Farinas: A beachy, laid back vibe and infectiously soulful voice

“I think I fell in love with music before I fell in love with making music.” — Farinas on balancing creation, building community, and living

Farinas, a rising star in the hip-hop R&B world known for his beachy, laid back vibes and infectiously soulful voice does a little bit of everything. The 26 year-old East coast-er has now relocated to California, blending his thought-provoking and emotionally-charged lyrics with the sun and sand to usher in a new era of Farinas music. With one album under his belt, titled “Tie Die Tape”, and two recent singles (joining countless others) “Shark Bait” and “GIMME A CHANCE”, Farinas sat down to give us a peek inside his world.

Having recently moved from the East to the West coast, how do you feel that the art and music scenes are similarly or differently suited to young artists?

Good question! I mean, I guess the music scene that I was in before this was very much, you know, the seacoast scene along New Hampshire, kind of the Boston music scene and, you know, compared to the scenes nearby, like, whether you look at the New York music scene or you look at the DMV [District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia] music scene, you know, those are definitely way more hip-hop heavy and more contemporary music, and where I was at was very folk, country, and rock-oriented, especially in New Hampshire. So, I felt at times that trying to push my career and the music I was making, I was kind of hitting a ceiling at times, because there were only so many fans of what I was doing in particular. But I would say because of the genres that were dominating that area the live scene was definitely a lot bigger than it is here. I feel like there are a lot more artists here who, when they perform, they have a backing track, and it’s more common for showcases and artists who put together shows, and it’s on the rarer side that there’s a live band backing you. So I feel like coming up in that scene was very beneficial because I felt like I learned a lot about what it really means to put on a show with a live band, and having to work with that and really understand the differences in how a show can go, and the effect it has with a backing band versus doing a show by yourself, which is definitely a different beast. They both have their pros and cons but I would say that’s definitely one big difference. I think people have a misconception about Los Angeles in particular, that it’s like “You’ve gotta move here to be in this big pond, and there’s all this competition so it’s so much harder to make it.” But, honestly, A) with social media you can kind of make it happen anywhere. You don’t even need to be in “a scene” at all; you can be in the middle of nowhere and still have the ability to push your music and build an audience online. So that’s A), and then B), a lot of people that move here aren’t that great. [laughs] There’s a lot of people that move here with, I don’t want to say a delusional dream, but who move here prematurely and they didn’t put that 10,000 hours in on their craft yet. Whether it’s the writing side or the performing side. You also have to put your 10,000 hours in in the deliverance of your music. Knowing how to get your music to your audience is a skill in itself, and I think a lot of people, because they see the bright lights and, you know, the infamous nature of Los Angeles, people think there’s all this competition, but the pool is still gonna be the same. You’re still gonna have your peers, you’re still gonna have the people that you’re in the scene with, and you’re gonna have your friends and, at least in hip-hop where there’s always been that competitive side, there’s always that hip-hop artist with a chip on their shoulder who wants to be the best lyricist. So yeah, there’s a little bit of that, but I would say for the most part the scenes are the same. Everybody’s communal, they support each other. I would say the biggest thing is just genre.

What are some songs, artists, or moments that spoke to you growing up and got your love of music going?

I think, when it comes to the type of music I first fell in love with, early on it was a lot of what my parents played. You know, I think I fell in love with music before I fell in love with making music. So when I first fell in love with making music I was listening to a lot of, you know, John Legend, I was listening to, through my mom, a lot of old R&B, you know, all of the super popular people like Beyonce and Sade. There was a lot of different people that my mom was listening to, you know, people I probably don’t even know the names of, it was just what was on the CD that we were listening to in the car. And then a lot of rock music. My sister was a big Beatles fan so she introduced me to that side of things. And then as I got older and got my own CD player and could get my own CDs, you know, it was Eminem early on, but when I really noticed the difference was when Odd Future came out with Odd Future Mixtape Volume 2. That was definitely the first time that I was a stan of a group or an artist. I bought their CDs, I bought their merch, and I would rep it all the time. I was just in awe of the poetics. And I didn’t know it at the time, but I loved lyricism and poetry. Even then, you know, obviously Earl Sweatshirt and Frank Ocean, people consider them to be, contemporarily, two of the most prolific writers of the last decade or so. And at the time they weren’t really looked at as some super lyrical group but I heard it in them and people looked at them as these punks, but in listening to them and being a fan and studying that I was like “I need to listen to as much music like this as I can”. So that’s when I found Mac Miller, early on when I was living in Pennsylvania, Chance the Rapper, stuff like that. Mostly acid rap, specifically. And to me it was all just such a high level of lyricism, but delivered in a way that wasn’t super heady and lyrical miracle as they say, you know, it wasn’t that kind of lyricism. It was one that had a soul to it, and an energy behind it, and you believed everything these guys were saying. So, yeah, whenever people ask me who my musical inspirations are I usually tend to bring up Odd Future, specifically Frank Ocean, Earl [Sweatshirt], Tyler [the Creator]. I loved everybody in that group but specifically those three. And then Mac Miller and Chance the Rapper kind of being the third of that trinity of people that I was listening to at the time that influenced, you know, not necessarily my music, but it made me fall in love with wanting to make music. Because I wanted to chase the feeling that they gave me when they would have a lyric or a line in a song that perfectly encapsulated a thought or idea that I resonated with, or helped me understand something or put something in a perspective that I wouldn’t think about. I was like “I want to have those moments for myself, I want to have those “a-ha” moments, I want to have those lines that people are discussing the meaning of and dissecting. I want to do that.”

When putting together a song, do you feel called to a specific sound or instrumental you want to use, or does the writing typically come first?

For a long time, I felt like with my best songs the writing came first. And if it didn’t then it was a lot of hours on YouTube trying to find the best instrumental. And then as I grew and I met producers, specifically producers that were down to work with me, it was nice to kind of hone in on a sound. You know, at first you kind of go through packs of beats, and then you work with producers who like to cook up from scratch, and that’s a whole other animal. So then it’s just about being able to build up the synergy to where… because I don’t have a ton of technical knowledge when it comes to production, but I have a good ear, and I have a good feel for what I want, so I’m able to describe things and the more you build a relationship with certain producers, the easier that kind of collaboration becomes, and you’re able to hit the nail on the head more often when you’re looking for a certain sound or feeling. But as I’ve matured, even just being out in Los Angeles as an artist, when it boils down to it, the melody and what you sing over it are the most important. I’ve been trying to start a lot of songs with just the melody, whether it’s just piano or just guitar and then worrying about painting the picture afterwards, because that’s what’s going to catch people. I forget who had the quote, but there’s an artist who, in an interview, said “The best songs, the songs that go number one, are the songs that you can just hum. If you can just hum it, if it’s that ear worm, then you know you have a hit.” And that’s kind of what it boils down to. It’s just the melody and the topline, right? Nobody’s gonna be like, “Wow, that perc that he had in that song or that hi-hat was amazing! Did you hear that hi-hat pattern?” Nobody cares about your hi-hat pattern. So at the end of the day it’s about melody, so that’s where I like to start when I’m working. But even then, I know a lot of people topline, which is, you know, you kind of hum or sing the melody that comes to mind with gibberish. I think there’s definitely a time and a place for that, especially with pop music, but me specifically, I hate toplining, because I feel like what you’re gonna say, and the message you want to get across is going to influence how you sing it, right? If you’re saying something super sad, you’re not gonna sing it with a happy tone, so I think it’s important to at least have the theme or core of what you’re trying to say in your mind before you start toplining the melody for a song.

How do you usually navigate or negotiate collaborations in your work?

So, there’s industry standards for a lot of things. Typically, from what I’ve learned, if you’re both established and you’re working together because you both chose to work together, and there’s a relationship there, the producer usually takes about 50% of the publishing. That’s industry standard. If it’s somebody who you don’t have a relationship with and you’re just like “Hey, I want to work with this producer or artist” and they don’t know who you are and their manager goes “Hey, so-and-so wants to work with you” then they may still just take that 50% of the publishing or they might say they have a producer fee, so, you know, it’s like “If you want this record, we’re still going to take 50% of the publishing but we also need $10,000.” So ideally it’s best to meet people and work with your peers, and build that relationship. You know, you want to build that sweat equity where it’s like “Hey, if we both put in the work together, we’re both gonna grow.” That’s why I think it’s important to, early on, build your team, and think about who you’re surrounding yourself with.”

What do you hope your fans get from listening to your music?

I honestly hope that there’s, like I said, those “a-ha” moments, like, when I would be listening to records and there’s a moment where they either say something, or something musically happens and you want to rewind it. Like, there are songs that I listen to just for a five second part, or just one line that just really moved me, right? That’s what I chase with every song I write, I want to have at least that one moment where someone’s listening to it and it moves them. And, you know, hopefully it moves them in a good way, but as an artist you can’t control the reaction, you can only control the work that you do. For me, my work is creating, is writing, so that’s what I can control. I do my best to do what I enjoy and paint the pictures I want to paint, and once it’s out in the world it’s gone. So, yeah, hopefully it moves them, but, you know, you can’t always control how people interpret your art or what you’re trying to say, so that’s why I kind of try to separate myself now from worrying about the reaction. I just worry about the work and the art.

What do you think the role of community serves in the music and art scene as a whole?

I mean, I feel like community is definitely important. You know, as an artist, I told myself early on that I wanted to be an artist regardless of the outcome, right? Whether there’s 5 people listening or 5 million people listening. So I think that’s most important if you want to do art. First and foremost, you need to ask yourself what you’re in it for. Are you in it for the sake of the art, are you in it for the career, or is it maybe both? For me, it’s both. I want this to be my career as well. But regardless of whether it is for a career or not, you need  a community around you because that’s who you’re going to share your art with. You know, I believe art is meant to be shared and you need a fanbase if you’re going to have a career in this, and to have that you need a very solid team around you. You need to find yourself a manager, and if you don’t know how to do all of this stuff yourself you need to find someone who can help you with content. You need to find someone who is willing to produce for you if you don’t have a producer, or vice versa. If you’re a producer you need to find someone to sing on your records. So building that community is that first step, you know, that direct community. And then as you’re coming up community is super important by just growing. You know, there’s so many gig opportunities I’ve had by just showing up to other people’s gigs and hanging out with them after, in the green room. All of the sudden they say, “Hey, we have a show we can’t do next week, can you guys swap gigs with us and you cover this, and maybe we can come open for you one night?” So building a community with your peers in whatever industry you’re in but especially in music is how you grow, how you build. Having good rapport with people within your surroundings, which extends to venues, anybody you work with, anyone at labels, showing up on time for photoshoots, even. You know, rappers get a bad rep for being late to stuff, so I’m gonna be the most timely rapper in the game. But that all boils down to having a good relationship with the people in your community, having a good rep. I think your rep is something that you can control, just by being a good person, treating people right, and doing right by the people close to you and by your fans. If you’re gonna be putting out products or merch, make sure it represents you well as well, all that stuff. I could give an even more long-winded answer about this, but it’s really about treating those around you and the fans right. The rest will fall into place.

You can check out Farinas on Spotify here