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Interview with
PRESTON PABLO

(25th August 2022)

Interview by Dave Bruce

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About PRESTON PABLO:

Preston Pablo channels a fresh perspective on R&B and pop through live instrumentation and eloquent songwriting. The singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer made his solo debut in high school with the single “OMO.” Right out of the gate, it eclipsed 648K Spotify streams. He continued to gain traction with a series of releases. Tapped for the compilation Bangers Only, Vol. 1, he linked up with fawlin and Chill Only for “Circles” [3.3 million Spotify streams] and SauceOnly and Zeegs for “When We Were Kids” which racked up over 6 million Spotify streams. His single “One Sided” amassed 1.4 million Spotify streams as he joined forces with pablø for “She Tried It,” “Control,” and “Ideas.” On the heels of “Chargie,” Banger of the Day predicted, “we are expecting Preston to have another big year.” Along the way, Preston signed to Universal Music Canada as he honed what he describes as a “modern vintage” style. After racking up nearly 20 million streams independently, he draws a big sound out of small town roots on singles such as “Don’t Break (My Soul)”, “Flowers Need Rain” and more to come.

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Have you always wanted to be a musician? When did you get the song writing bug?
I’ve always been a music lover, but there was never a moment early on in my life where I thought about being a musician for real. It was always just a hobby of mine. As a kid I played the drums and always sang for fun but I never wrote any songs until later on in life. I was around 15 or 16 years old when I started messing around on the guitar, I would learn cover songs and sing along to them. Then, I eventually started coming up with my own random chord progressions and writing songs to those.

How would you describe your sound? Why do you think people resonate with your music?
As of right now I think the best way to describe my sound would be Pop/RnB. But I plan for my sound of music to change and grow alongside myself as an artist as well as a person. It’s really hard to pinpoint specific reasons as to why people resonate with my music because everyone feels things differently. One song can have multiple different meanings depending who’s listening to it and how they decide to unpack it. One thing I do feel gives people a reason to resonate with my music is the fact that I write songs based on very real and raw emotions and personal experiences. I think I do a good job at communicating my thoughts and feelings in a very genuine way. People tend to gravitate towards that kind of stuff, especially through music.

Which artist’s music and/or performance, past or present, inspires you today?
Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, Majid Jordan, Justin Timberlake, Chris Brown

Your new single “Flowers Need Rain” is out! Describe its origin and evolution.
So the story/meaning behind my song “Flowers Need Rain” is this. I had just gotten back from being in Montreal from a week of writing with Banx & Ranx and it was the first time I had ever travelled for music and it was my first time writing music outside of the house I grew up in. So many great things happened in that one week, and I definitely felt changed because of it but I found myself feeling very overwhelmed and stressed out with so many new perspectives and questions floating around my mind. I spent some time without writing any music shortly after that trip but after 2 weeks or so I picked up my guitar without any plan or specific ideas in mind and wrote the chorus for “Flowers Need Rain”.
Later that day I recorded a rough demo of just the pre chorus and chorus alone and the next day filmed a visualizer piece with my brother and our friends in my backyard. I posted it to my Instagram that same week and it very quickly became the biggest response I had gotten on my social media to date. At that point Banx & Ranx had heard the demo and really loved it. We decided to partner up together alongside Sara Diamond and finish the song. The song is and always will be a reminder to myself. It’s my anchor point throughout all the ups, downs and scary moments that come with this musical journey I’ve decided to pursue. It reminds me that no matter what happens, or where I end up I’ll always need music in my life the same way flowers need rain to live and grow.

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Is there more music on the drawing board?
TONS OF IT!

What is your writing process like?
It really depends on the type of song I’m writing and who I’m writing it with. It’s always slightly different but for the most part it starts with the idea process which is where I’ll throw out a bunch of different thoughts, feelings or previous ideas and see what feels best. Once there’s a clear theme/idea, it’s sort of like putting together a puzzle. You try and fit different pieces into different places but after some trial and error, it all comes together and paints a picture.

Any tours or events coming up soon? What are you looking forward to, and what can the fans expect?
I’ll be announcing a few Canadian show dates very soon, really looking forward to putting out the new music I’ve been working on and touring!!

How has COVID affected you to date? What have you introduced to balance the losses from missed events?
I was fortunate enough to have been in the very early stages of this new musical journey at the beginning of the pandemic so it didn’t have as big an impact on me as it did towards lots of other artists who were already deep into their careers. At worst it delayed the process of me releasing music by a little bit but it really gave me and my team a lot of time to work quietly and formulate a solid plan for when things did start opening up again.

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If you could perform with any music artist, Alive or Dead, who would you choose? And why?
I think performing with Travis Scott would be an amazing experience because of how different his show dynamic is compared to mine. I’d be able to perform as a completely different artist on his stage and tap into a completely new source of energy.

Do you have any long-term aspirations as a music artist?
Headlining and selling out a world tour.

What is the best thing about performing to a live audience? What’s been the career highlight so far?
The best thing about performing to a live audience for me is the real life connection between me and the crowd. Being able to exist all in the same place for the same reason is truly a blessing. Exchanging energy and emotions in real time through music is what makes a live performance so special. It really is hard to describe, but I’m forever grateful to be able to experience it.

Finally, a few questions for some quick answers –
FAVOURITE:
Album – Majid Jordan or Beauty Behind the Madness
Artist – Impossible to only pick one
Movie – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Place to visit – Wherever home is
Venue to play – Haven’t played enough to know
Food – Soup and sandwich combo
Drink – Water or Coconut water
Person in History – Santa Clause
Tattoo – (If you don’t have one, what would you get?) Don’t have one but I would get a flower and a drop of rain on my neck under my ear

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Follow PRESTON PABLO
INSTAGRAM – TWITTER – YOUTUBE – TIKTOK

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AMNPLIFY – DB