I watch time fly, these cycles always repeating, so I’m back in the studio working on new music. It feels like I never left, it feels like I’ve never been here. Creativity as silence, fleeting, like air. And still it’s got me in a chokehold, no life in my lung.
These last couple of weeks have been spent with Merch, on Together Magazine, on creating more than just music. If you haven’t yet, please go ahead and check it out. These are the ways for me to generate income, as music has become commodity.
The Magazine gives Behind The Scenes access to the creation of Together, with many unreleased Images, lots of poetry, a Podcast Interview talking queerness, music making, and everything in between. I would love for you to check it out, I’ve always dreamed of creating a visual magazine for a release, and I finally was able to do so for Together.
These four shirts have been years in the making. I’ve wanted to create something wearable for ages, just never been content with quality or fit of the garments I’ve tested, not been happy with the print quality or had companies outright refuse to print the designs I wanted to get out. There is still a lot of censorship around queer art and our expression, and I am confronted with this again and again. Finally I decided to make everything myself, just like I do with my music.
I’ve invested in a Heat Press, I designed shirts, found the perfect garments to print on, and I’ve been in the studio heat-pressing this shit myself. Now I’ma be honest, they aren’t selling as well as I hoped they would, so if you haven’t copped, reconsider. This is a passion project and I wanted to make sure you could wear something truly phlwest.
I’ve edited my first real Vlog making these Shirts, which is mainly about corporations not wanting to print my bare ass on shirts, cause of some bullshit content policy of theirs. I did some censoring of the video for TikTok, but apparently I wasn’t thorough enough, so that video got taken down almost immediately, adding a strike to my account. The very thing I’m talking about happening again…
Here’s that video on Instagram:
Sieh dir diesen Beitrag auf Instagram an
I love these Vlog Style videos, they are a tool to provide a more in-depth look into the way I work. There’s tons of shit I do that y’all probably aren’t even aware of. I’m still not sure most of y’all know I actually produce, sing, write, mix, publish all this music myself. It’s pretty fucking unique so I gotta make it a point to use that for content. The studio needs some renovating, but I’ve taken this very physical experience of creating merch as an opportunity to film a vlog. I love the outcome, and although it doesn’t work on instagram at all compared to my other shit, I’ma try and push these for TikTok and see if I can censor myself enough for the account not to be banned lol.
All this means no sleep and no time off, between going to the studio to make music and doing content for the music itself, to making these vlogs – which take a lot of time editing and filming. I really wanna cling to quality, and although it’s not really what I see around me, I need it for myself. I wanna see my work the way I envisioned it in my mind. Y’all can interpret later. And I’m listening. But I need to create it the way I want it to exist in the world – otherwise why do this at all.
New music will come sooner rather than later, there’s lots to do for Together still, there’s content to film and Clips to shoot, but I’m eager to push on and release some more singles.
Stand-alone singles usually mean more freedom, more experiments, more quick-judgement. I like that every once in a while. I’ve learned a lot doing Together, so I’m equipped to focus on these next few songs. Ready for some fucking bangers. I’m excited to be back in the studio, experimenting, carving my space in music. I’m working on being quicker with everything I do. As mentioned, I’m doing it all, so that always takes time. I hope to come up with time-saving ideas in the near future, making everything a little less cluttured, more structured, more enjoyable. These songs are going to be life.
Recently went to amsterdam for a smoke sesh, saw some friends and it quickly turned into a promo night for my new album. I took some Posters and we dotted them around the city, these memories still big in mind. Love the city, although people seem snobbish to me. We ended up in De School until morning light, which turned a chill Amsterdam weekend into a 140BPM Rave. Rather that over anything else though. Can always count on the ravers. They are family, even in Amsterdam.
Once back home to get back in the swing of things I updated my playlist, check it here:
These the songs for a month of spring, excited to be listening with longer days and sunsets that turn our skin orange.
Gonna be stuck in the studio for a couple of weeks now, I’ma be back with new music, right here. I hope you don’t gotta wait too long. Excited for whats to come.
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– phlwest
