Payday on Their Clothing Brand, Coming of Age Films, and Creating Shadow Puppets
[UNPUBLISHED:] Your recent single, “White Mercedes” reminded me a lot of something I’d hear in a coming-of-age film. If your song could be featured in one coming-of-age film, which would it be and why?
[PAYDAY:] If “White Mercedes” was in a coming-of-age movie it’d probably have to be in something like Booksmart, Dope, or Superbad. Those are movies where I could imagine a big, anthemic, alternative rap song to be in. Those movies are comedic and light-hearted for the most part so I think it’d make sense. I just couldn’t imagine “BITCH I MISS THAT WHITE MERCEDES” in Perks of Being a Wallflower.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What are some of your favorite movies?
[PAYDAY:] I love movies and am constantly inspired by them, some of my favorites are Good Burger, The Labyrinth, and probably Rocky Horror Picture Show. I know those are all super different from each other but that’s kinda the point. Good Burger makes me laugh and is nostalgic to me. The Labyrinth is perfectly creepy/whimsical and also pretty nostalgic to me - I love the characters in it and the trippy scenes. Rocky Horror Picture Show is like a fever dream to me but I love it for its loud, bold, crazy type vibe.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What was the inspiration behind your new song “Shadow Puppets?”
[PAYDAY:] I made “Shadow Puppets” around the time when I had my first real heartbreak and I was feeling super isolated and lonely. I have a really hard time sleeping at night - I’ve always been that way. I had been crying a lot through the night and I noticed the shadows on the wall of my silhouette. I was laughing and crying making stupid little hand puppets on the wall. I wrote down “shadow puppets” in my notes app and then eventually I made the song about that moment.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What was the process of like creating the song?
[PAYDAY:] I don’t exactly remember the process of creating the song, to be honest, but I absolutely do remember that I was incredibly sad and down on myself.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How have your friends and family reacted to the release?
[PAYDAY:] My friends were all in the “White Mercedes” video so they love the song and video, I think! “Shadow Puppets” is a bit more sad and slow so I don’t know how they feel about it. Although if I’m being honest I’m never too bothered by how others react to my music so I don’t focus on that stuff too much. I just wanna release music that I really love
[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you have any favorite places you like to make music?
[PAYDAY:] I don’t have a favorite place to make music. I’m usually in all kinds of different studios, bedrooms, and home studios, which helps me to be able to make music in all sorts of environments.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Your brand Paylien is super cool, what inspired you to create a brand?
[PAYDAY:] In the fall of 2021, I was on my first-ever tour, but was also in a really bad mental state. At one point I asked my friend what I should do to keep my mind busy and he said to start a brand. When you’re on tour you have so much time to kill as you drive city to city, state to state, and so on… so while on tour I started writing all these ideas down and drawing characters, designs, and concepts. Eventually, that became all things Paylien. The name is Payday combined with Alien – it’s a bit of a mix but with my own Payday brand and aesthetic combined with Y2K and outer space vibes, so I think the name works perfectly.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you think fashion plays a big part in who you are as an artist?
[PAYDAY:] I definitely think fashion plays a part in who I am as an artist. I love making outfits or even just drawing little characters in cool outfits. It’s such a sick way to express yourself, I swear if my outfit isn’t right when I leave the house I’m gonna have a bad day. I make better songs when my outfit is fly too - Anything is possible with a good outfit!
[UNPUBLISHED:] If you could swap styles with anyone for a day, who would it be and why?
[PAYDAY:] I wouldn’t wanna swap styles with anyone! I have OCD and I’m extremely specific about how my outfits look all the way down to the color and length of my socks. Even if my outfits look random to you, they are hand selected in a specific way that works just right in my mind. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
[UNPUBLISHED:] You recently went on tour with the iconic LAUV and Hayley Kiyoko, how was that? Did you learn anything from them?
[PAYDAY:] Well first I have to say they are both the coolest and nicest people and I’m so thankful that they brought me along, it was legendary. LAUV is an insanely talented musician and performer, and Hayley Kiyoko is the same – she was killing shit! Honestly, they are both so driven and hardworking, even if the weather was bad or the sound wasn’t the best at certain venues they pushed through and gave amazing performances every single night - that’s definitely one of the many lessons that I took away from the experience.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What was one thing you couldn't live without while on tour?
[PAYDAY:] Oh man, one thing I couldn’t live without on tour was definitely a hair brush. Either that or my sneakers, I brought at least 8 pairs of shoes on tour.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What is one fun fact about yourself that not many people know?
[PAYDAY:] A lot of people don’t know that I have a song with Makonnen. That is definitely a fun fact, it’s called “Whoopsy” and it’s fire.
