I had the chance to chop it up with one of my favorite up and coming artists, GONER, who hails from Florida, who has an incredible story and resumè building up to his music career.
Erik Young: Who is goner for those who know don’t know who you are? When people hear goner, what do you want people to think of right off the bat when they hear your name?
GONER: To me, GONER is just an extension of myself & an amplification on a lot of certain feelings I have. I almost feel like it’s an alternative personality sometimes because it can either feel very disconnecting or the complete opposite & it’s great. Definitely depends on the day. But I want people to immediately be intrigued when they hear or see the name, I want them to feel whatever feelings are true to them & a sense of comfortability in an artist like myself.
Erik Young: Being an artist, it can have its ups and downs. Define what the day in the life of GONER is like?
GONER: It has so many ups and downs it’s ridiculous hahah, but a day in the life for me is honestly probably waking up at like noon because i’m NOT a morning person & working on music most of the day along with the addition of shows and meetings some days.
Erik Young: I know you have a mini tour coming up soon over in Florida. How do you feel going into the tour and why Florida? Are the majority of your listeners over there?
GONER: I’m super excited about the tour & I’m extremely grateful to be able to have the opportunity, and be able to bring some of my best friends along with me. I’m confident going into this tour, it’s my first one ever and i’m pretty eager to get the ball rolling. I actually grew up in Florida after my family moved from New York so I know a bunch of locals around Florida basically for all sorts of reasons haha.
Erik Young: Would you ever consider doing a tour outside of Florida? If so, where at and why?
GONER: Definitely would do a tour pretty much anywhere if I get booked and people will show up. I think if I get booked and they don’t show up I might feel kinda weird. But overall i’m trying to get as many shows in as possible
Erik Young: If there’s one place you could perform at in the world, where would it be and why?
GONER: Right now I’d have to say Germany probably. So many of my supporters live there and the love i’ve gotten from a side of the world i’ve never even been to, I’d love to experience in person.
Erik Young: That’s pretty cool that you get a lot of love from overseas. Would you ever consider moving out of the US? If so, where and why?
GONER: Yeah I’m super stoked on all of the support i get overseas it’s wild! I’d definitely consider it, I personally don’t like a lot about the US just due to political standpoints / views on human life, but I could see myself moving to UK or something like that one day
Erik Young: Where do you see yourself a year from now in regards to both music and personal life?
GONER: A year from now I see myself
playing festivals / venues that I’ve always dreamt of playing. Continuing everything though. In terms of my personal life I just want to be truly happy and improve on the things I can improve on.
Erik Young: What drove you to start making music? What started your career in music?
Goner: Before I started doing music myself I always dreamt of it & just never had the guts to start or really try. But I was a photographer and basically did shoots for Ultra music festival and other events, and it really pushed me to try myself and use that outlet. I’ve always been drawn to it for as long as i can remember though.
Erik Young: Who were some of your favorite artists growing up/before you started creating music?
GONER: I was super into early 2000’s late 90’s rap until i was like 12 & then I started branching out more. But, Eminem, 50 cent (G-Unit as a whole), 2Pac and Biggie of course. But as I grew up I got more into the alternative side and started discovering a whole new world with Blink-182, Sum41, Nirvana, Linkin Park, etc.
Erik Young: I can definitely hear the alternative influence in your music but with your own twist on it. Who would you say are some of your favorite artists you listen to now?
GONER: Hell yeah! I’m glad you can. Right now I’d say quite a few artists but a bunch of Kid Cudi / Lil tracy / Kenny Hoopla / blackbear / 6dogs (such a legend RIP 🖤 )
Erik Young: Who is one artist, dead or alive, you would like to work with and why?
GONER: I’d have to go with Cudi, because he’s the first artist i remember listening to and making me feel like someone was literally describing my mental health problems through music. It was more than just “i relate to this” and it was like somebody telling me I wasn’t crazy in the most breakthrough way. I owe him a lot for what he’s done for me in a spiritual sense for sure.
Erik Young: I truly believe Cudi has impacted most peoples lives due to his realistic perception displayed in his music. Speaking of working with artists, who has been some of your favorite artists/producers to work with?
GONER: I totally agree, the mans a legend.But, my favorite artists / producers i’ve worked with currently is Jake Plus, SoWhatImDead, Dog, Everlyte, 33Life, Yung Kage
Erik Young: What’s been your favorite song you’ve put out and why?
GONER: My current favorite song i’ve released has to be “Left 2 Die” with my good friend SoWhatImDead. That’s something i’ll personally bump almost on the daily.
Erik Young: Do you have a song that you haven’t released yet that is more of a favorite than “Left 2 Die” ?
GONER: Honestly it’s a big debate on that because I have a song called “Running on empty” that seems to be a fan favorite during live shows especially and I can’t wait to see the feedback when that one drops. I think right now if any of them were in competition it would be those two.
Erik Young: What’s one thing about you that not many people know about?
GONER: I was actually a photographer / videographer for EDM festivals and shows before I started music myself. I was published as a “photographer” & working at Ultra Music festival with a clothing brand at the time, covering footage and all that stuff. It taught me a bunch and it really pushed me to start having the guts to make music myself if that’s what I truly wanted.
Erik Young: I can sense that photography got you into music in a way just due to the love for music and having the connections. Do you still photos from time to time or is it something in the past?
GONER: Exactly! And truthfully I don’t do it too much now that I focus most of my time to music related stuff, but I’ve self made / recorded / directed and edited almost all of my own Music videos / promo videos, cover art, show flyers etc. So it’s helped! I love working with other visual artists though to really do things that I don’t even think about doing
Erik Young: What can we expect next from goner?
GONER: You can definitely expect a lot of shows, new merch, and plenty of new music from this point forward. Currently have new merch designs in the works & exciting plans for 2022, looking forward to taking things to the next level in the journey
Erik Young: Anything you want to say to your fans? Any advice for upcoming artists trying to make it?
GONER: Something i’d say to my fans is just genuinely thank you for everything, for helping me believe in myself & turning something that was only me in the beginning to something that hundreds of thousands of people have now heard is unreal and always will be to me. My advice for upcoming artists trying to make it is just to stick to what you love and what makes you happiest, everything else comes after, focus on stepping stones rather than milestones and you’ll tend to give yourself a little more credit in the moment (which helps me at least)
& just to never fold on what you truly believe in and want, always put your dreams first.
GONER is an absolute beast when it comes to making great music. He’s constantly showing love to his fans and is constantly working and evolving as an artist. He always makes time for people around him and it’s noticeable. It’s no doubt that he’s on his way to the top.
He also has a song releasing on November 12th titled “What’s Next”