DD – When I first met you in august of this year (2024) you were in the middle of making a song every day that month. This was in addition to working another job amongst other things. How did you stay disciplined to accomplish all these songs in a daily routine?

WR – I’m not entirely sure how I stayed disciplined. I went into each day knowing that I had to make a song, and that I would make a song. I guess I just planned my days around it, and if I ended up not making a song on any given day, I would’ve been pretty disappointed, so that motivated me.

DD – What inspired you to go on this journey in august?

WR – I had just moved to Seattle and I was going through a breakup. Being in a new city, I was meeting a lot of new people, and working a new job, and things in my life were generally very different from how they had been for a long time.

I think making August was a way to bring some consistency into my life in a transitional period.

DD – Roughly, how many hours per day would you spend making a song?

WR – It varied a lot. Some days I sat down and wrote and recorded the song in one sitting, it took maybe an hour. Other days I started making the song in the morning and worked on it all day until it felt done. Most days I had work and other stuff going on so I had to start later and I would work on them until 4 or 5 am. I lost a lot of sleep.

DD – Are you surprised at any of what has been produced in this month long expression?

WR – I’m definitely surprised. I had no idea what to expect. I thought maybe some of these would be too embarrassing to release, but I’m actually really proud of how they all turned out. I wrote some of my favorite lyrics I’ve written- like the ones on “We Do Really Bad Things”, and I made certain choices in songwriting that I would’ve never made without the freedom that this project brought. The chanting/spoken word in August 27th comes to mind.

DD – What are some of your earliest and/or most significant musical or creative memories?

WR – At a really young age I remember figuring out that I could anticipate when certain things would happen in songs. My mom would play music in the car and I realized that I knew when certain sounds were going to happen because of the rhythm of the song. It’s a pretty distinct memory to me. I feel like it was kinda the moment I figured out what music was.

I also remember wanting to draw all the time.

DD – How did the environment of New Orleans affect your development? How does living in Seattle now affect your creativity?

WR – New Orleans is an extremely creative city. There is a strong and distinct energy there. Living in that is intense and inspiring. It’s also inspiring to be surrounded by so many other creative people who make awesome stuff. New Orleans was where I made my first real songs, and I think that environment fueled a lot of things I’ve created.

Seattle feels really similar though honestly. There are people making really cool art here and I’m inspired by them all the time. I also feel like Seattle has a lot of history with alternative music and the people of this city love that genre. This is good for me, since I love it too. I also feel like the rain and the trees are really inspiring to me.

DD – Who and/or what are your biggest influences and inspirations?

WR – I’m influenced by movies and photos a lot. I feel like I’m a really visual person so, things I see often translate into music I make. I often start my albums with the cover already decided. This album was no different. As for people, I’m really influenced by my friends who have been so supportive of me for so long. As for artists- Elliot Smith is a huge and obvious influence to me. He has influenced pretty much everything I’ve made. Adrienne Lenker’s songwriting has also been a large influence on me for years now. Alex G is a big one as well. Not just his music, but the way he makes it as well. For “August” specifically, I felt really inspired by Arthur Russel. He’s probably my favorite artist. There’s an intangible feeling that I get from his music that I haven’t found anywhere else.

DD – Do you have any formal music training, or more self taught? It sounds like you play a lot of different instruments.

WR – I took guitar lessons for a bit as a kid, but the rest of the instruments that I play are all through trial and error and exploration. Also in college I studied music theory and got to take vocal lessons which I really enjoyed!

DD – Do you remember your dreams? I’m curious if they consciously play a role in your creativity?

WR – I remember some dreams but they don’t really play a role in my creativity. I used to be into lucid dreaming, but I haven’t remembered much from my dreams in a while. They are pretty all over the place.

DD – How do you translate your productions into live performances? Do you perform solo and/or have some kind of a band play with you?

WR – I like playing with a band. We take the songs and make them louder and make them rock out more because it’s really really fun. I play solo on occasion, but I’m really into the idea of making the live versions of the songs a unique experience and different from the recorded versions. The live versions are really different.

DD – Does the artwork for your releases ever come after the music is made?

WR – This is a great question, I sort of answered it earlier. I think for my favorite stuff I’ve made, the artwork is a very early part of the process. For some things the art has came later, but I try to know what the artwork will be really earlier on, it’s a really important part of my process.

DD – How would you describe your music and/or sound?

WR – This is a hard one for me to answer. I think of my music as pop music. I’m mostly just trying to make things that give me “that” feeling. That’s all really.

DD – Do you have a message for someone who is interested in becoming an artist, and is not sure how and/or where to begin?

WR – I think making art is great. It’s something to do. My advice would be, do it, because then maybe you won’t be bored.

Also- like the stuff you like, and think about what it is that makes it special to you, and try to emulate that.