Travian: An Artist Comfortable Outside His COmfort Zone
Talented is an understatement when describing Travian. Not only does he produce the majority of his own beats, but he also mixes and masters his own songs. As a producer, he’s landed placements on songs like International Baby by Niko B, but he's also begun expanding his music with the addition of his own vocals. Travian's vocal performance can range from braggadocious on tracks like Runaway to introspective, all delivered with a confident cadence. Travian's versatile sound pulls from a variety of influences, the most apparent being: body-moving drum grooves of Kaytranada, soulful piano chords comparable to those of Stevie Wonder, and the warm synths sounds of Flower Boy. Travian is working on a joint project titled, International Waters with Cableknit hopefully dropping this holiday season--stay tuned for that project--in the meantime stream their single Runaway.
Below is a conversation I had with Trey discussing finding inspiration, adjusting to his first year of college, and his plans for the future.
How would you describe your sound?
"Chords, chords, and more chords haha."
Knowing you for a while, I've noticed that you have been shifting your sound. Do you plan on narrowing it into a specific genre or keep exploring new sounds?
“Whenever I put out music, it's never going to be just one thing. That's not what my daily life is. I listen to everything. I'll listen to Bossanova (jazz from Brazil), then listen to Young Nudy, then Tame Impala, to Radiohead, to Jay-Z. I never want to sound the same as something I've already made or something someone else has already made because what's the point in that. I feel like the job as a musician is always to keep pushing it forward. I've always had a love for live music, but I just work in my bedroom, so I just want to get comfortable with sounds like that and try and figure it out.”
In your most recent project, "Loss of Adolescence," you focused on your coming of age experience with a cohesive concept album telling a story that included interludes from Tyler, your mother, and an outro from you. With today's music mostly being tailored solely towards playlist placement, what motivates you to go against the grain?
“The plan is to do both. I know I am able to have a cohesive project, and those are always the projects that stick with me the most and are my favorite albums. The albums that tell a story are amazing to me. It's like wow, I can really connect to this story as a listener. I do understand the world's need for singles, but I feel like no matter what, if you stay true to yourself, you can do what you want to do, and the people will connect with it. A song like Runaway is kinda like a single, but I could see that song going on an album in a cohesive project. In the end, authenticity is the biggest thing.”
After producing for a while, what made you make the change to adding your own vocals?
"I got tired of waiting for other people. Simple answer."
Travian’s beat placement on Niko B’s single, International Baby.
How's the transition into college been?
"It's been good. I think the biggest thing early on was trying to get adjusted with balancing school, social life, and music. The best decision I made was not going too hard early and not putting too much pressure on myself to create. Ultimately it's a big change in your life, and there's no problem with taking a break or searching for inspiration. Don't burn yourself out."
Have you been finding inspiration from your time in Miami, or has it been tough being away from home in Jersey?
“It's inspiration like, it's lead me to a new sound like you said. The guitars I’ve been using remind me of Miami. There's this one interlude I got to play you it's called, "Miami Sunrise" it sounds exactly like a sunrise in Miami to me. Luckily in college, I've been able to ask myself a lot of questions like, what I want to do with my life, who am I, and who do I want to be. So it's been good.”
You mention creating songs that resemble a specific experience, is this something you do consciously?
“Yea, for sure, because that is what my favorite songs have done for me. Certain songs sound like I'm back home or sound like NYC or Miami to me. A Miami-ass song to me is, Staying Alive by the Bee Gees. I don't do coke but, that just sounds like a coked-out Miami song to me. So yeah, certain experiences do inspire me to make music painting a picture of what I've experienced.”
What or who has had the biggest impact on your music?
“My dad has definitely had the greatest impact on my music. My dad listens to everything; it's like, how does he know that song? The music he played around the house definitely impacted me growing up.”
What's your end goal in music?
"I really got into music in high school, and have found that music sort of shapes your life and for the kids that make music, their favorite music gives them that push to create and keep going. Songs like Pharell's, You Can Do It Too, Slick Rick's Hey Young World, and Nas' The World Is Yours, mean the world to me and give me inspiration. These songs helped me realize yo, I can do it too. The biggest thing for me would be passing that same passion and inspiration to the kids because I know how much my idols mean to me.”
What can we expect next?
"Next, definitely an EP out around Christmas time--not Christmas music--but definitely releasing a collection of songs around then. The joint EP will be named International Waters, as the talented co-creator Cableknit is based abroad in England. Soon I have a couple of live performances so we'll be documenting that. I been vlogging over thanksgiving break; I have a freestyle over Mac Miller's Best Day Ever coming out with some family footage that I think should be really dope. Recently, I have been connecting with a lot of other artists. I been producing for this one girl at my school, which has been really cool because that's just going back to my roots of producing music that I love. I think this next summer should be a big time for me if I do the right things.”
While we wait for Trey’s next project, stream his debut album, Loss of Adolescence.
I am extremely excited to see what’s next for Travian and I can’t wait for the world to open its eyes to his genius. His unreleased music is incredible, featuring sound palettes that I’ve never experienced and his music knowledge is way beyond his years, so it was cool to finally pick his brain. With his music’s vast range in sound, I’m excited to see what’s next for him.
Sincerely,
A genuine perspective
