ArmstrongWW: On being Genre-less, “Imperfect,” and more
ArmstrongWW (WW stands for World Wide), born in Cameroon and raised in Houston, is a “genre-less” artist who aims to start conversations about mental health through his music, and to encourage others to live and create freely. Each song is different from the last, showcasing the versatility he possesses as a songwriter and musician.
Abby Martinez: What's your origin story and how did you become ArmstrongWW?
ArmstrongWW: I'm not from here. I'm from a country called Cameroon in Africa. So when I was in Africa as a little kid, I wouldn’t talk much. I don't know why. I wouldn't really talk much to anybody but I always loved music. When I saw music on tv, that was the one time I felt like I could really express myself or, you know, communicate. I just stuck with it as a little kid. I kept using music to communicate with other people. Using music to communicate my emotions. It developed kind of into me wanting to be an artist, wanting to do this professionally, and really put my music out for other people. But music has always been a first love of mine so I guess it's been since I was a little kid.
AM: As a “genre-less” artist, can you tell me about how your creative process looks like?
Armstrong: It usually starts off with how I'm feeling, depends on what I want to write my song because I believe that music has to come from somewhere. It has to come from the soul. I can’t just start writing a song without what I’m feeling. So once I really have an emotion, I want to narrow it down and turn it into music. And I just start creating like harmonies, you know. If the harmony turns out to be hip hop, or R&B then like indie pop, whatever harmonies I make I try not to be like “oh I’m only going to rap in this song”. Yeah so if I'm feeling the rap, I might rap in the song. I might sing. But it’s kind of like an all over place process. Very unorganized whenever I create music. I think it's beautiful at the end of the day.
AM: Do you have a special place you write music in?
Armstrong: Usually it's in my room, in the closet, or like in the car. Just really unorthodox places because that's where I started recording in. I sneak out at night to go out and record in the car. I've just gotten used to that and being at a studio now is like unfamiliar territory to me. But once I'm in my closet or somewhere that feels like home, when I'm just recording it feels like more power coming up.
AM: Has the pandemic impacted your creative process at all?
Armstrong: I wouldn’t say the creative process because I was always the one who created by myself. I felt more inspired whenever I had time to think to myself. The only thing that was really affected was kind of getting that creativity out there because there were no more shows. There was no incentive to create. There shouldn't be one, but at some point as an artist you know you want to share your music, go out on the stage and have fun with everybody, spread the message that means something. So I kind of felt less inspired to create.
AM: Do you feel like you have more creative freedom with making music as an artist of many sounds, or does it become difficult to create something different from the last song?
Armstrong: I’d say it would probably be both also on that end. Sometimes it's like whenever I want to create, I have so many ideas. But I'm still not trying to do what I've already done, like you said. So it’s like I’m trying to avoid myself in a way, I’m trying to break out, and do something new every time. Do something amazing every single time. Something that when people listen to it, you know, it can feel different and touch them in their heart. But also there's a big creative freedom to it because you're not limiting yourself. Saying I only sing or I'm only going to rap. Growing up in Houston and seeing all the artists around me, that's the energy I got most of the time. People will only want you to make trap music or something that’s not who you really are, you know. Just being genre-less, or following that, I can really create anything, any song, any emotion, and any memory. And that's so beautiful to me. That's why I love artists like Frank Ocean and Tyler the Creator because they've been doing different things since the start. Whenever they drop something new, I expect something different.
AM: For your creative direction, do you have a team that assists and creates with you?
Armstrong: Creating my music, or like writing my music, is all me. But my team is the biggest support in the world. We are a collective called RIVER (@riverhtx), based in Houston. It’s basically just me and my friend Luz, my friend Bowen, they are like family to me. Luz does photography and videography. Bowen does production and music also. We’re always just feeding each other good energy, motivating each other to be better. Whatever knowledge Bowen gets, whatever knowledge Luz gets, they share it to me. Whatever knowledge I get, I share it to them. We’re all just working on making each other better artists.
AM: Can you tell me about your mental health journey and how it lead you to creating “Imperfect”?
Armstrong: Yeah so basically I feel like growing up in the african community, it's kind of shunned to speak about mental health, or just saying you have any issues. Because if you do say that... “oh you’re being dramatic”. That’s kind of where my struggle was, you know, trying to explain myself. As somebody who already doesn't talk a lot. So you kind of shut in. But you don’t want to hear somebody tell you that what you’re going through isn’t real. So that’s kind of what I had to break through. So I felt like with “Imperfect” I reached like a breaking point. Literally, writing the song was me at that breaking point where “You know what? I just don’t care anymore”. If they don’t listen to me, somebody will. So I wanted to put it into this song and kind of express it through that way. It’s still something I’m working on currently. And I hope the song can motivate other people to keep working on it, and not give up no matter what. No matter who tells them no. No matter if someone tells them they are being dramatic.
AM: Was writing “Imperfect” healing for you? Does music, for you, serve as a way to help you battle internal struggles?
Armstrong: It does, it does. It helps me communicate not only with other people, but with myself. Because sometimes you might have thoughts in your head, but just saying them out loud is different from just thinking about it. So I might have a thought that I might want to work on this about myself, but if I say it and I put it into a song then I can listen to it. Now I’m more motivated to work on it. Like I said, the song was at a breaking point so I literally wrote the first verse, and I didn’t even finish it. I threw it away. I was like “I’m not even going to finish this”. And I came back and free-styled the second verse. That whole moment of coming back and free-styling that second verse, that energy and just finishing it. Laying back and looking at the song, that just took me from like down here to way up here In a matter of 30 minutes.
AM: What’s a song or project that you’re most proud of today?
Armstrong: I’d have to say the first song I ever mixed by myself is called “Je T’aime”. I dropped it last year in January. I literally didn’t know anything about mixing and mastering. I just free-balled it, did whatever I tried to do. And it came out pretty good, in my opinion. I was so excited and that kind of lead me to mixing more of my stuff, trying to get into more of that. So I definitely loved working on “Je T’aime” because that was the first moment I felt like I knew something more than just writing. I actually knew the engineering process. So that was pretty cool.
AM: Did you look up youtube tutorials to produce “Je T’aime”? Did you ask someone to help you out?
Armstrong: Oh yeah, mixing I kind of relied on youtube for a bit. Just hearing it with my ear- which is why it took so long because I’d have to hear it over and over again just to figure out the mix. Someone who knows how to mix knows exactly what to do. I’m more of somebody who hears by sound. That’s even how I produce. I don’t know how to play the actual chords but I can play the chord by how I hear them and make beats like that.
AM: What are some of your biggest goals for your music?
Armstrong: Honestly, my biggest goal in music, my biggest singular goal that kind of breaks down into other things is just inspiring freedom in other people. Like inspiring other people to be themselves, speak freely and to create freely. Because I feel like in this world, we all do things based off of what other people perceive of us. We all do things just to fit in. And stuff like that. That could really hurt other people. Because you might see somebody going through something, like walking past them or someone behind you. I want everybody to be free, you know. If you want to create a certain type of music, whatever it is... if you want to be a doctor, if you want to be an activist then be an activist...but be free and like live life for yourself but don’t live life like you’re the only person living life. Care about other people too. And so if I can inspire that freedom, even if it’s just one person...if I can do that, one person can impact another person, that’s all I’m hoping for. That’s all I’m trying to do. By just creating more.
AM: Do you have any future projects coming up?
Armstrong: Future projects, yes I do! Actually I was working on a song, my first studio song I’ve ever recorded in my whole life. It’s called “Butterfly Revolution”. I know that’s a weird name. But once you listen to the song, it’s going to be explained through that. I’m really excited for it because I never went to a studio to record my own song before. That’s a dope experience. That’s really what I’m working on right now. Getting the video for it down, making it something weird and crazy. Something great.
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