Interview: ilykare

Recently, I sat down in a call with Matt, a musician better known by the name ilykare. We talked about his music, past and present, and got a better insight into the world of being a musician.

(Start interview)

Finch: So, what got you into music?

Matt: It's a funny story. My friend Jack, one night sent me a music video- the Zac Greer music video for "Melatonin"- and he was like "oh this is a really funny music video". He sent me the behind the scenes video because I looked like him. I loved listening to music all the time and had listened to the underground stuff you find on SoundCloud and my friends just told me to get into it. Finch: That's cool. So why this scene out of all the scenes out there for musicians? Matt: I don't really know honestly! I was really into glaive and ericdoa when I first got into music, so the "hyperpop" scene was what I figured I would want to make. I wasn't good at singing at first, and I still am not good at singing, but at the time I was horrible at singing. I figured if I could pitch up my vocals I could hide that I was a bad singer. I guess I was just so attracted to that idea that I figured out how to make this kind of music. I tried producing, but I found out I was really bad at making beats, but I could write lyrics all the time. But as for this scene in general, the Niz scene (referring to Niztopia), I met these people through Overpade and their server. My friend, the first person I met in music, 47negus, showed me how to produce and everything. He also showed me the Niztopia server and everything, that's kind of how I stepped into the scene.

Finch: Yeah, that makes sense! What would you say your overall creation process is like? Matt: A lot of the time, I don’t produce myself, so I usually hit up a producer to get a custom beat. I get a beat i like, put it in FL, and hum a melody until I get something I like. Then I’ll fill words in, or just freestyle. If I get someone to custom produce it, I like to work with them- tell them what should hit harder or what I do and don’t like. It’s super fun to work with producers, you really get to get the product that you want.

Finch: Nice, working with producers sounds really fun. I've only done it once but it was a great time. But anyways, you decided to scrap your entire EP and start from scratch, what's going to happen now?

Matt: I had made 2 new songs, but they didn’t fit the vibe of the EP I had been working on, and that was the direction that I really wanted to take, so I re-listened to the EP, and I was like “this all sucks”. I was listening to it, and it was- at the time- my best stuff, but listening back I didn’t want to release it. But if I showed it to other people, they’d say I’m insane, because people like it, but listening to it now, it’s not what I want to make. I want my first debut EP to be really important to me.

Finch: Speaking of taking a direction with music, what direction do you want to take moving forward? Matt: A lot more pop type stuff. I love Olivia Rodrigo, The Kid Laroi, Keshi. Definitely a more emotional, kind of romantic pop vibe, more than screaming heartbreak stuff. But definitely elements of my old music that I really enjoyed and that people liked, I’m gonna make sure to include that in the new stuff. Finch: Exciting. Back on the topic of creating music, what would you say is the hardest part of making music for you?

Matt: Writing verses, honestly. I can come up with a chorus, like that. I can come up with a chorus for a song, but I will not touch a project for a while because I worry that I can’t make a verse. Definitely writing stuff that isn’t a chorus, like a verse or a bridge.

Finch: That's understandable. If you had to pick, who overall would you say has been your biggest musical inspiration?

Matt: Probably at first glaive, I still love glaive, such a cool artist. Everyone says he’s ass in this scene, but ever since I’ve heard his songs I’ve fucked with him. I’ve always been like “yeah this is the music I wanna listen to” and obviously I’m gonna make music I want to listen to. But now I’m getting a bit more keshi and The Kid Laroi, especially in my newer stuff.

Finch: I have to check out keshi still haha. What music did you like to listen to growing up? Matt: I listened to whatever was on the radio, I would listen to whatever came on when my parents were driving me anywhere.

Finch: You were that kid? Matt: Yeah, I was that kid. I knew all the lyrics to everything on the radio because I listened to it all the time. Then in middle school I got into twenty one pilots and like meme rap. Then once I got into high school, I got super heavy into rap, because I’m a teenager living in America, of course I’m going to listen to rap. Recently though, I started listening to a bunch of pop music.

Finch: Growing up did you take music lessons? If so, what kind? Matt: In middle school and elementary school, I took chorus, and I hated every minute of it. In elementary school, I could not stand it because it was a required class. Then in middle school, my parents were like “oh we want you to take chorus again", because my parents both have doctorates in music and are both classically trained. Then in middle school I did chorus and was in band, I played french horn. I liked it at first, then I took lessons and I quit out of frustration.

Finch: That leads right into my next question, which you partially answered, does anyone else in your family do music?

Matt: My entire direct family is completely musical, both my parents are classically trained, they both have doctorates in music. My mom in singing, and my dad in acoustic guitar. My dad was a music production professor at Colombia University and then my sister has like the same history that I do, she’s always loved making music. Me and my sister are both really deep into making music as well.

Finch: That's cool! One last question, if someone asks about your music, how would you describe it to them?

Matt: I’ve made so many genres at this point, I used to call it hyperpop, because it’s the easiest thing to say. People know it as a growing genre, and it’s an umbrella genre. I’ve made rock, I’ve made a ton of alternative rock, pop, and the current stuff I’m sitting on is mostly indie pop or indie rock. The stuff I've released already, I'd consider rock with digicore elements, which is confusing to tell people, so I just say alternative rock. Finch: Alright! Thank you so much! Matt: No problem, thank you as well!

(End interview)

Anyways, talking with Matt was a very laidback experience. He's a very nice guy, and his music is really cool to listen to. He recently released a new song- all4attention. Be sure to go check it out wherever you stream music!