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

Serotonin, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Being an independent artist, alone makes your whole career a risk, everything you create, distribute, and market is all up to your strength, resilience, and belief in your material. Not having a budget, a label, a “team” could have discouraged me but the right one will come, I’m sure of it.. for now I realized I have my own path to pave and there’s nothing wrong with flying solo for a while, there’s actually a freedom in creative direction which is the most important aspect to me in this career next to the completion of material and the ability to eat after a release and an appearance ya know. Luckily my family has been great support, and always motivates me to commit to and continue my journey…

I had someone tell me…no one is going to care about your music, and people were not going to listen to it. The same person who saw me work on the material for months, . This was prior to me dropping DO IT YOURSELF & since then I performed it in NEW ORLEANS, LOS ANGELES, AUSTIN, NEW YORK, and ofcourse my hometown HOUSTON..all out of pocket, the merch, the venues, hotels, rentals.. all from blessings of the UNIVERSE.. had I believed what was told to me, I wouldn’t have attempted to travel , let alone share that music, . Gotta appreciate the haters.

As for that person, they haven’t even attempted to tour, so it gave me perspective on who to listen to…Someone who has no reference of what I’m trying achieve and become ? or the intuition that took me further than I’ve ever been.

Now I am working on JUMPER CABLES, a mixtape with the intention to spark the listener to keep grinding, keep shining, and work through your frustrations so you can get to where your going. The songs are not intended for the perfectionist, or the radio, It was just captures of pure, raw, fucking chaotic emotion that I didn’t think twice about..

Don’t get me wrong I pray to be signed or on a label, but I only want to align with like minded individuals that see me as more than a commodity and can access my worth entirely. My influence and material are impactful with or without a budget, managerial services, and “distribution” …just imagine them with it from the investments of a risk taker.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

The main thing I want my listeners and fans to know is that I don’t want to ever make them feel less than me, no matter the heights of my success and achievements. I am a black man in America that loves to rap, sew, draw, film, spray-paint, write, design, do drugs, and party… I’m not different than most kids here in this country…the thing is though…I realize there’s a subtle lack of substance that surrounds the culture we all share, as of lately atleast.

I try to be a bit intentional with what I produce, as Serotonin it’s my duty to spread happiness and joy. I have to embed wisdom and encouragement in my material, to combat the other forces especially when war, and injustice is plaguing this world . That’s what UNIVERDGE is for.. it’s deeper than clothes and money. I want people to understand the universe, acknowledge it, practice manifestation, & the ability to manipulate your reality for your desired results while enjoying yourself. My moniker I LOVE A.C.I.D. means I love all creative ideas discovered. I want people to believe in themselves and the things they want to do and be and if they are aware that someone appreciates their offering, then maybe they will be more apt to share more material and add to the celestial canvas of life.

I want to remind others it is not easy to construct your vision, materials can be pricey, resources can be inaccessible, knowledge can be scarce, but with thirst.. you can find what your looking for. I am blessed to have found a technique that I enjoy to implement communication to the world through my hand embroidered products and psychedelic music. Each have given me the opportunity to speak my truth and share my perspective without any interference and I encourage others to figure out how to do the same with their choices of medium.

If you feel like you need a website to get started you don’t, if you feel like you need a team to get started you don’t, if you feel like you need an audience or a platform to get started you don’t, you just need belief and the initiative to live out your dreams.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I want to change my families life and Houston, Texas with this brand Univerdge. Seriously I want to impact the culture and open storefronts in Houston, New York, Tokyo, and Los Angeles…actually creative centers with materials and supplies for people to learn how to get out their vision. I always saw myself having recording studios in the back of Univerdge building’s while fans are shopping and hanging out in the front screen-printing, filming etc.. It’s been a vision of mine that I will bring into fruition… No matter how long it takes. I want collaborations with Marc Jacobs, Balenciaga, Maison Mihara Yasuhiro, Skims, and Human Made by Nigo, so kids from my community can see our world reach heights unattainable.

As far as the music I have dreams of working with amazing artist like Drake, Frank Ocean, Lil Uzi Vert, Playboi Carti, Yves Tumor, King Krule, Travis Scott, and other musicians I grew up listening to and watching their story unfold, I feel like I have a lot of puzzle pieces that could fit into culture’s never ending story.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Solar Fest, was maybe the largest event I hosted and curated this year featuring my beautiful family, 30 musicians, 16 vendors, and the amazing houston community. The budget I had to pull this off was only $1,000 .. no investors, or professional backing. I made the flyer from scratch and I had a news anchor from London make the promotion video because she loved the brand so much.

The best part about it was, the fact it was hosted at a metaphysical store called Absolem’s and that couldn’t have been more on brand and close to home…..Since I couldn’t afford a stage, My girlfriend, and I gathered pallets, spraypaint, and plywoood and put it all together and it came out amazing… real D.I.Y. ya know.

I was a bit nervous because it rained the day before and the property was wet but we dried everything off with fans, and did our best to ensure it was ready the day of. So many people I didn’t expect came by and supported us and it made me realize effort and determination are key elements into the execution of our goals..
I was on the brink of cancelling it ya know…but everyone around me encouraged me.

I want to let the reader know, you can use the materials, resources, and community you have and create something entirely amazing and beautiful. Don’t be afraid of failure, be afraid of the power of fear.. and stay far from it on your journey.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/drugsexrave
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCer8YJrbwA6LBYmM8Vo6ouQ

Image Credits
Serotonin