Get to Know Lance Redeker — TWENTY MINUTES LATER

Meet Lance Redeker: The artist behind “Truman,” which has quickly become one of the most exciting summer songs. The artist’s love for experimenting with different sounds is evident in his music. I got the chance to ask Lance a few questions about his musical beginnings, inspirations, “Truman,” and more. Read our interview below.

WHERE DID YOU GROW UP? WHEN DID YOU START MAKING MUSIC?

I grew up where I am right now—in the Bay Area. I started making music my junior year of high school, after my first break up. Before then, I was doing a bunch of covers of songs, but that year was when I first got that jolt of energy to start writing my own stuff. I made a bunch of demos and put them on SoundCloud solely because I wanted my ex to hear them. They were all private tracks. In terms of releasing stuff publicly, I started doing that in September of 2020. One of my friends convinced me to release music outside of the private demo space and it was the best decision I’ve ever made.

HOW DID YOUR EX REACT TO THOSE EARLY PRIVATE SOUNDCLOUD DEMOS?

I’m cool with my first break up. We’re homies now. I sent her this text other day that was like, “Thank you so much for breaking up with me because it allowed me to start writing.” The first song I ever wrote was about her. It was not that good, but that’s how this all started.

HOW HAS YOUR MUSIC EVOLVED SINCE THE EARLY DEMO DAYS?

A lot of my friends make music, so I felt like I kind of had to prove myself artistically. I learned how to play chords on the guitar and I pushed myself to get better at writing lyrics. In terms of artistic growth, I just learned how to trust my own instincts. I’m still learning a lot. Being around people, like my friends, who also make music allows me to pick up certain things and expand my knowledge. I’m trying to get better every day.

ARE YOUR FRIENDS A BIG PART OF YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS?

My friend Richard Dombrowski makes all my videos, and my friend Sebastian Duque does all my photos. We're all homies with each other. I'm super lucky to have my friends around me to help me fulfill my vision. And they are fulfilling their visions as well. A lot of my friends do their own solo stuff. If it weren’t for my friends, I would not make good music.

WERE THERE ANY ARTISTS YOU WERE LISTENING TO THAT ALSO HELPED YOU GROW?

Everything I write is about love. Right now, at least, I can't write about anything else. Frank Ocean started that. Along the way, I’ve listened to people like Daniel Caesar and Clairo. Those artists have really helped me grow. And specifically, with “Truman,” I was really inspired by the new pop wave of wacky synths and weird sounds and stuff. Right now, I’m super inspired by Remi Wolf and Benee. I’m all about their writing. They are really helping me right now.

YOUR SONG “Truman” IS TAKING OFF RIGHT NOW. IT’S BEEN PLACED ON SO MANY EDITORIAL PLAYLISTS. WHAT’S THAT BEEN LIKE?

Knock on wood! It's kind of weird. I’m not into astrology or religion, but that was something I really did see coming.

WAS THERE A MOMENT WHEN YOU KNEW THAT THIS SONG WAS DIFFERENT?

I was listening to Chip Chrome & The Monotones which is The Neighborhoods newest album. I woke up from this dream, and it was the first time I've ever remembered music from a dream. I had the riff that runs throughout the song. It was kind of an arpeggiated thing. I took a half-asleep voice memo and sent it to one of my friends. I was like, “I don’t know what this is, but I think we need to write something around it.” Everything grew around that voice memo. That was kind of the process with “Truman.” We had this vision of it being a pop summer song, and that’s what it turned out to be. I think the next night I had a movie night with some of my friends and we watched The Truman Show. That’s where the name came from. That was when I was like, “This could be a love song and I could visually write it to The Truman Show.” It tells the story of this person wanting to be in this world where his ex is still in love with them.

“Truman” FEELS LIKE SUCH A FUN SUMMER TRACK. HOW DO YOU WANT YOUR FANS TO LISTEN TO THE SONG?

Usually, I'm a little bit scared whenever I release something, but Truman was something that I had a good feeling about. I want people to bop their heads to it. I want them to mosh with their friends or play it at the beach. But also, and I always try to push this idea onto people, I think the song is good for when you're cleaning your house. I think that Truman is a very good song to make you productive. Other than it just being a fun pop track, I think that someone could organize their room or do their homework to it.

HOW DO YOU CONSUME MUSIC? WHERE DO YOU TYPICALLY LISTEN TO IT?

I listen to music when I’m driving or in the grocery store or when I’m cooking. But that’s a good question. I guess I mostly do extremely normal tasks. My mom also sends me music all the time when she’s at work. So yeah, I think I’m listening to music how most music is consumed anyway, so I’m doing the most normal thing I could do.

ARE THERE ANY ARTSTS YOU'RE LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW AS WE TRANSITION INTO SUMMER?

I’m listening to a lot of Postcard Boy and carwash. I’m getting back into that post punk sound. I think they’re bringing up a lot of cool things in their genre. They both use these chunky baselines and drums. They have these cool reverbed and washed-out vocals. They’re doing something different. I also have been listening to the “Lorem” playlist on repeat trying to figure out how to get another song on there. And my friends AG Club, Peachtree Rascals, Laura Elliot, ella jane, and young friend.

ARE THERE ANY NEW SOUNDS YOU WANT TO IMPLEMENT IN YOUR FUTRURE RELEASES?

I am very comfortable in saying that I'm making pop music because when you say that you're doing pop you could be making any type of music. Pop is the most innovative genre to me. I'd like to show off my versatility while saying that I do pop music. I'm finding ways to experiment with my sound all the time. I love using weird sounds and finding things to make sure I’m always fresh. I'm not worrying about it too much, honestly, just focusing on the music. That’s the move.

ANYTHING ELSE?

I just want people to feel something when they hear my music. I want people to know how I feel and that if they feel the same way that they're not alone. I can't necessarily write happy music right now, as much as I want to. So, I hope that people who are going through things that are kind of hard can turn to my music and feel better. I just want to be there for people as much as possible.

YOU CAN LISTEN TO LANCE REDEKER ON STREAMING SERVICES LIKE SPOTIFY AND APPLE MUSIC. GO LISTEN AND MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW @twentyminuteslater TO STAY UPDATED ON FUTURE POSTS.