Drawing from an array of influences ranging from hip-hop, indie-pop, to pop-punk, August Gonzalez is an artist that refuses to be put into a box. Whether it was collecting albums from artists like Green Day and Chiodos to Tupac and Kid Cudi, or writing parody songs and rap batting in school, August’s passion for music has been a significant presence in her life from an early age. In college she would discover the music-making program Garage-Band and learn how to record herself, playing her freestyles and beats for anyone that would listen.
Link to the latest music
https://lnk.to/Lxxkn
Where are you based?
Burlington, IA
How long have you been making music?
I started making up my own songs in elementary school.
What genre would you consider your music to be?
For what I’ve recently been working on I would say pop punk infused with hip-hop, and vice versa. I make all kinds of music infused and blended together, so it’s kind of hard to define it as one genre .
What inspired you to pursue a career in music?
It’s always been a dream of mine to work on my music career. I used to post videos of myself on social media rapping over beats, and I would get positive feedback. Some people would ask when I was going to make my music available so they could stream it which was really inspiring knowing people liked my art. Besides fear I think my biggest setback was I didn’t know how to stream or market my music or make it sound good as far as production. A few years ago I worked at a small independent record label and that little bit of insight in the music business really inspired me and I learned a lot. I also got linked up with my producer Brendan Carper (LOVESBLIND, Five AM) a few years ago and he really knows his stuff and is extremely talented. So being able to have someone help me create the music I want, and make it sound good and having somewhat of an idea of how to market and brand yourself as an artist really gave me the green light to get after it and try.
What are your biggest musical influences?
Usually things that are going on in my life, things from the past, or different things that interest me (tv, celebs, books, pop culture etc.), I just try to be authentically me when it comes to what is influencing my music.
Are you signed to a label or are you an independent artist?
I am an independent artist.
What have been the biggest challenges in your music career?
Believing in myself and being kind to myself is definitely the biggest challenge. I’m also just getting started with my music career so just trying to get exposure has also been a big challenge for me, but I know things don’t happen overnight.
How many songs or albums have you released to date?
I’ve released two singles this year “SEE TMRW” and “LXXKN 4 THE L!TE” under my solo project August Gonzalez. Last year I released a co-written project under “Ali & August” with my friend Alicia Lovewell, and we released our first EP together “VIBES” last September.
Can you tell us a few things about your latest release?
“LXXKN 4 THE L!TE” started out as a rap I had written over the instrumental of “Miss You” by Blink-182 back in 2020. This was during quarantine I was stuck at home, and I had been recording myself rapping over beats and posting it on my social media. This one in particular got a great response so I wanted to include it on my EP I’m currently working on. I remember during this time I was kind of depressed and just not feeling myself, and missed my fun, goofy self and wrote a song about it. I wanted to change the whole vibe of the track though. I wanted it to sound happy and upbeat even though I was rapping about being sad.
Any plans for new music or upcoming projects we should know about?
I just wrapped up my Pop Punk EP “Anxious FM” the same week I released “LXXKN 4 THE L!TE”, and I plan on releasing it later on this year.
