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Interview: Corey Lewin

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Corey Lewin is an acoustic rock artist from New York City. With the release of his debut EP, Simple Love, earlier this month, Lewin is hoping his music will reach a wider audience, and he recently spoke with Legendary Kids Press about his aspirations, his decision to pursue music for a living and his summer touring plans.

How would you describe your music to those who have never listened to you before?

I describe it as acoustic rock or pop-rock that incorporates elements of a wider array of music genres. Some of my songs are softer, more classic singer-songwriter type tunes, while others are a lot more upbeat [and] rock-driven.

That being said, I prefer having people listen to my music and hearing how they describe it. It’s really interesting to get your fans’ perspective on your sound. I think it really helps me know myself better as an artist.

Who were your musical influences growing up, and how do you think they’ve influenced the music you’re making now?

I listened to all kinds of music growing up - classic rock, Top 40, rap and so on - and elements from those different styles work their way into my music. The band that really influenced me to start playing guitar was Switchfoot. When I was 14, I heard the riff in their song “Meant to Live” and thought, “Man, I need to learn how to do that.”

Throughout high school, I was playing in bands and was heavily influenced by heavier, progressive rock. Coheed and Cambria were and always will be my favorite band. I was hooked on their intricate guitar riffs and loved how rhythmic and inventive their their songs were. Those are both things that definitely influenced me a lot and still work their way into my music. For example, my song “Passenger’s Side” is very riff-driven and rock-based. Even though it’s an acoustic rock song and you wouldn’t classify it as prog. rock, it definitely draws on that style.

You’ve mentioned in previous interviews that you left politics to pursue music. What pushed you to change career trajectories?

In some ways, it feels like music was always my career trajectory. Music has been my passion since I was a kid and I loved writing and performing all throughout high school. But when I was heading to college, I decided to keep music as a hobby and pursue politics as a career. I was very passionate about a lot of issues and wanted to work toward social change and make some kind of positive difference.

I went to The George Washington University, which is right in the middle of Washington, DC and once I had gradated, I was still living there and working in politics. But as I got deeper into the political world there, my disillusionment with the whole system was growing. I felt like the people who had come there for the reason I had were always getting drowned out by people who got into politics for the power and the ego. I was tired of the constant bickering, arguing and fighting, and just felt unfulfilled. I wanted to do something I was passionate about that made me happy and made other other people happy, and the more I thought about it, the more obvious it became that making music was what I needed to do.

You recently released your debut EP, Simple Love. How was the reaction been from listeners thus far?

It’s been amazing. It’s kind of surreal hearing people say they bought my EP on iTunes or watched my music video. It’s still all kind of sinking in. “Smile and Wave” has definitely been a fan favorite, but all the feedback has been good.

What was the recording process like?

The recording process was very different than anyone who was involved expected. One of my professors in college said, “Planning it everything, but nothing ever goes according to plan,” and that was certainly the case with this project.

I met with Phil Duke at Continental Recording Studio back in September. We discussed what I wanted to do and hashed out some details for a four-track EP. I had never really spent any extended time in a studio, so I didn’t know what to expect. I was a solo performer, so the plan was to spend two days in the studio and knock out some live takes [of] just me playing guitar and singing. But when I played through the songs with Phil, we realized that we could really make these songs come alive with some extra time and work.

Our two days turned into six months. The EP had taken on a totally different form. We’d brought Josh Ridley in to play drums and percussion and Steve Garcia to play trumpet for “Smile and Wave”, and they were both awesome. My songs were sounding like I’d never heard them before. It was awesome working with Phil and those guys, and I’m so thankful for all their help and hard work.

There’s a lot of diversity on the release, especially between the EP’s title track and “Year’s End”. Which track, out of the four, would you say is your personal favourite?

That was by design. Since this is my first major release, I knew I wanted to showcase the full spectrum of my music, so I made sure to choose songs that were cohesive, yet still very different. “Simple Love” is definitely more of that softer, singer-songwriter-type style, while “Lucky No. 20″ is more of the upbeat pop-rock.

I’d say my favorite is “Smile and Wave”. It’s just a fun song. It was fun to record, it’s fun to play live and everyone seems to really like it. Steve killed it with the trumpet and I think that gave the song a really distinct sound.

What plans do you have for the summer? Will we be seeing you out on tour?

Now that the EP is out, the next step for me is to really try and reach out and make new fans and keep growing my profile. So this summer, I’m going to be out playing shows, recording some new songs and videos, hitting up open mics and maybe doing some busking around NYC. I think it’s really important to keep the momentum up after a release like this, so that’s what I plan to do!

For now, I’m focusing on playing around NYC, since there are so many awesome venues to check out. But I definitely want to do some touring in the near future, so that is certainly on the horizon!

What do you hope to achieve through music?

For me, music is something I can turn to no matter how I’m feeling. If I’m happy, music makes me feel even better. If I’m going through a difficult time, there’s always songs and artists who I know I can listen to that I can really relate to. Music can change your entire mood.

If my music can do that for others, that would be really special. My songs are very personal and music is my outlet for letting out how I feel about something. That someone could listen to my songs and relate how they’re feeling or feel better because of [them] is a really cool thought. That’s what I hope to achieve. I want my music to mean to others what my favorite artists’ music has meant [to] me.

What would be your dream tour/collaboration?

Doing anything with Ed Sheeran would be an absolute dream. His music and his story has been my biggest inspiration and to play with him would be incredible. He’s a phenomenal songwriter, an amazing talent and a seriously skilled entertainer. His shows are so captivating. I feel like I could learn so much from touring with him.

Any last words?

Thank you. Thank you to everyone who has supported me in pursuing my passion: my friends, my fans and especially my parents. Thank you to everyone who helped make this EP possible: Phil, Josh, Steve, Mike and so many others. Your support means more to me than I could ever explain.

And one last thing… Let’s go Yankees and let’s go Rangers! We want the cup!

By Clare Fitzgerald

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