Bishop Ivy
Bishop Ivy’s new single is the best song I’ve heard in a long time. I was looking for something new, different, unique, captivating and inspiring and that’s what “tunnel vision” is all about. The production is mind-blowing, the melodies are incredible from beginning to end (but the hook melody is on another level - simply incredible), the songwriting is absolutely brilliant and the mix might be one of my favorite things about this song. It sounds amazing.
After listening to ‘tunnel vision” for the first time, I quickly realized how big this song was. I played it over and over again. I was amazed every single time. And I am still amazed and inspired by it. “tunnel vision” is a masterpiece.
Bishop Ivy is definitely one of my favorite discoveries of 2021 and featuring such an incredible talent on my blog is a huge honor. I definitely cannot wait to hear more music from him.
“tunnel vision” is out now !!
Photo credit: Jake Wangner
Introduce yourself - what's your story?
Hi, I’m Bishop. That’s my actual, real (middle) name. First is Cameron. I’m 20 years old, and I’ve been singing and playing music for most of my life. I moved around a lot growing up, born in California and raised between Dallas and Boston. I’m currently in Pittsburgh as a college student. I write and produce my songs by myself with whatever instruments are available to me, which sometimes are non-instruments like banging random things together in my house. I write auto-biographical songs about love-life, school, driving, whatever is on my mind.
How would you define Bishop Ivy, the artist?
I see ‘Bishop Ivy’ as a combination of a few extremes, especially with the newest and upcoming material. I try to create songs that are simultaneously soothing and uncomfortable, catchy yet avant-garde, soulful yet futuristic. Always ethereal.
"tunnel vision" is your latest single - what's the inspiration behind this song?
“tunnel vision” is a break-up song, so that’s where I’m coming from lyrically. I think the message is really simple: It’s hard to let go of a relationship. I expand on that idea with really dramatic imagery, taking inspiration from Phoebe Bridgers’ lyric writing. The production was meant to be Radiohead inspired, with Hip hop style drums - Saba and James Blake come to mind.
Could you describe the songwriting/production process for this particular song? When did you start working on it?
I had early versions of the beat and the song done separately, and I realized they fit together, so I finished them as one idea. This is early fall 2019. Much of the recording, editing, and writing was done in my college dorm at the time. Whenever I had the room to myself, I would get back to the song and record more vocals. I did a lot of the mixing in between classes, wherever I happened to be with my laptop, often school hallways. Apollo LTD, long time collaborators, finished the mixing and mastering.
What did you feel when writing this song?
I felt drained and despondent. The song describes a desperation to restore an old relationship that didn’t work out. It saddens me now to think of how much of my happiness relied on that relationship. I wish I could have accepted the ending early on rather than be so nostalgic.
What's your favorite thing about this single?
I think the vocals are really good. Over my discography, I think there’s a noticeable improvement of the vocals overall. I cringe a little bit at some of my past performances, but this new record has a lot of great moments in it.
What can you tell us about the artwork?
The photo was taken by Jake Wangner, a photographer out of Dallas. I was a huge fan of his and had a shoot with him for this new record. I’ve never been happier with the visual presence of my music. His colorful, ghostly photos line up really well with my sound.
As a producer, what equipment and softwares do you usually use?
I produce all of my beats in Ableton, and usually record vocals in Pro Tools. Most of what I do happens in the computer. I don’t have a lot of physical gear, although a field recorder was instrumental (literally) for this record. The percussion was recorded by me of whatever was around: just camera clicks, banging tools together, etc. Also I use an omnichord in almost every song. I'm starting to experiment with creating my own gear. I created my own midi-controller glove recently for live performances, and am developing some visual content in Max/MSP.
As an artist, what is the hardest part? And what is the best part?
The hardest part for me is the social media presence. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, and I’m also not much of a visual artist or video creator, so it’s frustrating to be putting out content under the ‘Bishop Ivy’ project that I don’t find as inspiring as the music. My favorite part is finding inspiration. I think I’m a music and art fan more than an artist. I just try to recreate all the things I’m excited about into one package of a song.
What are your thoughts on today's music industry? If you could change one thing, what would it be?
I think today is an amazing time to create art, but an especially tricky time to do it professionally. The tools to create music have become magnitudes cheaper so just about anyone can create a radio-quality record in their homes with their own equipment, and the result is that a lot of people are doing just that. So the competition is really harsh, and the industry is saturated with amazing artists. On top of that, younger audiences generally do not buy music, so pure record sales aren’t a reliable source of income. So, it’s easy to create great music, but difficult to stand out in the industry. I’m hesitant to say what I would change, though, because I wouldn’t make my music any other way than at my home studio.
What advice would you give to young artists?
Today’s industry is about the whole package, not just the music. The visual content, the social media presence, the personality behind the music is just as important. Spend time developing what exactly the world of your artist is, and line everything up to that. That might be color palettes, styles of dress, ways of captioning photos, specific chord progressions, specific types of snares. Every detail matters.
What biggest life lessons have you learned so far?
In recent memory I’ve learned to prioritize my own health and wellbeing, to set boundaries and take better care of myself. Much of this has come out of covid as I’ve been isolated for most of it and lived on my own.
In your opinion, what would make the world a better place?
Perhaps creating a world where even more people have access to the tools to create art of any form - music, painting, anything, but I really have such a hard time answering this. I know so little about the world that I’d never want to be put in charge of fixing it. I can barely even run my own life.
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