Rising Artist Marlon Funaki Expands His Sound With Entrancing Single ‘As He Bowed’
Our lives are built on chance meetings, blossoming relationships, and quintessential memories of the largest and smallest moments. Hailing from Redlands, California, rising dynamic artist Marlon Funaki hones in on an immense disposition in storytelling that is channeled through his songs. Imbued with a diligent energy and lively sound, Marlon’s music explores these themes of human connection and emotion. In his latest single “As He Bowed,” released on May 10th, Marlon delicately captures the essence of nostalgia with hypnotic instrumentals and sharp, witty lyricism. In a conversation with Unpublished Magazine, Marlon discussed his single “As He Bowed” along with delving into his creative processes and discoveries as an artist.
[UNPUBLISHED]: We’re about halfway through 2023. How has this year treated you?
[MARLON]: In my opinion, I think any progression is a lot of progression and I feel like this year has definitely been the year that's been more prominent as far as showing results with the help of Nick and my beautiful, awesome best-friend bandmates. We have just been so stacked with shows and interviews and practices and recording, which is all good things in my opinion to be busy about. It's a good busy. So, I would feel like this year has been awesome so far. The year is going exactly how I wanted it to go. I feel like last year was really unprogressive in a sense that I was kind of putting out a single here and there and hoping it would do okay. But this year, I've kind of just been pushing it on the nose and I told myself, "You know what? I'm gonna be unapologetically annoying." You know, I think this is the year I'm gonna do it. So, I mean, we've definitely seen some progress. And for sure, I think it's been a pretty fast pace here. So, it's good.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Can you give us a little background of how you got into music?
[MARLON]: Redlands is a smaller area, I went to high school out in Redlands. Out of the three, I kind of went to the newer high school. So, the smaller high school and I was in band. I was in the basic level band, I played drums and I was just like, "you know what? I want to pick up guitar." Because the drums are cool, but I wanted to play something with strings. So, it kind of started there, I picked up the guitar, started playing a lot of great tunes, learning songs and stuff like that. I had never thought of making music. I just wanted to play the guitar, show my friends that I have a talent. Yeah, so it kind of started there. But, before that, my dad had a really big influence on my music taste. Growing up doing chores, he'd be blasting all the classic 70s, 80s, 90s, rock songs and I think that's definitely where a lot of my influences came from. But, it kind of started in that realm like 2016, 2017 as far as making music. I told myself I'm gonna try to make a song. I had no clue how to record, produce or do anything like that. So, I bought all the basic gear, spent 150 to 200 bucks and I recorded "Get Out of My Face." I forget what year that was, but that was the first one I ever dropped on SoundCloud. No sorts of promotion, no sorts of "go check out my song" or anything like that. And it did all right on SoundCloud. I guess people were liking it. So, I said I'm going to figure out how to drop this thing on Apple Music and Spotify. So, I did. And a lot of people were jiving with it. So, I said I think this is a great opportunity for me to kind of express my feelings in music. So, I've just been doing it for fun ever since. And I've been blessed to get shows and to perform live.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You released your single “As He Bowed.” Can you tell me about the inspiration behind this song?
[MARLON]: That song was definitely on a whim. I hate saying that because I like to really sit down and create music in a space where I'm like, "Okay, I'm ready to do this thing." But, I had no motivation before that song to get in the studio and make music. I kind of just wanted to play shows and perform the music that I already had out there. But, then I got into The Drums. They're kind of like an indie rock band. Really high energy, kind of fast paced stuff, which was something that I was so intrigued by. I started really diving into their music and into their sound, and for two, three months straight, I just binged these people. And I really got a lot of my inspiration from those guys. And I said, "You know what, I'm going to try to make a song in the studio." I was here for maybe six, seven hours to two or three in the morning. Just coming up with ideas and the song formed in that night. Within the day or that morning of, I made the track and I was like, “I love this.” So, I decided I was gonna drop it. Definitely on a whim for sure. Nothing planned behind it.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You definitely have a new energy in that song that differs from the rest of your releases. Do you plan to make more music in that realm?
[MARLON]: I think I can definitely experiment and dive into different genres. But, I would say that one was probably the most fun creating because it's so high energy. And I feel like a lot of my older music is kind of in between. It's either really high, fast paced stuff or it's kind of on the slower side. I wouldn't necessarily like to say though that I commit to a specific type of sound because I like venturing off into all different types of genres of music. I like to make stuff kind of like Spacey Jane, but kind of like The Drums and then kind of implement a little bit of Puma Blue and King Krule and stuff like that into these songs. So, I think maybe a few more songs I could. I just go off inspiration, a motivation you could say, as far as when it comes to specific sounds of songs for sure.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What does your creative process look like?
[MARLON]: So, I work a lot. I work at Guitar Center. But, when I'm working, I'm constantly trying to develop baselines or melodies in my head. I'm whistling all day, I'm probably kind of annoying to my coworkers. But, I'm just trying to whistle new things and sometimes things will stick. And sometimes, things won't. When I whistle a melody or baseline that I think I can definitely make something out of, I'll record it on my phone, and I'll record myself whistling into a video or whatever. Then I'll record that baseline or that drum line or that melody and then I'll just build off of that. I would say, though, that I do start creating more with a baseline rather than anything else. So, I'll do a baseline and then I'll get a melody going, and then I'll do drums last. Then kind of in between that, I'll try to listen to it and record vocals and kind of create a story. So, it's a mix. It's kind of a mutt of a creative process. But, it works.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Your debut album is about to hit a year old. How do you feel?
[MARLON]: That album was probably the turning point in my music career as far as getting serious about something. You know, actually committing and realizing that I know I'm gonna have to put in work. I know there's going to be some bumps. I know there's going to be some really high endorphin moments. But, there's gonna be some really low endorphin moments. But, that album getting to a year old has definitely kind of shown me that it's not a smooth, straight line. You're going to learn things, you're going to meet new people, you're essentially going to eff up, you're going to do things right. And it's one of those things where if you kind of screw up on a song or if you lose a relationship or you make new ones, you have to really determine who you're hanging out with and who you want to surround yourself with. And I think I'm obviously still in the realm of learning. We all are. I think it's shown me that this game is not for the weak hearted. Unless you throw a song on Tik Tok and it blows up and then you're kind of just thrown into it. But, I've learned so much since then, for sure. I've definitely taken the music a lot more seriously after that album dropped.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You’re playing a show with Arcy Drive! How does that feel?
[MARLON]: I'm super stoked. I have listened to Arcy Drive for a while now. And I didn't even know that I was in contact with their manager. I've had their manager's phone number for a while. And he reached out to me like, "Hey man did you want to possibly play a show for these guys I'm managing?" And I'm always down for a show. I'll say yes every time. I feel like getting your music in front of people, regardless of whether it's five people or a thousand, I think it's a good sense of exposure. And especially as an artist like myself in these stages, you can use any help. So I said "Of course man." I asked him, "Who are you managing?" And he says Arcy Drive. I'm at work and I leave work and I'm like, "No way." I thought he was playing a joke on me because I love these guys. You know, they sound great. I immediately texted Nick and I was like "dude, we might have just scored a big show." It's probably going to be the biggest kind of show we've played. And I'm really excited. A little bit nervous, obviously, because I want everything to go as planned. But, when it comes to a live environment, nothing really goes how you want it. It's always going to be a cool experiment where it could go insanely well. Or, you can kind of do things here and there. But, the show must go on. So, I'm kind of nervous, but I'm really excited to play with them. It's gonna be fun.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Is there a certain song that you’re excited to perform live?
[MARLON]: There's one in particular that I think has a sort of hype around it already because it's never been released. It's called "Metaphor." So, at this show, we're gonna play a totally different changed "Metaphor" song. The "Metaphor" that we had previously played at shows people love and they go crazy for it. But, it was so small and short. You know, it was basically a couple choruses and a verse. But, I kind of went into it and I dabbled with more verses and more beef to the song. And I think I created something a little bit longer and a little bit nicer for the people to hear. So, I think once we play it there, I think it's going to definitely be a good promotion for it because that song might be coming out really soon.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What have you been listening to lately? What’s been on your radar?
[MARLON]: So, my photographer Holden, one of my best buddies, has been introducing me to these just amazing soundtracks. I wouldn't even know how to necessarily describe it. It's kind of like Afro-funk, Afro-pop, 70s, 80s. I've been listening to a lot of Little Beaver. There is another artist that goes by the name of Pearl Dowell that has released a couple of songs that in my opinion are the best things ever. Durand Jones & The Indications, I've been listening to them a lot. The Altons, The Sinceres. Kind of like old school Chicano music, The Altons are. Yeah, I mean those are kind of the main genres I've been listening to, the main people. Faye Webster, "Right Side of My Neck," I've been blasting that to my car speakers. Todd Terje, there's a song that he released, it's called “Preben Goes to Acapulco.” That's an awesome song. And then Men I Trust "Billie Toppy." She released that in September. That's been definitely on repeat for sure. It's kind of all mixed.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What are you most excited about for the future?
[MARLON]: So, I think "Metaphor" is definitely in the works. So, you guys can expect that to come out very, very soon. I do want to release an EP this year. I'm still kind of figuring out what I want the whole kind of energy to be around it because I don't want to just release a bunch of different songs with no correlation to each other. So, I'm trying to figure out what the mood is going to be of the EP. But, I definitely want to work on an EP by the end of this year, for sure.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Anything else you would like people to know?
[MARLON]: As far as the music goes, I'm really wanting to get out of this nine to five job. So, they can expect a lot of new music coming out. Like I said, before last year, I was really timid to release music, timid to promote myself, timid to actually be comfortable outside of just my little room here and start posting how I feel, what I want to say and stuff like that. But, they can just expect me to be a lot more out there and releasing a lot more genres of music that they would never expect me to release. You know, listening to this older afro-funk and stuff I feel like has nothing to do with my sound. So, I feel like it'd be a good wake up if they heard me drop a song something like that or something in the house genre, something in more alternative style, ambient style of music. They can expect a lot of different-ness coming with this upcoming Marlon Funaki that's gonna be out there.
