We got to chat with singer/ songwriter Medium Love about his single “Unibummer” and being influenced by being born in California.
When did you discover your passion for writing and creating original music?
Pretty much as soon as I got good enough on guitar to sit around and get lost playing things, finding sounds and chords, and the interesting relationships they have with each other. I was about 14 when I started to be able to do that. Music came first, it was a long time before I felt comfortable enough to sing.
You were born in California but are based in London, those are two places that have rich music history. Do you think California and London have influenced the direction of your music?
They absolutely have, I think more so California, where I really discovered what music could do. The cool thing being that my dad had grown up with bands like the Beach Boys and Creedance Clearwater Revival as local bands, so that was the music every time we were in the car. A bit later my brother got really into bands like the Smiths and Depeche Mode, so I soaked that up too. All those bands are still favourites today. London is a really hard city to live in, especially this past year, which I think influences a lot of bands who come from London, though I don’t really fit in with that, nor do I consider myself from London. But here I am!
Tell our readers about your song “Unibummer.” Where did you look for inspiration for how the song would sound?
With “Unibummer” I was trying to capture a feeling I had seeing Stevie Wonder play an outdoor festival. The man has some very cheesy music that gets all the airplay in America, but in Hyde Park, he was playing the entirety of ‘songs in the key of life and it was absolutely beautiful, what the music did to people, how it changed the spirit of this massive crowd, you could feel goodwill. We need that so bad now.
Did you pull from personal experience to write the lyrics?
Lyrics are messy for me. Some are first-hand, some are imagined. I just try and figure out what the music is saying to me, in hopes that is what it will say to other people.
I could see the song playing at the end of a coming of age film. Do you ever have specific visuals in mind when you’re working on music?
Yes! Thank you! Good music always sparks visuals in my mind. That’s one of the ways I write lyrics, just listening to the music, let it make a scene and then I write about what I’m seeing and feeling. I think otherwise I feel too exposed and earnest.
What advice do you have for aspiring musicians?
Just keep finding ways to do it, and be playful and try to enjoy the act of playing and writing. Don’t get discouraged by the immediate, and find the right people to make it happen with.