KastleViolet on Songwriting, Creating from Emotion, and the art of Flow State
Photo by Elmont | IG: @shotbyelms
Everyone’s got different personalities, parts of them that define who they are. Raleigh’s KastleViolet embraces both his introverted, laid back nature and the hype and outgoing parts of him that emanate from the music he creates. KastleViolet’s sound can be described plainly as alternative, with strong influences from Hip-Hop and R&B. His style typically includes a simple, yet tasteful soft-trap beat that is accented by a lo-fi sample, often distorted. Listeners will find themselves falling deep into the entrails of KastleViolet’s mind through every lyric on love, self-realization, and his passionate disposition.
I had a one on one with KastleViolet at a local coffee shop in the Southeast Raleigh area. We chatted about his songwriting process, creating with raw emotion, the art of flow state, and his latest single ‘Violet World’.
Who are you?
I think there's a really big problem with a lot of people thinking that you have to be this persona or make a brand. Which I guess to some extent you do but I say I’m an artist. It’s more therapy than anything. I’m not trying to be somebody cool. It’s nothing like that. I think if nobody ever listened to one song I made I’d still do it. It’s very pure, I think. I’m just an artist trying to help somebody get through their day.
When did you start songwriting? When did you begin to develop your craft?
I’ve always been somebody to try and make something or do it my own way. I’ve always been interested in poetry and I’ve always loved music. I think that comes from my parents. Neither of my parents are musicians, but they both love music. I also grew up with my Nanna— what most people call their grandmother— and she always played records and stuff throughout the house, especially early in the morning. It was always soul or blues or stuff that she’s collected through her time. I remember I used to write stories and I wanted to be a writer for a really, really long time, but I never really got into it.
Then I played in a band in middle school. We didn’t have a band name. We had like three band practices and then we were like this isn’t gonna work. So I would say maybe my whole life, but I don’t think that’s really fair. I’d say when I really started getting into the intricacies of lyrics, and storytelling, and song structure I was around 15 or 16. Martin -for anyone who doesn’t know Martin, he’s a legend, my brother, I would die for him- he came up to me one day and was like, “We could really, like do this. We love music, we have good taste, we could do it”. So I would say 2016 is when I was like okay this is a craft. I’m gonna have to work on this.
It’s crazy being with Martin in a home studio or wherever we are in general. He always pushed me to be better. It was more of a shove for sure. He’s just such a legend. His music is just so far beyond what anybody else is doing. He’s like the purest artist I’ve ever met. He just does it for himself.
Do you remember your first song? When did you write it?
It was me, Martin, and my friend Big D. Some people know him as Hooshms. Big D had this beat and knew that me and Martin were trying to start writing lyrics, rapping and making music. Big D was like “You guys should use this one”. We listened to it at his house and were like yeah this shit is hard. And that was it. We made that song. It’s called ‘Kamikaze’. It’s out there on SoundCloud somewhere. I think I have it privated, but real ones know. They know about it. That was March 2016.
Do you play any instruments?
I play a little piano and a little bass, but I wouldn’t go to a band audition. I know a couple little riffs. I will say that my ex, who shall not be named, got me a kalimba, and I love that thing. I can play the “UP” theme song, like from the movie. I’ll play that before bed for my cats sometimes and everybody’s knocked out before the end of it.
Photo by KastleViolet
You used to be Warlord Caleb. Now you’re KastleViolet. What inspired your original name? Did anything prompt you to change it?
Warlord Caleb was a Twitter handle that I made. I was young and edgy and was like, this is hard. Then Yung Lean put out his album ‘Warlord’. He literally announced it three days after I changed my Twitter handle. I love Yung Lean and I was like oh my god, it’s destiny. This has to be it. This is my artist name, period. Then I was in the parking lot heading to class, and a close friend of mine, Vicky, shouted Warlord through the parking lot and I was like now it’s stuck.
As I got older, I stopped making trap music and really started to find the sound that I like. I don’t wanna call R&B, but it’s influenced by it. It’s really weird. I can’t put it in a genre. I just kind of outgrew the name. I thought it was cringe. I was like this is weird. I felt like I needed a change. I wasn’t the same person I was when I started. Then I was workshopping names. For a while I was gonna be 9kCaleb. Then I was like I really hate my first name. So I started reading Dracula and was like castles are cool. I really fuck with castles and my favorite color is violet. KastleViolet.
Are you an anime person? What’s your favorite, just for shits and giggles?
Huge. There’s a couple. I gotta be careful about what I say because Big D will come for me. So I’m gonna play it safe and say Neon Genesis Evangelion. Banger. Super banger. Jujutsu Kaisen. And then there’s the classics: Naruto, Dragon Ball Z. Those are kinda played out now, but if you watched them growing up then you have the respect for them.
What was your first official released project?
’Memoirs of Mars’. I put it out when I was working at UPS. I’m subscribed to a whole bunch of producers so I can get their email list and they send new beats. If they send me a new beat that I like, I just pay for it and get to work. Monte sent it to me and I was listening to it on the UPS truck in the rain. I was like this is the perfect energy. So I was just writing it on my phone and that was it. It was done. Boom.
What’s your inspiration for your music? What part of your brain do you pull from?
A lot of it is emotion. I tend to write from emotion more than anything. It’s really hard to connect with people who aren’t actively putting their blood, sweat, and tears into their craft. I read a book that talked a lot about flow state. If I don’t hit the flow state with a beat immediately, it will not work. I cannot write to it. My brain will literally just put up a wall and shut off and there's nothing. I’m just grasping at straws. I notice that if I do try to force it, it is two things: A. it’s horrible and I hate it and B. I’ll start sweating. In the studio I will literally sweat and I’ll have to get up and get a beverage, a cup of water or something. I’m like, I’m gonna die if I keep working on this beat. I try to listen all the way through the beat and if I don’t catch it at any point it’s done. It’s very much like a first impression thing. If it doesn’t hit or that 808 isn’t tuned right, it’s over. But yeah, emotion is what I write from. I’ve always loved film and TV. So I find a lot of inspiration from 50’s films too.
You seem like a visual writer. When I listen to your music I can see a literal picture. Do you tap into that part of yourself to drive your writing process?
Yes, exactly! I think it comes from reading and being very visual. I have to envision it first and then I can put the pieces together with the lyrics.
So when I listen to your music, it always feels ever-flowing and constant. Do your songs follow a particular structure at all?
I love that you asked this. I fully believe that if you are starting out and don’t make music currently but want to, you should learn song structure immediately. Otherwise, your song is going to be scattered and it’s not gonna flow right. Song structure is the basis for getting really intricate. Now with that being said, my songs have no structure at all. It’s all about how I feel. If you go back and listen to a couple of my songs you’ll notice that some of them don’t have a verse at all. It could be an interlude, but I put it out as a full song just because I like it. If I like it, then it’s getting released. I think song structure is important up to a point. Like whenever you start getting a little abstract. I noticed the instrumentals I was using were a little out there. I can get a little out there with how I write it. Who cares? Also, if somebody doesn’t like it, they don’t have to listen to it. It is therapy.
Photos by Chance Faulkner | IG: @findsomeviews
Out of all of your released projects, which are your top 3 favorites?
So ‘Violet World’ is number one, then ‘Peace and Pride’, and ‘Yes, Love’ are my top 3. I’ve noticed, especially earlier in making music, that I would put something out and be like I’m done with this, I hate this, I don’t wanna listen to this ever again, I don’t want to talk to people about it. Then right after I put ‘Warlord Wept’ out I really started to be proud of myself. I think ‘Violet World’ is probably my number one currently. I think it’s a very good embodiment of who I am at this moment. Also I’m probably a little biased because I played my first show post-quarantine with ‘Full Court Press’. All the homies came out.
I played ‘Full Court Press’ at The Pour House and after that I played The Lincoln Theatre. Shoutout to Noah and Big John. They always show love when they come out and make it super easy to go out there and play. I don’t think you can tell, but I have severe social anxiety. I can’t go into the grocery store if it’s too busy. I can’t go into Walmart. Daytime Walmart is where the devil lives. It’s horrible in there.
I think ‘Peace and Pride’ is a really big, deep cut on grappling with anger. Once you act out you have that little time frame right after where you’re like I was kinda bugging out, I probably shouldn’t have done that. ‘Yes, Love’ is about fumbling a wife. You can’t do that. You cannot do that. You do live and you learn.
Self-criticism is the artist’s biggest enemy and closest friend. In what ways do you show grace and patience to yourself when creating new art? Are there challenges that come up for you during that process? How do you talk to your shadow, the part of yourself that critiques and judges?
I think if you have mixed feelings about something you’re putting a lot of time in, whether that be anything in life, you have to just give it time. Just chill on it. If something isn’t hitting right for me, but I know that there’s something there, I will literally just forget about it. I know one night I’m gonna be a couple glasses of wine deep and in that little archive I’ll find it. Then maybe it’ll click. Also, you can’t burn yourself out. Life is short, but there’s so much time. If you need some time to just step away from it, just step away from it. That was really hard for me to learn, because I would hit that flow state and then I would start burning out and be like, no, I have to finish it. I would stay up until 7-9am, have to work at 12, and I was just killing myself over it. Why? Why? I also noticed, the more you burn out the worse the writing is gonna be. It’s not gonna be as vibrant. So, I just take a step away from it and let myself regain energy. I go take a shower, go for a walk, hang out with my cat, do something. You can’t burn yourself out. I’m still working on that part, the whole taking a break thing. I’m getting pretty good at it. ‘Violet World’ came out of it. I guess that shit worked.
If I’m not working on it, I’ll pace back and forth while I’m doing something else. While I’m taking a break, it’s not even really a break because I’m playing back in my head the last few bars and trying to come up with something. I find that’s when I write my best work, when I’m away from the studio and just out doing something. I’ll be like where’s my phone?! I gotta put this in my phone right now!
That’s almost like a mental health question in a way. I have that shadow over me I think at all times. I think eventually you kind of befriend it a little bit. I have this really big problem where for no reason at all I’ll be like you’re the worst person that’s ever existed. Then there’s another half of me that’s like, what are you talking about?. So when it comes to music, there’s always a part of me that’s like this kind of sucks and you should rewrite everything. If it is something that’s worth keeping I can feel it. In my gut I’ll know that I’m getting to myself, there’s something there, chill. Then I’ll keep working on it. And to combat this said “shadow”, I have a close group of friends that I share everything with. I get all their feedback and cross-reference it with whatever I’m feeling currently. So for example, if somebody says they don’t like a part, but I know it’s a creative choice, I keep it. If somebody makes a very valid point about something that I like, but it’s just a little shaky, it gets cut. Whether I wanna keep it or not, it gets cut. That’s worked for me so far. Having a close group of friends that you trust has helped.
Any advice for songwriters going through a creative drought or block?
As an artist, if you’re experiencing a drought in your respective art form, it’s probably coming from something in life getting a little stale. I think if you’re a songwriter, a lyricist, an engineer, anything like that, and you’re struggling to break through a writer’s block, I find it helpful to go listen to an album that you’ve never heard before. I really love doing that. I’m gonna catch some flack for this, but I have never listened to ‘DAMN.’ by Kendrick all the way through. I’ll tell you, all of the great reviews it received, it deserved. I always find listening or watching something new always helps me. I think as artists, we’re in a content machine. You absorb content and then you’re putting out content that your own brand’s created based on what you’ve absorbed recently. You’re like recycling it. I think if you hit a roadblock in whatever you’re doing creatively, you’ve probably run out of gas. You need to refuel yourself. I also find a really good lamb gyro with a side of fries and tzatziki. That shit can get me to write to anything.
KastleViolet asks Fal a question: When you find the next line of a song, does it come in pairs or do you get one line, head to the studio and write the rest from there? Or do you get in big chunks?
Fal: It depends. Lately it’s been a bit of a mix. With the last thing I’ve written it’s been a phrase and then I’ll run off with that entire thing.
KastleViolet: Right, right. That’s how I’ve written from the beginning. It never changes. But sometimes I’ll find something that really clicks and I can just write all of it in one go. And then other times I’m like where is it? Literally, it’s like I’m in the desert and I need a sip of water or something. It’s just bad.
Your music has such a hype and energetic vibe to it, but your personality is like the polar opposite. You’re really chill and introverted. Where do you think you channel that other side from?
Honestly? I think it’s probably a piece of my Bipolar Disorder. I think my personality is very relaxed. I’m kind of like an energy reflector. If it’s good energy then I will always try and give double the good energy back, but that comes with the curse of if it’s bad energy then I can’t let it go. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve kind of let go of it. I just don't have time to hate or be nasty to people. I’m tryna hang out with my cat, maybe smoke some weed, read a book, and go to bed. So it probably stems from my BD and sometimes you’re just in a silly, goofy mood. I’m just having fun and making what I want at the moment.
Photo by Chance Faulkner | IG: @findsomeviews
Okay, I’m curious. Can you freestyle?
Not really. I can, but I really don’t like to. I like to paint the picture one word at a time. I put a lot of effort into sitting and writing. Both crafts are equally as skilled, I just think they’re two different branches of the same tree. I’m just not a freestyler.
So tell us about your latest project ‘Violet World’. Can you give a little insight on each track from the single?
‘Attack! Attack! Attack!’, ‘Jimmy Hoffa’, and ‘Full Court Press’. A lot of people tell me about song time [how short they are], but I just lose interest fast. A lot of my favorite artists, their songs are short. I guess it’s just been instilled in me.
‘Attack! Attack! Attack!’ is a song that I had been working on for awhile. It was actually over a completely different beat. It was over a really hype, experimental trap beat. It was really loud. Like really loud. I sent it out to a couple people and everybody really liked it, but I didn’t have that gut feeling about it. I went through some of the beats I had in my Google Drive and found the one that it’s on. It’s really laid back and chill. I noticed that the lyrics could be on a more hype song, but I felt like my delivery when recording it would have been exponentially better if I put it over a more chill song with lower BPM. So eventually, one night I was like scrap the beat and brought in the other beat, the one it’s currently on and just ran it. I was like this is the one.
I’ve noticed that a lot of my songs will go through a whole bunch of phases. If it doesn't click immediately it’ll go through a hundred phases with beat after beat. Then finally I’ll find one that I like. My favorite line in that song is: Lazer in the palm of my hand, I feel like Megaman. I just think that bar is crazy hard. I don’t think the song has a theme. I constantly feel this one emotion that I think embodies my personality. It’s like very laid back, but I’m very cautious and anxious about everything. I think that’s what that song embodies. It’s probably the Gemini in me.
Jimmy Hoffa. I think the story of Jimmy Hoffa is really crazy. He was like a union person back in the mobster era and he went missing. “Playing with my money Jimmy Hoffa”. Yeah, then I was like that’s hard. Like we talked about earlier, I get a piece then a chunk, then a piece then a chunk and just build off of that. The start of it where it’s slowed down and dropped an octave, the song was originally going to be completely like that. Then I workshopped it with a couple friends. Shout out to The Friendly Bandit Discord boys. I love you. One of my friends, Jerrell, he’s an amazing producer and engineer. I can get along fine without any help when engineering and producing, but having a good set of friends, it doesn’t get better than that. There’s so much stuff out there that I don’t know. They’re one call away and I have exactly what I envisioned. Jerrell helped me engineer that whole part. I know for a lot of people it’s not that intricate and crazy, but for us being self-taught, I get really proud over my friends doing cool stuff. Also I really like trench coats and I like mobsters. In high school I wore a trench coat and everyone thought I was a freak! And I wasn’t a freak. I just liked the way they looked.
‘Full Court Press’. Noah had hit me up to play The Pour House and I hadn’t played a show in three or four years. I paced back and forth for days trying to figure out what I was gonna play, what I was gonna do. You ever hit the pre-show, in the bathroom setlist run-through? Very powerful. That’s a very powerful moment. That’s where stars are born. I just workshopped that song for a couple days. I never played it live, only sang it to myself in the car. I played it at the show. It was a great time. Everybody loved it. It’s kind of like a coming out party song. I wanted a song where I show up and leave a mark. That was my outro for my set. Debbie, my roommate and best friend, told me it had to be the outro. I trust his word on everything.
Are you working on anything now?
Yeah, I am. I’m working on a song. It’s really different. It really could’ve been on ‘Violet World’, but this one needs a proper role. This one I’m gonna put a lot of effort into. My friend Shroomy, Jacob, he’s an amazing videographer and did some stuff for Weston Estate. We are gonna workshop some stuff for it. I think this one is really special.
Any collaborations planned in the future?
It’s so weird. I have some many people locally that I would love to work with, but we just never do. It’s really sad actually. I would really love to work with Von and Kilmane again, but those are my brothers. I’m gonna work with them regardless. I know that’s coming in time. I would really love to work with Juanny and Justomobbin. And of course I have my N Star boys like Brazzo, Spliff, Frank, Kuma. Some of us in N Star, it’s a very loose collective, make different types of music, and that’s completely fine. Some of us just wouldn’t sound right on each other’s songs, but that doesn’t mean we’re not boys.
Final sign off?
Go see Whoop live. Shout out Late Notice. Shoutout Flarn. Shout out to all my boys. I think Nike said it best: just do it. If you got something to do, something you’re working on, something you want to do, just go and do it. Also, thank you everyone for the support. If you aren’t supporting me, thank you for keeping my community non-toxic. I appreciate that.
