We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Clark May. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Clark below.

Clark, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

For recording artists, it takes a long time to build the right foundation. The sooner you start growing your skills, gathering an audience, and maintaining consistency, the sooner you see a career for yourself. Although I would have liked to start my music career earlier, I’m honestly glad that I get to introduce myself as an artist now.

I listen back at the songs I released in high school, and for most of them I cringe a little. I can’t imagine having songs I would’ve written in middle school attached to my career as an adult. As a teenager, I was not very confident about my voice. My range was changing, and my voice was cracking, and I didn’t know my instrument very well. Starting earlier might have helped strengthen my voice, or it might have completely embarrassed me out of music – we’ll never know! I’m grateful that I found my own confidence in my own time. I love pushing myself in the studio and on stage. I know my journey is far from over, but I’m in a good place!

Clark, 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?

My name’s Clark May, and I’m a vocalist, music producer, and songwriter. Writing songs lets me tell stories and untangle big emotions. It’s also just really fun – it feels like solving a puzzle! I’ve had the opportunity to work with some amazing producers and writers in Atlanta, and I’ve even opened for the artist Blackbear at Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion!

I grew up teaching myself to use GarageBand (Apple’s entry-level music software) on my family’s computer. Although I wrote lyrics for the songs I made, I was too shy to record them or show them to anyone. When I got to high school, I created 10 songs that weren’t very good, so I kept them for myself. I tried creating an album again, and this time I finally felt the confidence to share it. My senior year, I released my album “Green Screen” on Spotify when virtually no one knew I sang or made music. I showed the songs to my parents and closest friends just weeks before, but other than that, it was a surprise. The response I got was amazing! My teachers played my music down the hallways, and my classmates told me their favorite tracks.

Sharing my music gave me the boost I needed to make my second album “Ocean Waves”. When it was finished, I didn’t know I picked the worst time for the album release: March 2020. With the pandemic, I didn’t get the chance to market the songs how I wanted to. However, with all the time at home, I got to work on a third album. I finally had something that I thought sounded comparable to what was on the radio, and I released “My Tears Put Out the Flames” in August 2021.

My college friends started sharing my music, and they told me about an opportunity to be an opening act for Georgia Tech’s Homecoming Concert. I auditioned and won the vote from my peers. In October, I opened for Blackbear in front of almost 1,000 people! I was terrified, but everyone had a great energy and loved the songs! It was a night I’ll never forget.

Recently, my friends in the band Koyal told me about a songwriting camp from Atlanta Collective, a network of musicians building a community around the city. I spent the last 4 years making music almost exclusively by myself, so I jumped at the chance to work with others. At Camp Collective, producers get paired with 3 writers to make a song in 2.5 days. Then, they shuffle and do it again the rest of the week. At first, it was nerve-racking to be so vulnerable; we drew inspiration from our personal lives and had to try every idea whether it was bad or good. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming, and that week I fell in love with the Atlanta music scene. I got to work at 800 East and Maze Studios, which are both incredible spaces. In total, we made 4 songs in 5 days! The amount of talent there was astounding, and I’m glad I got to connect with so many musicians.

I want to take my time to make my next project sound as good as it can be. In this time between albums, I’ve grown my presence online and found new collaborators I enjoy working with. I’m always writing and producing, and I can’t wait to see where God takes me from here!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

The name of the game is consistency! The chances of going mega-viral are so slim, building a social media presence over time is the surest way to grow.

Your content should combine what you already love with your product or brand. A good rule to follow is 80% fun and 20% advertising. For me, I love cartoons & the animation industry, and my goal is to showcase how I sing and produce songs. In 80% of my content, I’m participating in trending conversations about my favorite shows & movies. I often sing covers of songs from those shows. Fans of the original song then become fans of my music! 20% of my content is showing my process of creating music and announcing my new releases.

People can smell an ad from a mile away. Unless they’re already a patron of yours, it’s difficult to hold their attention without providing value or entertainment. I saw a video recently from a bookstore whose employees participated in dance choreography challenge – the dancers were using books as props! It’s not in your face, and every comment said, “suddenly I’m a reader”! I thought it was a really clever way to advertise subtly.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My mission is to write songs that help people feel less alone in their experiences. I love listening to a song that takes the words right out of my mouth! Growing up I would hear songs that made me say, “I need 10 more songs talking about THAT, why is no one else doing this?”. I went through a breakup recently, and there were so many songs I was listening to that were describing very specific emotions I was processing. Even though the lyrics described someone else’s story or was written for a general audience, it felt like it was written just for me. If I can be that for someone else, I would feel on top of the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/clarkmusic
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clark.music
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088225326300
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLgIiU33BTgtqqWvZ-whrpA?sub_confirmation=1
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clark.may