CARAMEL Talks New Single + Balancing School and Music
Up and coming singer-songwriter, producer, and composer CARAMEL creates his own musical voice while enduring the responsibilities of a committed college student. CARAMEL began his musical education at the Cleveland Institute of Music where he spent 10 years studying classical piano. Carrying this throughout his years of growth and learning, CARAMEL creates unique Pop, indie, and alternative R&B music, with his debut album “Traveler” releasing in 2021. Since then, CARAMEL has performed all throughout venues in his hometown Cleveland, Ohio, and other live events such as Bop Stop’s “Poetic Lines”. Along with his music, CARAMEL attends Boston College where he balances making his music, being a D1 athlete, and being Co-Founder of the multidimensional artist collective Little Little Kids (LLK). As his new release “Gone By the Morning” begins to rise, Off The Record Press writer Ximena Moreno sat down with him to share what he and his music are all about.
In your music, you showcase this constant definition of what you perceive to be a “traveler”. Are there certain aspects of yourself and your experiences that inspired you to form this outlook and definition?
CARAMEL: Yes definitely, I constantly find myself trying to learn new things and going through growth in life. I most definitely try to put that into my music, in a way that I feel like I'm learning things. A big part of my music is my transformation from my college self from my high school self.
You studied classical piano for 10 years, was music something you always knew you wanted to pursue career wise or did this come about later in life?
CARAMEL: Definitely came about later in life. I've always been a lover of music, I loved classical music and practiced everyday. I stopped in high school because of time, but used my theory to make my own things, but my motivation and true passion really came through in high school.
You just recently released your new song “Gone By the Morning,” what was the songwriting and production process like? How long have you been working on it?
CARAMEL: I started writing that song before my freshman year of college and began producing in the summer of 2022. Core production came first, I sat by my piano and from that I started writing the lyrics. The project sat in my head for about a week, then I came back to put in drums and my roommate helped me write a big portion of the ending. I actually worked on this song chronologically, which was different for me.
Creating your own music takes a lot of hard work and dedication, how difficult is it balancing college and music?
CARAMEL: So hard. I'm a D1 athlete and major in economics so it's been crazy the past couple of months. I've also been curating for other important events I have coming up, and also have a championship for diving this month. It takes a lot of focus.
Do you have any projects or plans for the rest of the year and where are you hoping to be musically by the end of the year?
CARAMEL: Right now, I'm working on a big cohesive album release called Road Trip which will include my series of 3 EPs. There's “Roadtrip: Seatbelt warning”, “Roadtrip 2”, and then a third release. I'm hoping to release my second EP by the end of the summer. I'm also hoping to create a solid 10-12 song album to release in 2024. Other than this, I’m going to be teaching my own songwriting curriculum with my high school which is very exciting. Academically, I'm working to use my knowledge in economics to learn more about the music business.
Are there any artists that inspire you musically or path wise?
CARAMEL: Of course, the first one that always comes to mind is Jon Bellion, his production is absolutely incredible. Not known by many people, he writes for Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, and other big names in music. His production is so energetic and raw. Other than him, Aretha Franklin, and Odess Redding are definitely other inspirations of mine.
So I know you song write, produce, and compose all your music which is very impressive, what would you say is your favorite part of the entire process?
CARAMEL: That's tough, a lot of the parts of creation have its ups and downs. Maybe when a melody comes together. It's hard to choose, I really just love producing music and making it sound good. If I had to choose it would probably be production. Creating these innovative formats of simple chord production. This is another thing Jon Bellion does, make what seems simple, complex and beautiful.
So you’re also a co-founder for Little Little Kids, what is LLK all about?
CARAMEL: LLK is a collection of different passionate and talented artists, musicians, photographers and producers. Our multidimensional artist collection is gonna work to create a dynasty.
End of Interview
OTRP would like to thank CARAMEL for sitting down and talking with our writer Ximena!
Be on the lookout for future projects from CARAMEL
Cover photo by benjaminburkephoto