For interview #13, I got the chance to chat with Pastnight! You can learn more about his journey as an artist, things he enjoys about it, his latest project, and future goals all right here:
trtlz: Hi! Thanks for doing this interview. This is really cool! trtlz : Can we start with a little intro? Who is Pastnight?
Pastnight: Thank you for having me! but of course. My real name is Matthew, I'm from a small town in North Carolina. and i don't personally think i have a good idea of who i am but i am on the journey to find out. For the most part i'm your typical sad kid bedroom musician.
trtlz: I love that answer! I hope the journey has been exciting so far
trtlz: How long have you been making music?
Pastnight: It definitely has been an eventful journey so far. But i was around 8-9 years old when i recorded my first ever song, it was recorded on an old flip phone my parents had. Then later on in my Teens i started making Music under the Alias "Asylum" but didn't really ever progress, then after i graduated highschool i realized i needed to do something with my life and Music had been my only passion so i started producing under the Alias "UnHumanProductions" on YouTube, had drastic progress after my first year or so but then would later change my Alias to Pastnight and rebrand myself. So it's been around a 10 year journey but i've only taken it seriously for 3ish years.
trtlz: That's amazing you recorded your first song so young! And it's really cool you decided to follow your passion for music. So far it seems to be going extremely well for you.
trtlz: You started making music and beats first and started singing later, right?
Pastnight: I started out trying to rap when i first started, and then i wanted to start making my own beats so i didn't have to purchase any and i would upload my beats to youtube just to showcase my progression and in a way it started popping off, of course not on a mainstream level or really an underground level but at a level i was happy with and shocked by. so i am more known for being a producer but I'd much rather be known for being a singer/songwriter.
trtlz: For sure
trtlz : How did you come up with your current artist name?
Pastnight: Nights seem to be the worse for me and my depression, anxiety, ect and making music and expressing how i feel and what i'm going through helps me get past those nights.
trtlz: Oh wow, I love how it has real meaning to your life. That's really interesting!
trtlz: What inspired you to start creating music? What inspires you today?
Pastnight: The weird thing is, is i don't really remember what inspired me to first start, but it just felt right. I guess just hearing other music at a young age just really intrigued me to see if i was able to do the same, but like i said i didn't really take things serious and try to progress and get better until after High School and that was when i discovered LiL PEEP, he has really inspired me in alot of ways and not only in Music and still continues to this day. But i do take inspiration from my friends, underground artists, and just anything i could hear, see or feel throughout my day to day life.
trtlz: That's awesome
trtlz: What do you use to create your music?
Pastnight: I use my desktop computer i built in 2016, A Blue Yeti Microphone, some mixing headphones and FL Studio 12. and i use third party vsts to make beats and things like that.
Pastnight: I don't play any live instruments well at the moment but i'm be learning here and there, like guitar and piano.
trtlz: Nice! I'm guessing once you feel confident enough in what you've learned with the live instruments you'll try incorporating those into your music as well
Pastnight: Forsure! It'd be really nice to record my own melodies with live instruments because the process of making it from scratch is whats enjoyable to me.
trtlz: Do you have like an all time favorite track or project you've released?
Pastnight: If i had to pick an all time favorite it would have to be some of my older Music like "Livings Like" that one really resonates in my heart.
trtlz: Speaking of projects, you have a new EP "Lxwlife Humans" that just came out. Tell me about the process of creating that. What was your vision for making the EP? What was your favorite part about it? Did you come across any issues?
Pastnight: Yeah, so "Lxwlife Humans" is a collaboration project with one of my friends "Lxw". He came over to my house to record some Guitar melodies so we could work on some beats together and possibly a song or two, that lead into us recording 5 or so melodies and discussing the idea of an EP. Since we've been through similar events recently we wanted to portray what we went through as somewhat of a story, each song symbolizes a different state of heartbreak that one might endure when loving the wrong one. The project took a few months to complete since we didn't want to rush it and make sure everything was to our standards. My favorite part was definitely recording the Music Video for the song "My Weakness" off the EP, as far as issues go there were some instrumentals/songs not used on the EP that we had trouble working with but other than that it was a smooth process.
trtlz: Yeah definitely! I was gonna ask about the video like how fun was it making that? And that's kind of cool in a way that you had some similar life events that ultimately resulted in this opportunity to create this EP together
Pastnight: It was alot of fun, I always enjoy making music videos and being able to portray the emotions of my music with visuals. We got one of my friends T Aubrey to edit the video for us so shout out to him for hooking us up!
trtlz: Besides the video, do you have a favorite track from the EP?
Pastnight: Hmm, that's a hard one. I don't think I'd personally be able to select one to be my favorite, I enjoy them all equally.
trtlz: Yeah I can understand that. It's like trying to pick your favorite kid haha
trtlz: How was it working with Lxw on this? Was it easy? Did you both have pretty much the same vision?
Pastnight: He's really easy to work with, he produces quality results in a timely manner. We didn't butt heads or anything like that, and we were on the same page throughout the project which is always a relief when working with a new artist you haven't worked much with before.
trtlz: Yeah that's super cool
trtlz : I know it's still very new, but are you happy with the response so far?
Pastnight: Sometimes as a Musician you can easily get discouraged with plays or exposure. I am happy with the response so far, as long as one person enjoys it and finds a sense of peace in the music then I'm happy with the outcome even if that person is myself. Of course I'd enjoy more exposure but numbers don't mean everything. But ultimately I'm happy with the response.
trtlz: That's such a positive outlook, I think thats something a lot of musicians need to hear
trtlz: What is your favorite thing about producing and making music?
Pastnight: The fact that I'm able to talk about things I don't feel comfortable saying face to face with other human beings and getting things off my chest, I love the creative freedom to express whatever you may be feeling in the moment and in my case since most of my music is "sad" Music, it's me turning something negative into a positive.
trtlz: I really love that. I think the way you express your feelings in your music not only helps you, but others that listen as well
trtlz: What is something really important you have learned while growing as an artist?
Pastnight: Understanding that this is hard work, it takes time, it takes dedication. When I didn't make music I had this image in my head on how easy it must be and seeing people blow up left and right but you don't see all the behind the scenes work, all the years these artists were overlooked when they were developing their craft, basically it's that it takes time, not to get discouraged so easy and to not give up. Music has helped me grow as a person and in many ways and I'm grateful for that.
trtlz: I think that's something a lot of artists learn - realizing how much work really does goes into all this
trtlz: And not getting discouraged easily and giving up is so so important
trtlz: Have you ever performed live?
Pastnight: Unfortunately not. Definitely one of my goals to go on tour with all my friends one day.
trtlz: That would be amazing
trtlz: Do you have any goals already planned out for what you want to do next?
Pastnight: Starting to save up money to upgrade my studio equipment, going to try to drop more music videos for my songs, I'd like every song to have a video at some point. But other than that i just plan on working and developing as much as I can and see where things take me.
trtlz : So your birthday is coming up, right? Any big plans?
Pastnight: Yeah I'll be turning 21 on the 26th of June this year. I plan on meeting one of my good friends dylan xo in real life for the first time and recording some music videos together and hangout so that will be alot of fun!
trtlz: That's awesome! Will be looking out for some cool Pastnight/dylan xo projects soon then!
trtlz: What fictional character best represents you?
Pastnight: I would have to say "No Face" from the movie/Anime "Spirited Away". You can tell in the movie they/them doesn't know who they are and is struggling to make sense of everything.
trtlz: That's an interesting one
trtlz: Well, that's pretty much it for me. Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Pastnight: Only thing I'd add is, to anyone who reads this- please chase your dreams. Don't get so caught up in money and end up doing something you hate just to get by; take risks, and live. We only get one chance to get it right.
Pastnight: And thank you for inviting me on for an interview it means alot someone would be interested in me and my craft enough to do this. It warms my heart!
trtlz: Thank you! It was fun
You can check out Pastnight's music (including his latest EP) on Soundcloud here: https://tinyurl.com/y6yqvh5j