Interview: Chuck Smith Talks About His Song "Shoulder Shrugs", Off His New Album "CHUCK"
Salute to you on the release of your track "Shoulder Shrugs", which appears on your latest project "CHUCK". Tell us about your creative process for this song, and the album overall.
My creative process for this song was strange. We were coming up on month 5 of making the album and we needed to start finishing things up. My producer YoungLyn and I just wanted to create something new, and he began to play the begging chords of “Shoulder Shrugs”. I Instantly told him to get that down and we began to create the beat. As he was creating the beat I was just singing some melodies and it became the “Shoulder Shrugs” chorus.
What’s cool about the album is every song came about a different way. We had different ways of creating each song. Sometimes I would have lyrics already pre written and they would fit perfectly on one of YoungLyns beats. Sometimes I would write lyrics off the spot for certain songs. It’s all very different depending on what mood and mind space I was in at the time.
Will you be releasing a music video for "Shoulder Shrugs", or any other of the tracks on the album?
I will be releasing a music video for my song called “Demon Dance” off of “CHUCK”. And I have a new video that I am currently shooting for a new song “Who We Are”, which is dropping soon.
How would you compare "CHUCK" to your first album "My Own Little World", from a sonic and thematic standpoint?
I would say that “CHUCK” is more of a personal album. It deals with the struggles that I have been going through over the past couple years. I wanted to create something that left the listeners feeling like they knew who I was and that they could relate to the types of things I went through. Whereas “My Own Little World” (MOLW) is an album that has a space exploration theme and even the sounds used on the album gives it a futuristic spacey theme.
MOLW was a fun album and it’s one big metaphor really. Space is the end goal. Space = Fame and I am trapped in my own little world trying to get my music to the masses. This path has always felt like a mission and I wanted to create almost a comic for this journey, and that was “My Own Little World”.
If you had to describe your music to a stranger in three words, which ones would you select?
My music is Fresh, Energetic, and Original.
With "Shoulder Shrugs" now released, what are some of your goals musically for the remainder of 2021?
For the remainder of 2021, I am going to be working on my next album! I will be dropping a couple music videos on my YouTube soon, and I will continue to keep pumping out content for my fans!
Stream and Share “CHUCK” on: Spotify | Apple Music