For FAZE, creating something that is vulnerable and honest is simultaneously scary and necessary. Growing up in San Diego and being an out musician who is half Persian and has a neurological disorder, all combined made him very different from his surfer, skater peers. At times feeling like an outcast, he came out on the other side wanting to create art that connected with people.
“People were bullies, and I was teased a lot. I also have Tourette’s Syndrome, so I was kind of just like this little oddball. I don’t really feel like I got to come out, I was constantly told what I was before I even knew.”
However, for FAZE, his sexuality is a part of who he is, but it doesn’t define him. Realizing everyone’s different and has something to offer, FAZE takes all of these descriptions and identities and incorporates them all into who he is as an artist, none more important than the other. More than anything, he wants people to listen to the songs, be present in the moment, and reflect on who they are and what they want in life.
While recording Eclipse, he had a rather unconventional way of tapping into the cosmic forces that be during the creative process. FAZE took the present moment to the next level and trusted it as guidance in creating his music.
“I had a lot that I wanted to say, but when I would show to the studio I would just wipe everything from my mind. It was super important for me to be like, how am I feeling today? Sometimes it would turn out totally different than what I expected but that was one of the fun parts,” he said.
Through being in the moment, FAZE was able to create a diverse series of snapshots, each song capturing nothing more or less than exactly what the emotion was, right then and there. One of those snapshots became a song in which he truly puts it all out there, exploring an authentic and extremely personal point in his life.
Related Article: Sound Up! FHAT “My mom got really sick earlier this year; she’s been my biggest supporter, and literally the week I started recording, I found out she had acute liver failure. Everything just started to shatter around me, but at the same time, I still had to show up, and I had to do what I had to do because I know that’s what she would have wanted,” FAZE shared. “We all take certain things for granted, and our time with people is something that I learned how important it is to really appreciate. She would be, like, in the hospital as I was recording, and as soon as I was done, I would go and see her and play something that I created.” Through that special and difficult time, FAZE came to understand the fragility of life and the power and strength in vulnerability. The song “Right Here,” which is now the second single released from Eclipse, is an account of those moments in his life. “It was brought to my attention recently, it almost made me cry, one of my friends said, ‘This song literally kept your mom going.’ Even if she wasn’t aware of what she was listening to, because it got really bad for a moment, that song was playing. What I’m saying is so strong, and it is saying, ‘Don’t you die on me; you need to be right here with your family.’ She still is here, and she’s actually getting better every day; it’s honestly a miracle,” he said. Having wrapped Eclipse in April, FAZE is anxious to get the tracks in front of audiences and create more visual accompaniments with his team for the songs. The way the songs play from one to the next is a multi-faceted view of the artist as a singer, a songwriter, and a person. “This is my story, and I really feel like it’s a story from start to finish; each song is placed in that order. I really like for people to listen from start to finish, even though the sounds are kind of different; it’s all, like, collectively a story. I felt like when you listen, you’ll have your own story of what that means, and I think it’s really cool,” FAZE explained.
*Photos by Brian Ziff
