Q&A: ZAYLE and the Art of Losing Control
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY DANY MIRELES ☆
ZAYLE doesn’t make music to fit into playlists or scenes; he makes it to surprise himself first. Somewhere between trapped-out lo-fi, pop melodrama, jazz discipline, and bass that feels like it's breathing, his sound began resisting labels instantly. That resistance eventually got a name of its own: Flower Bass, music that blooms slowly but beautifully, even when it’s wrapped around grief, nostalgia, or existential free fall.
From a debut track produced on a car ride back from a New Year’s festival, to years of standing out at heavy-bassed EDM shows where he felt like a beautiful anomaly, ZAYLE’s path has been shaped by contradiction. Chipper melodies carry dark and satirical lyrics. Nostalgia collides with futurism, and control becomes a story about realization. His latest release, “Control,” feels less like a destination and more like a turning point, the moment where self-isolation, self-reflection, and sonic risk converge into something more intentional.
With roots in jazz improvisation and gospel emotion, ZAYLE approaches production like a form of emotional architecture, trusting instinct over expectation and tenderness over structure. In a conversation with The Luna Collective, the singer opens up about alienation turning into clarity, humility turning into realization, and why growth will always mean pushing forward inward before reaching outward.
LUNA: You’ve described your sound as “trapped-out lofi with pop influence,” and coined the term Flower Bass: music that feels like it’s blooming in slow motion. When did you realize you were building something that needed its own name?
ZAYLE: Every time I approached a song, I'd make it an inner challenge to impress myself. In doing so, each track came out different and unique, to where it felt unclassifiable with all the genre-bending and structural risks I was attempting. But in doing so, I realized I was alienating everyone, and after a year of closing much harder bass focused edm shows where I stood out like a sore thumb, I knew it was time to unify and nail down my true aesthetic. So Flower Bass was born.
LUNA: Your early breakthrough came when content creators picked up your debut release. How did that sudden visibility shape your confidence as an artist, and did it change how you approached your sound afterward?
ZAYLE: Early vloggers picking up my song immediately off the bat was such an energy boost. The attention came from my song "Gorgeous”, which I had produced on the car ride from a New Year’s festival in Tahoe. One of my first fully realized songs ever, and the gigantic reception from that was enough to fuel me to now. I went through a phase of producing for some budding rappers between Oakland and LA, but every time I was told to produce something “hard,” it’d come off so beautifully majestic we’d have to start from square one again. That humbled me, yet it didn’t. I doubled down more than anything on my structure and sound design risks because I realized that when it comes to my art, it’s not about anyone else. It’s about my perspective.
LUNA: “Control” arrives after years of refining your Flower Bass style. What emotional or thematic space does this track live in compared to your earlier work?
ZAYLE: It felt very much like the beginning of the end. I always found myself contradicting myself sonically through the chipper melodies yet the darkest lyrics, and this track is the perfect example. I think, lyrically, this was my turn into a more fictional story that could, in turn, parallel my current reality. I find this track dives a lot deeper into everything going wrong and dealing with grief in a more satirical and selfish way. Being an introvert in space while all the other souls on board got sucked out of the airlock due to possible human error? Sounds perfect, until it’s not.
LUNA: The title “Control” suggests tension between restraint and release, structure and freedom. How does that idea show up in the production or arrangement of the song?
ZAYLE: The title, in and of itself, is hypocritical because it’s a total loss of control. Also, the realization that you never had control in the first place. I tried to musically simulate being in one of those pods alone with your thoughts, hurtling through space like a meteor. I usually know what direction the track will be heading before I even open my DAW, especially when I have an infectious melody and progression. The rest comes very naturally for me to fill in the blanks in the structure before I attempt.
LUNA: Your music often feels nostalgic and futuristic at the same time. With “Control,” were you leaning more into memory or into forward momentum?
ZAYLE: It’s so impossible for me to move forward without confronting some part of the past, so an unhealthy mixture of both. I think as an artist, it’s so important to constantly self-reflect and build off of those experiences. I do find myself getting endlessly lost in thought, though, and it puts everything at a standstill. Trying to work through it!
LUNA: You have a background in jazz and gospel, genres rooted in emotion and discipline. How do those foundations influence the way you build beats and melodies today?
ZAYLE: I spent a lot of my childhood with our local jazz pianist, Ludi Heinrichs, as my instructor. Every week, I’d be in this old venue in downtown Nevada City improvising for hours over every progression he could throw at me. I know his lessons kept me creatively free and taught me to take risks and not care, as long as it personally lands. I really try to keep that energy as I move forward, creating these melodies and trusting my direction.
LUNA: Lofi, trap, jazz, and pop all coexist in your work without feeling forced. When you’re producing, how do you know when a track has found its balance?
ZAYLE: I swear there is a moment when the proper skeleton is mapped out, and it just clicks for you. I could spend months mixing, but the real love and enjoyment I find is building that structure and designing it out. I love music, so I could improvise over my own music for hours. Actually sitting down and getting the real idea chiseled out has to be that moment for me, since I’m never truly in balance, and I accept that.
LUNA: Flower Bass has a very tactile, organic feel. Are there specific sounds, instruments, or techniques you return to when you want a track to feel like it’s “blooming”?
ZAYLE: The fans who have stuck with me the last decade have heard that signature “HI” I repeatedly use. Always brought me back to my high school days listening to the budding genre of future bass. Those who stuck around longer know I’ve used this sample called “china.gong” in every song ever for 13 years. It’s been my default crash, and it perfectly represents the aggressive and nostalgic sound I’ve always been about. Also, can’t go wrong with throwing Portal on it.
LUNA: From underground lofi producer to genre-bender, your evolution has been steady but intentional. What does growth look like for you at this stage—bigger reach, deeper emotion, or further experimentation?
ZAYLE: I’ll never settle when it comes to my sonic vision. I’ll spend months taking breaks to experience life, and I’m always nervous when I return, I'll be out of ideas. Hasn’t happened yet, so I’ll keep going. As for the present, I think I’m really ready to pop out of my shell and share my musical perspective with the world.
LUNA: As you invite listeners to “follow you down this sonic path,” what do you hope they discover about themselves through your music in the next chapter of ZAYLE?
ZAYLE: I really hope the listeners take risks with their music choices. I cannot stress enough how many real and raw stories are being told through music globally that are being slept on. If it isn’t for you, move on, it’s fine! It more than likely wasn't made specifically for you, so it never truly matters. Buckle up for the ride!
