Performing today at LOVE FROM HOME FEST, music artist PAPERWATER, is set to make their debut on NAKID but first we wanted to sit down with them for a short interview and feature a new track ‘LIPSTICK’! Check him out LIVE! today playing 7:45 – 8:30 PM EST / 4:45 – 5:30 PM PST!
STREAM DAY 2 – LOVE FROM HOME FEST – CLICK HERE!
INTERVIEW:
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your story. How did your background and culture shape you and what creative expression means to you and why?
Paperwater is the byproduct of two talented aspiring artists with a shared passion. Comprised of longtime friends and fellow producers Eddy Samy and Daygee Kwia. Being of African and Caribbean descent respectively has shaped our creative expression tremendously, in the ways we speak with one another, to the music our parents were playing on sunday afternoons. The art that I am inspired by and aspire to create definitely pulls from a mix of all the above. Also growing up in Miami allowed us to be exposed to a melting pot of culture that definitely
Artistic expression is beauty in humanity, a way of releasing one’s self from within – was music something that called to you over time more than other artistic avenues or did you just know at some point?
Daygee has always been involved in music playing Piano from an early age. Eddy seriously pursued music after college.
What was it like growing up in and around Miami for you? How has that shaped your found talent musically?
Growing up in Miami gives you a cool pallet of music to pick from. You have the largely dominated latin market mixed with strong pockets of the electronic, hip-hop, and indie music scene.
What are some of your heaviest influences in art, music, just creatively in general, your top three favorites?
Dieter Rams, Kobe Bryant, Pharell.
How has your music process and writing changed from when you started, and what things do you focus on most with respect to your brand or image and music that make up you as a music artist?
Our creative process when writing a song is all dependent on the day and place really. Daygee will stay up late and mess around w a beat for a few hours or an instrument, sample or Moog. Eddy likes to work on music right when he wakes up in the morning and will loop a sample for as many bars as it takes and just kinda work some bars over it that he’s had in his notes for a while. Whatever fits, whatever feels right in the moment.
How has COVID-19 affected you & your family personally and your community during this period of lockdown?
With the quarantine going into effect a week before Miami Music Week it devastated our main source of income and forced us to get back to the drawing boards as independent artist. When it comes to our family and community we are taking it day by day.
What have you been doing during the lockdown to stay sane?
We’ve been finishing our project the Florida Project which we have been working on for a year and a half. We are about 75% done with it. We also launched a online show on Transmissionpit.com with our friend Carmel. It is an experimental audio/visual experience that is sort of the anti Instagram, Facebook, or Tik Tok. With social media showing you what you want to see all the time it’s refreshing to see content that you wouldn’t otherwise discover.
If you had to take one person alive or dead into quarantine lockdown with you for 30 days and you only got one object to take with you, what would it be and who would you pick?
Daygee – I will take pornstar Aaliyah Hadid and the new 16inch MacBookPro loaded with Ableton 10 and Adobe Creative Suite.
Eddy – On a work note, probably a big artist like Drake or The Weeknd and a great microphone so I can see how many songs get made.
What’s the first thing you wanna do or go to when the lockdown ends, what do you miss most?
Daygee – I haven’t thought about the lockdown ending I just try to focus on having the most productive day as possible.
Eddy – I would say the same, although I do miss the beach.
What new music do you have on the horizon?
We have the The Florida Project that we are finishing up and thanks to the lockdown we have a bunch other project that are wrapping up due to quarantine.
What’s your spirit animal?
Daygee – A giant panda.
Eddy – A Koala.
What’s your favorite thing about making music and playing music live?
Knowing that it is your life purpose and the connection between humans.
What’s one thing that was a challenge you had to overcome choosing this music path and how did it affect you and your writing?
The biggest challenge is being an independent artist and making a decent living for yourself. It’s especially hard to balance your personal life with your career. Also maintaining your mental health is extremely important because as an artist you are selling a piece of yourself when you share a part of yourself.
What’s the hardest thing about being a musician?
Being put in a box of only being a musician.
How do you think the DYI movement through social media and internet in general has changed the industry and changed the way musical artists like yourself get discovered and reach new fans? What’s that kind of personal ability to directly connect to your fans meant to you as an artist and during this time? How do you think this event in history will change the internet and how we interact socially whether it be music or art or just in general?
I think it’s incredibly important that we as creative entrepreneurs can reach people directly. However I’m not sure if what is happening will be good for society as a whole. At this point I’m along for the ride but I don’t think we are in control anymore.
What advice do you have for aspiring artists and those out there having a hard time during this time?
Do what feels right for you because now is the time to be selfish for your own well being and mental health.
Thank you to PAPERWATER for sitting down with us and performing at DAY 2 of LOVE FROM HOME FEST – Check him out LIVE! today playing 7:45 – 8:30 PM EST / 3:45 – 4:15 PM PST!
DAY 2 – LOVE FROM HOME FEST // APRIL 11TH, 2020 – STREAM HERE!!
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