A Conversation With Eagle Owl About “way out”

Q: Hi! “Way Out” feels deeply personal, almost like a diary entry. What moment or mindset triggered its creation?

A: “Way Out” came from multiple different moments, and emotions through several months from relationships to past experiences and even parts where I wish could happen but they cant. There wasn’t that one moment that triggered it. Was just all built up over time to make into this song.

Q: In what ways does “Way Out” reflect who you are, and which parts of yourself were the hardest to put into words?

A: All of it does, from working with a local mixer to writing my parts in my room, except, of course, Jaydi’s parts. But for writing music now, I haven’t had much trouble writing compared, maybe going in similar paths of course compared to my early years of music as I didn’t know how to write/structure a song, of course as it was a whole new thing for me right. 

Q: You blend alt-pop, R&B, and hip-hop, but this track has a cinematic darkness. How did you shape its sound to match the emotion?

A: I go through phases where I’m like maybe this day will be the day I make a song, but over the last year, I’ve probably scrapped at least over 50 to 100s of songs as I just couldn’t get the right vibe, song down. It’s a lot different compared to where I first started. But I’ve been going in this dark/alt pop thing for a couple of years now, and it just matches the emotion I’m going for my music.

Q: Faith, struggle, and survival run through a lot of your music. How has growing up in the church influenced the way you write songs?

A: The church upbringing has been a struggle for sure. Grew up Roman Catholic didn’t believe you get baptized as a child and had a worldwind of emotion throughout all of that, then moved into an evangelical church around the end of middle school/high school, helped volunteer in that church as then I got closer into that church leaders, and I got to know more of the impacts of what the church does and then I decided to leave that one around the end high school. Then decided to go to a non-denominational church, and that one really burned me as I thought I was gaining friends/relationships, but it turned out the same way as the last one. Had that even happened with some young adult communities as well in recent years, as they were just using me for their gain. So it’s been hard to find an actual place that actually does care about me, build some friends/memories, and that’s why I pour my heart, bring some of those moments into these songs about those instances. Which is why alot of the Christian community doesn’t like what I’m telling about in my songs but it’s the truth which hurts.

Q: You collaborated with Jaydi on this one. Why was this the right track to bring a female voice into the mix?

A: The female feature is something I’ve been wanting to do for years. I’ve reached out to countless female artists for a while; a lot of the ones I reached out to were just not doing features or were under label/contracts and couldn’t do features at the moment. This track, though, I wanted to get that Female feature cause it felt like it needed that, especially how the lyrics and the idea is. The last year or two, I’ve gone down this rabbit hole of yes, female dark pop/r&b artists on Spotify. Jaydi, I found, like the last month or two, from that “fans also like” tab off Spotify from one of those artists. I listened to a few of her tracks, loved her voice, I reached out to her, she loved the track and then sent me her take, and I loved it! It was perfect.

Q: There’s a lot of pain in the lyrics, but also strength. Was “Way Out” a form of therapy for you?

A: I think not just “way out”, but Music can be therapy, like many people, it’s my therapy/a little part of my story or journey for the odd thing. I always love finding new bands & artists to listen to and even creating music, as trying to hire a therapist to explain your problems, very much costs more than making a song these days. I think all of my music is my therapy to me, so it’s just better to write than pay thousands upon thousands of dollars to something that I already know. But to answer this, yes, it is.

Q: What was it like working with local producer Cailen Penner and then handing it off to someone as established as Travis Ference for mastering?

A: I had a few people get this wrong with this release. I didn’t have Cailen produce this, as I had him mix my vocals with the beat and then reached out to Travis for mastering. A lot of people in the industry, like major names, never look at their roots. I wanted to try it out for this release with someone I know who went into schooling, did that work and knows they can do that, then bring it to someone who has been in the industry, worked with those names, to give yes a local level that stage level influence that it deserves. This track 100% deserves that.

Q: You’ve cited influences like Billie Eilish, BANKS, and 6LACK. What did you take from their styles that helped you find your own?

A: It’s just that slower style of that hip-hop/r&b that I very much enjoy and I think works well with my tone and my voice. Like I’ve had my twitch mod say oh the faster/pop rap songs I like more and that’s basically everyone in Winnipeg wants to hear that as that’s the go to thing, sure they might like that for a bit but you don’t see the replay numbers, and the music actually getting on playlists, radio shows etc as those slower ones surprisingly does than those faster/pop tracks. I think people forgot that my song “nevermore” which is that slower style went crazy on radio in Europe like Finland, so people do like it!

Q: You talk about creating for the misunderstood and the outsiders. How do you hope your music reaches and resonates with them?

A: For me, way out is really about resilience, about refusing to stay stuck in the same cycles that were handed down or forced on you right. I wanted to create something that speaks to anyone who feels like they’re on the outside looking in, or searching for a place that feels like freedom, a way out, right. The message I hope people carry with them is that even when things feel heavy or impossible, there’s always a way forward.

Q: This track sets the tone for your upcoming EP. What kind of journey should listeners expect across the full project?

A: Yeah, with working on the EP, I’m very similar to Noah Sebastian from Bad Omens, where I’m always tinkering with it, it has to be perfect, you know, sometimes I’m like: Oh, this song would be great on it, and then the next day I’m like, Oh this doesn’t work on it now. It’s going much a very similar direction theme as ‘way out’ sonically for it as of right now, as well. I try my best to have those catchy choruses for my new music, even when I go about my day, I’m sometimes humming the odd track here and there from this EP.

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