We were lucky to catch up with Trevor James Tillery recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Trevor James thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

Right now, that would be my new album, ‘I Dreamt You Disappeared.’ It was released April of this year. After a few years of having to focus less on music and feeling in a bit of a creative drought, these songs poured out of me very quickly. In the spring of 2023, I had some initial sketches and two songs already written that were my sort of north stars for the direction I was headed. By July, I had the the rest of the album written and the start of the album recorded.

I co-produced the album with my partner Michael Kelley and invited a bunch of friends in Nashville to play on it. The record is lush and filled with acoustics, strings, horns, and synths. I’ve always wanted to make a very beautiful sounding album and I think I’ve achieved that.

The next most meaningful project, is the new album I’m working on. I’m probably 60% done making it at the moment and hoping to release it sometime next year.

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?

I’m an artist, songwriter and producer who’s been making music in various forms for well over a decade at this point. I’ve been in bands since middle school and haven’t stopped.

Since about 2014, I’ve been releasing music under my own name. I’ve released two full length albums, a few EP’s and some one-off singles here and there. My new album, ‘I Dreamt You Disappeared,’ is out now on streaming and vinyl (available on Bandcamp).

I’m also in a band with my partner called, Gentle Organisms. We released a record earlier this year called, ‘I Wish You Could See Yourself Right Now,’ which is out on streaming and CD (available on Bandcamp).

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

I love that the music I make creates these timestamps for my life, marking eras. Every now and then, it’s nice to look back and see where/who I was vs where I am going now. Not many people outside of art really have something like that and I don’t take it for granted. I really believe, even if millions of people never hear my music, that the art I create is the most important thing I could leave behind. It’s important as human beings that we are documenting our experiences, sharing it with each other and leaving art behind for future humans to pick up and maybe connect with. All of that to me is so fucking cool.

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

In a world where music is essentially free now, if you love the artist and the music, buy their merch and/or go to their shows to support them. Streaming is bittersweet. We can listen to whatever we want whenever we want and that is rad. However it comes with huge cost to the people creating it, unless you’re at the top 1%. Our art has been devalued now.

What I also try to do myself is listen to music with no distractions and give an album 100% of my focus. For me, it brings more value to the music. I notice more nuances and songs I may not have connected with before become my favorites. Nowadays, music is often in the background while we’re doing something or with some kind of visual stimulation. But I challenge people to take time to truly sit with music and give it all of your attention, I find it to be very rewarding and beautiful.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/tjt_music
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trevorjamestillery
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/trevorjamestillery
• Soundcloud: https://www.soundcloud.com/trevorjamestillery
• Other: Bandcamp: trevorjamestillery.bandcamp.com

Image Credits

Photography by Michael Kelley
Album artwork by Nick DuPlessis + Trevor James Tillery