OA: You wrote your first song when you were 15 and
you’ve been pursuing music full on the past six years. How has your
style evolved from the beginning?
AJR: I’m happy to say
this; it’s stayed true to its roots. I first wrote a song and the band
Mae inspired it, and it wasn’t typical of an Asian to be singing that
type of music. I saw My American Heart and there were two Filipinos in
the band and they used to play the Warped Tour all the time. I didn’t
know them personally but they influenced my music. All of these Asian
guys can do rock, these Filipino guys can do rock. I’m glad it’s stayed
there, but that era was really important. I could have easily gone to do
R&B, Asian Americans are known for doing that. With the band, I’ve
been turning down a lot of shows that just want to book me solo because I
want to create that image of, “This is me and this is my music.” It’s
not just acoustic anymore, but I still do love acoustic, I want to put
out an acoustic album. I still love that stuff but I want to show them
that, “Hey, this is powerful music.” I’ve gotten better at singing. I’m
not the type to just put up a video of me singing; I’m more comfortable
having an instrument behind me. I feel like I’ve gotten better at
singing because I went to Berkelee and being around singers made me
better. I don’t know about the evolution of my music, but the evolution
of my skills.
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