INTERVIEW: OLDCOLLIN (10/26/23) -
Today we launched oldcollin's album from last year, synesthesia, on CD as p. 026 - fittingly the same date as oldcollin's birthday as well as the date the album was released on! Following the CD launch, we were able to sit down with collin and discuss the project, what's next, thoughts on the scene and more. Here's 20-ish questions we had for oldcollin!
Its been over a year since synesthesia dropped, do you feel it still holds up after all this time has passed?
Honestly it depends who you ask lowkey but I feel like it holds up considering it captured who i was at that moment in time really well. I had no clue what I was doing, like I had a USB mic for the entire project and used stock plugins because i was too stubborn to get anything else i was just locked in lmao. Looking back, in my opinion at least those songs were a bit rushed but don't get me wrong i have a huuge connection to that album personally i just want to do better in the future #ong
Is there a story behind synesthesia?
honestly synesthesia was just where i was at the time type thing. i had just gone through a breakup, moved away from where i grew up and was growing really distant with friends back in my hometown, honestly the normal shit that starts a music career lmaoo.
i wrote an absurd amount of songs in like 4-5 months-ish (wow just counted i had 48 demos) and just whittled it down to my favorites. huge shoutout to slicky for making a good beat every single day for that long of a time too i genuinely could not keep up with dude at times (the rest of those songs honestly wont see the light of day btw there is no synesthesia B side LOL)
In your artist name "old collin", its kind obvious where the "collin" comes from. Where did the "old" part come from?
honestly I've always preferred going by my IRL name rather than a screen name but in the future Idk, I'm not sure if I'll end up changing it or shortening it or what but for right now i'm pretty comfortable with it
"old" was a call of duty team (that I was not in because i have never played call of duty in my life lmao). One or two of my friends at the time were in a team called the old goblins and i thought old collin sounded similar and funny so i took it so technically yeah old collin could be old goblin but idk. The nicest way to say it is i just don't respect the political views of the people in that "team" and i found out after naming myself that soooo yeahhhhh... great going on my part honestly..
(also my great uncle called me old collin growing up because i am the oldest cousin by some dumb shit like 6 years and i always thought that was funny so yeah idk there's two reasons and i like this one more than the other one ong but the call of duty team one is way funnier to bring up in conversation)
If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring friend and one album to listen to for the rest of your life, who and which album would you bring?
id bring corefish that's my dawg and who the fuck are you? an A&R? literally i've had 2 a&rs ask me this question but also a good question because I never have an answer. I would say speak for yourself by imogen heap just because it's literally peak music but i'm also lowkey still a brakence nerd and id bring punk2 if speak for yourself weren't available ong
You've worked with some pretty cool people in the scene, is there anyone who you haven't worked with before that you would want to make something with?
i literally just be putting myself in every corner of the scene on accident it's wild hahah. Obligatory brakence but also ong would love to make something with wishlane (once i know a little more about what the fuck I'm doing in a DAW type shit) thatcher, drama trial, 47negus, yazida, 31sentinel, cybertrash, vaeo, i could keep going for a while honestly
Is there anyone who you've worked with in the past that you would instantly work with again if given the chance?
pretty much everyone that i've worked with id work with again instantly ong. i haven't had a bad interaction working with people just because i'm pretty selective and want my music to be an art rather than a business when it comes to hopping on songs or collabing. i just want to make cool art with my friends and people i fuck with.
"I love music - it's what I do - it's what i'm here to do with my life."
How important is music to your life?
i am a daw demon i am a daw demon i am a daw demon i cant sleep i'm on the daw i'm on the daw i'm in your walls i'm in your walls i'm in your walls
(music is a really big part of my life, whether it comes to just fucking around in the daw or writing something. i realized that i was lacking when it came to listening new things around 6 months ago and have been exploring a bunch of random stuff whether it be in the scene or just stuff from my world music class i love music it is what i do it is what i'm here to do with my life)
After using logic pro as a DAW for some time, how would you compare it to other DAW's?
lowkey i've never used another DAW because that shit is alien language but i assume probably not the greatest but not the worst. for people starting music would probably recommend ableton unless you're like me and started on garageband then i would totally jump over to logic that shit is epic in comparison. i really like logic because it's what i'm used to and lowkey am still learning hahah
As mentioned earlier, its been a year since your last big project - do you have anything in the works coming up? If so, what would you like us to know about it?
i have a bunch of ideas honestly I'm just learning how to produce so I can put those ideas together better :^) aiming to have a project out by at LEAST this time next year if not sooner - OFC with singles in the meantime.
What's your thoughts on the current 'scene' - with the sounds you and others use in your music constantly evolving, it'd be interesting to know your stance on the scene right now + where you think it'll go.
I see a lot of people in the scene branching out and doing a lot more experimental alternative stuff and i think that's really cool. I love the fact that there's this cool ass community where so many people are able to just vibe and everyone I've met is actually goated. I think it's gonna be huge within the next few years. I mean I'm definitely in some sort of second or third wave of people coming into the niz community in mid 2022 and it's been cool to see the other waves of people come in. there's so many new people sometimes its hard to keep track haha
What process of making a song is the hardest for you?
mixing sends me thru a wall even though i take "pride" in mixing my own vocals. i've been learning and i want that to evident in future releases :^)
What about easiest?
i love harmonizing shit to an extent where i do it too much sometimes but oh boy do i love harmonies
"If you don't produce - learn how to produce. If you don't mix - learn how to mix."
Music block is something that a lot of artists face in their career, what do you think causes it?
burnout, lack of inspiration, etc
Do you have any advice for artists out there who are starting to struggle with their own music block?
take a short break. try something new. if you don't produce, learn how produce - if you don't know how to mix, learn how to mix. If you got all these things down then lowkey just like go live your life and find something to write about hahaha. i say that and struggle to do the same thing though lowkey it's just a normal artist thing and there's no shame in it.
I went through a huge burnout period just writing songs where i was writing the same song over and over again and nothing was clicking and didn't even realized i was burnt out until i took a 2 day break and came back and listened to what i had made and was shocked that i had made something that sounded that dogshit hahahahha.
I took like a week break after that and came back to learning how to produce and i've had the most fun making music i've had in a while. i'm definitely not the best at it by any means but yeah doing something different is always a viable option
Do you have any favorite artists or bands that you look up to?
obligatory brakence
music wise jank but i couldn't say the same regarding their character.
also corefish because that's my dawg my twin
what's your favorite project(s) this year? Anything to keep an eye on?
kite kite kite kite kite kite
also i really did enjoy wallsocket and listened to census designated for the first time last night and was blown away. goated albums
You've grown a bunch over the past year already - where do you see yourself in a year from now?
hopefully i'm right where i need to be. not really expecting crazy numbers in the near future but its cool to think about :) id like to take some time to work on myself though and maybe by this time next year that will be far over with
If you were given 24 hours to prepare, do you think you could beat corefish in a fight?
this is tricky because it depends when i fight him. if i fight him a day after he makes a song i'm fucked and vise versa but any other day i'd say it's about a 50/50 shot we built the same. i'd straight up rob him though like while he's sleeping just open up his computer and send allll his serum presets to me.
Is there anyone or anything you want to shout out before we go?
Palestine Appeal of Ummah Welfare Trust - humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza
Anera - humanitarian aid for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan
corefish
"Hopefully i'm right where I need to be... I'd like to take some time to work on myself"
Big thank you to oldcollin for joining us in this interview today!
We're excited to also bring you oldcollin's album synesthesia on CD today as well!
You can pick up a copy of synesthesia on CD here:
https://propyl.store/b/oldcollin
Thank you once again to oldcollin!
This interview was written by @1cober and zoey with editing by the Propyl Team.
Please contact us @ propylrecords@gmail.com for any questions or inquiries.
