GOLDEN BOY PRESS INTERVIEW #246
Meet SENO, an electronic music artist of only 18. Â Nowadays, it can be hard to find experimental trap artists that have their thoughts purely focused on unique projects, not just remixes of popular radio tracks, and SENO does just that. Â
âMaking music is honestly where my happy place is because I can pour my feelings out into a piece of art that can connect with others rather than just putting it out on a text message or writing about it. With music it is a completely different form of expression. I can connect with people that donât speak the same language as I do from the type of sound I put into my music.â
Could you introduce yourself?
My name is Ryan Jones aka âsenoâ aka  "senojnayr" (which is Ryan Jones backwards) and I am an 18 year old electronic music producer from Richmond, Virginia that absolutely loves chicken and broccoli alfredo pasta.
Whatâs your life philosophy? Â How do you try to apply that to your work?
I would say my life philosophy consists of strictly being happy & unique, no matter what, just genuinely being happy for yourself can make your life so much better in my opinion. Once you find your happy place you start to find your own path and your own unique ways to get where you want to be and do things how you want to do it. Thereâs no need to worry about anybody elseâs opinion on literally ANYTHING you do, simply because itâs your life and it isnât theirs. I apply this to my work by just reminding myself what life is all about. (which is happiness) Making music is honestly where my happy place is because I can pour my feelings out into a piece of art that can connect with others rather than just putting it out on a text message or writing about it. With music it is a completely different form of expression. I can connect with people that donât speak the same language as I do from the type of sound I put into my music. Whether itâs a song that makes you wanna smash your head on the concrete, or a song that makes you wanna just vibe out, or even a song that makes you wanna lay in the bed and cry, I just love making that connection with whoever listens.
Could you tell us what you think makes you stand apart in the music industry?
Iâm simply just myself. People donât realize you donât have to âtryâ at all to âstand outâ. Everyone is unique in their own way. When you are genuine to your own opinions you stand out, and I carry that motive as far with my music as I do with my life. For example, I love a god damn gliding 808. I love it so much I make them in all of my songs, but some people hate the fact my 808âs are everywhere in my songs, but I will never change that for anyone because I genuinely feel it sounds cool as shit. Thatâs a really weak example haha, but also it is very true. Besides that some people mention that my switch-ups in my songs keeps them listening and excited for whatâs next.
Do you have any words of advice from the experience youâve dealt with when it comes to putting yourself and your story out there in the world?
Well, if anything I would say please, please, please, follow your dreams. I know it sounds beyond clichĂ© but it is really something to stand by. I am still chasing mine as you read this interview, and I literally wonât ever stop. When you are really passionate about something you love doing, you just have to have faith and push yourself really hard in order to be successful. As of now I donât consider myself successful but one day I know for fact I will be. Not trying sounding cocky with my music at all. I just know Iâm gonna work my ass off to get to where I wanna be. If success was easy then everybody would be successful. Many people give up on their hobby or their dream careers just because they lose their faith. You just gotta keep pushin and tell yourself what you want to do in life and make it happen. If you have a creative mind you donât deserve working a 9-5 for someone else. You have the freedom to use your creativity and make a career out of it so donât ever throw away your talents and dreams for an unhappy lifestyle.
Could you explain to us the process behind your track, âFlusterâ?
The very first sound pattern I came up with for Fluster was that pluck bassline that hits around 0:41. I was hearing my mother playing Bootsy Collins and it really made me want to make a super funky song haha. However, Fluster was actually really inspired by most of Kanye Westâs work, mainly âMy Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasyâ. I really had the feeling to use some organic percussion sounds, some strings and some african drums. Also around the time I was listening to a lot of âSober Robâ and âMontell2099â. On top of that Kanyeâs 'TLOPâ dropped. So it was a really hard impact of inspiration for me to add really cool sounds and catchy melodies to complement those percussions I already had in the mix. Out of all my tracks, Fluster is like the definition of built up inspiration hahaha.
If you could make a music video, all costs covered, how would you create the visual counterpart to your track, 'Optimismâ?
Wow oh wow, man when I close my eyes and listen to optimism it tells me a story and it just relaxes my soul, no bullshit. If this could really happen I would start the video with just my face in a white room. Literally everything all white in the room and on my body except my straight dull face, and then the camera slowly goes into my eyes and then as the entire song plays itâs just weird ass 3D artwork that copes with every sound in the song but also tells a story at the same time if you closely pay attention to the moving artwork. I wouldnât want the video to be too obvious because I would love to hear some people to say âman that dumbass video with all them liquid 3D visuals, video has no meaning at allâ whole time, the meaning of the video is deep as FACK lmao. I would want the artwork thatâs in my head to be based off me fighting all negative things off like the people telling me âgive upâ or "be realistic, you canât do music for the rest of your lifeâ and let each switch-up in the song represent each key moment that has motivated me to make this song and near the end the camera starts to fade out leaving my mind and then the white room is now filled with colors that will make the person who is watching pause the video to see every piece of art in the room while I am just sitting there with a smile on my face hahaha happy as hell that everything is just going to be alright because I am happy and relaxed at that point.
How would you describe your music to someone whoâs never heard it before?
Hm, this is a very hard one haha, I normally tell people they would have to hear it for themselves but to get them somewhat familiar Iâd say I merge very small elements of house music with a strong hit of heavy melodic bass, and a nice hip hop rhythm with various electronic melodies that all complement each other into a song that is non-repetitive.
Do you have any rituals you do before you start your creative process for a new project, to get your mind and energy in the right place?
Only when I feel like I need to be motivated, I sit down and watch hours of motivational videos and search interviews up of artists that I look up to. To give me a little push if I feel like Iâm on a small beat block or something other than that, I just whip out my laptop and my skullcandy headphones and go to work haha.
Whatâs a typical day for you?
Wake up, eat, school (make beats in class if there is no work that needs to be done, yes I bring my laptop to my school hahah) maybe play some 2k or Call of Duty for about an hour when I get home, then make music all day until I fall asleep and if I fall asleep early and wake up late, sometimes I might not even sleep for school and just stay up all night messing around on FL Studio 12.
What are some of your goals for 2016?
1. Start making money off of what I love doing which is obviously making merrrrzikkk lmao
2. Build a following of people who really support the living fuck out of me
3. Work with vocalists
4. GET BOOKED FOR SHOWS ( REALLY NEED HELP WITH THAT)
5. Go to California
Music and chicken and broccoli alfredo pasta.
1. Alfredo is possibly the tastiest shit you could ever put onto your tastebuds
2. I fucking hate grey jeans. Grey pants are cool as fuck, but grey jeans.. nah. They should just make grey jeans extinct by just shredding every pair in the world. #antigreyjeans
3. If youâre a girl and you open your bag of chips upside down by accident or on purpose, you were probably born a boy.
5. I leave my tv on when I sleep
6. This lil interview was the shit (itâs my first)
7. CHASE THEM DREAMS AND LIVE YA LIFE PLAYBOIII !
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