Read the full interview on Flaunt.com!
Clinton Kane is an anomaly in the music industry, one of those people who does all the things the rest of us could only dream of doing. With no reservations or hesitations, the singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist went from doing Youtube covers to now signing with Columbia Records, creating feel-good music that stands the test of time.
Of both Norwegian and Filipino descent, Kane has stayed in an impressive 84 Airbnbs in multiple countries the past few years, now officially a resident of Las Vegas signing his first lease ever. Having endured and overcome his own struggles with anxiety and stress, the rising star taught himself how to sing, play guitar, piano, and drums, finding his solace in music. Dropping out of pre-med school in 2018 and even homeless for a bit, he gives hope to the masses all around the world that they too can obtain success and happiness through hard work, dedication, and passion.
Describing himself as a “yellow jacket guy who sings,” Clinton used to sing really sad songs — but now it’s hopeful a little bit. He states, “If you’re into character development, I’m coming from a sad boy/depressed boy. Now, I’m a little bit more grown. A little bit more happy with life. I come from Perth, Australia. I grew up around everywhere, this is what I do.”
Now following the success of his last single “remember the mornings,” paired with an equally cinematic visual, Clinton returns to gift fans with “Chicken Tendies.”
Flaunt caught up with Clinton via Zoom, who revealed he hadn’t eaten breakfast and was very hungry. Read below as we discuss his roots in music, biggest influences, making his first song ever, how music is a coping mechanism, new song “Chicken Tendies,” shooting the visual, finding his way to Columbia Records, studio essentials, goals, and more!
You used to make sad boy music, what made you transition to do more positive?
It was my natural emotion towards life. I just grew up. I got tired of being the sad guy who’s always hopeless and sad. Even when I was writing sad songs, I wasn’t sad. I really wasn’t. Why do I need to keep writing depressing stuff? This doesn’t make sense to me.
Being from Perth, Australia, how did that play into your life and career? I know you moved everywhere.
That accent helps a lot, gets me into a lot of places. [laughs] Especially in America, everyone gets very startled by it. I don’t know if being from Australia did a lot for my music. Definitely growing up in a bunch of different places caused a lot of trauma for me as a kid, now it’s built up and something I talk about and write about all the time.
Biggest influences coming up?
I never actually wanted to be a singer/songwriter growing up. I studied pre-med in school, I never once said “oh, I want to be a singer-songwriter. I want to sing on stage.” That was only about two years ago. I listened to a lot of Christian music growing up, the only thing I listened to until I was 15. It was a lot of Planetshakers, Casting Crowns, Hillsong, all that stuff. Christian people can hear my songs and say “oh, that sounds like a Christian bridge right there.” Everything’s based around Christianity.
Did you ever think about going down that route, making Christian music?
Maybe a couple songs here or there, just to appease my mom. To make her happy: “Oh, Clinton’s doing something good with his life. That’s great!” She’s a pastor, so she always said “stop writing sad songs and write Christian songs.” Maybe I’ll make a couple Christian songs here and there, but I don’t think I’ll become a Christian artist.
At what point did you realize that the music thing was forreal?
I knew I wanted to do it when I wrote my first song, “this is what anxiety feels like.” It’s on YouTube and I wrote it from an actual anxiety attack. I was having a panic attack for the first time, played my guitar and started humming. Started singing some lyrics. As soon as I finished the song, the panic attack left. Once that happened, I was like “fuck everything else, I’m doing this.”
How is music a coping mechanism for you?
Growing up, I didn’t really have an outlet in a sense. I didn’t know how to deal with my emotions. I always kept them in, all bottled up. I didn’t know how to deal with anything. Ever since music came along, it was this weird relief. Honestly, a breath of fresh air. Some sort of weight was released out of my body. I wrote a song called “this is what being cheated on feels like.” It was very weird. I got cheated on by my ex-girlfriend, and I had thought I got past it, but not really. As soon as I wrote that song, I called her and said “you’re all good, we all make mistakes. You’re fine, I don’t hate you.” Am I ever gonna speak to her again? Probably not, but we’re all good. There’s no bad blood. Making music brings me this weird sense of relief, but also forgiveness towards the people I write about and the hurt they caused me in the past. It makes me understand their perspective more, and humans in general. It’s special to me in that sense.
Did you have any contenders for an artist name, outside of Clinton Kane?
No, my parents did me very good with the name. As soon as I was Clinton Kane, it was like: “oh wait, good job guys! You moved me around as a kid and I hated everyone, but that’s one thing you did great.” [laughs]
“Chicken Tendies” out now! How are you feeling?
Really good, the response has been crazy. It’s weird to see a song called “Chicken Tendies” on Billboard. It’s really odd, so funny. I made that name up. I don’t think tendies is even a word if we’re being honest. But I’m feeling really good about it. That song is a lot more hopeful, a lot more love and sad love. Really excited, everyone seems to love it so I’m really stoked.
Why did you name it “Chicken Tendies”?
Everyone thinks there’s a deeper meaning to it. There’s a line in the second verse that goes “I thought I caught a glimpse of me and you in our kitchen where I cooked your favorite food.” The song’s about my mom, everyone thinks it’s her favorite food. Really, I named it “Chicken Tendies” because I made a video that blew up first on TikTok where I react to the song. In that moment, I really wanted chicken tendies so I screamed it out of nowhere. It caught on and everyone said “if you don’t name the song ‘Chicken Tendies’, we’re not listening to it.” So I was like “fuck it, let’s do it.”
I saw you post that you lost someone and the feedback on the song has helped. How’s your mental state?
It’s been better. I’m dealing with it behind closed doors and everything. I had to say something to everyone so it didn’t look like I just disappeared. “Chicken Tendies” was one of the biggest weeks of my life, yet somehow I just left. I had to feel it out for a little bit and cry in my bedroom for countless nights. So great, so lovely. It helped my skin though, I have better skin now. I’m pretty sure it helps.
How was shooting the music video? Saw you riding with the top down, living your best life.
That was great. I got incredibly sunburned though because the top was down and it was really sunny. My face hurt for a little bit, but it was really fun. So fun listening to “Chicken Tendies” a thousand times in the same car, driving around the same block. It was really good though, it was a fun time. Had my mates there, everything was a blast.
One thing you want fans to get from this record?
First of all, the key to success is naming your song a really weird name. That’s one. To all the singer-songwriters out there, all you have to do is name it some word that doesn’t actually exist. The main thing is that relationships with people, significant others, family, at the end of the day we’re all humans. You can’t judge or tell anyone how to cope with things or tell them how to deal with life. Everyone goes through their own stuff and has their own way of coping. You have to understand no one really wants to hurt anyone when they go away or they do something wrong. It’s a lot built of past, this and that. It’s understanding and loving them anyway.
What were you going through recording “remember the mornings (memories of her)”?
I hate the girl I wrote that about. [laughs] I hate the song, we do not care about her. But the song is good, I got a good song out of it. When I released the song, it was great. Afterwards I’m like “wow, I don’t like her and she ruins the song for me because it’s about her.” I’m past that song if we’re being honest, but it’s not too bad, not too shabby.
Talk about going from being homeless to now being signed to Columbia.
Oh my gosh, it was crazy. I didn’t know what I was doing with my life back then, I had just quit pre-Med. I was trying to soul search. I didn’t go to Greece to do music or have anything in mind, I was soul searching. The funniest part is when I left Greece and came back to Australia, I still hadn’t found anything yet. I still didn’t know what I was going to do with my life and thought “Well fuck, that was useless. A waste of money, a waste of being homeless for 2 weeks. What did I do?” I came back and everything happened. Everything started working out for some reason.
I don’t think that happens a lot, so I’m very blessed and very lucky that everything’s coming about how it is. I have an incredible team behind me. I don’t think I’d take my past back for anything because it taught me a lot. It taught me to be grounded, taught me to appreciate the little things, taught me a lot of life lessons I would never have if I had signed right away without experiencing all that.
How did you find your way to Columbia?
That happened with the anxiety song. I wrote that and said “oh my gosh, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.” Posted it, then I wrote another song the next day, “this is what a toxic relationship feels like.” Woke up, the song blew up a little bit. 800K views when I woke up, then everything started spiraling in a really good way. I signed to Columbia because they’re basically the best. Now we’re here.
3 things you need in the studio?
I need a lot of water. I drink about 10 liters a day, I need about 2.5 jugs. I need Sprite, that’s a good one. I need coffee. All drinks, that’s all I got.
How was it moving all over the world, and now residing in Las Vegas?
It was really scary at first. For most people, they’re scared to get out and explore. Be in consecutive places at once and not have a place to go back home. For me, it was the opposite. I was scared to find a place for a long time. I’m not used to it. Every time I settle somewhere, in a couple months I’m like: “I wanna get out and leave!” That’s what I got used to. As soon as my lease ends, move from Vegas to who knows where. I’ll move right next to you. We’ll be roomies.
It was the scariest thing ever. I was in LA, got kicked out. Amsterdam, Turkey, I don’t even know how many countries I’ve been in the last 4 years but it’s been a lot. Now I’m in Vegas, it’s the best thing that ever happened to me. If you were to ask me what’s the best thing to ever happen to me in 2020: I’ve had “Drown” with Martin Garrix, etc. Nope, it’s my lease. This apartment’s the best thing ever and that’s what it is. Nothing else. It helped with so much, being stable and being secure. It feels nice to go somewhere and say “I wanna go back home now.” I was never able to say that, so I’m feeling really good. I’m really excited about this place, even though it’s a mess. It’s a new change.
How did the collab with Martin Garrix come about?
He found me on Instagram. He found one of my singing videos with my original songs. The label sent me a song, then I rewrote it with him. He said “holy shit, this song’s great.” It was “Drown.” 2 or 3 months later, he flew me out to Amsterdam. He released it, which was really fast and weird, really humbling. I was a peasant. I still am a peasant to be honest, but I was a peasant peasant. I was nothing, I appreciate him for everything he’s done for me. He’s helped so much, he’s the sweetest guy on this planet. Everything worked out.
Any goals for yourself at this point in your career?
I definitely want to start touring already. I’ve been itching for two years now. I’m waiting, I’m seeing the news. 100 person cap opening up in LA and New York, hopefully that works out. I really want to tour and see everyone so badly. I don’t know if this is corny, but I want to go through more shit and grow. That’s definitely a goal for sure, I definitely could be more mature than where I am right now. Keep doing this music thing, hopefully people continue loving it. Hopefully everything keeps going.
No Comments