We caught up with the brilliant and insightful ABSTRCTN a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

ABSTRCTN, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

Learning your craft can be the most fun and frustrating part of music. Experimenting with new rhyme schemes, trying out new genres, it’s all about the journey when it comes to the craft. Your styles and musical tendencies and inclinations are inspired by what you love! The combination of skill and artistic expression really gives life to us as creatives, but it truly takes time to develop.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

How did you get into music? – Wow heavy question, haha! Jas was in Sunday School choir as a kid and then took guitar lessons in high school. Jame has been in choir as well as on a barbershop cuartet. Funny story, Jas had gotten an MP3 player from our dad as his first music playing device and didn’t even know what he was supposed to do with it! Dad said, don’t worry you will i promise. Started him off with the Michael Jackson, Usher, 50 Cent starter pack and it was off to the races. Our mom has always been a fan of jazz, gospel, and rnb and would have it blasting through the house while she was working or cleaning. After high school, we pursued music careers separately. Jas went on to college and started performing as a solo guitarist and writing acoustic songs; later he formed a band called Abstract Melody with his childhood friend Will and some people from his History of Jazz class. Jame began learning how to record and ended up putting out his first album and doing some performing as well. After Jas graduated, he moved back home and we combined our skills and recorded a track that Jas wrote for a show in Italy called “Eyes4u”. After that we formed the group PRNCPL as a duo which later changed to ABSTRCTN.

What type of creative works do you do?
– We are songwriters, musicians, producers, audio engineers, and artists as a whole. We love to be in the music space and putting smiles on peoples faces during shows.

What sets us apart?
– What sets us apart is our work ethic and stage presence. When you come to an ABSTRCTN show you get a combination of comedy and music. In between sets we naturally banter as brothers which the crowd always finds entertaining. It really provides a complete a experience to be a part of the show. Another thing that sets us apart is our diverse music portfolio. From neo soul like Masego and Silk Sonic to rnb, to Spanish music we do it all! We do it in a way that is both professional and entertaining.

What you most proud of?
– We are most proud of where we’ve come from. 4 years ago we were just getting started in learning what it meant to do music professionally and getting our feet wet. But now we’ve done shows in multiple countries, have records with friends from all over and continue to build. Excited to see what comes next!

What are the main things you want your fans to know?
– We love you all!! Honestly couldn’t do this without you. We love making music and bringing enjoyment to people and to be able to do this as brothers is a blessing. Know that we are excited to continue this journey and look forward to sharing the story with you all!

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

The best way to support artists is to share their music! Show love on their socials, tell your friends. Artists work tirelessly trying to perfect their craft and to be able to share it on a wide scale is challenging but that challenge can be mitigated with constant support from society. Bigger corporations and DSP’s (Digital Streaming Platforms) putting an emphasis on up and coming artists by putting them on playlists and websites, that’s what we need. At the end of the day, its the fans that are the engine to any artists career. If people aren’t going to the shows, sharing the music and created content or telling their friends, its much harder for artists to get their name and their music out there.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For us, its the reactions that we bring people. When people hear our music or come to our shows we can tell they are enjoying it just as much as we are. Anytime someone says how thankful they are for the show or when we hear the cheers and see people’s smiling faces, few things feel better than that.

In addition to that, its taking an idea and turning it into something that can actually connect with the people. Being able to truly provide value through the music we make so that people want to hear it over and over but can also connect with the music through either their own personal experiences or through that of someone that they know.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/abstrctn
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_abstrctn_/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@_ABSTRCTN_
• Other: Amp – https://live.onamp.com/abstrctn

Image Credits
Hubcap Halo, Fire @ Will, DjThaKidQuest, ShotbyWriggz, ssvay.lens