ARTEMAS
Joining us from the UK— where he’ll remain until “Joe Biden says” he can come back— Artemas marvels the positivity of the last week, quantified in exciting playlist placements and new TikTok views. The story of Artemas starts one fateful night at age 16 during school holidays, stumbling upon a Nirvana documentary, and is currently rounding out one prolific debut year with moody pop singles like “High 4 U” making waves already. A sucker for catchy hooks himself, Artemas shows off his chorus chops in his latest single “Sunny”— a sound he’s proud of, but promises none of his future releases will resemble. Like the artists who lead him to where he is today, Artemas aspires to create with a myriad of sounds and colors, assuring us his story has only just begun. Strap in, check out the full interview, and take a look at the playlist he made us, linked below.
INTERVIEW
Interview by Bridgette
February 3, 2021
Today I’m sitting down with Artemas; thanks so much for being here!
Thank you so much for having me, Bridgette!
I appreciate you coming in. Is this the first interview?
This is my second interview, but my first like proper interview — so basically when I was 17, I made this very bad rock song and it was played it on the local radio, and they brought me in, but this is like my first real interview. So I’m gonna be very rusty, just a pre-warning to all the listeners.
First off: huge congrats on the new song “Sunny”. You must be so excited that it’s out!
I’m very happy that it’s out. Well, we released a song in November, and you’re not supposed to release a song in December because of Christmas tunes, so it’s been a bit of a wait. It feels great to have it out: the next step in the Artemas journey. Yeah, I’m feeling good about it.
A lot of people are feeling good about it, as well; huge congrats for getting on the New Music Friday playlist on Spotify! How does that feel?
It’s crazy! I’m not just saying this; I’ve been listening to that playlist for the past four years. Whenever I started getting into making music, I mean that's where I spent my Friday nights, on that playlist. It’s just really surreal, and we’re in a really good placement— we’re like in the middle. I can’t believe it. I wasn’t expecting it, but it feels really good.
It must feel great because it’s something that you love and put out and it’s resonating with people. That’s all you can really ask for, right?
Yeah, exactly. It’s kind of, I’d say, a little darker than “High 4 U” so I was a little worried that maybe people would listen to it and be like, “Oh I didn’t sign up for this, I didn’t think Artemas would release such a heart-wrenching song like this.” [Laughs] But people seem to like it so far, so I’m pleased about it.
I’d love to hear more about the track and the inspiration behind it for you.
I made it a little before I released “High 4 U”, my last song. Do you feel like with lockdown and quarantine, something changed about six months in? The way everyone went from “Let’s all be in this together!” and then suddenly it’s like “Damn, this is getting very depressing now.” It was one of those kinds of nights. I’d gone to bed at midnight, and I couldn’t go to sleep, and I was like “Screw it, I’m gonna try and write a song.” I started it at two in the morning, and I finished it at 11 the next day. It was such a blur, like I can’t remember the exact process, but it was very easy to write. The production took me a while, and by the morning I had pretty much the whole sketch of the production and the whole song written. I barely made any edits as far as songwriting from there. It kind of just kinda came out one night, one sad quarantine night.
I love that you brought up lockdown because I know that you really started releasing music in the last year, and we all know what the last year was. I’m curious, were these songs you’ve had for a while, or songs that were written and inspired by what’s going on?
A lot of them, and a lot of the songs which will come out in the future, have been around for a while. It’s a weird thing, being a songwriter — and it’s a problem a lot of us face — when we don’t release music, you kind of get sick of the old stuff and you want to release the latest thing you make because that’s where your head is then. It’s new for you so you can imagine the perspective of a listener. [Most of these] songs I’ve had for a while, although “Sunny” is a rare case where it’s one I did quite recently.
Does it change for you? Does it feel different releasing these newer songs that reflect the present moment more?
Yeah! I think I can enjoy the release day a little more because I still like the song. Obviously I love all my music to an extent, but the newer stuff I haven’t heard a thousand times. It’s like you can put yourself in the shoes of the listener a bit. I think we only sent [“Sunny”] out to Spotify and Apple Music three weeks ago, so it’s very fresh in my memory. The reward for making that song has come much quicker, and it feels good, and I want to keep doing that.
How did you get started with music? Who were some of your influences early on?
I’ve been into singing, I played piano, my whole life. I got lessons when I was six years old. But I never really took an interest in songwriting until I was around 16. Before that I wanted to be an actor. I always wanted to do something creative, but I just hadn’t found songwriting yet. So imagine... I’m 16 years old, it’s the school holidays and I’m just passing the time, and I came across this Nirvana documentary on Netflix and it changes my life. [Laughs] I watched that documentary and pretty much as it ended, I almost made the decision in my head, “I wanna be like him [Kurt Kobain], I wanna make music, I wanna play shows.” I just picked up a guitar — I played piano so it was easier to pick up — and I just started writing songs. I’ve just been on this long journey of slowly evolving, finding different types of music. I’ve always had a soft spot for catchy choruses and pop music. Ever since then, I’ve just been gradually developing the Artemas sound.
Would you ever consider pursuing acting later in life?
I’ll have to see. My biggest passion, the biggest love of my life is making music, so I have to see. I don’t know, I think I just hadn’t found music yet. Maybe the fact that first I wanted to be an actor then I wanted to be a musician, maybe that shows that I’m an attention seeker or something. [Laughs] But I’d definitely consider it, for sure.
Right, but this is what’s feeling good for you now.
Hell yeah.
You grew up in the UK, correct? Are you there right now?
I’m in the UK right now, unfortunately. Until they open the borders I’m stuck here, which is a shame. So for context, I had pretty much made the decision to move to America in January of last year, and I went out for three to four months. Obviously COVID hits and I go back home, and I’m expecting to get back in two or three months’ time, but as COVID just keeps going along I’m still in England. So I definitely plan to move back to LA as soon as possible, but we’ll have to wait and see what Joe Biden says.
Do you think that your upbringing in the UK has had any effect on your music?
For sure, but to be honest, a lot of people who listen to my music and then speak to me in real life are surprised that I’m British. I sing with a kind of American twang and it’s because the first songs I listened to as a kid were all Red Hot Chili Peppers. My mom is like the biggest Red Hot Chili Peppers fan ever, and so I kind of learned to sing doing impressions of Anthony Kiedis. So it just feels more authentic to me when I’m singing with a slight— I wouldn’t say I sing with an American accent but there’s definitely a twang and it’s kind of ambiguous.
That’s funny because the first time I heard you speak was, funny enough, on TikTok and I was like “He’s British?” [Laughs] Speaking of TikTok, you’ve been killing it on that platform.
[Laughs] Yeah, I have literally been putting off putting effort into that app for the longest time until eventually my manager, after days and days of nagging me, managed to get me to commit to it for two or three days, and it just started going. [Laughs] This is going to sound kind of lame, but I’m doing this thing at the moment where I cover kids TV shows’ — from the 2000s, like my generation of American kids TV shows — themes, and I put my own spin on them. And my iCarly one and my Phineas and Ferb one have together like 500,000 views— like more than my music [laughs] so it’s crazy. That app is mad, but, you know, I’ve picked up a bunch of fans from it so I guess it’s a good thing.
I guess the people have spoken: they want more Phineas and Ferb and iCarly covers. [Laughs]
I know, like people in the comments are saying, “Drop an iCarly album… drop an album of these things,” and I was like “Come on, I’ve got real music! This is my life!” It’s funny. But no, I’m going to be really focusing on TikTok for the next month. It’s crazy. If you’re an artist and you’re listening, you need to get on TikTok because it’s wild out there.
It’s working clearly! People are interested and listening, and if it gets iCarly to get them there, then so be it. [Laughs]
Yeah, exactly! People have done worse stuff to get people’s attention, you know? Make a… Or have they? I don’t know. [Laughs]
We’ll go with that. [Laughs] So people are listening to your music and getting to know you. What do you want people to take away from not only this single specifically, but your music, in general?
I would say to not get stuck on the sound of the last few singles, because all of my favorite artists have had long careers and a variety of different sound palettes. I’m a producer as well as a songwriter, and I get bored of doing the same kind of thing again and again. So yeah, if you love “Sunny” I’m very, very happy to hear that, but we’ve got lots of different types of songs coming and I hope a listener goes in with an open mind. Bruno Mars, his second album was called Unorthodox Jukebox, and I think that’s such a great title and I love the concept. I know it’s not particularly the coolest thing in the world to admit live to a music blog that you’re a big Bruno Mars fan, but sue me! [Laughs] But yeah, I want to be like that, to an extent. I want to do lots of different genres and blend them together, because that’s what gets me excited to make music.
Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone you’re a fan. We’re good. [Laughs]
Oh, please! [Laughs]
Thank you so much for sitting down with me today, it’s been a lot of fun. Before we wrap up, is there anything else you have coming up that you’d like to share with folks listening?
Follow my TikTok— no! I’ve got more exciting things than just my TikTok! I’m hoping to keep cranking out more and more singles. Hopefully once every month, and then we’re going to lead into an EP halfway through the year. I love what Brockhampton did in 2017 where they just cranked out so much music. I want to kind of saturate Spotify with my tunes, because I have a lot in the bank that I’ve got to get rid of. So strap in because there’s going to be a lot of music!
That’s exciting!
Yeah, and follow my TikTok. [Laughs]
Artemas, thank you so much for coming in! It was so much fun having you.
I’ve had a fantastic time. Thank you, Bridgette!
This interview originally aired on WNYU Radio with Bridgette Kontner on February 3, 2020, on The New Afternoon Show at https://wnyu.org/archives/2021-02-03-the-new-afternoon-show