Home page categories

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Livingston

By  | 

Stage Right Secrets spoke with 18-year-old pop sensation Livingston. He spoke about his latest EP, life in quarantine, and so much more. Read our exclusive Q&A, below.

Q. Congrats on your EP! Did you do anything to celebrate?
A. Thank you! I live-streamed for a couple hours, spent the day with my family, it was great.

Q. What went into creating the order of the tracklist?
A. I wanted to make a story that was fluid and chronological as possible. So it begins with Fairytale, which is set when I’m 9 years old, moving to songs like War set when I’m 11-12 and ending with A Letter to Time and Say the Word which are both a little more mature lyrically and set pretty currently.

Q. Were there any songs that didn’t make the cut that you would have liked to see make
A. We cut one song, but I’m not sure it would have fit the bill for this EP anyway- however so many songs were made before landing on this list for Lighthouse.

Q.I actually discovered your song on TikTok, what was your reaction to seeing “Carnival” go viral?
A. It was crazy. I never knew how much power that platform had to get my music and story in front of people with relevant and similar interest. It’s quickly proved itself to be such an amazing tool for building a fanbase.

Q. Do you have any favorite trends and have you discovered any new music on the platform?
A. I’m not really toooo into trends- I just feel like I’ve never been able to get on them early enough, but it’s entertaining to see what people are interested in for the moment. I’ve found a few singers I’m in love with, trying to find some artists to produce for and write with in the future on the writer/producer side.

Q. Taking it back, what record made you fall in love with music?
A. Young. That song was the moment I knew I wanted to make music forever, and it inspired the direction of the whole EP in a production sense.

Q. What was your first concert?
A.I did a SoFar DFW show for about 50 people in Bishop Arts district. Just did a couple covers of James Arthur and Lewis Capaldi and a couple songs from Lighthouse.

Q. You are a self-taught singer, producer, and songwriter, what made you decide to get into songwriting and producing?
A. Seeing that it’s possible to do everything yourself. I started to gravitate to artists and producers who had a forward-thinking, individual mindset and took notes- once I got over the barrier of thinking I needed to rely on other people to get better, I was able to take my time and slowly learn each aspect at my own pace.

Q. What’s the music scene like in Denton?
A. Amazing. Countless talented musicians, artists producers and engineers in UNT and TWU colleges that play at the local festivals and bars all the time. Great jazz scene. A lot of the performances take place on top of a burger joint called Lone Star Attitude that overlooks the Denton Square, great view.

Q. Was there a specific moment when you knew you wanted to be an artist?
A. Not really- just a culmination of years of being inspired by other artists and their unique stories and believing that I had enough to say to maybe give a try at it myself.

Q. Since most of the country is or was in quarantine, what have you been doing to pass the time? (New skills, cooking, binging shows, etc.)
A. Yes! Pretty hard to make music actually, not very inspiring. I play video games a lot, Rainbow Six Siege, Far Cry series, Borderlands 2 etc… Spending time with my family as well has been great as everyone is home.

Q. Did you find it easier or harder to be creative while stuck at home?
A. Extremely hard. I mean it’s ironic because I built my studio at home, and I love working here, but without having a reference point and traveling to return back to HQ, it can get a little flat after a long time and there’s not a lot of life experience to base new songs on.

Q. What do you think the music industry will look like in the future?
A. Different, but hopefully great. I only got here a year ago so I have no idea how things will shape up, but whenever quarantine ends I’m sure touring will be such a blast. All in due time though.

Q. What else can fans expect from you this year?
A. More music. I can’t wait to share what I’ve been working on for the last year, and it’s even more exciting as a fanbase ready for new music starts to build.

Jacklyn is the Editor In Chief of Stage Right Secrets. Jacklyn's photography and articles can also be found on The Recording Academy's GRAMMY.com GRAMMYPro, GRAMMYU, PopCrush, Taste of Country, among other outlets. Besides press Jacklyn is a "Jack of All Trades" working various jobs at local concerts and touring. JacklynKrol.com