Interview

 How did you get started in music?

When I was a child, I loved listening to artists like The Beatles, Queen, Stevie Wonder, and OutKast. Later, during university, I started playing jazz and discovered musicians such as Wes Montgomery and Grant Green, who became very important influences on my sound. From there, I gradually began creating tracks with guitar as the lead voice, blending my early love of pop, soul, and hip-hop with a jazz guitar sensibility.

• Who or what has influenced you the most on your musical journey?

Wes Montgomery has probably been the biggest influence. My thumb-picking guitar style comes from his approach. Although he is known as one of the kings of the bebop era, my personal favorites are his A&M-era works produced by Creed Taylor. The arrangements are beautiful, polished, and endlessly listenable. I see the music I’m making now as something connected to that lineage.

• What does your typical creative process look like, from the first idea to the finished track?

I often start by looping chords played on piano, then build the track while playing guitar over them. Sometimes a chord progression or melody comes to me while practicing guitar or taking a walk, so the process changes from track to track. In many cases, the guitar plays a central role in shaping the mood and character of the piece.

• What do you enjoy outside of making music?

I enjoy reading. Some of my track titles are inspired by books, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s *Babylon Revisited* and Kurt Vonnegut’s *Cat’s Cradle*. I also recently read Kazuo Ishiguro’s *Never Let Me Go*, which I found incredibly moving and would highly recommend.

• Can you tell us more about the creation of “Danube Sky”?

Konb asked me to add guitar to the track, and I contributed the main melody and guitar solo. We have collaborated several times before, and our shared jazz background makes the musical chemistry feel very natural. I hope listeners will also check out our previous collaborations.