Q&A: Brent de la Cruz Masters the Art of World Building in New EP, NOIR
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY FAITH LUEVANOS ☆
Photo By Nick Mora
WITH AUTHENTICITY AND A CREATIVE EYE — Rising star Brent de la Cruz showcases a wide range of talent in his latest EP, NOIR. Through a cosmic blend of genres, accompanied by captivating visuals that produce feelings of longing, de la Cruz creates a sonic experience that feels extremely personal, yet universally resonant. If he’s not already on your radar, now’s the time to tune in.
Growing up within the skateboarding community of San Diego, California, de la Cruz has been surrounded by passion and creativity for a long time. From an early age, he was drawn to the energy and storytelling found in music, but it wasn’t until his teenage years that he began to experiment with production himself. After learning how to produce with the help of friends and YouTube tutorials, he set out to make the music he’s always wanted to hear, combined with subtle nods to artists he looks up to.
In addition to his musical talents, de la Cruz has a passion for cinema that makes his visual world as visceral as his sonic one. De la Cruz is an all-around superstar, one whose talents should not go unnoticed.
Luna had the opportunity to sit down with de la Cruz to discuss his new EP, NOIR, his cinematic videography, what’s to come for the future, and more. Read the full interview below.
Photo By Nick Mora
LUNA: For someone who may be discovering your music for the first time, how would you describe your sound?
DE LA CRUZ: I was born in ‘98 and I feel like a lot of my music leans into those sounds, just the music that was popular during that time, and with somewhat of a modern take on it. Ultimately, I think I land in an alternative genre. It's really hard for me to pinpoint. I grew up listening to a lot of different music, and I feel like my music tends to be, subconsciously, a combination of everything that I've listened to. I have a lot of influences that I pull from in different genres. If I could sum it up in one word, it's nostalgia.
LUNA: Who are some of those artists that have influenced your music the most?
DE LA CRUZ: A big one is MGMT, especially during the most formative years of mine, when I was skateboarding a lot. Around that time, too, was when I started developing my own taste, aside from what I'd heard from people I knew. MGMT and Empire of the Sun instilled themselves in my DNA. They tend to be the soundtrack to my life. A little bit more obscure, it would also be Aphex Twin. I know he gets sampled a lot, but ambient music in general is interesting to me because I think music with lyrics is really good at letting you create these narratives, almost like a movie. When it's just instrumentals and ambient stuff, it's really easy to let it complement whatever you're doing in almost the opposite way.
LUNA: I’ve been told by my friends who grew up skating that skate videos really helped develop their music taste. Do you feel like that type of content played a major part as well?
DE LA CRUZ: Oh my god, I still have my old YouTube account…I oftentimes will go back into the public playlists that I have. I just like listening to the music and watching the videos, but I’m also like, “Damn, this was the music of the time, and it just all makes so much sense.” Skate culture and music? It was a really cool time. When I think of my childhood, that's where my head goes.
LUNA: Diving into your new EP, NOIR, where did you get the inspiration for the title?
DE LA CRUZ: This is kind of the prelude to some stuff that's coming in the future. I'm a big guy on yin and yang and the idea of opposites and unity, just the energy around that type of stuff. And so, without giving too much away, there's typically another half to what “noir” alludes to.
LUNA: Okay, so something else is coming, and there’s a bigger picture to this all. So then, for this particular EP, what story do you hope to tell with NOIR?
DE LA CRUZ: This one is kind of focusing on the darker aspects of things. I think it has a lot to do with introspection. There are a lot of themes of despair that are kind of common in it. It's about being in the tunnel and not quite seeing the light yet.
LUNA: That’s so exciting to have a full story planned out throughout your discography.
DE LA CRUZ: Something I've learned to appreciate as time has gone on, is some of my favorite artists are pretty articulate about the way they move and they're intentional. The cool thing about the internet is there's a trail that they leave the whole way across. We're in a very fortunate time to have all this stuff documented in such a cool time capsule type of way. I feel like the best way to pay my respects to the people that came before is to do things in a similar vein, not because I feel like I should, but because that's what I appreciate.
LUNA: You mentioned that you learned how to produce through YouTube tutorials. Did you feel like you had a natural calling to it when you started practicing?
DE LA CRUZ: I didn't grow up in a musical household at all, and I didn't think music was in the cards for me up until my junior year of high school. I never had any instruments besides a guitar that my mom got for me at a garage sale that was way too big for my hands. Anyway, I remember hearing the song “Chill Bill” by Rob Stone because he's from San Diego too. I caught wind of it from one of my buddies in high school. I just remember hearing it and being like, “This is going to be huge.” I treasured it. Lo and behold, It's what? Double platinum now or something?
My next-door neighbor, he's been producing since we were little kids. He started maybe when he was 11 on FL Studio. I would go over to his house and I would watch him do it, and I'd have recommendations. Later on, I asked him if he would show me the ropes and help me get set up. We called one of his buddies to also help me get what I needed. Everybody was pretty helpful in that sense. Initially, I just wanted to be an artist in general, but I also didn't want to waste his time to go over and record in his studio, because I knew it was bad. (laughs) I had the self-awareness to be like, “Okay, I'm not going to make good music yet.” So, I just kind of bunkered down for three and a half years before I put out a song because I just wanted to learn how to produce myself. As time has gone on, I've learned to work with other people, which is funny to say, but for the longest time, it was just me in my bedroom making stuff by myself.
LUNA: That’s so kind of your friends to help you gain your footing to achieve your goals.
DE LA CRUZ: I feel like there are really subtle things that will make or break a hobby or career. Anytime somebody hits me in the DMs or asks me how to do stuff, I really try my best to tell them, even with such small pieces of information. Like, when people start picking up the guitar, the smallest piece of advice that I have, which was the deciding factor for why I stuck with it, is to leave it out. Don't put it in a case. Having somebody that can give you that one nugget that can make or break a hobby is so important because, looking back in hindsight, there are so many things I would have liked to try and do differently, or to optimize. I've got that knack in me too where I want to be able to be there for people when they’re doing creative stuff.
LUNA: The recent videos you’ve been posting on Instagram have felt like scenes out of a movie. What’s your intention with that type of outlet?
DE LA CRUZ: Ultimately, I'm trying to build an aesthetic, but there's a narrative to the whole thing. The timeline is supposed to be a little wishy-washy. If you watch them in order, you should be able to get a gist of where it's going. Some of them are like music trailers. Look, I love movies. Movies are a big inspiration for me. I think there's a whole other half of music, which is visuals. It's just another outlet for me to express what I'm trying to get out because some things are hard to do with just music. I don't want to put my music in all of them, because I don't think the songs represent what's going on in the video. It feels selfish sometimes, and ultimately, I'm just trying to best serve the art. So, sometimes I'll just go make a brand new score for it, and I've done that a few times. I’d love to put my music for promotional purposes in each one, but that’s not the vibe.
It's been a really cool creative outlet for me. But ultimately, I think they all tie into the bigger picture of these projects. Some narratives tie into the songs, and then there are bigger themes that go across them that also are tangential to the themes in the project. There's some cool stuff in the videos if you really look for it.
LUNA: I appreciate that you give each video its own space to breathe and not turning it into a promotional tactic. It creates a new wave of authenticity that we don’t really see anymore. How has being fully in control creatively helped you truly blossom as an artist?
DE LA CRUZ: It's one of the most important things for my sanity first and foremost. I've been fortunate enough to not have anybody tell me how to run the show. I've been around a lot of people who are looking out for my best interest, and know that for me to get to that place, it's about letting me take the wheel on things. I tell you, when it works, it feels so much better when you do it your way. The little wins feel so much bigger. Luckily for me, I have a lot of different interests, and cinematography is a cool passion thing for me. It allows me to kill two birds with one stone. I’m just trying to create something a little bit different, so we’ll see if it works.
LUNA: I know you mentioned there’s another piece to NOIR, but what else do you have planned for the upcoming months?
DE LA CRUZ: We have a listening party right out of the gate. We're going to be doing that in San Diego on February 7. I'm really excited about that; it's at a vintage clothing store in downtown San Diego that I used to work at. Following that, some live shows for sure. Some really cool visuals to look forward to as well, and some exciting collaborations. This year's going to be filled with a lot of love and music.
