Q&A: The Whereabouts of Sweet Boy and His Upcoming Project
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY CHLOE GONZALES ☆
Photo by Alexander Kendall
“It was a cool moment, especially having a lot of my close friends around who had seen the past seven years prior to this of just doing everything, spending our last dollar, eating Happy Meals, just trying to pay for music. ” – Sweet Boy, the Melbourne-based slowcore artist, is back in the studio with an up and coming project. The project, which thematically follows the past releases, has Sweet Boy reflecting about his past experiences and using music as an outlet. Whilst talking about the new project, Sweet Boy opens up about his trip outside of Australia and his growth into his project.
“I think I’ll always be writing moody stuff … I’m keen to try some new sounds and new styles and still keep the general theme there, which is exciting but scary, so hopefully people like it. That’s the goal.”
The Luna Collective had the pleasure to talk to Sweet Boy about his upcoming project and how it fits into the Sweet Boy universe.
Photo by Alexander Kendall
LUNA: Could you give us an elevator pitch about who you are?
SWEET BOY: I’m just a guy. I live in Australia, so I’m on the other side of the world to where most of my listeners are, which is kind of weird at times, but yeah just a guy. I like making music, I like hanging out. Just enjoy creating in general.
LUNA: I was also trying to read your aesthetic through your music and social media. You don’t have any music videos out and your Instagram is a simple three posts. Is that the aesthetic of Sweet Boy or the aesthetic of you? Is that just how you like to present yourself?
SWEET BOY: I don’t think it’s on purpose. I just get very picky and I chop it and change it a lot. So I’ll be thinking one thing and start doing that then I’m like, “No, I need to do this. I need to change this,” So it’s always in the air and my manager, Jacob, can vouch for that because I put him through hell. We did have a music video that we shot over a year ago, went to edit it and the SD card was corrupted and lost all the footage. So I just took it as a sign. It’s a beautiful video though, maybe we’ll redo it.
LUNA: You mentioned that you’re kind of picky. Are you picky when it comes to your music too?
SWEET BOY: Yeah, big time, it’s been a bit of an issue in the past and current times. I just get very picky with what sounds are made because if it doesn’t bring a certain feeling to myself I’ll just fully scrap it, which is hard sometimes but I guess that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
LUNA: Speaking of your music, the latest project that you released was your EP Lucky, which was very embedded in angst and regrets. You seem to treat this project like a diary. Do you feel like it’s an outlet?
SWEET BOY: Lucky was made very quickly. The songs were made in like a month and then I was kind of sitting on them. I think I finished them around May and then didn’t release it until November, so it was just sitting there for a while. They were made in an interesting time in my life. I was like, “I’m gonna let these sit, and then I’ll share them to the world when I don’t feel connected to it as much.” where it’s like I’ve grown from these situations. So I was able to put it out with a clear mind and not just be in this dark spot, which is really nice. It was cool to finally see it come out. It’s kind of like the last nail in the coffin.
LUNA: That’s really nice. That’s probably very therapeutic too. Do you feel like you evolved as a person from your debut [Sweet Boy] to Lucky?
SWEET BOY: I feel like Lucky was almost like a part two to the first project. It was made around similar times; in the same six months, the two projects were made. So I feel like it was more of a continuation. I think they live in the same world. And then I think the next [project] will be a proper close to that [world].
Photo by Alexander Kendall
LUNA: So it’s like a trilogy.
SWEET BOY: Maybe! We will see the tone, see how it goes. But, yeah, it should be interesting.
LUNA: Do you feel like your sound is going to stay a little more consistent then til your next one? If it’s going to be similar thematically and such.
SWEET BOY: I think I’ll always be writing moody stuff. I think even if I wanted to, I don’t think I could stop, but I definitely think sound-wise, it might be a bit different, but still, I think it still lives in the same world as Sweet Boy. I’m keen to try some new sounds and new styles and still keep the general theme there, which is exciting but scary, so hopefully people like it. That’s the goal.
LUNA: Especially when it’s more personal to you, it’s like, “Oh do y’all f*ck with me?”
SWEET BOY: Yeah it was scary for a few months recently, I was trying to make music and was in a happy spot and I was like, “This doesn’t feel authentic and I feel like people would know that.” So I had to shift my mind a little bit. I was like, “Will people even like my music if it’s not sad?” So it was really weird to isolate myself to feel sad so I could make music. But I think I’ve found a balance now to where I can still be vulnerable and emotional about things without hurting myself in the process, which is incredible.
LUNA: That’s great to hear because when I talk to other artists, it’s like they can only do art when they’re in the dumps and when they’re happy, they’re not the most creative.
SWEET BOY: It sucks. It gets so deep and you’re just like, “What do I even do?” But we’ve made it so it’s good.
LUNA: Speaking of people perceiving you, you kind of blew up on social media. What is that like? How was the progression of gaining popularity and how did you feel about it?
SWEET BOY: It was very fast. I didn’t expect it at all. It all came from TikTok. Years before that, I was posting three or four times a day, doing different genres, sounds, aliases. I was always kind of chipping at it and in my head I was always a bit delusional where I was. It was a when, not an if. And then I made, “i still think about you” and put it out under a brand new name and was like, “What is going on?” [as it became popular]. Then I made the project and that went just as well. It was intense and scary but I was like, “Damn, this is all I ever wanted.” So it was beautiful. It was a cool moment, especially having a lot of my close friends around who had seen the past seven years prior to this of just doing everything, spending our last dollar, eating Happy Meals, just trying to pay for music.
Photo by Alexander Kendall
LUNA: Did it affect you mentally at all? Maybe like, “Oh, am I a one-hit wonder? If I put out something slightly different, people might not like it?” Or like the thought of just people perceiving you?
SWEET BOY: Big time. Like I said before, there’s this lowkey pressure to be sad and it’s like, “Well I’m happy right now.” It’s weird and you’re writing stuff and it’s not authentic. It’s really odd. There was a bit of a moment where I was like, “Damn, do I have to be sad? Is that my whole thing? Are people even gonna listen to my music if it’s not sad?” Like I’m just hanging out, that’s my number one thing. I’m just a guy making sounds.
LUNA: I also heard that you went to America recently.
SWEET BOY: I did! It was great, I loved it. Such an interesting place compared to Australia. Everything is kind of the same, but different. Like where I live in Melbourne, it’s like a mini version of New York. So going to New York was just like, “Woah. This is intense.” And LA was just like–I don’t even know how to explain it–it just felt like waves of seeing some crazy stuff then it’d just be like a really pretty house and then some crazy stuff and then a vintage store and you’d be like, “What’s going on?” There’s so many characters out there and got to meet some cool people. Definitely need to come back.
LUNA: What’s the most American thing you experienced?
SWEET BOY: We went to a Yankees game in New York. Had a pretzel, that was great. They were interesting, I didn’t think they were going to be soft. But I liked it.
LUNA: Stepping back into your project, I feel like your aesthetic feels like Tumblr and a cloudy day. I was wondering how you envision your project?
SWEET BOY: A cloudy day, that’s a good one. I like that. Might just have to steal yours and say a cloudy day. I do love cloudy days, rainy weather is the best.
LUNA: Do you prefer sweet or sour snacks [given your name is Sweet Boy]?
SWEET BOY: Sweet. A cheeky sour every now and then, but we’ll run with sweet.
LUNA: What can we expect from your upcoming project?
SWEET BOY: I would say it’s heavier. I’m excited for really leaning more into the live performance of things. Just imagine what the Sweet Boy stuff is not emotionally and then we just make it bigger.
