Trevor Douglas
American singer/songwriter Trevor Douglas released his new single “Pressure” on February 23rd.
After appearing on the 14th season of American Idol, Douglas toured across the US on the “Trevor D Summer 2015 Better Luck Next Time” tour and opened for major artists like Ringo Star, Hunter Hayes and the Jonas Brothers.
In 2015, the Texas-based artist introduced his soulful-pop sound through the release of his debut EP entitled “Sugar-coated Puberty”.
The multi-talented singer/songwriter/musician is now back with the self-recorded new single “Pressure”, revealing Douglas’ distinctive soulful vocals and honest songwriting.
“Pressure” is now available worldwide.
Introduce yourself.
Hi! Haha, my name is Trevor Douglas and I am a singer songwriter.
Tell us a little bit about your childhood. Do you remember your first musical memory? What did you grow up listening to? Did you grow up in a musical environment?
I actually listened to different music with each of my family members. With my dad it was The Beach Boys/Monkees, my mom and I always listened to Radio Disney, my brother and I listened to stuff like MY Chemical Romance/Blink-182, and my sister and I jammed out to NSYNC, Jessie McCartney, High School Musical 1,2, and 3 and the Jonas Brothers. My dad played the piano and drums, my brother played guitar, and my sister played the guitar and piano.
Who introduced you to the musical journey?
My mom put me into lessons cause I wanted to start playing music when I was really young. Like 3 or 4? Then from there I liked it a lot, so I just kept on adding more and more instruments.
When did you start writing songs? What appeals you the most about songwriting?
This is actually the first song I wrote. It took me a whole year to write and was finished by 2012: “I Want To Remind You”.
Songwriting is so much fun. It’s just literally making something out of completely nothing, and I love trying to create something so honest, that it touches a lot of people.
What was your first experience in the music industry? What did you learn since then?
I actually auditioned to be in the boy band IM5. Like I flew out there to go to the final auditions. I clearly didn’t get in haha! But when I was younger I was really trying to fit into a box of what I thought I needed to be, and really just in the last like half a year I’ve finally grasped how stupid that was. So now I keep everything I do genuine. From the songs I write, the covers I do, my posts on social media, etc. I really think once I just decided to be me it really started positively affecting my career. And yes, I am FULLY aware of how cliche that sounds haha!
Could you tell us about your new single “Pressure”? What’s the story behind this record? Who did you work with?
So I did everything for this song myself. I wrote it, recorded it, and produced it all on my own in my closet back home in Texas (that’s the most soundproof place I can find there haha). Then I had a really talented friend/musician in Paris, Paul Flint, mix it for me. I was actually just walking around one day heard in my head the “Why can’t we just start this over”, made a quick recording of it in my voice memos, then when I got home, wrote the whole song around that one line.
What do you want people to feel when listening to this record?
Multiple people have told me that this song has actually made them kind of emotional, which is really cool when you think about it. Like, the lyrics I wrote takes someone back to a time in their life when they were struggling with something like this. Because even though this song isn’t specifically about any situation with a girl in my life, I have gone through things like this and it suuuucks haha.
What’s your goal for this new single?
Billboard top 100???? Open for Ed Sheeran???? Platinum??????
You released your first first EP in 2015. How did your sound and artistry evolve since then?
Oh wow haha. It is so so different. For starters, I have grown up a lot since then. Those songs were written and recorded when I was 14…I’m 20 now haha. I’ve fallen in love, had my heart broken, made new friends, lost old friends. Me just living my life has really helped me grow musically. I’ve also been teaching myself how to record and produce my own music. Back then I did not know how to tell someone what I wanted musically, but now I have the freedom and skill to figure it out myself.
What do you think of today’s music industry? If you had to change one thing, what would it be?
I wish an album could be more important. Now it’s all about the single, and putting out singles all the time just to stay relevant and I feel like this constant pressure to put out content, can cause people to put out songs that aren’t the best. This is something I’ve been seeing a lot all over social media. Where quantity is becoming more important than quality, which is something I find very upsetting. Because of this you see people established in the industry able to keep up cause they have the teams to help them, but for people who don’t, or have to work a regular job too, it’s so much harder to keep up.
You lived various experiences in the industry. What are the biggest challenges you had to overcome?
Biggest challenge for me has been having to keep fighting for myself and teaching myself how to do so many things. I got really tired of having to wait on people to record things for me, edit things, film things, etc. So I just decided to teach myself how to do all of those things. It’s been really difficult and stressful, but it’s made me a better artist. I recorded and produced “Pressure” all on my own cause I taught myself how to.
What motivates you to make music? What keeps you going?
It’s just what I love doing, so I’m always looking for ways to improve my self and further my career.
Who’s helping you build your career?
Honestly a bunch people. For starters (and the main ones) there’s my mom and the rest of my family, who have always helped me out. Then there’s the many people helped me out when they didn’t have to. I would not be where I am today without the kindness of so many people.
In your opinion, what makes a good artist?
For me it’s being a good songwriter. I have so much respect for artists that write their own songs and write great songs, because it’s hard and is just one of those things you can pay someone to do. Also when someone is great live. I love seeing an artist and thinking “Man! They were great on their record, but they sounded even better live!“
What inspires you the most, in life and in music?
Honestly the kinds of others. It’s been so surprising how willing people are to help you when you’re a genuinely nice person. I would not be where I am today without them kinds of other people.
What are you currently working on? Any upcoming EP?
Yeah! And I have some collaboration projects with friends that will hopefully be coming out soon! I also had a video go viral on YouTube recently, so I’m trying to focus more of my attention on there as well.
What’s your purpose?
I just really love creating music and making people happy. I just want to keep doing that for as long as I can.
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