Exclusive Interview: vaultboy Talks ‘way after forever,’ Collabs And Anime!

Pssst, honey bees, remember “’everything sucks’ just kidding?” Yup, that legendary TikTok song is still on our replay playlist even years after its release! Well, since we are big vaultboy fans here at THP, we are always excited when we get new music from him. Lucky us, because vaultboy just released ‘way after forever’ –– we are soooo not crying. Huh, why is it raining in the office suddenly?

Anyway, ‘way after forever’ is hopefully just the start of new music for vaultboy (more on that below 👀), and we are excited to see what 2023 has in store for this talented artist. Of course, we couldn’t pass up the chance of getting to talk to vaultboy himself, so buckle up, get a cup of tea, and read our exclusive interview below!

We feel honored to have the opportunity to talk to “the king of sad songs!” Is that a title you expected to get when you started to pursue music?
While I definitely have a knack for writing sad songs, I’m not sure I would’ve said I’d be the king of anything. That said, if I was to be a king of something, I think that makes the most sense for me.

You have a way of capturing emotions in your songs that are so beautiful but so sad. How does it feel knowing your music has such a strong emotional pull on listeners?
It’s very reassuring! My music is super personal to me, especially my sadder songs. When I see people connecting to it reminds me that I’m not alone in what I’m feeling, but also makes me glad that my music can be there for other people as well.

‘everything sucks’ is still a bop and a half, and we would be lying if we said that when we hear someone say “everything sucks” the lyrics don’t start playing in our heads immediately. When you first released ‘everything sucks,’ did you expect it to blow up like this?
The interesting thing about ‘everything sucks’ is while it did continue to go viral after I released it, it was already a trend about 2 months before I released it! When I wrote the first verse, it was sort of a joke. I was genuinely not planning to finish OR release it. That said, the internet made it clear that I had no other option. While writing the rest of the song, it became a little bit less of a joke and more of a feel-good anthem. I think I was more surprised that my first song was blowing up than that song in particular. It’s a crazy way to start a career, for sure! 

Do you remember watching the first TikTok that used ‘everything sucks’? How did it feel watching it go viral?
Oddly enough, it was maybe the first time I ever thought a TikTok of mine WOULD go viral. I wrote it in the shower, got dressed, and showed my roommate. I had never been so confident in a little song, but I just thought it was funny, and nobody had really done anything like it at the time.

We are huge K-Pop fans at THP as well, so we also have to talk about your collab with Eric Nam in 2021. How did that come about? How was it working with Eric Nam?
I had connected with Eric a few months prior because I was a co-writer on the song he did with Sarah Barrios called ‘Have We Met Before.’ Then, after seeing the success of ‘everything sucks’ we reached out to him to see if he was into the idea of a remix. Lucky for me, he was! We got into the studio in LA and recorded it, then shot the music video the week after. He’s literally one of the nicest people on the planet and an inspiration for me. I’m super honored to have worked with him!

With us already loving your past music like ‘aftermath,’ we definitely were excited for ‘way after forever.’ What made you choose it to be your next single?
I wrote ‘way after forever’ last fall, and my team and I loved it. After my second EP dropped in November of last year, I was sitting on a lot of songs and trying to find the best way to enter into the new year. While I’m working on new music I wanted to put out the song that felt the most like “vaultboy” to all of the fans of my past music, and this was that song. 

‘way after forever’ feels especially vulnerable. What’s your favorite lyric from the song?
My absolute favorite line is “stargaze, it’s cold out.” It’s not a lyrically exceptional line, but it has a bit of a deeper meaning for me. I wrote this song about a past relationship, and one of the things we always talked about doing (but never did) was going stargazing. I’m happy that even though we never got to go stargazing, I got to capture it in the song in a romantic sort of way.

If you had to describe vaultboy’s musical journey in one word and with a color which one would it be and why?
Emotional/blue. Emotional, because both the songs and my life during this crazy journey [have] been nothing but emotional. It’s a lot of ups and downs, and the highs are super high, and the lows are super low. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but yes, it’s been very emotional! Blue, because it’s my favorite color and the color I most often associate my music with. Also, because sad = blue.

You’ve released singles and EPs so far, but our question is: what would a full album by you look like? Any plans for it?
So I’m actually working on my first album as we speak! I’ve actually been working on it since last year, but I still have a ways to go. I can’t say much, but you can expect my first album to be heavily conceptual and hopefully have some cool collaborations!

And as our last question, what are your plans for 2023?
Work on the album, hopefully play some more shows, and just continue to connect with people online. Also, I plan to watch a lot of anime because Demon Slayer and Jujustu Kaisen both have new seasons coming out!

As resident weebs at THP, we are also excited for the new seasons of those animes, vaultboy has taste! And, of course, vaultboy’s new music and album. Let him cook! What do you think about ‘way after forever?’ How excited are you about that new album? Let us know in the comments down below, on our Twitter @thehoneypop, or talk to us on Facebook and Instagram!

For more of our interviews, check this out!

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