Behind The Music with CEEM on Unbreakable
How music plays a roll in recovery | CEEM on Unbreakable
On this episode, Jacqueline Jax speaks with CEEM about coming through a devastating terrorist attack in Nice France. He describes the chaos and the process of recovery. They also discussed the powerful effect of music and art on our lives, living in Seattle Washington and his forward direction with the new album. Plus listen to his newest single "Unbreakable"
LISTEN TO THE EPISODE: https://anchor.fm/ava-live-radio/episodes/How-music-plays-a-roll-in-recovery--CEEM-on-Unbreakable-e7sa5p
CEEM is a Seattle-based singer-songwriter and producer who steadily erases boundaries to encourage inclusion through his immersive electro-pop musicality. With a genre he dubs as ‘Emotronic,’ the artist blends electronic music with emo, merging 80s glitzy synth-pop with the transformative broodiness of emo music, strung together with lyrics covering themes of rebellion, inclusiveness of the marginalized, heartbreak, and acceptance.
The fire in CEEM was ignited from a young age when he realized music was the one thing he wanted to pursue. He first studied classical piano, and would later complete a degree in audio engineering. To CEEM, music is a part of his DNA; it’s the one thing that sets his soul alight, and he is compelled to share it with the rest of the world. He released his debut album Creative Ways to Self Destruct in 2005, inspired by the indie dance movement of the early '00s, which echoed bands such as The Postal Service and Metric. His first EP Equilibrium was released in 2012, taking a turn into synth-pop and other 80s-inspired soundscapes, and a few years later, released the single "The Instigator" which pulls from his lifelong influences such as David Bowie, Madonna, and Eurythmics.
Song name: Unbreakable/Remedy
Music Genre: Pop, Electro Pop
I live in... Seattle, Washington
Link to play:
https://open.spotify.com/track/2QoZZRRxGzMGqvj1RYXgfP?si=Wtxx70myQ9O-dmY2QR3SRA
Following up on his smash 'Unbreakable', CEEM releases a new single called 'Remedy'
I wrote 'Unbreakable' in response to living through the 2016 terrorist attack in Nice France on Bastille day. I’m not trying to market any sort of tragedy, so let’s get that out of the way real quick, I wrote Unbreakable because I came back from that trip feeling shattered and confused. Writing 'Unbreakable' helped put me back together.
I sat down and wrote 'Unbreakable' feeling angry and frustrated that this broken human had irrevocably changed my life, however, having come to that realization that I would never give in to fear, I began to realize that the situation had created something new in me.
I understood that this was now something that was woven into my DNA and it somehow made me stronger, I found a strength that I didn’t know that I had. Instead of cowering down to fear, I began facing my fears head on, looking them dead in the face and metaphorically saying “what the fuck you gonna do about it”.
When I was writing 'Unbreakable', I didn’t want to shy away from exactly what it’s about, running away from gunfire and mayhem. It was important to capture and incorporate those types of sounds in the song so that’s why you hear heavy breathing and gunshots.
The song as taken many forms since its original form and the final version feels even more relevant now because there have been so many mass shootings and gun control is still a volatile topic with so many people, which is why I’ll save opening on that topic for another time.
As cathartic and healing as writing 'Unbreakable' was, I still felt that I needed to face my ultimate fear and go back to the scene of the crime. In July 2019 for Bastille day, I went back to Nice alone this time and retraced the steps and the horror that took place.
I wanted to go back and finish writing Cruel World, but for the first four days I was there, the words wouldn’t come, there was some sort of glitch in my brain. I would put pen to paper and write but nothing felt authentic or genuine until I made it through Bastille day. There was some unconscious malfunction in the brain that wasn’t letting me write until I fully lived through that day, in that place again, and the following day Remedy just started pouring out of me. I had to go back to the origin of trauma, find all of the broken pieces and put them back together and in the process, I wasn’t finding closure, because things like this you don’t get closure from, they become a part of you. I found a Remedy to my healing and that’s how the song came about.
A friend met me in Nice, and I walked him through the places and the events of that night, and I found as I did this, talking about it, shedding light on this “thing” the weight and gravity of the situation began to lose its grip. I started formulating and arranging Remedy in Nice, and while I was on the train to Paris, I kept working on it and by the time I pulled into Gare de Lyon Remedy was in the world. I took what I had back to Seattle to finish recording it, and how the song ends, just repeating “I found the Remedy” is a declarative chant, and I want people to know that if I can find the Remedy I needed, that they’re not alone and can find the Remedy they need to continue to heal and find strength they never knew they had.
How do you think this release represents your current direction..
Unbreakable/Remedy represent the introspective exploration and fuses together contemporary production and pop music styles, which is the direction this overall project explores. It's a departure from the usual dance format that I've explored in the past.
What most inspires you?
Like many artists, music wasn't a choice, it was something that I had to do. It enriches my life in ways that are hard to explain. Those times when I sit down and write and completely lose track of time and hours pass and I have something that now exists in the world that wasn't there before. I love to just sit down and the piano and noodle around with no direction and play with creating new sounds, and watch how that distills into something new.
How do you feel about being a musician today?
Being an artist today offers so much opportunity, but it's so hard to be heard among so many talented musicians that are also competing for the same audience.
Website & social media links:
website - www.musicbyceem.com
facebook - https://www.facebook.com/musicbyceem
instagram - https://www.instagram.com/musicbyceem
twitter - https://twitter.com/musicbyceem