and it wouldnt be bad to have an audience” y/n says walking to semi to connect her bass to the speaker when the door opens, entering is atsumu in the middle, osamu on his left, and a mystery guy in the back. setting her bass down running up to the blond “tsumu!!” giving him a hug “y/n!!” he hugs her back, she waves to osamu, who shes met on an occasion. looking towards the dark haired guy she walks up to him, noticing shes seen him somewhere. “youre suna right? we're in the same class?” she says giving him a hand and a awkward smile, nodding at her words. “hope its okay im here” he says taking her hand giving a slight shake. “nah dont worry its nice to have a different face, seeing tsumu is getting boring” turning around to the male. “what she means to say is we could use practice in front of new people” the grey haired male says giving a small laugh when tendou scoffs at him, both guys walking towards the small group. “this is semi and this is tendou” she says introducing them. when the introductions are over the two males go back to setting up, y/n walks the newcomers to the sitting area “here you guys can sit, im sure you all know ushijima” on hearing his name he looks up from his name giving a small head bow. they all sit “any recommendations tsumu?” y/n says walking to her bass making sure everything was good, looking towards the small group. “y/n you know my favorites” atsumu says stealing one of his brothers onigiri. y/n laughs and rolls her eyes, turning to tendou “anything you wanna try tori?” tendou looks at her with a smile “y/n lets show semi whatweve been working on” hearing this semi looked at them “what do you guys mean? what did you two do” y/n chuckles at the grey hairs doubtful expression “mr semisemi you know your favorite mcr song” when she sees him nod she continues “me and tori learned it” she says pushing him lightly. semi looked at her with wide eyes then at tendou, looking at semi tendou flicked his drum stick between his fingers with a nod. “wow semi cant believe you, we spent so much hours perfecting a my chemical romance for your sap self and he doesn't believe us y/nie i might

” tendou says fake sniffing. the little group in the back beyond confused, atsumu clearing his throat “have you three forgotten us already, wheres our show” ushijima nodding his head “yeah why are you guys being so vague” tendou snickers “dont worry you three and wakatoshi we have decided to play a new song or well cover i should say” “yeah and its semi’s favorite band you know the one that he wears on his shirts?” ushijima looking towards the girl after hearing her statement he nods. “okay can we play now ive been waiting to show my skills and get our lovely semi's opinion” y/n says removing her pick, both boys giving a ‘yeah’. finally tendou does the countdown. suna looks at all three of them with slight excitement in his stomach, ‘is this a new song im going to hear?’ before he could think of anything else, semi started playing a few chords by himself and y/n starting to add her own strums then tendou adding drums. sunas eyes widen at how well all the sounds blended together, freezing in his spot when semi started singing, when hitting the chorus y/n joins him. suna looking at her, he felt like he had been put in a trance, feeling like theres a spotlight on her when she starts nodding her head seeing her tongue sticking out when stringing the instrument. towards the end you can see y/n lose focus and her eye twitches, ending the song she sighs. “hey sorry about the end” waving to the guys to her left with a frown. hearing applause from the group the frown doesnt last long. “WHOOO!!!!! THAT WAS MY BESTIES GO SEMI! GO TENDOU! GO Y/N!!” atsumu gets up and yells. “that was so good what the hell that was yer first time too?” he says going up to the group, high-fiving y/n. “i mean me and tendou practiced together but semi basically has every song by them memorized but together? yeah our first.” tendou getting up to get his water that was next to ushijima. semi joining the fake blond and the girl, patting her on her back “that was a good first for us i can tell you and tendou worked hard, we're definitely adding it to the set list.” getting a laugh from both of them semi walks to the small group. “hey man that was really good, you have a nice voice” suna says as semi approaches, semi turned to him surprised “oh thank you im glad you enjoyed, do you listen to our stuff?” he says taking a seat next to him. “ive recently just started, i hope that doesnt sound too weird” the dark haired suddenly getting a little embarrassed, chuckling “its not weird i promise, well its good you listen to us or im sure it would've been awkward to just be here” nodding along to what he said. tendou going back to the drums “are you cowards tapping out now?” “COWARDS?!?!” y/n yells back turning around “i am no coward tendou satori i'll make you eat those words semi get over here” she said grabbing semis attention and shooing atsumu back to his seat. chuckling as he sat back down, turning to suna “howd ya like em? theyre good huh?” suna rolling his eyes “im not going to help inflate your ego tsumu” “yeah tsumu yer big ego is not cute” gasping to their remarks “you guys are so mean to me, i introduce you to nice music and even the artists and this is the thanks i get” before any could respond tendou starts clicking his sticks. starting this one is tendou with a slower sound, y/n entering second then semi with vocals. y/n leans down to mess with something by her foot turning a notch noises like static come out adding to the music, coming up fast she starts adding her vocals complimenting semis. pressing on the box she leans down as more noises come out. atsumu leans over to sunas ear “thats a pedal that holds other sounds and can help stretch other sounds” suna giving him a nod. towards the end y/n reaches down to the pedal again adding a distorted sound before adding her last bit of ‘oohs’ before the song ends. everyone clapping as the members stay still for s bit before y/n dramatically bows “youre so welcome lovely audience” she says blowing kisses to them, laughing at her atsumu jumps up and down pretending to be a crazy fan “oh y/n you were so go

od i love you y/n!!!” y/n laughing at him. “hey atsumu what about me!” tendou asks swinging his hand “howd i do?” “oh tendou you were so good, i love you too tendou!!!” he says swinging his arm back. tendou satisfied with his response nods his head, “and with that lets play one more i still want time to actually eat before we play again later.” “yeah lets try ‘crybaby’ we haven't done that in awhile” semi says getting in position.“remember y/n you do the verses” y/n nods clearing her throat “go tori” she says and tendou starts the counting again. starting the counting fast he gets one beat then y/n starts off with singing, swinging her bass back she grabs the mic. suna cracks a smile nodding his head a little as he remembers this song on their youtube, atsumu whistling when y/n dips down her mic as she sings, letting the boys have a solo in between verses she bobs her head. the last few seconds of the song she swings the instrument back as she steps on the pedal creating feedback, as semi goes to vocals she starts getting a solo with tendou playing, y/n leans forward and her and semi sing the rest of the song. after the last note they all look out of breath. clapping for them again letting them catch their breath, y/n starts laughing “i forget how hard that song is towards the end” laughing with her tendou nods “its literally the last 50 seconds that get the hardest” “alright lets clean up” semi says laughing at both of their bored looks they send him. finishing up they all go to the group whove are talking among themselves. sighing as she sits y/n takes the seat next to suna, “so howd you like the songs?” she says with a smile “they were good though i only recognized the last one” he replies, “tsumu told me you started listening to us recently so i thought or well semi thought wed show off a bit with our best song being that” she says with a smile grabbing her bottle. a small smile appears on his face “oh hey tsumu told me youre like really good in your classes and i really need help in history and since we have that group project coming up do you wanna pair up?” she says setting her bottle down grabbing a bag of chips. “yeah i dont mind as long as you actually do something and i can help you study if your grade is that bad” he says. “thatd actually help me out a lot i really appreciate it” she lets a breath out. after that the two spent all lunch just talking, the conversation coming easy for both of them. hearing the bell ring y/n hugs her friends and walks with suna to their class, pairing up in the project the teacher had given them in their period. after class before y/n rushed out she passed him her number with a wink “text me for the deets foxy boy.” ‘foxy boy? suna thought to himself shaking his head texting her with a simple ‘hey its suna’ and heading home.

facts !

during lunch when suna and y/n we're talking the followed each other on twitter

semi was really touched they learned the mcr song

the 4u concert is at a small venue but no one really cares about the other groups going there

osamu and atsumu almost started fighting over the onigiri until suna said something about ushijima being right there

atsumu was watching suna and y/n talking

osamu actually really enjoyed being there during lunch

—taglist

@applekenm , @xhanjisungiex , @astronomyturtle , @sirachano0dles , @yn-tingz , @killmepls-uwu , @bakugouswh0r3

[aurora-daily]

AURORA’s Q&A during Spotify Listening Party

Q: Hello Aurora. Is „In Bottles“ related to „In Boxes“ because in „In Bottles“ you are singing underneath her bed and when she is lying in bed maybe she is laying on her spine. Is that the story behind that phrase ? ❤ You are the Best and i Love you ❤

A: they are both about the same lady... that is really well spotted. It has a really strange meaning to it. she wants to be close to people in a very strange way... !

Q: Aurora what is your favourite song on the album?

A: it changes from day to day.. right now its Soulless Creatures. because of its meaning.

Q: Where do you record the álbum?

A: i did it in bergen last november with Magnus <3

Q: Can we expect Step 3, or it's the end of "A Different Kind" era?

A: this is definitely not the last step... but i cannot tell you yet when it will be released.. !

Q: when is the time of day/night you write music the most?

A: i definitely have the most ideas at night, or when im about to fall asleep, sometimes it can keep me awake for hours later than i should stay awake.. but its worth it.

Q: Will you travel to Vietnam???

A: YES

Q: Are you singing in Frozen 2?

A: i might be heard in the wind…

Q: your birth name represents just your music, the universe, peace ... have you thought how would you call yourself artistically if you had another birth name? Which one identifies you?

A: ive always felt that my name fits me so well, and i remember when i learnt what it meant when i was young that i took it like a little mission in life. to create a little light in the world, in one way we all should

Q: Aurora, I meet you the last month and I gave you a skirt, I just wanna say sorry cause it was too big, And I send you a message in your private (sorry)Facebook horse account, I need and advice

A: i love it!! im going to make it a bit smaller, haha !thank you so much!

Q: Do you make your own clothes?

A: yes i make them with my sister Viktoria who knows how to sew!!! i like to know where the clothes comes from, and with her i know the source of the clothes, which feels very good! i like to wear whatever feels good, so its good to have someone who can turn my dreams into real clothes!

Q: Tell us about your language in ADKOH single... what does it mean?

A: its my own language, and one day i will tell you. its based around its core which is human emotions. i want to make it easier for us to discuss our emotions with the world!

Q: Thank you for supporting us - LGBT. I must admit that it is very useful in Poland. We fight a homophobic government and you give us power

A: that moves my heart so much to hear. im sending you so much love. and that is just the beauty of love - it is so much bigger than us. anyone who dares raise a fist against it will always loose the fight. love will win <3 always.

Q: I have found that this album is best fully realized while being outside. I've been running and interpreptly dancing around my neighborhood everyday and it's transportive

A: i love this so much `3

Q: What was your favourite song to produce?📝🤔

A: i loved producing Soulless Creatures and Appletree. ADKOH was also a journey of its own kind. very lovey. Ive used samples from my life, and mixed them with the beauty of electronic music. A bit of both worlds, living in harmony.

Q: How long did it take to right this album? Where did you write?

A: ITs taken me two years to work on all the songs from both Step I and II. and producing Step II took a whole month, with no sleep and long days me and Magnus Skylstad made the whole thing with some help from a norwegian artist called Askjell (on Daydreamer and ADKOH) we cried so much. and laughed. so many emotions. very very beautiful.

Q: Why is 8 your favourite number?

A: i cannot really explain it. i just feel its right. i have a very strange relationship with numbers, i need them to be right. and 8 and 11 have always made me feel so good. their both the same when upside down and mirrored which i love. very reliable.

Q: Can we expect some songs in Norwegian?

A: yes...!

Q: We know in AMDGMAAF you had a sample of you hugging a tree, have you sampled anything unusual/interesting and put it in this album?👀

A: ive sampled all kinds of stuff, my breath, rain, steps, books, washing machines, crushing things, animals, chewing... etc. its so fun. i love working that way. On soulless creatures i have the sound of me tapping my own chest to my heart. <3

Q: "fear not, fear not when you go" that part gets me every time (and i have listened to this song like 100 times)

A: <3 <3 <3 !!!

Q: how do you keep up with all the questions? hahah

A: i dont!! hahaha

Q: do you write lyrics for other artists?

A: yes sometimes i do!!

Q: The symbols in adkoh are a new language right? But are they letters, more like a code, or it's literally a new language where symbols can be a entire word?

A: their all a part of my own language, one day i will show you all of it.

Q: I think your albums are literature, it is really interesting how there is a connection between all of them. From awakening to mothership, is there any plans of releasing a book some day?

A: i will x !!

Q: are there any more music videos coming?

A: Y to the E to the S

Q: I know some people in Tromso but theyre a bit strange. Is everyone from Tromso strange?

A: yes.

Q: Everyone is talking so quickly, I guess I'll shout into the void :p If you get a chance to read this Aurora, I know that you know how many lives you've touched so I'm not special for saying that you as a person, as well as your music, have saved my life. You're so good at making us all feel like your best friends, but I know what it's like to not be a very social person and it's scary. You're so brave and wonderfully peculiar in your heart. please stay true to yourself.

A: thank you so so much for these beautiful words x i promise i will. forever and ever.

Q: the choir goes SO GOOD with in bottles YOUR MIND

A: !!!!!!!!!

Q: Your numbers are 8 & 11? Very cute, in spirit these are good numbers, one means positivity and the other is financial abundance

A: i dont believe any human being could know the true spiritual meaning of them, they belong with the gods, or the trees. everything that we dont know x

Q: .I want to know about that percussion sound that's in a different kind of human...it sounds so different but really "authentic", I know that sounds weird

A: i am really into strange percussion. and im a percussionist myself so i tend to focus a lot on the rhythms. i had the beat for this song in my mind days before even writing it. and i wanted it to sound like something that doesnt exist from before. like ship. the mothership.

Q: What's your patronus?

A: a big wolf. <3

Q: I feel like an ant!

A: me too.

Q: Which song are you most excited to play live that you haven’t already?💃🏼🎶

A: appletree and daydreamer. so full of energy.

Q: Hei Aurora ^_^ En hilsen fra *nesten* nabokommunen din, Kvam! Jeg så deg for første gang på Bygdalarm i 2016. Jeg lytter til musikken din hver dag, den åpner dører, gir meg friske pust. Jeg ville egentlig bare si at jeg er så stolt over deg, selv om jeg aldri ordentlig har "møtt" og snakket med deg. Jeg føler du lager sanger som representerer en helt spesiell del av det å være menneske. Å ha et åpent sinn, se ting som andre ikke ser. Vokste selv opp midt i en skog, tekstene går rett til hjertet!

A: tusen tusen takk. dette var helt nydelig.

Q: Where did you get the inspiration to make "Apple Tree", not only the lyrics, but the sound of it since it's different from anything you've ever made.

A: i dont really like to put any walls around myself, so that day i felt like i wanted to do whatever made me feel nice. and i felt very playful! i have always liked to make different kind of music, like The seed and animal, it happened quiet and under the water etc. its nice to try lots of different expressions. thats what its all about.

Q: I just want to thank you. I've recently been diagnosed with ME, also known as chronic fatuige syndrome. Your songs fill me with strength and energy when I listen to them<3

A: that is so good to hear. I am so sorry youve gotten this extra thing to deal with in your life. im sending you lots of strength. and love.

Q: Do you believe in aliens? I do!!

A: of course!!!!

Q: Have you ever listened to a Black Metal band?

A: yes i love it so much. i love Gojira, Mastodon, Tool, System of A down and Perfect circle too. very nice.

Q: what do you think is the most important message behind your album? <3

A: I think all of them are. The fight for love, the fight for nature. the whole thing about our consuming, and the way we dont appreciate what we have. about having respect for eachother and mother earth. its about so many things that i care about. maybe the environmental focus is one of the most important message right now, and that we all can save the world together. In appletree its all about that. We. can. save. the. world.

Q: Is your language an alien language and are you actually an alien?

A: i am an alien yes, but i belong here on earth too. my language is al alien language that i have made x

Q: Just want to let you know that your music is well-loved in Asia even many of us don't speak English,your music is no boundaries,can we except your Asia tour soon ?

A: my dream is to go to asia. so yes. YES

Q: i don’t use spotify and i couldn’t get this stream to work so i deadass created an account and bought premium for this smh i love u aurorie

A: Oh My GOD!! really!_! that is amazing. thank you for doing all that to be here with us !

Q: Mothership is so important and special to me because last year my best friend committed suicide and it makes me feel like she's gone to a safer place ✨🌿💗

A: i am so sorry to hear. The Mothership will take those people, who felt like the world was a too dark place to be. Its a horrible thing when people think that is the only way out. Sending love to you and the family who lost a loved one. She is in a safe place now.

Q: Have you ever attended piano lessons, can you read notes, or rather you are self-taught

A: i dont know anything about music theory, im self taught!

Q: Aurora, I'm a painter. And I can not get my paintbrushes and paint something without listening to their songs. You inspire me a lot. That's the reason I can do everything I do. Thank you for that.

A: aaaaahhhhh. thank you so much for letting me inspire you. thank you. keep painting!

Q: aurora do you sometimes feel like talking to trees and plants? cause i do sometimes and they are beautiful creatures! they have a very caring and loving energy!!

A: i do too!!!

HEllo hELlo you lovely people. I am really trying my best to answer all of you. but its as difficult as building a castle of melted chocolate. Soon the chat will close, but before i go. i want to say thank you to all of you. you are such great people, and i am so happy to share this album with you. thank you for diving into it <3

thank you all for coming!!! will stay for 11 minutes more until the chat closes!!! JUST HAD TO SAY THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUUU

Q: What is the emotionally hardest song for you to sing from your new album?

A: i think Dance on the moon. x

Q: I seen in a fanwiki page that you like minecraft, DO YOU PLAY MINECRAFT???

A: i love it so much. i always play on creative mode though!!

Q: Do you intend to write a book someday? We would love to read it!🥚

A: i will, and i think its so nice that you are all interested in me doing so!

Q: The beat from apple tree has any inspiration from olodum ? (A Brazilian type of beat )

A: YES! and hip hop too. i felt it deserved a very alive and bad-*** groove.

Q: Have you dealt with anxiety and/or depression?

A: Yes i have. its a long time ago since i was depressed, its so strange how ******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************!!

Q: Are there any songs that almost didn’t make it to the album?👀🎶

A: actually daydreamer and dance on the moon just barely made it!!!

Q: what helped you get through the lows of your life?

A: making music. and giving myself time to heal. ive never felt guilty for being a bit out of ... tune with myself. being an emotional human being is hard, but at least you can always make yourself feel better by finding an outlet. or talking. or crying. just let yourself feel, dont escape from it. then suddently youll feel better one day.

Q: AURORA THE FATE OF THIS WORLD DEPENDS ON YOUR ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION!!!!!!! what is your favourite primate? is it the humble chimpanzee which would align with my favourite? or perhaps the solid orangutang. i am curious to see

A: haha this is so funny. i love the orangutang.

Q: You���ve talked sometimes about there are some things on the industry and big companies that you don’t like. How do you deal with it? How is your relationship with big production companies?

A: just remember to always follow my instinct. <3

and thank you for all the birthday wishes!!!!

Q: AURORA'S FANS ARE THE SWEETEST!! I LOVE YALL AND AURORA SO MUCH!! YOU MAKE THIS PLACE SUCH A SAFE PLACE TO SHARE, AND TO THE FANS TRYING TO PUT DANCE ON MOON ON NASA'S PLAYLIST, YALL ARE THE B ES T!!!!!!

A: I KNOW!!

Q: Aurora, Is Star wars still on you phone ring?

A: hahah yes!!

Q: Do you read the messages we write on instagram

A: yes <3

Q: Aurora your a inspiration and a safe place for a lot of LGBT+ that listen to your song, especially me, thanks for all the love you spread across the world

A: thank you so much! <3 sending you love. love love love love love

[credits for this recap!]

[immortalcockroach]

THE END IS JUST A BAD DREAM | BELLARKE, MODERN AU

Bellamy Blake has many bad habits, but his worst is falling for girls he can't have. 

At twenty-four, Bellamy’s life consists of bars, gigs, park benches and—if he’s lucky—friend’s couches. It’s been two years since his life shattered into pieces around him and he still hasn’t started picking them up. 

For two years, Bellamy’s been good. Good stops being enough when he meets Clarke, a girl whose life is in the process of shattering, and somehow the two of them collect their own pieces to help the other, and themselves in the process. 

For all it’s worth, Clarke is off limits – but it might be this time that his bad habit is truly stopping him from getting the glue that would finally mend his life.        

This was inspired by the Coen brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis. It’s an indie drama about a folk artist who has a horrible love life and is homeless and some elements are going to feature in this fic. If you’ve seen it, then you know exactly what kind of mood I’m going for with this fic.

Now, this is a mature fic. I’m fairly certain there will be no smut, but it’s mature as it’s dealing with topics such as homelessness, alcoholism, depression, PTSD, and abortion. These trigger warnings are spoilery, yes, but I want to make sure no one reading the fic is uncomfortable with these subjects.

Fret not, this isn’t an entirely dark fic, but these themes are important so I just needed to get that out there. I’m trying to approach this as seriously as possible. But I mean, Bellamy’s great with his guitar (he plays rock) and he’s definitely going to serenade Clarke at some point. (Spoiler: it’s in the very first chapter.)

So far, there’s only one chapter and since this fic is what I like to consider the most important thing I’ve written in my life, I’ll try to write some more before beginning to post it. Also, I’m currently looking for betas for this so if you read the first chapter and think this might be up your alley, message me.

Below the cut is an excerpt and all the lovely tagged people. 

THE END IS JUST A BAD DREAM

‘dirty fingernails, same as your mind, but he could strum the guitar just fine, every now and then he’d think about his life, daydreamin’ just to pass the time’

His fingers slide across the neck of the guitar, the tips hard and rough from a lifetime spent on the strings. They change positions and the chords like dancers, applying pressure in all the right places. The other hand strums the same strings with a black, leather guitar pick in a dazing rhythm. On the verses, the pick rests and his fingers slide between the strings, tugging at them in an elaborate, dark manner. His voice is hoarse, deep and lazy, captivating in the way it soaks in emotion during some parts, and is dry at others.

Shaggy hair and worn out clothes, he is just the type of person who plays at the pub, unnoticed by any of the guests. There is nothing memorable about him, from his week-old stubble and greasy hair, grey shirt with tiny holes throughout it and his leather jacket with as many patches as there are years behind him, to his decades-old guitar accompanied by his melodic voice that blends in with the chatter, as if arising from within the dark walls of the bar.

He finishes the set and few people clap. There’s beer already waiting for him at the bar and he sits down, watching as a kid in his late teens takes his spot, still a bright, nervous smile on his face. He greets the crowd, cheerfully, his face falling when hardly a head so much as turns in his direction.

The guy at the bar takes a sip of his beer, looking away from him when the kid begins his set, a dark smile creeping onto his lips. He slouches, both elbows on the wooden countertop, one hand laying on it with fingers tapping in the upbeat rhythm of the boy’s song, and the other holding a beer to his lips, never setting it down.

One of the boys who works here as an all-in-one approaches him with an almost empty tin. He takes it, throws all the money on the bar and gives the tin back to the boy, staring at the few coins without a word.

That barely amounts to twenty dollars, and that’s if he’s lucky. Five one-dollar bills, one fiver, and several dozen coins. He scoops it all up except for the fiver, sliding them into the one pocket of his jeans that doesn’t have a hole at the bottom. It clangs against his beat-up, five-years-old phone.

He listens to the people. Most of the chatter is incomprehensible from the distance and blends together, like white noise for his thoughts. Some things he can pick apart, though – the voices he’s heard in more than a dozen visits to the Bunker, gigs or not. They talk about shitty politics like the rednecks they are, or complain about the weather or politics upstate. They whine about their wives and bad beer and neighbours who shoot their rifles at odd hours in the night, and praise hunting.

Some of his songs, he picked up here. They are snippets of conversations between life-long friends, or a man whose mistress had just found out she’s the other woman. Occasionally, people come here after they have been broken up with, and he listens, creating songs about them inside his head.

By the time he finishes his beer, the kid is just taking a break in the middle of a set. It’s his first time, judging by the lack of blood in his face and his feet shaking as he stands beside him, asking for a glass of water.

The kid looks at him. “You were great.”

All he gets is an empty glass of beer raised in a toast.

“Bellamy,” says the girl behind a bar, in a tender voice. “You should get some rest.”

The bartender is leaning against the bar, looking at him with the curves of her lips turned upwards. Her smile reaches her eyes and the look makes him not let his eyes wander to her chest, which is showing the slightest bit of skin.

Her smile drops a little and there’s the slight wrinkle between her brows when she frowns, studying him. “If you need somewhere to—”

Before she can finish, he slides her the fiver.

He doesn’t wait for the change. The night outside the bar is cold and harsh, cold wind nipping at his nose already. He wraps his scarf around his lower part of the face and tucks his hands into the pockets, his guitar hanging off his shoulder in its case.

His pace is slow, prolonging the walk to the park for about three, four minutes. He’s humming to himself the songs he never plays, and his fingers strum inside his pockets. There’s an old Johnny Cash song that crosses his mind next and when he closes his eyes, his shaky lips flutter even more. His leg muscles ache and his feet are swollen so when he finally reaches the park, he props them up on a bench he’s sitting on.

It’s a quiet park. It’s even quieter now, at nearly midnight on a Tuesday, when most residents are asleep or in the comfort of their homes, if they aren’t drinking themselves senseless while people, like him, sing to them. Polis is not really big for a park, so from where he’s sitting, in the very heart of it, he can almost see its every edge. There are wooden benches scattered around the place and several sycamore trees planted in ideal spots for people to sit under them, or have the whole view of Arkadia.

Now, these benches are slowly being covered in a thin layer of snow, soon to turn the park into a winter wonderland.

A few benches from him sits a girl. She’s wearing a crimson set of a beanie, scarf, gloves, and a black coat, shielding her face from him. Her hands venture into her pocket and take out a paper tissue, which she uses to blow her nose – not in the way people do when they’re cold. He then notices it’s far from the only tissue around her.

He’s never known how to deal with crying girls who aren’t his sister. This one isn’t his problem, but he can’t help thinking if she’s here, crying on a Tuesday night, maybe she’s just alone as he is – even though her clothes tell him she’s not in the same situation as he is.

So he does the only thing he’s good at – he takes out his guitar and strums it.

For a while, his fingers are playing a song of their own. His mind is wandering and he doesn’t know what to play for her. He’s bad at covering songs and none of his own seem appropriate, so he lets his brain go to a different place.

He’s not worried about her. He doesn’t particularly care, either. It’s simply that he’s cold and playing the guitar is going to warm him up, and she gets a free show.

continue reading

i’m tagging people who might be interested (and i couldn’t tag everyone for whatever reason): @the-most-beautiful-broom @283livesforone @starrydilemma @ivegotyoufor-that @diyozaa @sunnyemori  @sjh-07-10 @kickthatassgirl @youve-got-a-big-heart @batdonthavenicknamecallmequinn @brooke-b23 @shadowheron2013 @octannibal-blake @clarkegriffintitties @divergentseagreengirl @isaweetdreamworld @veeshthefrog @halfbloodduchess @bella-my-blake @meh-g @megggggglmao @b3ach-waves @bellarke-stydia-olicity @forevery0ungggg @autumnessprime @aromanticcomedies @garfieldyke  @mommabeargriffin  @claire3534

[theparaminds]

It’s not as though Natalie Green knew what this year held in store or what would exist at the end of the road. Though, at every step of the way, he kept going. Embodied in both his music and his story of perseverance, is a rare example of an artistic soul that found peace where few would ever dream to look. It took months of learning and continued questioning of himself and what he wanted to be. But in the end, it resulted in a man anew.

With a new project taking shape in studio sessions that contrast his earlier life, Natalie Green is finding a voice he previously was nervous to share, speaking louder than before. The ideas, memoirs and anxieties he hopes to express have become clear. With every note, he continually finds himself as much as he does connect to those who battle the same confusions.

Natalie Green now stands with a new asset he hadn’t held prior, the ability to embark on the path he wants, not the one life throws him upon. He can stand and become the artist he visualizes, the artist he knows is essential to reveal to the world. For the first time in a while, Natalie Green is in control, with a steering wheel in hand and a road of possibility on the horizon.

Our first question as always, how’s your day going and how are you?

Things have been hectic, but good. Good busy you know? There are different kinds of busy and this one has been all positive.

On your last EP last year, it sounded like you weren’t fully at peace, do you find that you are now after a year of personal introspection?

Yeah for sure, when I was writing the EP, I was in a really terrible place physically, emotionally and mentally. It was a passion project when it came out, I didn’t have to think about it. Whereas now, I’ve got a place, I’m not just in my car anymore, I emotionally feel a lot more centered, I have my head on straight. I’ve found friends and people that I love to surround myself with. Everything’s been a thousand times better.

When you’re looking within this shift you’ve undertaken, where do you think you’ve personally grown the most, whether artistically or as an individual?

I think I’ve gotten more empathetic towards people. All people. As well, I feel more self-aware. What I realized when living in my car was that I didn’t know myself. Living in a house again with roommates made me, in a new way, learn more about myself, and where I needed to spend a lot of time mentally. As far as musically, I feel more confident, I think that’s apparent in my vocals and instrumentation, they’re far more personal in that sense.

With the new year in season, being a time of reflecting upon the past year, do you have any memories that stick out to you as positive through the difficult and turbulent times?

There’s a lot. I don’t know if there’s one specific moment, but definitely moving into the apartment. I also got to play a private show in my friend’s backyard for all my close friends. That was a big moment for me. There’s a lot of moments where I had friends reassure me, and believe in me when I wasn’t doing so myself. One of my best friends from back home came to live here a little while ago, that was really special to have him back. The whole tour with Roy, of course, was inspiring, to see him do all that and becoming closer to everyone I went on tour with will forever be in my memories.

With that tour, and even more so working on Cat Heaven, happening while you were working on your own projects, did they influence the way you approached your new work?

There are certain things I learn from other people I can implement in my own music later. There will be something I’ll figure out while I’m working with someone, be it a sound or a new style, I can kinda pull out later. A lot of it is just talking to others and learning their inspirations and how that reflects in their music. Then turning and comparing that to my own influences and seeing how I do the same. It’s all just inspiration.

To touch on that idea of inspiration, you’ve mentioned in the past how you have a wide range on influences in your life in terms on music, but in the last year, which artists have really been influencing the work you’re putting out?

There’s been a lot of really great artists I just got into this past year-ish, but a big one is Michelle Zauner, who’s the singer for Japanese Breakfast. I’m hugely inspired by her, the fact she directs her own music videos and does all her own creative output, it’s really amazing. I’ve also loved the movies of Michel Gondry and the writing of Charlie Kaufman, anything they work on is amazing and so intoxicating.

With this new album you’re ramping up to release, has there been a difference in approach to how you wrote songs and lyrics? And how does that process look like?

I mean it’s been different for almost every song, I tried to do the album the same way I did the EP, and it wasn’t working right. Every song I wrote just felt lacklustre or the same. So to change it up, I had to change my methods, like the first song I wrote, I did two guitar parts first and then I sang, then produced over. That is very different to the EP which was songs first then lyrics. There are certain songs where before I recorded, I had a guitar riff and just wrote the song in a very traditional way, just chords and singing. Maybe loops would be first at times, and then they’d be built off of. Everything has been different.

It’s interesting because it sounds like you’ve really been adding more to your skill set as an artist, would you say that if you had a tool belt of music, that you’ve been adding towards it in the last while?

Yeah, definitely. I’ve been doing that my whole life honestly. I started in bands, not knowing how to produce or anything, but I could play guitar and from then I learned the bass just to add of that. Then I learned production, and that is forever useful. Now I’m working more to be an artist and learn what that entails and requires. Every time I learn something new I really take that and hold onto it until needed.

If you could create your ideal music creation space, where would it be and how would it look like?

That’s interesting, It would really just need to be a secluded place. A place I could disappear and a place I could be as loud as I want as late as I want. No interruptions, all the equipment I needed. Some food, drinks and a bathroom, that’s all I need.

Over the year you’ve posted some concerts you went to, like Paramore in the summer. Are there other shows you saw live that really had an impact upon you and maybe changed the way you approach live shows yourself?

Well, of course, the tour with Roy, he’s been super inspiring in general and watching the man work is amazing. He has a lot of fantastic ideas and he goes through with them. I saw Daisy as well, and they’re so good live. Solange was also amazing with her stage design and her choreography. I also saw Soccer Mommy pretty recently, and it wasn’t too extravagant but it was so well done and exciting to see as a fan of the music.

When you’re on stage, even something like the backyard show you mentioned earlier, what’s the emotion you’re trying to achieve and what is the mindset that you find yourself within at that moment?

When I played that private show, I realized all my songs were pretty mellow and hard to dance or move to. All except for Beachwood didn’t translate very well. So with this new project, I want them to translate really well live, to feel energetic, to feel lively. The songs are just fun. But I keep that emotion in and make sure that I don’t lose what made the earlier work so special and important.

What’s been the overall message you’re trying to pursue this new work and what is it you’re hoping to convey?

I kinda just want to tell my story. Or a story of mine. If people learn things from that, its great, but I’m just saying what happened in my experience. What I realized is that there’s a lot of shitty things that happened to me in my life, but the truth is that things could be a lot worse, so far they’ve been pretty good for the most part. While I had those tough days, I’m still here kicking it.

I apologize if it’s a repeated question, but with the topic of your story, what’s the meaning behind the stage name you’ve taken upon yourself?

It is and it isn’t part of my story in a way. A big part of that choice was that I wanted to separate myself from my old name and work. I wanted this to be super new. The name is taken from two names of people I am very inspired by. And it also, to me, sounds like the quintessential hot girl from a high school, the girl in the coming of age movie they all go after.

If you had a message to artists out there who may find themselves in the same space as you have previously found yourself within, those who may feel as unsure, what would be your lesson to pass on?

I think it doesn’t matter if you’re as confident or as talented as you want to be, as long as you recognize what sounds good to you, just put out the song. It doesn’t matter if you think your voice was bad, just keep progressing as an artist. If you wait for that progression you’ll never put stuff out, you’ll never be happy. With whatever you have right now, just start putting something, anything, out.

Follow Natalie Green on Twitter and Instagram

Listen on Soundcloud and Spotify

All Photos by Guthrie King

[billys-hard-grove]

MUSIC THINGY <3

I was tagged by @billnsteve (thank you sooo much, i love this a lot. i can talk about  music all day long)

Put your music libraby on shuffle and put the first 10 songs that come on. So, okay, this is all the music that i have listened to in my 23 years of existence, so this can get embarrassing. sorry in advance.

Aaah, okay, this got long, because im rambling about every song, but youll find my music opinions under the cut :p

AND I TAG @benalras, @hoppnhorn, @lovelydacre, @digitaldevilqueen, @billyandsteve @harringrovehearted @harringroveismyguiltyship @galaximerboi @decxmpxsitixn @pretendimstraight  and i dont care if youve done it, because you know you can do this forever.

1. Underground Café - Di-rect Oooh, this was the VERY first band that i ever listened too, so that is a nice and symbolic start. Di-rect is a Dutch punk/pop band and this song is their old stuff where they were still nice and punk-y. It’s a very nostalgic sound to me and i love this song.

2. The Fisher King Blues - Frank Turner I love Frank Turner so fucking much, but ive never actually heard this song before (i just dumped his entire discography in my spotify list). But you know, all his songs are amazing and he is a lyrical genius, so its no surprise this is a good song as well. (oh shit, its like real good though. this man can do no wrong)

3. Nails for Breakfast, Tacks for Snacks - Panic at the Disco Hmm, i love patd, but i must confess that i like his new stuff a whole lot better. This has a bit of nostalgic value, but it doesnt do much for me.

4. They Don’t Know About Us - One Direction OH FUCK NO. this is where you find out about my secret obsession with boyband music. Im a sucker for the cheesy cliche lyrics and the catchy tunes.

5. Do I Wanna Know - Arctic Monkeys  I mean, i have never met a person who doesn’t like AM, its a fantastic album, this is a fantastic single. im quite excited for their upcoming new stuff actually.

6. Surrender - Billy Talent Aaaaah, sweet youth. I do still kinda like their sound though, its just so unique and nostalgic (i have used this word too much already) (but billy talent though) (the song is not like their best, buts its all right)

7. Sin With A Grin - Shinedown TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT AGONYYY!! Okay, i LOVE shinedown, they are amazing. Like, this is definitely not their best song, but it just gets my PUMPED. Shinedown is just pure energy and the occasional fucking beautiful ballad. Someone did a Billy edit with It All Adds Up from them and it was glorious. It is very much a Billy-band. THANK YOU FOR REMINDING ME OF WHYY I AM SICK INSIDE 

8. Spotify Commercial

8. I Wish You Would - Taylor Swift Ok, so im eternally conflicted about Taylor Swift as a person, but this album was good. It taps into my sappy pop heart. (is her new album any good? anyone? cuz i heard the album wasnt as bad as her singles, but i dunno? im not gonna listen to it probably, but i am curious)

9. Cyanide Sweet Tooth Suicide - Shinedown BLACK LIPS - PALE EYES - CYANICE SWEET TOOTH SUICIDE !! Everything that goes for Sin with a Grin, goes for this. It’s just.. it gets my hyped and its goood shit, this is from the same album actually, Sound of Madness (fucking phenomenal) (but also. their newer stuff man. its good)

10. Everybody Knows You Cried Last Night - The Fratellis Aaaaah, classic. Good song. Ive only ever listened to 3 songs by The Fratellies though. Theyre all good though, maybe i should listen to more.

Okay, i love this. I dont think anyone will care actually, but i love talking about music. Im very much a festival-person as well. Ive actually seen all of these artists live except for the guilty pleasures (1d and taytay). (i mean, its not guilty actually. i do love it) (this list of 10 songs could have been WAY more embarrassing tbh)

Thank you for listening. I love rambling about music. This is me trying my very best to keep in short actually :p

[franeridart]

Every time I see your art of a rare pair I somehow become a huge fan of that rare pair. I have too many otps...,

...is it okay for me to be happy I’m dragging you down with me on all of my weird ships because tbh I am for a lot of them there’s just a handful of people shipping them I’m happy you’re joining us hahaha

Anon said:because of your tags on that kamisero post i now love the hc that kirishima just uses loving bakugou as an excuse to get out of conversations that make him uncomfortable, even if it makes no sense. Like 'any advice on how to confess?' 'I'm dating bakugou, you probably should ask someone else.' or 'how do you think snow works?' 'Dude I'm dating bakugou, i don't know.'

I’m in love with this ask because this has been my most ridiculous headcanon for an age I’m glad I could subtely make you share it, anon - Kirishima being perfectly aware of the fact that aside from the face there is no objective reason why he should be that smitten with Bakugou? That’s my jam, he’s as surprised as anyone else so when people ask him anything love related he’s like “do I look like a reliable source man DO I I think it’s hot when Bakugou yells there’s obviously something wrong with me you don’t want my advices”

But also for however aware of it he might be he’s still in love with the dude so people pointing it out to him gets old really fast, like, “it’s one thing if I say it myself and another it’s you talking shit about my boyfriend stop that”, which is why he just starts using “what do I know I like Bakugou” as an answer to anything - it starts with him being a smartass and it becomes just habit by the end of it, sometimes he uses it when Bakugou is around or with Bakugou himself and Bakugou doesn’t understand, doesn’t want to understand, has pondered the option of getting angry/offended/demanding an explaination and has deemed it not worth his time because the answer is most probably just gonna be that his boyfriend is an idiot anyway

(also he might or might not like how Kirishima’s pretty much just going around telling people he likes him over and over again, tbh)

Anon said:Any tips on how to be creative with ship week prompts? I'm wanting to participate in klance week but I'm worried my pics will come out really basic and yours are always so unique!

Thank you for the compliment!!!! And actually this is an hard question, cause as I already mentioned once what I draw is the first thing with a beginning and an ending I can come up with, so I can’t say I put too much focus on making it unique? But there are two things I can tell you! 

The first, is that whatever idea your prompt ends up giving you, for however boring and basic it might seem to you, I assure you 100% that it won’t be to whomever ends up consuming your content - that’s because even a “boring” trope will be completely new as long as it comes from the hands of someone new who’s giving it their own interpretation of it (take for example the nightmares prompt for the latest krbk week, a lot of people - myself included - took it literally and wrote about them having and talking about nightmares, but I enjoyed every and each of the fills a lot because even if the starting point was the same they were all very very different stories) and also any idea you get easily will seem boring to you by default, because you didn’t think about it hard enough, right? It must be the obvious thing to think about when you read that prompt, right? Everyone else must have thought the same, right? Only it isn’t right, because every brain works differently and creativity sparks from the most ridiculous things, so your idea might seem very obvious and boring to you, but completely new to someone else! You don’t know how many of my own fills felt incredibly trite as I drew them, and yet here you are telling me you don’t feel the same at all haha

The second thing is that generally I found that creativity is... how do I put it, it’s kind of like a muscle. The more you exercise it the easier it will come to you using it, or at least that’s how it works for me - being creative isn’t really something you can force on the spot, but it’s definitely something you can learn and get used to, in my opinion. There are a few ways to exercise it, but the easier one for me is playing around with prompts - how many different ideas can I get from this same set of words? what kind of story can I pull out of this song/picture? Those are the most basic ones, but there’s also reading/watching a story and trying to adapt it to your own chosen characters, fit together more than one universe to try and pull out something sensible, seeing something in the middle of the road and thinking “that’s a prompt, I can use that as a prompt”. After a while, everything becomes a potential prompt, and your brain automatically goes through a short “can I use that to create something else?” check every time you experience something new, and stores it somewhere to use in the future if it seems potentially worth keeping, if you’re used to doing so. And the more little prompts and informations and facts you have stored around in your brain, the more you can subconsciously pick them up to add to new ones to make something creative

That second part is definitely a bit useless as a short term advice, considering your week is starting soon and exercising your creativity does take a while, but I hope you’ll give the week a go anyway! Both because I’m sure you’re already way more creative than you’re assuming you are, and because making creative stuff is the fastest way to becoming more creative, really!

Anon said:I LOVE UR DRAWING OF KIRIBAKU U MAKE ME FEEL ALIVE. THANKYOU SO MUCH FOR BEING PART OF THIS FANDOM, WE ARE SO LUCKY! I ALSO LOVE HOW U HUMOUR AND MAKE IT SO SWEET AND CUTE ANNDD SOFFFTT T_T

BOI thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *O* I’m glad you like my stuff??? There are so many super talented artists in this fandom, sitting with them sometimes can get intimidating haha so this really means a lot!! Thank you!!!

Anon said:Wow can u believe......ur my fave artist......ur Kiris are my fave ily

F ave !!!!!!! holy h e c k !!!! thank you!!!!!!!!!!! Do I deserve such praise I’m really not sure am I gonna keep it anyway yes, yes I am, I’ll keep on thinking about this ask forever oh my go d

Anon said:Who usually tops in Bakushima?•//////•

Ohhh man, a question I can’t answer - both because I don’t dwell much into sexy headcanons territory AND because I’m honestly not a fan of that dicotomy at all? I never settle on anything in that sense for any of my ships, but Baku and Kiri especially make no sense settled in that kind of roles, for me, they probably just go at it however they feel like it’d be best atm haha

Anon said:I never expected to ship bakushimanari and yet here i am, three hours after scrolling through your tag for the third time, crying over every single interaction between the three of them in the manga. (I think my favourite thing about them is that both Kaminari and Bakugou can be little shits but then there's kirishima, who's an unrepentant sunshine, and it's just like. What a terrifying trio. I pity any villains they face).

I know right they’re such a good ot3 !!!!!! though let’s not take anything from Kiri, when he’s with the squad he can be a shit too, it’s magnificent - I do love the fact that we know from the canon that both Kaminari and Bakugou don’t sympathize with the enemy at all and don’t hold back on fighting verbally either, while Kirishima is all “stop running away and let me give you a life lesson” though ??? And the fact that Bakugou and Kaminari can’t coexist without talking shit about each other at least a little makes it all even more entertaining to me, considering how on the other hand even though Kirishima doesn’t hold back from pointing out when Bakugou’s being ridiculous he’s still always all about support and trying to better the others??? It’s like, when you read it like this they seem like a mess, and they are but they’re a balanced mess it’s incredible I love them I need more of them all together

Anon said:Saw Tokoyami, fell, and now I can't get up ))':

Anon said: Hello I just wanted to express my thanks to you for the bakugou and tokoyami interactions you drew. I love them as friends and it's pretty rarely portrayed so THANKS~

Anon said: Listen as much as i love the ot3 i am so happy you drew my bird son (and tape son! tho i think youve drawn sero more often than tokoyami)

!!!!!!!!! you all sure love the bird child a lot, don’t you!!! That’s great because I do too, he’s one of my most faves tbh and I officially made him part of the squad so you can expect more to come - I had drawn him already before, though! With Tsu and Kiri mostly, never with Baku... Sero on the other hand is in a whole damn lot of my squad/kiribaku/bakushimanari drawings so yeah, I’ve definitely drawn him more often haha what can I do man I love him too much he’s a Good™

[brettdeadly]

AN INTERVIEW WITH VIC AUGUST

Firstly thank you for taking the time to be interviewed with clout culture magazine lets start with your introduction. Could you please tell our readers who you are and what it is that you do?

Thanks for interviewing me! I go by the name of Vic August and I’m a 17 year old rapper, singer, and songwriter from Western Australia. I was born in Albany then moved to Perth and stayed there for a nice decade, then started moving around the country with my parents and taught myself everything I needed to know about music whilst on road. I just signed with WVS/ onelove earlier this year and have been working 100x harder on my music for my fans.

  Such a well traveled and talented individual

Congrats on getting signed too that’s a massive accomplishment we’ll definitely come back to that in a sec. How’d you first get into music and teach yourself the ropes?

My personal relationship with music spans languages and genres; my dad is a proud Punjabi and loves to blare bhangra every opportunity he gets, and my mum is much more into the more Westernised sounds coming out of the East Indies; namely the modern Bollywood side of music as well as a handful of Bob Marley, Rihanna, and Michael Buble. I grew up listening to whatever my parents were into, which subconsciously impacted my melody selection and shaped my voice into what it is.

In school I was never really into music classes like that, I’d just pass them for the sake of not failing and never really learnt anything. It was around this time in 2013 when I was introduced to battle raps between kids in grades 7 & 9, which piqued my interest in Hip-Hop.

It was a couple of years after this that I had found out one of my friends from this period – who was into rapping – had unfortunately passed away, and this made me realise how precious life really is and quickly things can go left. Dealing with the loss of a friend at a young age I feel like you’re extra sensitive to everything, in my case I dealt with what I was going through by writing about it. I’ve been writing verses and stuff since I was like 7 but it was around this time I started honing my story-telling.

From that point forward it was all about me finding a way to make money to buy a MacBook and a microphone, then once I did that I bought Logic Pro X and taught myself how to produce, record, and mix. Here we are now

  A lot of events and genres shaped your music, sorry to hear about your friend. you talked about how this helped to shape your story telling just like turning coal into diamonds youve turned your pain into art for your ears, what advice would you give to someone who may be going through tough times as well?

More than anything I feel like it’s very important to grieve, don’t try to hold anything back and learn about the 7 stages of grief, you’ll feel a lot more prepared navigating through it. This may seem like a simple thing but some people I knew at the time didn’t do this and dealt with everything going on by trying to numb their pain instead of trying to heal it.

  That’s such valuable advice. You talked about how you taught yourself to produce, record, mix and write what’s your favourite part of making music?

Oh man definitely recording and mixing, I can’t decide my fav between the two tbh. I love having no barriers or no limits when I record, whatever I say, I say. Then of course playing with my vocals or any guest vocals and bringing out the best of them is a really cool process that takes you into the world of the song and you get to actually feel the atmosphere you’ve created as a vocalist whilst engineering your sound.

  All that hard work and musical engineering is definitely paying off your music has been breaking into the top 50 viral charts and being featured in Spotifys A1 hip hop playlist along with many others. How does it feel to now be recognized on an international level?

Amazing is a massive understatement, it’s crazy to get that type of recognition and see the music grow everyday. I have a great team that keeps me grounded, I’m not the type of person to hit a level like this and get complacent. Still spend every night recording until I pass out, if anything seeing how far the music can go has made me want to work 300x harder and feed the streets & sheets as much as I can.

  All of those qualities are so important and definitely amounting to a lot of success you’re even getting recognized by labels now. How’d it go about that you got signed? Especially at such a young age thats another huge achievement.

So basically I was sending demo’s to WVS for about 6 months before I got selected by the public in the Wildcard section of their Next Gen initiative.

When I was in Melbourne earlier this year for it I had a meeting with the label manager Mat Cant and we were just chatting about music and life and all that. At this time I had MIA, Fallback, and Sideways recorded and sitting on my hard drive but I had no idea they would end up on Glass House 2, or even that I would be making Glass House 2 so close to the first.

Anyway during our meeting one of the things Mat had mentioned to me was that he was interested in offering me a one-track deal, and if things went well from the single it would move on into a slightly longer term type situation.

About a week or so after I had came home from Melbourne I had recorded and mixed about 85% of Glass House 2 and sent Mat a private link to what I had. He replied to me saying something along the lines of “I’m keen to put this whole thing out for you” and the rest was history.

And yeah I believe I’m the youngest artist to ever be on WVS’ roster. Now that I think about it I think I’m youngest artist to ever get his own Spotify Playlist Cover too, shoutout Mellow Styles.

  Wow this is only the beginning and that’s already looking bright. What plans/goals do you have for your music in the future?

When I started making music I had the intention of helping people go through life if that makes sense, like talk about things I’ve gone through and make them relateable and things like that.

When I was performing my set at Next Gen I saw a different side of music, I’d never been to a live show of any kind before that point, so my first experience with one was being a performer on stage. For those 15 minutes I was up there, everyone in the audience came together regardless of race, colour, or creed and enjoyed one of the things they had in common; my music. From that day forward I saw music as a tool of unity, in times like these I feel like bringing moments like those to both my fans as well as the people of the world who may not be familiar with me is very important.

I’m very open in my music and make sure I’m always offering a piece of me with every cut, if it costs my vulnerability to bring together a community of people with golden hearts and warm intentions so be it.

I’ll be doing a lot more live shows next year especially in and around Melbourne, really excited to see how they turn out. I may or may not have a project in the works right now as well :0 … I don’t wanna say too much about the sonic aspect of it but it’s a big step forward from the Glass House Mixtapes and it’s a lot more playful and catchy this time round rather than narrative driven like GH2.

  Those would of been amazing experiences especially seeing the power of music. Would you ever consider going on tour in the future and if so who would be your dream line up to go on tour with you?

Oh my days, Figuero and I chat about a national tour all the time! Hopefully we’ll manage to pull it off sometime next year. Since Fig’s already on the hypothetical tour I’d love to bring the Bay City Boys on tour with us, Manny Lado, Lordholani, and Yung Juiceboxx really have some of the craziest performances I’ve ever seen and I think putting everyone on one stage and having the performances back to back would be an amazing experience for the fans.

  That’d be a dope line up. Do you have any dream music collaborations?

I’d love to work with Mike Dean, Travis Scott, Charlie Puth, Chantel Jeffries, Tory Lanez and Charli XCX to name a few.

  Those are gonna be some bangers! Here’s a serious one so get prepared, which emojis describe you atm?

shi uh

  If your life was a movie/tv show what would it be?

I don’t really watch movies or tv like that but I’m gonna say The Simpson’s, Bart was my guy

  Ah yes the Simpson’s is a classic what’s your fave album?

Astroworld

Actually nah Swaecation is probably my fav album this year

Astroworld is up there with it tho

  They’re both bomb! Do your favourites influence the way you make music/the vibe you try to create?

Most definitely, I love being able to incorporate different sounds from all my fav artists and put them all in one track with my twist on it. I feel like one of the best parts of creating music is being inspired by one of your fav songs and then working off that to create your own vibe.

  Do you have a certain vibe you try to create or is different for each song?

Depends on how I feel, usually I find a beat that matches my current mood and let the beat speak to me as far as melodies and stuff. I have a consistent vocal mix across all my tracks, that’s my own sound that remains the same regardless of the genre or style of music I’m making.

  Yea i love your sound its very melodic. What’s your greatest accomplishment so far?

I was chatting to Mag about this a couple days ago, back when I was a child I used to dream of having one song of my own that I’d listen to for hours, now I have thousands that are the soundtracks of both my short and long drives.

It’s crazy what you can accomplish if your heart, mind, and soul is invested. Along the road I’ve received messages from both national and international fans telling me my music helped them get through a difficult period of their life, and they really felt what I was talking about.

I value being able to touch hearts and having a positive impact on people more than anything else, I feel like being able to do so with an increasingly powerful fanbase is – and will always be – my greatest accomplishment.

    You’re a real one that’s really heartwarming. Does that motivate you to keep accomplishing things and what else motivates you?

Definitely, I’m all about the long-run. Ever since I started making music I’ve been insanely motivated to keep going, at this point it’s a fire so big I don’t even know exactly where it started, all I know is this is it for me.

I wanna go down as one of the greats and having an average work-rate is the best way to not get me there. I just wanna keep going and keep pushing and pushing until the boundary is so stretched out it snaps.

  Such good things to keep you motivated, what obstacles have you had to overcome in both music and life?

Overcoming self-doubt in my early days, killing my ego, learning how to forgive instead of holding grudges, just basically learning how the universe works and how to manoeuvre in it best I can.

  Those are all such valuable things to learn. What advice would you give your younger self?

Never take advice

  I feel like there’s a bit of a story behind that, why would you give your younger self that advice?

It takes a tremendous amount of self belief to be someone in this industry, a lot of people along the way will try to project their insecurities or their boundaries on you and try to taint your thoughts.

It’s always the people who don’t do shit/ haven’t accomplished shit that have the most advice to give. Live life on your own terms, not anyone else’s.

Music in particular is something that I believe you need to navigate through on your own, as far as learning how to create. When you treat it too strategically or your process is too routine that’s when it starts fuckin up.

  Wow those truly are wise words to live by. Last and maybe the most important question what links can we find your music at?

Search Vic August on your favourite streaming service and I’ll be right there :)). All links to my socials/ Spotify & Apple Music profiles are available from my SoundCloud page at: https://ift.tt/2vxtgls

  Sweet as thank you

as we wrap this up is there anything else you would like to add?

shoutout all my fans I fuckin love u

  & shoutouts to you too thank you so much for being interviewed by Clout Culture Magazine, it’s been dope getting into the mind of Vic August. It’s exciting to see what the future holds for you no doubt it’s gonna be a lot of big things. All the best

My pleasure

  Check out Vic August’s music here including tracks featuring Famous Dex and many more

https://wvs.lnk.to/bandit

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Here’s why The CW’s ‘Riverdale’ isn’t just ‘Dark Archie’

Pictured (L-R): KJ Apa as Archie, Camila Mendes as Veronica and Lili Reinhart as Betty in ‘Riverdale’

Image: Katie Yu/The CW

When Luke Perry was growing up in small town Ohio, sharing a tiny bedroom in a trailer with his brother, he took sanctuary with a stack of comic books piled high in his closet. Hed pull issues from his stash and read them diligently by flashlight, and amid the many superheroes and sci-fi epics there was another favorite a staple of the medium since debuting in 1941: the quaint, relatable, all-American adventures of teenager Archie Andrews and his high school pals, rivals and crushes, set in the idyllic town of Riverdale, U.S.A.

Today, Perry no stranger to series centered around iconic locales, thanks to his stint on Beverly Hills 90210 is among the cast of Riverdale, The CWs ambitious and decidedly edgier take on the 75-year-old comic book series.

Veering away from the wholesome vibe that many associate with classic Archie, the drama adds a Twin Peaks-inspired aura of mystery, danger and controversy to the small town proceedings.

For instance, in the pilot episode, our redheaded, freckle-faced hero, played by New Zealander K.J. Apa, indulges in a steamy backseat tryst with his teacher Miss Grundy reimagined from the comics silver-haired spinster into the much younger, more curvaceous form of actress Sarah Habel. Not only that the site of their forbidden dalliance soon puts them in uncomfortable proximity to the season’s unfolding murder mystery.

I was the biggest skeptic, Perry admits to Mashable of the more adult take on the Archie gang. I said, Im the guy youve got to convince. I grew up reading Archie I am that guy. So show me what is different about this. And they did.

KJ Apa as Archie and Luke Perry as Fred

Image: Diyah Pera/The CW

“They�� are the production team led by writer-producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, an accomplished playwright and veteran scripter of popular television series including Glee and Big Love, whos also enjoyed an acclaimed second career in the comic book industry.

A stint at Marvel Comics writing top-tier characters including the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man ultimately led Aguirre-Sacasa to an opportunity to write the 2013 comic book miniseries Afterlife with Archie. The endeavor represented a bold step for publisher Archie Comics in which the company combined their longtime characters with a zombie apocalypse narrative drawn by emerging fan-favorite artist Franco Francavilla.

It is a five-year-old Robertos dream come true, Aguirre-Sacasa tells Mashable. Ive always loved the characters. I read them from when I was a kid.

Like Perry, the writer was among a second generation of Archie devotees that discovered the now-iconic characters Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica and Reggie, as well as spin-off headliners like Josie and the Pussycats and Sabrina the Teenage Witch over a quarter century after they first debuted.

Ashleigh Murray as Josie

Image: Katie Yu/The CW

In 1941 a few years after rival publisher DC Comics had launched the superhero genre with Superman MLJ Comics had been riding that pop culture wave with their own powered-up characters, including the patriotic, pre-Captain America hero The Shield.

But publisher John L. Goldwater was looking for a new comic book genre that would feel fresh yet familiar. Hoping to capitalize on the popularity of the wholesome, funny, relatable teen antics of MGMs Andy Hardy screen franchise, starring a young Mickey Rooney, he gave over a six-page portion of the twenty-second issue of an established title, Pep Comics, to the earliest incarnation of the Archie gang.

Though not even mentioned on the cover of its debut issue, the Archie feature, originally written by Vic Bloome and drawn by Bob Montana, was quickly established as the hottest and much imitated new genre in comics, so popular that within a few years MLJ formally changed the books name to Archie Comics, and Archie himself appeared on every cover from 1944 onward.

Over the decades, circulation soared to nearly 300,000 copies, and Archie-mania was born: Several of the ever-expanding Archie-verse characters headlined their own solo series; Dan DeCarlo, who moonlighted drawing sultry pin-up girls for pulp magazines, became the definitive Archie artist and developed the signature look of the comic; The Archies, a prefabricated pop group of anonymous studio musicians (packaged as Archies garage band) scored an enduringly popular hit song in 1969 with Sugar, Sugar; past issues were collected in conveniently miniature digests; progressive new minority characters were introduced into white-bread Riverdale; and the characters became widely commercialized, appearing on TV shirts, lunchboxes, Saturday morning cartoons and a hit primetime sitcom starring Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Although the Archie lines mainstream appeal would gradually wane to cult status among comics fans in the 1990s and 2000s, the characters would endure as iconic figures to multiple generations of readers.

Through it all, though the hairstyles, hemlines, hotrods and hi-jinx evolved, the Archie stories rarely wavered from their core conceit: the misadventures of an average American high-schooler pursued by a pair of beautiful, competitive girls, constantly vexed by his rivals and consoled with good humor by his offbeat, free-thinking best friend.

By 2010, more opportunities were arising to tap the ongoing goodwill toward the Riverdale mythos.

I love the characters. Id grown up reading the characters. I always kind of went back to the characters, says Aguirre-Sacasa. I always wanted to write them even when I started writing for Marvel Comics. I was exclusive to them for years. And in fact, I broke my exclusivity with Marvel because I had a chance to write an Archie comic, Archie Meets Glee, which was the first thing that I did for Archie, and that was a dream come true.

SEE ALSO: 9 shows to get excited about in 2017

Even as he was bringing the characters slightly outside of their traditional comfort zones, it was clear that Aguirre-Sacasa was simpatico with the essence of the Archie gang, and he quickly assumed greater custodianship of the characters, eventually being named Chief Creative Officer of Archie Comics, overseeing a critically and commercially successful re-launch of the core titles by top-tier comics creators. At the same time, he began shopping new and left-of-center takes on the properties to Hollywood.

I really want to help bring these characters to life in a way thats never really happened successfully, he says, explaining how he promised publisher Jon Goldwater, the son of the original Archie Comics head, that theyd have to create a slow build of heat on the publishing side before turning Hollywoods head.

Though theres always sort of heat on Archie, he adds. When they make a move and they get tons of press. I know that my friends at DC and Marvel were always like, Why do you get so much ink? People love the characters.

Afterlife With Archie, a surprise sensation in the comics world, demonstrated that after three-quarters of a century that the tried-and-true Archie format had more malleability than expected.

Image: archie comics

We were really nervous about putting the Archie characters in quite a hardcore horror story with a lot of gore, and violence, and some pretty wild ideas, says Aguirre-Sacasa. But we found out two things: one is that the characters could withstand that kind of caldron of stuff; and two, the fans loved it the fans loved seeing the characters they loved in different situations, and they were emotionally invested in what happened to the characters. They were sad when characters were eaten by zombies.

It of course has a little bit informed Riverdale, says the writer, who teamed with executive producer Greg Berlanti no stranger to successful comic-to-TV adaptations thanks to his success with DC Comics and The CWs interconnected superhero series, Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl and DCs Legends of Tomorrow to infuse a similarly shadowy sensibility into the television take.

When we start pushing at the boundaries, I think people get nervous, but I think when you see it, you see that its done with integrity, and care, and comes from a deep abiding love of these characters,” Aguirre-Sacasa says. “No one wants to protect them more than I do. But you do have to evolve them, and you do have to push boundaries, and you do have to be more than just a story with a joke at the end.

My pitch to Roberto was, Number one, we have to find a form where in this can work as a TV show, Berlanti tells Mashable. Number two, can whats beloved about Archie and intrinsic about Archie and the Americana-esque, period element of it translate to todays audience? Thats the challenge we have to at least be aware of [Id tell Roberto] it has to be as much of his personality as possible, because youre a show creator, and youre creating this thing, and theres so many elements of things you love: you love horror, you love comedy, you love irreverent stuff. It has to be as evocative of you and your personality, as Afterlife with Archie really was too.

As we moved along, he wrote a script that was terrific and had that magic thing, Berlanti adds. Im not sure I knew until I read his draft of the pilot script that we developed that it was a real TV show.

One misconception that is out there is that this is Dark Archie, this is dark, gritty Archie, and Rated R Archie, chuckles Aguirre-Sacasa. And in fact the show is a mix of light and dark. The show honors what is Archie, and then subverts it. For me, the sweet spot is the tension between Twin Peaks, and the tension between the 1950s sock hop Archie right in between that is where stories work on both levels. They work as good Archie stories, but they work as good noir, or mystery, or moody stories as well.

KJ Apa as Archie, Camila Mendes as Veronica, Cole Sprouse as Jughead, and Lili Reinhart as Betty

Image: Katie Yu/The CW

Roberto loves these characters, and I dont think anyones salacious to be salacious, Berlanti says of the elements that may sound eyebrow-raising to anyone who hasnt read Archie Comics in a while. That is not our goal. That being said, the show wants to deal in the tropes of these kinds of shows, and comment on those kind of things, and have that be a part of it. Im sure that wont be the first time we have a subject matter that makes people [take pause] – but I can say, in terms of our heart being in the right place, we dont start from that place of like, ‘this is going to get us some people to watch.’ We love these characters, and you dont want to assassinate them either.

Though the characters may be in dark, adult, morally-compromised, scary situations, the characters are still true to their essences, says Aguirre-Sacasa. Those characters are basically the characters they are in Archies Double Digest, just put in a crazy, messed-up situation. Theres trial and error, but I think thats where the show lives in the tension and the juxtaposition of those things.

I would say weve been met with guarded optimism, Perry who ultimately signed on to play Archies father, Fred Andrews says of the Archie fanbase. They dont want us to mess Archie up, but they do want to see it in a new way. They do want these characters to have a new life thats the sense Ive got. So were going to try to give them that without messing up the other.

Riverdale airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on The CW.

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