WILLIAM CARR: ARTIST ON THE WATCH

This is William.

William, tell us some more about how you got started in music.

I’ve been making music since I was 11 years old.

I didn’t understand how to produce my own music, so I used a handheld recorder to tape the songs I’d create.

I distinctly remember when I took my dad’s big tape recorder and decided to sing harmony parts on it.

And then use my handheld recorder to record myself adding parts with the big recorder.

And I’d tape more parts till I got this full chord of notes.

I think this moment made me want to get into music for the hell of it. 

By the time I was in my last year of high school, I’d see some friends pursue music as a career and so I followed.

In 2017, I put out a very raw EP entitled, “Highschool”.

It was horrible but the point was to express the vibe "Duke Ellington School of the Arts" gave me.

Graduating that same year, I went straight to Cali after being accepted into "Los Angeles College of Music".

I learned how to produce my own music and I met some pretty cool people.

I ended up releasing songs on my own since no one was really going to do the work for me.

The great thing is, I instantly fell in love with it. And I had people I looked up to who I want to be like.

You know, Prince, Michael Jackson and Take 6? The GOATs.

How would you describe your style/sound & how is it different?

I think for me, when you listen to “My Room”, “Black”, and “What’s It Worth to You”, I’d say you can think of the songs as “Progressive RnB” or some add-on of Neo Soul.

How I’d say my songs are different is I try new things all the time.

The only thing that makes the last song sound like the next one is probably my voice.

I also embrace my shortcomings. I’m not a great singer. I’m an okay producer but I’m honest.

And that’s what I feel being an artist in 2020 is all about.

You can quite literally release sound-waves and someone will say “I understand him completely”. 

Am I pitchy sometimes, yes.

Do I change up a lot, yes.

But, I also love harmony parts and trying new things in music as a whole.

My mission in music is to be a multi instrumental, genre blending artist who wants to promote peace, love and perspective.

We love your vibe! What would you say to aspiring artists who look up to your work?

If you’re an artist right now, stay true to you.

In the music business, they’ll tell you all these things that will discourage you if you don’t even know yourself as an artist.

They’ll tell you that you have to have a genre to fit in because that avenue will make room for you.

They’ll say you can be yourself and make the crazy stuff you’ve always wanted once you have the fans.

In part, it’s true. Algorithms work in a way that promotes and grows artists in a specific genre.

But when I asked “What happens when your fans leave because the honest image you now project to them seems like the biggest lie”, no one has a real answer.

I got another question. What happens when you finally get to say what you want and your label drops you?

What happens when you just give up because you’ve been waiting too long?

The truth is, you lose the soul you walked in with. For me, I just can’t see that being anyone’s dream.

I want you to know the songs I make are for the ones who love honesty.

They have to know that what I plan on doing with my music is to show people who look like me, or even just feel like me, that you can be honest and change the world this way.

It’s true at least for now.

Do you have anything new or upcoming we can expect to see from you?

Yes! I’m releasing a couple of projects very soon.

“Black: Pain” comes out July 17th, 2020, and “Black: Love” comes out this summer, as well.

These two projects are about my take on the feelings we experience being black in America.

In fact, it’s what my “Black” series is about.

I make songs based on how I want the listener to feel at the moment.

And I want them to understand with these upcoming projects that being black isn’t superficial.

We aren’t thieves but we’re not all just royalty either. We’re human.

And that’s what white America doesn’t want to acknowledge.

The way they profit off of us, make and enforce the law against us is why I feel they don’t truly respect us.

They don’t respect people of color as well. And that idea seeps into our own culture.

And I don’t know when things will change. That’s one reason to expect the projects to be conversation starters.

I'm in no way, shape, or form the answer to Black America. I don’t want to be perceived as such.

I only want to get the ball rolling in directions.

“Black: Pain” will have you feeling angst, grit, and just dark energy altogether.

It’ll bring in reasons I can feel “Provoked” by a white person who hates my identity. 

And it can show you how “Toxic” I can be for disregarding someone who’s black and trans.

Expect “Black: Love” to embody just that; Love.

There’s love you want to feel and love you don’t want to witness.

There’s love that comes in the form of a talk while another form is taken as a sacrifice to save your life.

Love is deep but it’s honesty too. I hope you listen to my music and you get that. 

Follow William:

• Instagram: @OfficialWilliamcarr

• Spotify: William Carr

• Itunes: William Carr

• Apple Music: William Car

• YouTube: William Carr Music