
Welcome to BuzzMusic Basil Panagop, and congrats on your latest single release, "Six AM." The single has a dreamy and ethereal quality. Can you share the inspiration behind the choice of instruments for this song and how they helped shape the overall sound?
The song itself is about isolation and being in this state of insomnia. So coming from a more morbid context, a church organ immediately came to mind for some reason. It’s the first thing you hear in the song, and it almost sets the undertone of the whole song from the get-go. From there, it was about creating these dreamy textures that would almost visualize the state of insomnia, where you’re not quite awake or asleep; you’re just floating in limbo. The floaty elements also allow the percussion and bass to have more of a cutting impact when used, creating this sort of tension. I don’t know when I’m sitting down and creating the song; the music becomes the scenery that the lyrics live in; they give the words life.
What was the inspiration behind the lyrics?
The lyrics themselves describe a moment in time when I think I was very within myself in terms of an inner dialogue. Luckily Insomnia isn’t something I’m dealing with at the moment. Still, the song describes that inner dialogue you have with yourself as you try to find yourself at peace with yourself in a hard time, pulling yourself up from a state of self-imposed isolation.
With the single taken from your upcoming debut album of the same name, "Six AM," how does this track fit into the overall narrative or theme, and can fans expect a similar sound throughout the project?
Throughout the album, 3 main themes run through and interconnect. One is that the album runs in a 24-hour sequence, starting at 6 AM and ending at 6 AM. This can be heard as we run through the album's track listing. The album starts in a dream-like state, or waking up. Then as it moves along, it goes through the day (the first 3 songs), and at the midway point of evening/night, finally ending with the sun coming up. Each song's feel and subject matter will constantly change to reflect the time of day it signifies.
With your unique blend of genres, engaging lyricism, and growing success, where do you see your career heading in the next few years? Are there any specific goals or milestones you'd like to achieve as an artist?
First of all, thank you, that’s quite a compliment; I appreciate you. As for where I see myself taking everything in the next few years, I think it's about scaling everything up. Whether it be with the clothing, I’m making with my clothing line IVTPVIT or with the music. The goal is to scale it up. For example, with clothing, we want to do pop-up shops around Europe. Then for the music, obviously playing more shows, festivals, more in-detail music videos, etc., from A-Z, and all that is always at the forefront. But for me as well, it’s about doing it correctly and scaling up the production of what you’re doing without losing any of the quality that got you there. If anything upping the quality. Playing shows in front of larger audiences and rewarding them by creating an absolute spectacle with the live experience. I’m quite excited; it’s just about constantly pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, which creates growth.
If you could collab with anyone now, who would it be?
Outside of usual collaborators who I consider family (s/o J.P. Rose, Feux, Julian Schmidt, and Humble Film Productions). From a music perspective, I would love to work with Slowthai, FKA Twigs, Rick Rubin, Rosalia and Frank, amongst many others, just because I think our general styles could create a fantastic end product and because Rick is Goated. From a fashion perspective, I’d love to do designs for Adidas. I’ve always been Adidas growing up playing football and all that. So it’s a bucket list item. Especially sambas; I've been skating in sambas since youth. Plus, I need a new pair. Some dirtbag stole mine from the locker room in the gym about 3 days ago.