It’s all happening for the kid…

The Vans Musicians Wanted competition has become something of a staple in the global music scene. Scouring the world far and wide, the apparel giants have time and time again come through with a solid group of musos to go head to head for the crown. Lucky for us, they’ve upped the ante even further this year, and we’ve got an Aussie representing for us in Melbourne R&B & jazz star Squid The Kid.

Hot off the release of his latest single ‘Drunk Thoughts,’ the Kid seems to be on a one track journey to superstardom. He’s also got a hell of a brain on his shoulders, balancing nursing and music up until his recent decision to put pedal to the medal with the creative side of his personality. Thus he’s the ultimate person to represent us in the showdown, which conveniently for us, is taking place tomorrow (check it here).

We caught up with Squid ahead of the Vans finals tomorrow. Check it below.

It’s a super exciting time for you! You’ve got the Vans finals taking place mere days away, and you’re hot off the release of your latest track ‘Drunk Thoughts.’ How’s it all feeling right about now?

Honestly this all still feels like a dream. I remember at the start of the year being so stressed out and scared of the mere fact that my music journey was tracking very slowly and because of that I started to have self doubts of making it in this industry.

I’m glad that I kept on my path and stuck to the journey, because in terms of music, this year has been crazy. From selling out my first ever headline show, to dropping two singles that everyone has enjoyed and now this Vans competition, if you asked the stressed out version of myself at the start of the year how my year would look, I definitely didn’t see all this coming

How are you feeling for the Vans finals? 

Very excited but also nervous to be honest. I get this same feeling before I have to go up on stage, but once I’m on, everything just passes. I think I am a bit nervous due to this probably being the biggest thing that has ever happened to me and the guys, this is a massive platform we are on and a big opportunity to say the least.

But apart from all the nerves I am defiantly mad excited to see how everything turns out, looking forward to watch myself and the other finalists perform, and hopefully we take this home for Australia because I’m not shy to say I’m very competitive as well.

Were there ever any moments that really nurtured your musical growth up to this point?

Moments that nurtured my musical growth would definitely be attending guitar lessons every week for a good few years when I was younger. Learning and understanding how to play an instrument really shaped my ear and love for music. Another moment would be dad just blasting the radio on the weekends, there was always music playing so that also played a huge part for me loving music.

You’ve got this fusion of hip hop, R&B and jazz that meshes together really nicely. A lot of the time fusion genres can come off quite cheesy or clichè, what do you think is the secret to meshing genres?

I think for me, the secret is to just be an open book and be honest with everything one chooses to create. I want to express my personality and stories through my music and show my true self, not to put up a front or an act.

That’s probably why my music sonically sounds good, because if you ever meet me in person or even just follow me on social media, and then listen to my music after you can see how everything gels and makes sense haha.

The latest single ‘Drunk Thoughts’ features a good mix of rapping and singing and has this real jazz bar sort of vibe. What was the inspiration for it?

The songs prior to the release of ‘Drunk Thoughts’ have predominantly rap based. I have for the passed few years been working hard to get my singing voice where I want it to be, even though I got a lot of work to do, I’m slowly getting better. I just wanted to showcase that side a bit more, and give everyone something a bit more slow and new, because up until ‘Drunk Thoughts’ I’ve just made up beat tracks. 

The name is ‘Drunk Thoughts,’ of course I’m guessing this is taken from a particular experience. Without getting too specific, what were the ‘Drunk Thoughts’ that inspired the track? 

There is a saying “A drunk mind speaks a sober heart”. I wanted to expand on it and bring it to life. I heard this saying years ago and ever since then it stuck to me, maybe because it’s such a harsh but true reality sometimes.

You’ve done quite a lot of living for a 22-year-old, having undertaken a nursing degree. Why did you choose to pursue nursing specifically?

Main reason is being of filipino descent, there’s a big stereotype when it comes to filipinos becoming nurses and I can confirm it’s very true hahaha. On another note, let’s just say I got a bad ATAR score [laughs] and doing a nursing diploma was all that there was for me at the time, when you get a score like I did, there aren’t much options.

You got pretty deep into nursing before switching gears and fully committing to music. What’s that process been like? 

That switch was one of the hardest things I had to go through mentally. When chasing a dream, at the start you really are just throwing yourself in the deep end. With other fields like sport for example, there’s set steps to get better at the sport, when it comes to creativity and art there really isn’t a set plan to go off, especially if you are trying to be unique and mould your own sound.

It was really awkward and rough at the start, there’s just a lot of layers to figure out and learn, starting with production, then going to vocals and lyrics and then to the mix and mastering stage etc. definitely a lot to take in which is scary but glad me and the guys have pushed through the hard yards and now are at this point where even though we still have lots of evolving to do, the creating process is a bit more settled. 

I’ve heard nursing is an intense degree to undertake, I can’t imagine someone having any time between placements and learning content to do music.

Nursing is definitely full on, just knowing that someone’s life is in your care is daunting in itself but also very rewarding. I did do one placement and with the experience came a huge respect for everyone in the healthcare industry, without them I honestly wouldn’t know how this world would turnout, especially with the rise of the pandemic, so make sure to give thanks to these people because they are the real superheroes in my eyes.

Now just broadening out, how do you look back on the journey so far?

The journey has been slow and steady to say the least. My career is very different to a lot of other artists but I sort of like it like that. I’m just really proud of how far me and the guys have come, especially from our first song ‘Late Bloomer’ which was a train wreck hahaha.

Each time we start a new project we feel a bit more confident in our abilities as musicians and that in itself is why we do this, to slowly get better each and everyday, chip away at the big goal at hand.

Every time I listened to artists talk about chasing their dreams, I honestly thought it was all cliche just because they had already made it, but it is true what they say, if you work hard at something, you never know where it may take you, and it’s pretty cool to be tasting a tiny bit of that now.

Lastly, regardless of what happens with the Vans comp, how do you see the rest of the year panning out for you? What else can we expect?

I do have a song in the bank ready to be released, so very excited to share that one with the world, also the music video is looking mad too. But the main thing to expect from me is another headline show.

I really miss playing live and to just vibe out with a crowd, so if I could play one more time by the end of the year, that would be insane, performing is my favourite thing to do, so I’m just craving to jump in a mosh pit and wild out again.

Squid The Kid’s new single is out now. You can buy/stream it here. You can tune into the Vans finals tomorrow here.