ANYTHING LASTING IS BUILT ON A SOLID FOUNDATION. AFTER THE TOUGH PAST COUPLE OF YEARS CAUSED BY A PAINFUL BREAKUP, AUGUST ROYALS IS FINALLY IMAGINING HIMSELF STANDING UP AMONGST THE RUBBLE. THE SINGER NO LONGER SEES ASH AS A MARKER OF LOSS BUT AS A FERTILIZER FOR GROWTH—A CLEAN SLATE SCATTERED WITH REMINDERS OF THE HEIGHTS THAT WERE AND ARE STILL POSSIBLE. BRICK BY BRICK, HE’S REBUILDING HIS LOVE FOR CREATIVITY, THE INTERNET, AND LOVE ITSELF. EXCITED TO RELEASE MUSIC AGAIN, ROYALS IS READY FOR HIS SECOND CHANCE. “I ALMOST GAVE UP ON MYSELF BUT NOW I KNOW WHERE I WANT TO GO,” HE TELLS BTB. WE CHAT ABOUT FINDING HIMSELF AGAIN IN HIS ART LIKE A BURIED CORNERSTONE PROVIDING THE FOUNDATION OF CHILDLIKE JOY AND CREATIVE CONCRETE.

Left Jumpsuit **Emporio Armani**, earrings **Dries Criel**

Hi! How was your holiday break?

It was good! I stayed in Nashville and was just working on music.

Right Vest **Dsquared2**, earring **Dries Criel**

Are you normally in Nashville?

I’ve been in Nashville for the last six months, and it’s been my safe haven. I spent the last six years in LA and needed a change of pace. I went through a breakup and was just trying to get back to consistency.

Right Jumpsuit **Emporio Armani**, earrings **Dries Criel**

Have you ever felt like you needed to physically be in LA to be successful?

I loved LA in pieces but it wasn’t my favourite city. It is so work-centric for my chosen career but when my relationship ended I was like, “Okay, I don’t really want to be here. I’m going to get out of town.”

A lot of people struggle with comparison with other artists who are all striving for something huge in LA.

Yeah, everyone is trying to do something on such a grand scale. You want to cheer for your friends but everyone is so hyper-fixated on getting to the next thing. It’s difficult to sit down with yourself and think, “Hey, my pace is good.” It’s like there’s nothing in between being a superstar and a failure.

Have you settled into a pace that feels comfortable for you creatively?

I never had a real dialogue to understand what felt right in terms of my bandwidth. When I was in my last relationship, I was thinking about proposing and I really wanted to be a family man. That got swept away when my relationship ended. I thought, “How much do I put into work and how much do I put into relationships?” I felt like there was no balance. I wanted to fall in love with music again. I was really exhausted from music and from my relationship. The hopeless romantic in me is never going away but I want to find the balance.

Balance is so hard too when it’s not a traditional job. You can always do work if you want to.

[Faces the zoom camera to a room filled with instruments]

Shirt, jacket, tie, pants and belt **Celine Homme**, earring **Dries Criel**

Exactly! Has more life balance affected the music you are working on?

I started valuing my opinion more. There is a lot of comparison, like you said, and trying to please other people. When you write music, you might think about how other people may perceive it. Finally, I was just like, “You know what? This is my dream and I chose it not for other people but because I loved it.” It feels like a clean slate now. I can rebuild a relationship with music. For a year, I didn’t want to record a song at all. Every time I went to the studio, it felt like a job that I wanted to quit. Now I’m ecstatic and love the music I’m writing. It feels like me, and it feels more explorative. I know I love it, and I’ll stand behind it. It’s been serving me well because confidence is contagious. I’ve gone from high to low to in-between. None of that was fulfilling because it didn’t feel like me—it was me trying to fit a role. I want to be me.

Pants **Dsquared2**, boots **Kozaburo**, earring **Dries Criel**

In creative fields, there’s almost a naivety at the start that feels really nice. You start by listening to your internal creative world but then there is so much input. It seems that’s been your experience in searching for that initial spark.

Yeah, when I first started making music, it was so naive. I was so filled with joy and was like, “Oh, this is so sick, I want to share this with my friends.” It gets so diluted when you get more ears and start calling your music your business. All of a sudden you’re in a meeting with eight people analysing every single thing. It starts making you question everything. Building that concrete foundation is so important.

Left Jacket **Celine Homme**, earring **Dries Criel**

What is your relationship with social media then?

I realised really quickly that I didn’t like what I was doing and I didn’t know how to present it. I didn’t want to be putting on a facade. I wanted people to buy into what I had, not what I could mimic or manipulate. I left social media for the last six months to think about what I wanted to present. The groundwork was in falling in love with music again. I started imagining what my musical world felt like and what I wanted to show people. I actually really like having a lot for myself that isn’t shared. This year, I’ll be releasing a lot of new music. I want everything I do to be high-quality and intentional. I’m not too worried about opinions anymore but I want to fall in love with the internet again too. I want it to feel naive again. The goal is tours and face-to-face personal connection. Now I have a vision board, creative decks, and songs. I want to run it until the wheels fall off.

Left Pants August’s own
Right Jacket **Celine Homme**, earring **Dries Criel**

You mention vision boards and inspiration—can you tell me more about the inspiration for your upcoming music?

Life experience influenced a lot of it, especially thinking I was going to marry someone. When I lost [my love for music], I was like, “Who am I?” I’m actually really inspired by the fact that all of these pieces kind of fell apart and I’m building it back, brick by brick. Love is actually really beautiful, and I got my heart broken. Now I know I can experience that high of an emotion. I know I’m a romantic because I’m not discounting love. I can’t wait to do it again. The same thing happened with music. I’m inspired by being able to take a breath and almost feel like an underdog. A year is a long time to step back in such a fast-paced world. There is that fear of being forgotten but that also fuels me. I feel comfortable and safe again being in a space of expression. If I can write a song that resonates, it makes me feel like we are all in this together. Also, going on dates again is really weird but also really fun because I don’t only have tunnel vision. The world has reopened. I feel like I have a second chance. I almost gave up on myself but now I know where I want to go.

Jumpsuit **Emporio Armani**, earrings **Dries Criel**

That is such a good mindset. I’m really glad you feel that way. A lot of people get stuck in the place you were in before.

I took the route of getting on a one-way flight, getting a really good therapist, and getting healthy. I started exercising and developed a better relationship with myself. I like the open dialogue in saying, “Yeah, shit hit the fan and that’s just how it goes and now I’m back climbing upward.” I can honestly say I’m happy without lying about it. I don’t want to be too serious either like a motivational speaker. [Laughs] The music I’m coming out with is fun.

In songwriting, people connect a lot to personal experience. How do you approach songwriting? I know you like to keep some experiences to yourself.

For me, everything is metaphorical and intentional. I have a song coming out that’s a little bit goofy. One of the lyrics is, “Wait for the day until the walls aren’t all on fire.” I think many people want to sit in place and hope everything goes away. I was sitting for two years waiting for things to be handed to me. I realised I needed to go get it again. Part of that isn’t even going to the studio, it’s finding the joy to go to the studio. I’m going back to the more childlike lens of things feeling good and running with that rather than overthinking.

I want to end on that childlike note then. When you think back to childhood, what memory do you associate with your love for music?

Right away, [I think of] a movie called August Rush that I watched as a kid. It’s about an orphan boy who is a musical prodigy trying to find his parents through music. His dad is a pub artist and his mom is a cello player in an orchestra. You have this very posh woman with a beautiful personality and this rougher rockstar. Then you have this boy who wants connection and he finds it in music. I remember watching it and thinking, “I want to be all those things. I want to be soft and delicate but I want to have the rough edges.” That movie forever stuck with me. I watch it once a year. I saw it and knew music was my thing.

Interview by Tessa Swantek

Photography by Hadar Pitchon

Fashion by Douglas VanLaningham

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