by madden levin
photo courtesy of pipobeats
Describing his music as something “that’s going to blow your socks off,” PipoBeats’ music truly accomplishes just that. Because of his creations of upbeat and energetic energy, we were looking forward to learning more about his process and what got him into music in the first place. His newest single with Caroline Kole, “I’m Thinking When,” is out now and truly impressing fans from all over the world. Be sure to take a listen and follow PipoBeats on his social media to stay up to date on future projects!
First things first: can you introduce yourself to the new fans that haven’t gotten a chance to get to know you yet?
PipoBeats: “How’s it going? My name is PipoBeats and I’m here to make music that’s going to blow your socks off.”
How would you best describe your music/its genre in the most extravagant way possible?
PB: “I was literally driving today and I was thinking about the psychology of the music that I make. One of the biggest things that came up was the amount of people who would tell me when I was young, ‘you’re a freakishly energetic child.’ I was always the ‘class clown kid.’ I was always ‘the get in trouble kid.’ I would always get in trouble because I would talk so much. It was like I was on caffeine 24/7. My music is a perfect projection of who I am: high-intensity and energetic music that is going to make you move no matter what.”
When you were teaching yourself music and discovering your love for it, what kind of goals did you have for the future? Did you think that music would become your career when you decided to start learning?
PB: “Absolutely. In fact, I decided what my career was going to be before I started making my own music. The love of music was ingrained in me through my parents since I was a little kid. So when I was 14 I was thinking about what I wanted to do, I thought, what can I do that I’m good at, that I love, for the rest of my life? And I kind of had this epiphany, like a slap-in-the-face moment and I decided that I was going to be an artist and did everything I could to make that happen.
My goals for the future have always been the same. I’ve always thought to myself since day one: what is the craziest goal that I can set for myself so that it will purposefully take a long time to get there so I can be doing this for a long time? It has always been to become the greatest in my field. If you think about the field of basketball, there are the Kobes of that; when you think about baseball there’s the Alex Rodriguezs of that. When you think about the field of pop music, you think of Michael Jackson back in the day. When you think of rap, you think of Tupac and Biggie. I want to have that recognition for my field, which is Latino-pop genre.”
How do you think you’ve grown, musically and mentally, since the release of your first single vs. now?
PB: “Mentally, I’ve realized that I’ve grown in so many different ways. My appreciation for everything I do has changed, I’m so grateful for each opportunity and experience I get doing this. Musically I’m always changing. I’m like a sponge. You change my environment and whatever I take in and whatever I’m listening to is what’s going to come out. It’s always changing.
My mentality since the release of my first single versus now is to go harder. When I was young, I thought I had all the time in the world, but the older you get, the more you realize how important time really is and I don’t have all the time in the world so I need to act now. So let’s kick some ass and make this happen.”
What made you and Caroline Kole come together to create your new single, “I’m Thinking When”? What makes this song so special for the two of you?
PB: “This collab with Caroline is the second collab I’ve ever done if you count my collaboration with Ryan Tedder and Luis Fonsi on Songland. I had actually reached out to her for a collab when I was in high school. At the time, I was searching the internet to find artists that seemed like they had a great personality so we could potentially work well together and of course, be talented. I came across Caroline online, and I reached out to her. I’ve written so many songs that aren’t finished, and they are in a range of 30%-70% done and only a few get to a 100% because it depends on how much I actually like how it’s coming out. The song I originally wanted her to do was actually the prequel to ‘Sway,’ believe it or not. It was kind of like ‘Sway’’s shittier younger brother so I never actually did anything with the song and it was my fault that I never got back to her and actually move forward with the collab.
Three or four years later or so, I ended up being on Songland and I bumped into her on the first day. We were both just blown away that we were finally meeting each other after trying to work together years ago. So after filming, I offered for her to stay at my house where we finally made this collaboration happen and that’s what makes this song special. That we were finally able to work together after trying years ago.”
What has your experience on the show Songland taught you about the music industry and the path you want to take your music?
PB: “If I’m being 100% real with you, it hasn’t taught me anything about the music business. There’s nothing I really didn’t already know going into it.
But I did learn that the public and my fans really love my Spanish music. The show allowed me to have a platform for the audience to choose what they love about what I’m making. Songland put me on the pedestal to have millions of people see me and then they chose what they loved the most. It’s taught me about what about me specifically speaks to people. It’s taught me about what people love about what I’m doing the most.”
photo courtesy of pipobeats
What can you hint at for the upcoming music video for the single?
PB: “Every single music video I make is very emotionally driven. It’s always a ride. It’s always more than just the music video. Any time I film a music video with Nick Manterola, we’re basically creating a short film. There is always a full-blown story, and I love that my music videos are like short films because it becomes such a beautiful pair between the song and the visual. It’s almost like wine and cheese – what better combination.”
Any other details you can give us about future projects and things to look forward to?
PB: “I always split up my time between working on the music business side of things or working on creating music because each of these things require a different mindset. Right now, I’m working on creating new music. Every project I’m working on, I do it with the goal of making it the best thing you’ve very listened to or watched in your life. People can expect that every release will be better than the last and my listeners will never, ever, hear a release that was worse than the last. When people ask me what my favorite song is, my answer is always the one I’m working on right now.”