A Chat with Pretty Ugly Boy (09.11.2020)
Pretty Ugly Boy has been refining his synth-driven dance tunes and has unleashed an album into the world. Quarter-Life Crisis touches on the conceptual themes of the future and mortality. Through his music, he considers life, the present and what the future could hold. We sat down with Pretty Ugly Boy to talk about the album, his creative process, exploring genres and much more!
OSR: What first drew you to synth pop?
Pretty Ugly Boy: Honestly, I can’t pinpoint exactly what drew me to it, but ever since I’ve been recording songs I’ve gravitated towards instrumentation that featured a lot of synths. It’s something I’m trying not to do for this next album.
OSR: Your new album, Quarter-Life Crisis, has conceptual themes throughout it, can you tell us a bit more about this?
Pretty Ugly Boy: I turned 20. I was like, ‘Oh shit’. So, I wrote an album.
OSR: What was your creative process for connecting these themes to your sound?
Pretty Ugly Boy: I don’t know exactly. I don’t really think about connecting themes to the sound. I kind of just follow whatever ideas I have and just let it take shape.
OSR: The album also sees you exploring new genres, what prompted this?
Pretty Ugly Boy: Boredom.
OSR: Was there a song on the album that was easier or harder to create than the rest?
Pretty Ugly Boy: No songs really stand out, but I think just finishing the entire album was hard in itself. I’ve worked on these songs for over a year and when you hear the same thing every day for a year, you kind of get tired of it. So, finishing it was just a pain for me.
OSR: If listeners could remember on one thing about Quarter-Life Crisis, what would you like that to be and why?
Pretty Ugly Boy: If they remember me, that’s be nice.
OSR: How has the pandemic affected the music you create?
Pretty Ugly Boy: It’s allowed me to spend more time on the little things in my production. I’m more comfortable spending an entire day working on say a drum track, whereas before quarantine, I would kind of rush things because I didn’t know when the next time I would be able to record would be.
OSR: If the album were an animal, what would it be and why?
Pretty Ugly Boy: A killer whale trapped in a tank that swims around in circles all day thinking existential thoughts.
OSR: What is the best concert or gig you have ever performed?
Pretty Ugly Boy: I haven’t performed before. I was supposed to play in March, but the gods decided the world wasn’t ready so the world went on lockdown.
OSR: What can we expect from you in the next 12 months?
Pretty Ugly Boy: World domination.
Thanks to Pretty Ugly Boy for chatting with us! You can find more about him on his website and Spotify.
