Since his last EP, SonReal has been on a steady rise. With a team full of friends and people who believe in his career, the Vancouver based artist has a lot to offer creatively. He took few minutes out of his busy schedule to have a chat with The Source Magazine about his up coming For The Town EP and his latest video, “For The Town”. No Stranger to grinding, SonReal has his mind together and more focused than ever before. He is determined to get his music heard and is always looking to inspire people on a massive scale.
How have things been ever since your last EP One Long Day?
S: Things have been real crazy. We put out that mixtape January of last year and as a building block it was strategic in putting us in a new position, got a lot more eyes on us.
What is For the Town EP going to be like for the fans?
S: It’s a lot different. It’s got a lot more energy on it, I feel like I have a lot more to say on it. The records are bigger and it reflects the bigger things we’re doing now. Lots of visuals as well, almost one for every song.
What do you feel this project accomplishes that maybe your previous EPs didn’t?
S: Some of these songs on the EP, we’ve been working on for 5 months. There’s songs that have choirs on it, live instrumentation. The arrangements are unique, not just chorus verse chorus verse, it’s definitely more cohesive. The sound is better and bigger, Rich Kidd and Arthur McArthur are amongst the producers, guys who have believed in my career and have been producing for at least 3 mixtapes.
What’s your art direction like on this EP? What are the main themes?
S: Even though it’s a shorter project than my last one, it’s really a commentary on the people that believed in me and my career that have kept me going. It’s a dedication of sorts to people who have been there from the jump. The cover art is shots from my hometown Vancouver and theme wise in the music, everything about me including coming up from my mom’s basement to where I am today.
Music video for “Preach” is doing good right now. what kind of feedback you have been getting?
S: Crazy feedback. It did half a million views on Youtube and then it got bigger once we took it to Vevo. We always try to make it as motivational as possible. That video was shot in over 50 locations and took 6 months to shoot, it was a huge project. It definitely got us a lot of new fans.
It is not your average rap music video. Were you happy with that?
S: Yeah. My team is full of my best friends. These are people that came up with me, we skated together and they know me really well. We shot that entire video on tour while not making it seem like a tour recap. It’s us doing it, not a new director that’s just plopped in. For a lot of those shots, we had to get up in the morning and drive hours just to get a shot, like the grand canyon one. But it paid off tremendously I think.
Is that something your fans will see more of in your videos in the future too?
S: Yeah. This video off the project “For The Town”, the title track. To me it’s the craziest video, with a crazy concept that we spent a very long time on. Very excited about that.
Ultimately what is it that you want to achieve with your music?
S: Great question. People don’t ever ask me that. I feel like there was something bigger inside me, like I had something bigger to say. For me, I was working a construction job and I felt like I wasn’t serving the world enough. I get people emailing me telling me they were down and my music helped them get off drugs and helped save their life. That to me is crazy because all I ever wanted to do with my music was to help people and make a positive influence in the world. I had something to say and I wanted to do it the biggest way I could do it, on a massive scale. I don’t write my songs to impress my buddies. My main goal, even in the videos is to inspire, to help make a change.
Do you have plans for touring this year?
S: Yeah. I’m on a 30 day tour starting May 7th. With a bunch of dates in Canada and the rest in the US that passes through almost every city.
5 goals in 2015:
S: Put out the EP, see how it does. Continue working on my album and to have it done by the end of the year. I want to go on a overseas tour to places like Japan and Australia. Keep doing innovative videos, things that push the envelope. Keep walking planet earth with my music and my team. Open a skateboard park.
Watch SonReal’s latest video below and look out for when his EP drops in the near future.
SONREAL U.S. HEADLINING TOUR
May 24 Shakopee, M.N. Soundset Festival*
June 13 Buffalo, N.Y. Studio at Waiting Room
June 16 South Burlington, V.T. Higher Ground Showcase
June 18 Cambridge, Mass. T.T. The Bear’s
June 19 New York, N.Y. The Studio at Webster Hall
July 10 Los Angeles, Calif. Echo
July 11 Scottsdale, Ari. Pub Rock
July 12 Albuquerque, N.M. Launchpad
July 14 Denver, Colo. Lost Lake Lounge
July 15 Salt Lake City, Utah Kilby Court
July 22 Chicago, Ill. Schubas
July 23 Lansing, Mich. Mac’s Bar
July 24 Columbus, Ohio The Basement
July 31 Austin, Texas Stubbs BBQ
August 1 Dallas, Texas Cambridge Room
August 2 Houston, Texas House of Blues
