We were lucky to catch up with RememberBuddha recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi RememberBuddha, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

First and foremost, every project I have released to the world is valuable to me for encapsulating those moments in time but, my most meaningful project to me right now has to be my recently released album New Gardens. Before I even decided to formulate this project or even the idea of it, I was dealing with getting kicked out of my old house. I had my studio there, which I turned into a business producing, mixing and mastering other artists music and making my own in a clear head space. I mean it was my sanctuary. I also had the free space to hold meetings with my creative collective every Saturday which only helped my creative space flourish. When I was told we had to move out we only had two weeks to find a new place I was destroyed mainly because I could barely afford rent and because this was my friends dads house, we were renting for a deal I wouldn’t find anywhere else for the space. I knew at some point I’d have to find a new place but the abrupt timing of it was rough. So, after finally getting my stuff out and moving back into my parents I fell into a deep depression since I lost this creative space and a large chunk of my freedoms as an everyday artist. The collective we built bonds with also slowly started to fade away with no place to call home and a lack of trust. A couple months pass, and I started to have several meetings with one of my producers Louie “Badtaste” Condillere and my other creative friends in the art community. During these meetings we played at least 35-40 demos I’ve made over the past 2 years with the intention of creating a release plan. We culminated a playlist that became the album New Gardens. Now once I started mixing my own records I rarely went to another engineer because I only trusted myself. I was convinced by Badtaste and my other artist friend Brent to head to Shock City Studios to get a great mind behind mixing this project and elevate it. Their head engineer Sam Maul took what I did with the demos and turned it into the most refreshing take on my music that it truly deserved, and I am so grateful for his mind on that. I had sessions at Shock City for about 3-4 months with my other artist friends in the music community coming to lend an ear and energy. This all felt new. Like I was in this new place, these New Gardens. It all felt organized for once. I just got to be the artist instead of the artist and the engineer all the time, which saved my brain a lot of strain. Now I’ve always made incredible music that is truly malleable to every genre I touch, but all my projects before felt subtly scatterbrained from me trying to showcase all these genres and sides with no consistent theme. What New Gardens gave you is a concise consistently themed project with amazing music and design that was carefully curated to create a world to get away too and it definitely did that. We attacked the rollout the way I intended, we created an audio and visual world to be your soundtrack and design language to follow and relate too. The cover art is one of my favorite pieces as well. It truly depicts the themes I wanted to touch on. In the cover art I’m like covered by these bushes with roses and flowers almost to represent how I am still finding my way through this garden (life) by myself and how truly you have to trust yourself to get where you want to be. This albums reception has been wonderful. Lots of new fans, inspirations and memories made with this album. Feels like we are moving the needle more and more. It felt so special from the music to the rollout to the merchandise and especially the response. It’s honestly the foundation that is high up with more room to grow. New Gardens is the start of a string of projects I want to all feel loosely connected. The financial and overall mental stress this album held was important for me too. That mainly taught me to temper expectations and trust what is happening because what is happening is simply meant to be so make the most of it. This is arguably my favorite body of work I’ve released because I was very open to my life experiences and the consistency of the theme. It encapsulated a moment in time for me. I can’t wait to build upon that for the next one.

RememberBuddha, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started making music around 16 years old, just kind of just freestyling with my friends and at parties. It turned into more when people started telling me that this was a talent and a gift that I had. So, I tapped into this skill and have created a catalogue of some incredible music and visual art to pair with it as well as booking many shows along the way. I was a rapper before I started producing but now learning how to produce my own records my skillset is an arsenal; I can communicate mixing techniques with engineers while also mixing my own records. I am more than just a rapper I know that I am one of the best song writers around. I will always curate a sound and emotion to be appreciated and relate too. I have created a following but I want it to build, the world needs to know what I have to offer. Beyond music I will continue to collaborate and create new designs/looks for clothes and fashion through my merchandise. I’d love to eventually get into architecture as well. I have always been creative but truly seeing my freedom as a designer and not just a musical artist has helped me expand my visions and tastes on what to do next. I can do anything I want to do and always will I’m stubborn enough to find a way. I’m very proud for what my art can offer the world. Now I need the world to dive in.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Always show love. I mean that in the most simple and complex way at the same time. If you see someone whose art you know about or appreciate, tell them. It is immeasurable what that does for an artist’s self-esteem. We just want to be seen and heard. This is not an easy path and just some acknowledgement at least for me goes a long way in my inspiration and motivation to keep going. Post about your favorite artists big or small on social media. The big artists have a machine for the smaller scale artists the machine is you. It doesn’t take more than consistent interaction on the internet these days or an organic fanbase. We need more of it with less bias too so we can open doors for more artists who truly are making a change and deserve the shine and appreciation. We need more outlets to showcase artists since we are having a massive influx of talent and unique artistry in this generation and the future generations. Also, other artists need to stop acting untouchable. Confidence is valuable but don’t let it be your downfall. How can we create a collaborative artist ecosystem if we don’t share our perspectives together and collaborate? A thriving artist ecosystem needs unity.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Yeah, being a creative you truly are misunderstood by many. Can’t go a day without judgement from any angle. The “go get a real job”, the “why do you do this?” is unreal how much it’s out there. I try my best to look at everyone and respect whatever decision they make even if it’s different from what I would do so I just get so confused about their frustrations with my life choices. First of all, to create my art takes patience and a true understanding of mine and other perspectives of the world. That includes self-awareness and an unbiased view which as a creative is at the forefront of my life. I have to know who I am to know what I am capable of. I am fully driven by my creative inspiration. Where a non-creative might say “it’s late I’m going to bed”. If inspiration strikes for me, I can’t be comfortable sleeping until the idea is realized and at least demoed. Also, the view of the world is drastically different for me I am driven off angles of perspective and I want to better understand things and diagnose moments for inspiration where a non-creative is most likely not thinking like that which I’m honestly jealous of. My priorities lie in my art so a lot of what I do is centered around that being the focus. We do need both sides of the coin though. We need non creatives in this world just as much as we need creatives. Balance is very important; we can’t have one without the other.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/remember_buddha/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYSVtxWBlLd-pd_uQ_p9NgA