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OnesToWatch: How’s your day going?

Cautious Clay: Pretty great, taking it easy. 

Huge fan of the project. I feel like folks focus more on naming specific influences for their works, but I want to ask about how your environment has shaped this project. Where were you living at the time? 

Totally. The process of making The Hours was actually pretty unique for me compared to some other past projects. I've worked at the same studio for the past nine years. So, basically my entire career, starting back in 2018, when I first started. But that environment still has been a continuous element of my mixing and production process. But last year, I moved recently to Philadelphia with my partner, so we moved and that was kind of in the process of making a lot of the new music. I also started my painting career as well. 

I'm doing a lot of painting, and that was very much informing the process as well, like, different mediums of creativity. So yeah, I feel like the process of getting into a new environment and obviously starting a different creative process opened up a different mental pathway. It felt very exciting and interesting to incorporate into this whole “hours” process. 

Because it did take a lot of time to really you know, like, I just made a lot of music. The new environment definitely informed the music through the process of moving out of New York in some capacity, and then also, starting a new creative process and painting.

That’s great, let’s talk about the imagery of the album. 

The color aspect of this album is very much informed by the morning, really early morning, almost like dawn. And I thought that that was a beautiful color. I've had the color orange in multiple different capacities in my career, but I think this particular color is a mesh of orange and yellow. Ultimately, I wanted to transform a “subjective” feeling into something objective. That’s the fun of this project. 

The Hours is a kaleidoscopic listening experience. Traffic (7am) and Father Time (10am) feel anthemic, and other tracks, like The Plot (8am) and Promises (9am) are more bluesy and rhythmic. How do you feel it compares to your previous projects?  

It was very much a conglomeration of the many different sounds that I've put out in the past, and then essentially molding it into this time idea. There's some songs that are more anthemic, which I feel like in many cases, is certainly a part of my repertoire in the past, but then there's more mellow things, reminiscent of KARPEH that I put out prior to this, and then you have something like “The Plot (8am)” that I feel like is very energetic. It brings that element of spontaneity to the songwriting process. I hope that people connect to the multitudes of sounds that I'm putting on this.

Obviously, the morning is not the only time of day. So I'm thinking about this whole idea and this whole project in a few different ways, and something that we can sort of build on. To answer your question, I hope people take a level of excitement or genuine curiosity, because this project isn't reminiscent of some of the things I've done earlier, but it’s a combination of things that are to come.

Let’s talk about the creative process for producing and making The Hours: Morning.

Funnily enough, “Promises (8am)” is a track that is one of the oldest songs I've ever made. Actually, I made that song in 2017 even prior to me putting out my first EP in 2018. That song has had probably 80 different versions over the course of the last seven years. It’s a great example in terms of the process. Where the process for me this time around was very much me producing and mixing everything, and looking back at some of the music that I've made over the last five to seven years, and being like, okay, what do I think of this? 

I make a lot of stuff, and there are other artists who do the same, but then I kind of forget about it. And so I was reminded when my friends were like, ‘Hey, man, like, remember that song or whatever?’ I just almost didn't want to approach it. 

I think the process of reapproaching songs that I had difficulty writing or making or bringing to the finish line was new this time around, particularly with that song “Promises” and I think in many cases, it presented a challenge for me. 

People sometimes will talk about how you can get stuck with a song, or how it relates or connects to you emotionally. That song was a great example of that. And how I think my process changed, because in the past, I made stuff and moved on. I probably have 100 songs like that. But this time I was like, ok, let me see what this can offer me.

What's your creative routine?  

My routine is not having a routine, but there are elements of my day that I kind of rely on to feel whole. One of those is coffee and stretching. But then also basketball is a huge part of my routine, just being active, because I rely on things that are, oftentimes physical. For example, basketball and stretching. I use that as fuel to keep me locked into the mental focus it takes to make music. 

Music isn't something where I just happen to make a song. I've taken this more focused approach, because whether it's at 2am or it's 9am or whenever I'm making songs, I've noticed that I have the best time when I'm focused. If I'm not focused, I lose energy, or I lose enthusiasm.

What’s next for Cautious Clay?

We’re going on tour at the end of the year. There's gonna be a few other projects that I'm excited to be sharing with some interesting folks. 

Who are your OnesToWatch? 

Portraits of Tracy. They’re incredible to check out. Shout out to them.

Thanks for chatting with us!