R&B Rising Star Noah Guy on Working With The Spirit of New Orleans Gospel Choir, His Philly Hot Spots, and His New EP 'WHO'S TAKEN TIME ?! (ACT 1)'
[UNPUBLISHED:] I’ve seen you play live in Los Angeles and you’re such an engaging performer - what’s your favorite thing about performing your music live?
[NOAH GUY:] I can be a pretty awkward and introverted dude one on one, but for whatever reason being on stage brings out a confidence that I could only dream of having in my day-to-day interactions. That may sound a little counterintuitive, but I really do see it as a free ticket/invitation to show my honest and true self. So I'd say that’s what I love about performing the most: the soul-bearing, the invitation to be myself.
[UNPUBLISHED:] You just announced a show in Los Angeles in November, do you have any songs you’re most excited to perform?
[NOAH GUY:] Performing the whole EP live I'm truly over the moon about it, but if I were to toss out a favorite I'd maybe say “2 DOGS 1 LEASH,” mainly just because of the challenge of it. The song is so dynamic and fast tempo, so finding the right voice and pace for live definitely became the band’s biggest challenge during rehearsals. We finally got it in a really special place though. It’s wild, I’m excited for fans to feel the groove!
[UNPUBLISHED:] You were raised in Philly, how do you think growing up there has influenced your music and sound?
[NOAH GUY:] Intricately! Lots of my summers were spent up at my G’ma’s house in North West Philadelphia, more specifically a neighborhood of the city called Mount Airy. My big brother and I would spend our days going to this old record shop, crate diggin’ CDs and vinyl for hours. That whole process really got me hooked into Philly’s rich music history – old Philly Soul groups (the 1970s Gamble and Huff “golden era”) along with a lot of Philly hip-hop and neo-soul from the late ’90s and early 2000s like The Roots, Musiq Soulchild, Jill Scott, I could go on and on. While the instrumentation I use in my music certainly has a bit more of a modern skew to it, these Philly icons captured a rawness in their work that I am so deeply inspired by and am always trying to chase. Boundaryless soul music is a phrase I've been using to kind of describe where I’m at right now. It’s sort of my take on retro-futurism with the retro planting its roots in a lot of Philly music history.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What’re some of your favorite places in Philly? Give us some recommendations!
[NOAH GUY:] Ooo! So many. You gotta get a cheesesteak of course, but where you go to get it is a conversation too long to have right now. Reading Terminal Market is also a must. If we’re talking my neck of the woods though, Weavers Way is a little co-op jawn that my G’ma co-founded years ago in Mt. Airy. Wissahickon Valley Park is also incredible for hiking, falling in love, etc.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Now that you’ve moved out to Los Angeles from Philly, do you think the change in environment has or will influence your music? If so, in what way?
[NOAH GUY:] Absolutely. The project is called “WHO’S TAKEN TIME?!” which is a loaded question that can be read both literally, (i.e. “who’s taking away my time?”) and metaphorically (i.e. “who's taking the time to care?) Certainly, these curiosities are a bit broad-scoping, but my personal meditations on them really stemmed from fighting the intense physical separation from friends, family, and the community that raised me when coming out to Los Angeles. While Philly has my whole heart, pursuing the arts in my area was never really encouraged and certainly never seen as a practical next step. So when I came out west, breaking through that circuitry and deciding to give music my all initially came with a lot of emotional barriers and resentment. I closed the door on relationships I should have left open, fearful of judgment and fueled by spite. This project for me though is really just a progressive journey through self-help– recognizing where I missed the mark and reminding myself to “take time” for those who “take time for me,” regardless of the physical space between us.
[UNPUBLISHED:] You also recently released your single “SMALL TALK CAROLINA” featuring the Grammy Award Winning Group, The Spirit of New Orleans Gospel Choir, which is amazing - what was that experience like?
[NOAH GUY:] Man, so surreal. I listened back to it recently while driving in the car and started crying my eyes out. It blows my mind that the record came together the way it did. While working remotely with the Spirit of New Orleans was on the table for us, when I spoke to the Choir Director, Alfred, over the phone we got to talking about the song, how it was an ode to my hometown, a record about community building, etc. Through that dialogue of learning about how much the city of New Orleans meant to him and his musical journey, the parallels were just so clear, and working in person only felt right. So over the summer my producer and I flew down to New Orleans for three days and spent pretty much all of our afternoons with Alfred and the group! We worked on a lot of music, but also just hung out and talked. Over that weekend I learned so much about the choir’s origin story, the history of Gospel music in their city, and also the profound impact Hurricane Katrina has had on the city’s arts and culture. These are lessons and experiences I will forever cherish. I feel so blessed to have gotten their stamp on this project.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What influenced your decision in including the choir in the new single?
[NOAH GUY:] I had arranged the vocal part for the bridge section months prior but ended up setting it aside because it felt like a vocal moment that needed a team or an anthem behind it; something larger than just myself. Me and my producer, Choob, were up in the mountains some months later working on music when I revisited the demo one morning. As I recall, it was in that moment where we just sort of looked at each other and knew what the record needed.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Can you walk me through the process of how that single, including the choir, was created?
[NOAH GUY:] The whole process of making “SMALL TALK CAROLINA” was really just that: a “process” - with a ton of puzzle pieces and a lot of “stops” and “starts.” The initial demo started off with just a janky chord progression on an untuned guitar that Choob played. I recorded most of the vocals to that guitar, and then eventually connected with my friend Solomon Fox, an incredible multi-instrumentalist/producer, to kind of help make sense of the pieces. I knew I wanted to have lap steel on the record and Solomon had just trashed picked one a few weeks prior so he played that and added a little more spice to the pot! Then my friend Braxton Cook, an incredible Saxophonist/Jazz multi-instrumentalist, came through and played flute on the bridge. I think that was the turning point where things got really serious. The energy Braxton brought provided a whole new life and purpose for the record. I think without his involvement I probably wouldn’t have thought to bring the choir in for the closeout.
[UNPUBLISHED:] You are also releasing an EP very soon, which I’m personally super excited about - what are you most excited about when it comes to the release?
[NOAH GUY:] I spent so long working through demos, trying to find the right five records to properly set my stage and tell this story. I think now that it’s all whittled down, the records on this first project really show the full scope of where I can exist sonically. No two joints are the same and I’m so excited for people to see that range.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How do you hope your fans react to the new project?
[NOAH GUY:] I hope they love it of course or at least see the creative risks I'm taking on this project and appreciate them. Recently, I’ve been super into this idea of self-mastery, or the idea of consistent innovation, experimentation, and self-development with my art. I think if my fan base is growing with/ open to those changes we are going to have a really fun journey together!
[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you have any artists that you look up to or who influence you?
[NOAH GUY:] Of course the Philly legends I talked about above, but separate to that, D’Angelo, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Bon Iver, Norah Jones… so many, but those are a couple.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Who is an artist you’ve been listening to a lot recently?
[NOAH GUY:] I’ve been listening to a lot to this artist from Houston, Reggie. His music is really transformative. Also a lot of Westside Gunn, and this Brazilian artist/composer, Rogê. I’m all over the place but these are at the top of my playlist right now.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What is one fun fact that not many people know about you?
[NOAH GUY:] When I was a little kid I was a child prodigy at beat-boxing. Vocal percussion tournaments, talent shows, the whole shebang. Have since hung up the hat, but come to a show and if you twist my arm maybe you’ll see me spit a little bit.
