This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Richard Smart, an up-and-coming singer, songwriter and producer! We discussed the making of his new album Interstellar which comes out July 22 and other future projects. Read the full review below:
The Pop Bubble: Before we begin, introduce yourself!
Richard: Hi! I'm Richard Smart, a musician from the middle of nowhere in Canada and I'm here with The Pop Bubble to talk about my new album Interstellar!
1) How did you get into making music?
I got into music a while back… this is actually kinda embarrassing lol but there was (is?) - I don’t know if the app exists anymore. But in around 2014, I was on this karaoke app called Smule where I’d just post and post and post covers… keep in mind I was literally A CHILD but I gained a pretty good following. I guess that’s how I started getting into music. I started writing around 2016 though.
The Pop Bubble: Oh that’s so cool, I remember I used to get spammed Smule ads on Youtube!
Richard: Yeah haha
2) Also, how did you get into producing music? I know that you produce your own music too.
It all started in around early 2018. I was looking online at free beats to use and none of them really were what I was looking for. I also didn’t want to spend a huge amount of money… so the only option left was to produce for myself. On Torrance (my 1st album), I just used GarageBand loops.. but on Interstellar, I produced every single element by myself.
The Pop Bubble: That’s great! I’ll ask more about the production process later. But first…
3) Tell us about Interstellar! What’s it about, are there any overall themes and what were your inspirations for it?
Well I made Interstellar with my friend Hannah. She is so talented not only sonically but visually too. She helped mostly with the visual aspect of Interstellar but also had a huge roll in the process of making the music. Originally Interstellar was going to be called Long Road Home and we tried many album covers. It was going to be a picture of me but my head blue, then it was gonna be someone in a lake with middle fingers up, but then one day I just thought of the name Interstellar, and we decided to use it. I think of Interstellar as an album that just captures emotion. A lot of the writing process and themes are just things I have in my mind. [There is] the occasional political thought with "The Best" and "Lemon", the occasional thought that you just wanna get the f*ck out "Texas Train", and just things like that.
The Pop Bubble: So it’s like a collection of thoughts?
Richard: Exactly.
4) How have you as a person and your music evolved since your debut album and what are some of the differences between that album and Interstellar?
Richard: As a person, there hasn’t been much. Maybe my work ethic. Torrance was very rushed. I took more time with Interstellar and I definitely think that having another person helping me helped with that. The production has FOR SURE improved on Interstellar, and I’d like to say the songs in general are just so much better. I tend to avoid listening to Torrance, but I would voluntarily listen to Interstellar. I don’t think that it’s a bad album, I'm proud of it. The sound has remained the same though. It’s very acoustic-pop with rock and alternative elements.
The Pop Bubble: Have there been any moments or events in your life that happened after you released your debut album that changed your writing style or what you wrote about?
Richard: I don’t think so. I mean I started the whole process with Interstellar in December of 2019, same time as I was in the middle of making Torrance. They kind of overlapped.
5) How was the writing/producing/recording process for Interstellar? Were there any challenges that you faced?
Richard: Writing challenges didn't really happen. My brain is really fast when it comes to writing, I wrote every song really quickly. Producing challenges did come, and they came frequently. At first, I started off strong but after producing 4-5 songs I started to feel limited. Everything started sounding the same. I managed to somehow pull through but then really struggled with "Dreaming". [It] was the last track we finished for the album, and we finished it THE DAY we submitted the album. If you listen closely, the instrumental is basically the same instrumental as "The Best", just the notes are shifted and there’s an extra harp. Recording challenges also happened but they were quite minor. Around March-April we basically got nothing done for the album but we picked up the pace FAST. June was for sure the most productive month. We got 7 or 8 songs done in June.
The Pop Bubble: Producing music isn’t the easiest! Were there challenges that you faced when producing/recording/writing that you faced for your debut album that you didn’t face when making Interstellar, and vice versa?
Richard: Well as I said, for Torrance, I just used GarageBand loops so there were no production challenges (unlike Interstellar, where I was stuck producing for HOURS). Writing for Torrance was also easy because I never really wrote for the album, I just used songs that I wrote for fun and cleaned them up. Interstellar was challenging because it was all new material.
The Pop Bubble: Interesting how you said that you had more challenges for Interstellar but you think that it’s a much better album.
Richard: Yeah I think facing challenges and then conquering them adds to it.
6) looking at the tracklist, there are some really interesting titles like “Chocolate” and “Texas Train.” What are they about?
Well “Chocolate” originally had completely different lyrics but they were inappropriate so we had to switch them to cleaner lyrics. I’d say the song is just about regretting a relationship you're in but you don’t want to leave it. “Texas Train” is about wanting to just leave, and I mean that like physically. You just wanna get the f*ck out of your city and go somewhere. That’s kinda how I feel about this quarantine. I just wanna travel again.
The Pop Bubble: Did you write most of the songs during quarantine?
Richard: I’d say I wrote about half of them during quarantine. The other half I wrote beforehand.
The Pop Bubble: And are the ones you wrote during quarantine about quarantine (besides “Texas Train”)?
Richard: Nope! Just “Texas Train.”
7) So which song are you most looking forward to people hearing?
“Chocolate” for sure. That’s kinda why I made it the first track after the introduction. I spent the most time on that song too. I think it has the most detail and its sonically unique.
The Pop Bubble: The title is really interesting so I'm sure lots of people are excited to hear it.
Richard: Yes!
8) What goals do you have for your next project in terms of production, writing, etc?
Well there’s for sure going to be an Interstellar rejects EP, it'll consist of songs that didn't make it on the final album, plus some remixes. After that, I'm gonna spend some time just releasing hype singles, and then 4 EPS throughout 2021 and the first half of 2022. And then hopefully my 3rd album in September-November of 2022. I wanna take my sweet time with it. I just want everything to be elevated. Better production, better lyrics, better vocals, everything.
The Pop Bubble: Can’t wait!
9) Any last words? Where can people find you and your music?
Richard: Well, of course, I just wanna say make sure to stream Interstellar, which will be out July 22nd! you can find me on Instagram @interstellaralbum, Twitter @richardstunes and Spotify/Apple Music by searching Richard Smart!
The Pop Bubble: Perfect! Thank you so much for doing the interview,
Richard: Thank you for interviewing me!
That concludes our interview with Richard Smart! Follow Richard on Instagram and Twitter and listen to Interstellar on Spotify and Apple Music on July 22.
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