Spencer.

written + interviewed by Alex Free

Spencer.’s dreamy, nostalgia-infused headspace

On his latest releases through 4AD, Brooklyn musician Spencer. takes us through the emotional ups and downs of a relationship.

Listening to the music of Spencer. feels so personal, like really being in your own world. On his most recent releases through 4AD, the 20-yr old artist takes you through the various ups and down of introspection, a dreamy internal monologue that is fixating and floating in turns. 

The recent signee to the 4AD label has already made a distinct place for himself in music, building his sound and career from the ground up. He’s got a 2019 tour with Gus Dapperton under his belt, and his most recent single Hold It Down holds a coveted number 3 placement on the Spotify leading edge, underground playlist Pollen. 

The songs bounce back and forth between hazy riffs and Spencer.’s hyper-clear, swoon-worthy voice— between striking a dreamy note of optimism, and a softer, more wistful state of reflection. Looping patterns of thought and melody, snatches of narrative that color short scenes, define a headspace and a feeling that you can almost walk around in, getting lost in your own imagination and memories. And the soft, nostalgia-infused mood of 2much is really too full of feeling for words— a cumulation of gentle, lifting accents with a light touch, Spencer.’s passionate singing, and pared down lyrics that are pop poetry:   

Who let you make the rules? / Summer’s gone 

When I lose you still bruise / Bring it on

I let you make my move / all too long

I put my little truth / in this song

It’s easy to get absorbed in the soundscape of this hypnotic, genre-less daydream. Spencer. is someone who comes across immediately as careful, considerate, erring on the side of thinking too hard and getting lost in his own thoughts. Laced with grounding lines that are almost too real (I went out last weekend / cause my phone says we ain’t speaking / And I’m just about to get over it / but this evening you blew me up again - an ouch moment on Automatic), the songs are mainly up in the clouds, meditative, cycling back with moments to hold on to: 

This the moment that they talk about / ain’t no stopping now / got me in the clouds

You still love me when I’m down and out / ain’t no turning round / now we’ll hold it down. 

Spencer. talks making music, signing with 4AD, life in Brooklyn, and the emotional trajectory of a relationship below. 

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Alex: Automatic, 2much, and Hold It Down are the singles that have been released; can you talk about where these songs come from, what you were thinking about at the time, life in Brooklyn?  

Spencer.: Automatic was the first song that I released with 4AD and it seems very fitting; it was one of the first songs that I’d written when I moved to Brooklyn almost two years ago, and it was the first session that I had with my now-friends Ben Shirken of Beshken and Jose Benjamin. I knew both of them from different artists’ projects in Brooklyn, but it was the first time we’d met in the session. I ended up rerecording it in LA, but I would show them a song and rework it. It was kind of weird to work with other people for the first time because you don’t know what the vibe of that is, or how they make music, but it seemed really fitting because they understood my sound. It was cool to jam with them. I rerecorded that in LA in July last year, and also recorded 2much there. Hold It Down I recorded in the winter, but all of the writing and recording happened within the same relationship, but at different time points and feeling different ways about the person.   

I was actually wondering that this morning as I was listening to the songs— Is this a lot of relationships or just one over like a really long period? And it ends on a very positive note, Hold It Down is an optimistic song for sure. Was that an intentional placement, or release order? Do you like taking us on a journey throughout the course of the songs - from indecision and idealism to, ‘ah, we’re here; we’re going to make it stay, make it last?’

I definitely like it ending on a positive note. I have a very, like, sad overtone to a lot of my songs, so it was nice to have a bit more positive song and outlook on that kind of relationship. Because there are those good moments as well as there are those sadder ones. 

So that first session for Automatic, was that a connection through 4AD? Because that was your first song with the label.

I’d actually recorded that song before I signed with the label, and it was one of the ones that they [4AD] really connected with and ended up really liking. I met them [Shirken, Benjamin] through Gus, I was touring with Gus Dapperton the year before, so we just kinda connected through instagram, and they were like, ‘oh you should come over, and try to jam or something.’ 

Tell me about that kind of scene. Your music community in Brooklyn, and how has that life influenced your songwriting.  

I’m friends with a handful of people there who make music, but I definitely feel really close to Claud, Mikey Freedomheart, and Gus, so I know a couple of people down there, but it’s a really close knit community and everybody kind of knows each other. It feels really cool to be a part of. 

I just met these people over the course of the year, through, like, the internet, or being at the right place at the right time. I think it’s easier to make friends with people in New York because you’re all in the same space; it’s hard not to run into people. 

And you moved to Brooklyn in 2018?

Yeah. 

Just when you’d dropped out of college to pursue music. Can you tell me your story with that? 

I was going to a state school, kind of close to Buffalo, close to Rochester. I was doing sound recording technology, so a lot of mixer stuff. My school had me doing a lot of analogue processing but it wasn’t really applied to my own music. Like I’d made some beats myself, and was learning free instruments, and trying to join a band. I was slowly getting more and more into music, and before I applied to college I’d been trying to figure out what I wanted to do if it wasn’t performance, or if I would start recording already for, like, jazz performance.

When I started making music it became my main focus and school was put on the back burner in my head. I didn’t really like that school in the first place, and going there I was depressed, and it was hard for my parents to understand. It was just a very difficult time for me there, so that was an outward reason for me to leave.

I had a friend who was moving to New York when school was supposed to be off, so it was kind of an opportunity to be done and make the jump. I was pretty young and I felt like ‘people are going to take that opportunity you’ll probably never take,' but I wanted to go and take it. I just figured that choosing my passion was something that would make me happier. 

Oh yeah, you have to choose your own life. People aren’t going to hand it to you. 

You mentioned jazz performance, though? 

Yeah, in high school I used to play trumpet. I would take lessons at this music school with a lot of jazz courses. It’s definitely a big influence on the music that I make. Like it doesn’t hit you in the face with the jazz influence, but I like the subtly of the different genre influences. 

Aside from how other people would categorize you, how would you describe your style? 

I definitely always start with a hip hop perspective. The beginning of my process is usually rooted in a hip hop sample, like a three drum sample, or just like a drum pattern, a trap type of drum pattern. And the guitar is super indie-sounding, and the bass… some people will say it’s funky, so I take from the funk style, I guess. My singing is kind of jazz, but really it’s all four of the main genres of music that I really listen to, together. I’m definitely proud of subtly bringing the four of those things together.  

Do you have a name that you give to your own style? 

I’d just say I write music, because it’s something I haven’t really come up with. 

Yeah, I think it’s super hard to categorize music anymore, except for people who are playing into genres. 

I think that’s something that’s really cool about today’s music, because it sucks to be categorized anyways, and there’s all this music and everybody’s influences are all over the place. I think it’s exciting to have people that you can’t put a genre on based on the music, regardless of what they say that they enjoy. I like that it crosses those lines. 

Can we talk a little bit more about the recordings that have been released, and are going to be released? The story behind them. You said it was relationship that you were feeling different ways about at different points in time. 

I’m still writing songs for that project. I’ve just been singing and writing lyrics without forcing anything, so it’s kind of finding that voice and other things to write about—other things that don’t have to do with relationships, as well as relationships.     

My listening experience of the songs is like almost existential—hope and doubt, and this, ’oh, life is a joke.’ And there’s these intense movie-like scenes, of, ‘oh, I’m obsessed with this person. Do they like me, do they not? Are we going to stay?’ And just sound-wise, there’s a lot of loop patterns, and cycles, like a recurring thought is going through your mind like you can’t get it out. What was you’re experience of writing that? 

A song has its own mood, I guess, and it’s a lot of repetitive thoughts. Some of the songs I kept going back to over the course of months—definitely a rollercoaster of emotion, going up and down.   

Do you have anything that you’d like to say about what’s coming up? How are you handling the pandemic crisis? 

I’m home now, and this is one of the first places I found inspiration to write. This is where I wrote a handful of my songs, so it feels good to be here.