I had an opportunity to chop it up with one of the most exciting artists that I know personally based in Florida, demxntia. We had a chance to speak about his background leading up to this moment where he just recently released his album 15 track album titled Void.
Erik Young: Who is demxntia for those who know don’t know who you are? When people hear the name demxntia, what do you want people to think of right off the bat when they hear your name?
demxntia: Yo! I’m a florida based Vietnamese artist. I generally make R&B/Hip-Hop, Alternative Rock and Electronic music. I couldn’t decide what lane I wanted to be when I first started, so I decided to just kill it in every lane that I wanted to. When people hear my name, I want people to just think right off the bat “Oh yeah that mf is insane” if that makes sense
Erik Young: At what age did you start diving in to making music and what was the motive into creating your art?
demxntia: I’ve been playing music since a jit but I ain’t start making music seriously until I dropped out of highschool at 16. Being ADHD, I just couldn’t sit and listen to something I didn’t care about, and I ended up getting into a lot of trouble growing up. We were broke as hell, my parents were only getting older, and we was bouta get kicked outa the crib so I told my parents give me a year to come up and I did it. I was actually gonna do MMA but I couldn’t afford training at the time 😭
Erik Young: What would a 16 year old demxntia look like? In terms of what you were doing in high school like hobbies, etc?
demxntia: No tattoos… No swag… No bands… but nah, I wasn’t a person I was proud of to be honest, which was why I ultimately held onto music as a way to pull me out of the void. I got in a lot of fights just for fun, a lot of smoking and drinking. I would steal shit like headphones from outlet stores and flip em for 20. I would cop some old J’s from local Facebook groups and flip em on eBay. I already was not really going to school like that since younger, but at 16 I decided to just stop coming because it felt like a waste of time to me personally. I was out more days than I was home, and worst of all, I was playing CSGO and League of Legends at home so mfs really had NOTHING to lose HAHAHA
Erik Young: What/who were some of your inspirations when you started making music?
demxntia: Sonically I was heavily inspired by the soundtracks of nostalgic games and anime’s that I grew up watching, for example, like anything from Square Enix or Studio Ghibli. As far as other artists go, I remembered listening to a lot of Circa Survive, Kanye West, Bryson Tiller, Gorillaz, and Porter Robinson. There’s a lot more that I could name but we’d be here forever if I did HAHAHA. I specifically remember seeing Circa Survive perform and thinking to myself like “Yeah, ima do this shit”
Erik Young: Who would you say are your current inspirations and why?
demxntia: I’ve been really into various shoegaze, electronic and rap artists. Specifically a lot of MBV, Panchiko, Porter Robinson, Kanye, and Carti. I respect everyone who pushes boundaries and blend genres together despite whatever mold people try to push them in. As an artist, I wanna bring something new to the table. I don’t see the point in doing something that someone else is already doing better. That’s just my standpoint though, at the end of the day as long as you’re having fun and being yourself thats all that matters!
Erik Young: I know you dropped a project earlier this year called “Somehow” and you have an upcoming project dropping tonight called “VOID” What would you say would be different between these two releases and why?
demxntia: Quite frankly everything— from production style to vocal delivery, I try to reinvent myself with each release. Before somehow, I had released “bittersweet” which ended up charting in alternative rock. I released somehow as almost a palette cleanser, which charted in R&B. My goal now is to land in electronic with “void”, and bases off past releases, the more I experience the more love my audience shows me which is sick!
Erik Young: What were your first thoughts when you saw that you charted?
demxntia: It was cool, I remember landing #1 in Vietnam which meant a lot to my family and I. Any milestone I reach I just aim for the next thing to stay motivated. My goal/ for music never involved any sort of industry validation, I just want to be the best that I can be as both an artist and a person!
Erik Young: I noticed that you’re very active with your fan base which I know a lot of artists aren’t. Would you say that your fan base drives you more than anything?
demxntia: I’ll never feel like I’m too good or too cool to interact with my listeners. It’s like the least I can do, you know? My audience is the only reason I’m where I am and the only reason my family is solid now. I don’t do that fake networking shit, I don’t got a label forcefeeding my music to people, I just make dope shit and keep it moving. I will admit that my drive comes from myself! A piece of advice I always tell people is to do what YOU want, and let the people find you. If you do what other people want, they’ll leave once you start doing what you want.
Erik Young: Tell me about how “VOID” came to be. With your goal trying to chart in electronic next, what was the motive to experiment in this genre?
demxntia: I’ve actually been working on “void” since 2019! Throughout all my other releases, I’ve been slowly but surely working on “void” in the background, and no amount of words can describe how I feel now that it’s finally out in the world. The album is actually based on the sequences of a reoccurring dream I had growing up; and sonically it’s heavily inspired by video game soundscapes and nostalgic anime vibes. As far as wanting to experiment in electronic music, it was the most suitable style for the vision I had in mind for the project, and I also feel like it’s a genre where so many different styles can blend seamlessly, which is perfect for me.
Erik Young: I know you have a few features from some close friends of yours as well as members from Dying In The Cut. How is Dying In The Cut doing as a collective?
demxntia: Yeah, they’re like my second family. To be honest, with a group that consists of many people with different goals and lifestyles, it’s somewhat unrealistic for everybody to be on the same page when it comes to music and whatnot. At the end of the day, we were always moreso just a group of a homies that happened to make music, which I’m completely fine with.
Erik Young: I know you’re bringing your crew to Dallas for a reunion on December 3rd. How do you feel about having the whole gang together in one place?
demxntia: I’m more excited than anything to be honest. There’s not really a feeling that compares to being stage and seeing people’s reaction to the shit you do, and it gets even better when the whole gangs there fasho. A few years back I told them I’d headline one of these days and get us all our own show, so I’m glad I was able to pull that together.
Erik Young: Why Dallas out of all places?
demxntia: Texas as a whole shows me a lot of love! My last concert was also in dallas, way back in 2019. It was one of my favorite experiences, so I had to run it back wit everyone else!
Erik Young: What has been your favorite part of this last year?
demxntia: It’s gotta be rolling out void, and hopefully this upcoming Dallas show 🙂 I also managed to hit 6 figures independently which was fucking insane for both my family and I considering we really came from nothing and was a low income household of 6 for awhile. I’ve taken care of things I put off. I’ve done everything I said that I would last year. This would be where most people would get comfortable,
but guy like me gon keep doubling down on the work as always. Void ain’t even the last thing I’m dropping this year 👀
Erik Young: What should we expect next from demxntia?
demxntia: Craziness 😈 everything I’ve done up until this point, every body of work I have or any current favorite songs of mine, expect double the amount and double the quality 🌐🖤
Erik Young: Anything else you want to say to your fans?
demxntia: If there’s sumn you wanna do, even if all odds are against your favor, don’t even think about anything and just go for it. Everyone’s opinions are only worth as much as you make them to be. Thank you for letting me be me 🌐🖤
There’s no doubt that demxntia is only going up from here. As you could tell, I had a blast interviewing him and getting to know who he was beyond the music. Make sure to stream VOID down below!