a moment with cautious clay

“If I wasn’t lonely I would probably not be making music.”

intro to the takeover

body copy about why we decided to work with him, a bit of his background, etc. introduce our collab item.

[INSERT: Add to Cart module for collab item]

interview

Do you feel like you’re able to say things through your music that you couldn’t say any other way?

Yeah, definitely. I struggle with expressing myself sometimes through the Internet in general. I don’t struggle with it, but it’s not as intuitive for me. Music is definitely the easiest thing to talk about.

A lot of your lyrics seem to have a lot of vulnerability to them. Would you consider yourself a vulnerable person?

Yeah, definitely. I feel like I can put myself in a vulnerable place, but being the person that I am, I can very easily take myself out of a situation if I’m feeling threatened. I don’t tend to lash out at people when I’m upset, I just sort of withdraw.

Have you always felt that way?

No, I mean when I was a kid I definitely had… not a temper, but I just got so upset when people lied or didn’t say or mean what they were trying to do, or did things that hurt me. I guess by the time I was like 11 or 12 I started to change a little bit.

Do you think starting to play music around that time was a part of that transition?

I think it was coincidental. When I started playing flute I realized oh, this is really fun. I didn’t really like the academic part of it but I had a phenomenal teacher who was a very creative person and he kind of set me on a path to have that similar kind of creativity and energy around music overall. I loved playing flute, but I was really into improvisation and expressing myself at an early age.

What’s your antidote to modern times?

Making choices for yourself, and listening to yourself if you have a voice in your head. If you don’t have a voice in your head, embracing the things that people who you trust and are close to you think is good for you. It’s hard when you don’t really know what you want to do. I can understand that perspective, but hopefully you have someone around you or something around you that can kind of guide that misunderstanding or lack of understanding about where you are in your life.

Is there a specific place or state of being where you feel most creative?

Usually on airplanes cause there’s nowhere to go. You’re in your own thoughts and you can write those thoughts down.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned?

I guess being aware of yourself. Like how you affect the people around you. I think that only improves your relationships.

How do you feel about cowbells?

Cowbells? I love cowbells. They’re great. They’re actually one of my favorite things cause they just add a lot of sauce to something that’s already there. But you can’t have too much sauce or it’ll ruin the dish.

What are five songs that help you feel calm, cool, and collected?

Keep That Same Old Feeling by The Crusaders

Voyage to Atlantis by the Isley Brothers

A Long Walk by Jill Scott

Stolen Moments by Oliver Nelson

Bye Bye Blackbird by Miles Davis

[INSERT: spotify playlist with songs mentioned above]

follw our friend

[INSERT: social section linking out to his IG]