Royal & The Serpent @royalandtheserpent exclusive interview for Vanity Teen online and The Lonely Avocado, photographed by Conner Sorensen @Conner_sorensen Check out part two of this amazing interview over at thelonelyavocado.com
Q) Your name spread through the world like wildfire recently after the release of “Overwhelmed”! Did you have time to prepare for everything that came your way or are you still trying to catch up with everything?
A) On some levels, I feel like I’ve been prepping my whole life for this sort of career. However I’m still learning my way with a lot of aspects of it. Creatively I feel like I’ve never been more ready.. but on camera/radio interviews and press is an especially specific skill I’m still sort of figuring out.
Q) Everyone has something or someone that brought them the inspiration to free dive towards their dreams without looking back. Who or what would you name as the major inspiration in life that you believe helped you get to this point in your life?
A) Omg.. my mom! my mom my mom my mommmmmm. I feel beyond blessed and advantaged to have had the sort of upbringing that I did. Everything I dreamt of being as a kid was celebrated and believed in. I was taught that I could achieve anything! Being given that mindset at a young age has shaped the way I walk through life.
Q) At what age did you realize you wanted to pursue music as a career and was there a reason why you decided this path was the one you were going to take?
A) I remember as a very young girl saying that I wanted to be a “superstar” when I grew up. I was always putting on performances – dancing and singing all around the house. But it wasn’t until I met my now manager when I was maybe 21? that I’d ever seriously considered it as a career move. We were both bartending at the same joint and at that time music was more of this closeted half-talent I’d pull out at parties that had an acoustic guitar at them (yeah you know those people.. haha). ANYwho he heard me sing a song that I had written and totally freaked. We were writing down goals in composition notebooks the next day and he’s been my manager ever since. We pretty much built the whole project together from scratch.
Q) What does your creative process look like when you are trying to pull inspiration for new work?
A) I find that nearly everything I create stems first from experience. I have a really hard time “making up” stories. Everything I write is based in truth, emotion, sensation, etc that I’ve felt first-hand. So I guess sometimes I tend to stir up a little ruckus in my life in order for some good ole fashioned inspo (haha). From then on, the rest looks a lot like letting go and letting source come through the “channel”… sitting with instruments and sometimes other creatives, ridding our minds of thought in order to let spirit do the talking.
Q) Who would you name as some of your top musical inspirations?
A) Nirvana, Kennyhoopla, Dominic Fike.
Q) We see you have recently been signed with Atlantic Records! – Congrats! Has entering the music industry on a larger scale been a difficult adjustment or are you finding this is a pretty smooth transition?
A) Ahhh thank you so much!! I can’t even begin to speak on how amazing the transition has been. My team at Atlantic is a dream come true. Everyone has been so supportive and encouraging. All everyone wants is for me to feel empowered in the creative choices I make. Sometimes I need a pinch to make sure it’s all real life.
Q) When you are not busy creating music or doing anything related to business, what do you like to do to unwind the artistic part of your mind?
A) Honestly?? relax and microdose on mushrooms…. am i allowed to say that?! I and my housemates/best friends love a good night full of belly laughter. It’s soo good for the soul. Go ahead and add a vegan cheese plate, vinyl dance party, and a classic film – you’ve got yourself my favorite kind of evening.
Listen to “Overwhelmed” and a new single called “Bad Kids” feat. Yoshi Flower!
