Interview: New York Rap Artist ChrisCVine Discusses His "Knew It" Music Video
/
“...finding places and music that bring me closer to me and fit the person I am, have helped inspire me to achieve more of my goals and have kept me focused on what I love doing most, making music. ”
What are some things, people and places that inspire your creativity when working on new music?
Inspiration, obsession, whatever you want to call it, anyone who knows me could tell you that the desert, Lil Peep, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Migos, and the former app “Vine” are my life.
I first discovered my love for the desert on a frequent “father/son” trip to Las Vegas in 2017 ( ironically). It was a place where I felt like I could actually take a full deep breath. It instantly cleared my mind of unwanted thoughts. It’s just you and your surroundings.
I later found a similar feeling of relief in Los Angeles. Making those two places KEY ingredients for my inspiration. To add to the relief, I would always be listening to the late, unforgettable Lil Peep. Finally, finding places and music that bring me closer to me and fit the person I am, have helped inspire me to achieve more of my goals and have kept me focused on what I love doing most, making music.
Tell us about what you look for in production when writing new music.
I am ALWAYS looking for new sounds, flows, melodies, and ideas. I am always pushing myself out of my comfort zone in terms of sounds.
I always ask myself, “What could I do differently this time that has never been done?” or “What could I do differently that I’ve never done before?”. I often find my best work to be freestyles as mentioned earlier but I’ll write occasionally when I have a topic or if I’m in the vibe.
Congratulations on the release of the clip for your song "Knew It"; what inspired you to write it and how did you end up selecting the instrumental by ThatBossEvan?
Thank you! “Knew It” was actually rather spontaneous. I was sitting in the car with a friend of mine and we were browsing different beats off YouTube and freestyling to them. As I usually find my best work to be through freestyles, I hardly have something recording due to it being in the moment. Luckily that wasn’t the case for “Knew It”.
We had a phone recording and before you know it I was singing “I swear I knew it from the start”. Because it was a freestyle, the words and melody weren’t exact but when I first heard the recording back I knew this was something I wanted to pursue as soon as possible, so 2 hours before my studio session (the next day) I listened back making minor corrections and adding new flows.
This song is my favorite piece of work because it is the first of its kind for me and it is really heartfelt. This melodic sound is something I’ve been aiming for over the past couple years but to finally achieve it in such a unique, personal way really made it hit home.
Regarding the video itself, what stuck out to you about the city of Montreal and who was your leading lady?
The whole concept from freestyle-filming was about a week process. I happened to be taking a trip to Montreal the following week and being there before, I knew it was the perfect city for the video of this song. The snow, “Notre-Dame Basilica'', as well as the areas surrounding the “Old Port” in Montreal specifically really stood out to me due to the elegant, gothic vibe to it. The roads are cobblestone with unique street signs and lots of history behind it all. That vibe definitely stood out to me and I felt like it fit my song perfectly. The scenes in front of the “Notre-Dame Basilica” stood out to me a lot because that church is so big and beautiful. It’s a location I did NOT want to miss.
Arielle (“leading lady”) played a HUGE role in this video, because of her natural aesthetic. I felt she definitely helped complete the story. The original idea was a story. Arielle to be “brushing me off” as I was attempting to reach out to her, but I didn’t really find that “story” to be fully fitted with the idea of the song “Knew It.”
Instead, it was replaced with poses and a more elegant, natural vibe to it, which I am much more happy about. With less than a week's notice, I was able to meet an amazing production team to work with (Cinemagi Productions) (www.cinemagiproductions.com), as well as Arielle Villandré (@Arielle.Villandre) to accompany me in the visuals.
Everything happened very spontaneously and on such short notice, but even with the cold weather and occasional snowfall, I had such a great time working with everyone and could not have been more pleased with the outcome.
What can you tell us about your upcoming EP that you will be dropping soon? From a thematic and sonic standpoint, what can we expect from it?
My upcoming EP titled “2017” is a look back at a time where I was very pleased and satisfied with my life (even though I am in a much better position now). I was 16 years old in 2017, just starting to release my music and my emotions to the public. I just discovered this new sound of music that I could really relate to. It put me in a very calm state of mind. Artists like, “6 Dogs” and “Lil Peep” to name some.
I was recording most of my music on Garageband at home with very limited tools or knowledge. I was releasing anything regardless of the quality. However, as an artist, there is nothing wrong with that, if that’s what you like. I got my point through, I released my emotions… next…. Fast forward 3 years, quality is very important to me because it completes my “story” but I’ve been stuck inside during this pandemic making studio sessions a bit complicated.
Having all of these built up emotions and thoughts and nowhere to release it was an issue so I decided to make the best of it by learning new techniques and software and the outcome was VERY impressive. Pretty much I am using the inspiration I had, as well as artists and producers that I listened to in 2017 and combining it with the advancement, maturity, and person I am today and the knowledge I have today, as well as the story I have to tell. I am more than excited to have the opportunity to work with a number of artists that picked me up and inspired me.
My first single from the EP titled “In My Pocket” was just released on Soundcloud featuring Lil Hawk Boy, produced by gotgash and being able to work with them was so inspiring and personal as gotgash produced a number of the songs I discovered in 2017 and Lil Hawk Boy being an artist that I really looked up to. 2017 is my most heartfelt work and will really help shape the future for my upcoming sounds and ideas.
Instead of each single telling the story, the tape as a whole tells the story and this is my first body of work I’ve achieved. This EP is my most personal, meaningful, work to me so far and I cannot wait to release it however I am taking my time because I want it to be the best it could be!
Connect with ChrisCVine: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook