Wabie
Wabie (pronounced wah-bee) has gained quite a following ever since his Spotify debut in 2018. Discovering his passion for creating music as a teenager, he’s grown into one of the most prominent up-and-coming artists on the scene today. The artist is mentioned in the same sentence as contemporary indie acts like Summer Salt, The Walters, and Dayglow. With 183K monthly listeners on Spotify alone, he’s gained quite a following. “Hey Lover!” is his most popular song, with millions of streams on multiple platforms— an indication that his indie/bedroom pop style is catching on fast. This success has earned him a spot on extremely popular featured Spotify playlists, such as Lorem, Bedroom Pop, and Fresh Finds. We recently spoke with Wabie about his favorite hobbies, his favorite era of music, and more!
How did you start making music?
I took piano lessons when I was in elementary school, then some guitar lessons. I thought that I hated it, but it turns out I just hated lessons. From middle school onward, I taught myself through YouTube and music became loads more fun. I actually recorded and uploaded my first original song to Soundcloud in order to impress a girl. I recorded everything onto my phone, and placed them all into this free program called Audacity and cranked up the reverb to 11. Suffice to say, it didn’t really work. The real reward was discovering my passion for cooking up groovy tunes.
Which decade do you think has the best music?
I’m torn between the ‘60s and ‘70s, because the ‘60s has The Beach Boys, The Beatles, and The Zombies. BUT! The ‘70s has Elton John, Hall and Oates, and Paul Simon so… Hmm. ‘60s, final answer. Can’t disrespect The Beatles like that.
Who are your biggest inspirations?
Well, I grew up with my mom blasting The Beatles non stop on my car rides to school. For the longest time, I only listened to oldies rock like The Who and Queen. Recently though, I’ve been really inspired with artists who bend genres together like Dominic Fike and Brockhampton. Like I used to think of music as a very solid rock with defined genres, but it’s growing to be much more fluid than that, and I’m here for it. It’s also funny how nowadays genres are becoming increasingly verbose like, “Yeah it’s got an ‘indie-psychedelic-bedroom-poppy’ kind of vibe”.
It’s your day off. What are you doing?
I’m usually skating with my friends (although I’m a bit trash), and I’ve wasted a pretty decent chunk of my life playing video games. Once things start to open up again after quarantine, I’m definitely going out and climbing. I love climbing. Mmm, nice warm rock sounds sick right now.
Which aspect of music comes most naturally to you?
Whenever I have a bunch of pent up emotions, whether they be good or bad, I sit down at my little home studio and the song kind of just happens. I think it’s because I’m not really thinking about how to make the song good, it’s more about how to express myself and get those emotions out. Next thing I know, hours have passed and I just put my emotional song baby on repeat and close my eyes in bed. It’s super cathartic.
Which artist would you give anything to work with?
I would die if I ever had the opportunity to make a song with Beabadoobee. I think I would legitimately stop breathing. Her music already slapped, but then I found out she’s also Filipino and the rest is history.
What’s the future look like for fans of Wabie?
I just moved out of my mom’s apartment to my own room in San Diego, and I’m currently working on putting together my dream studio. Expect more loud songs because now I can actually shout and yell without having to worry about neighbors. And just more music in general, because that’s all I’m planning on doing in the next few months!
