Interview - Husks

Today, I have the privilege of interviewing my friend and fellow music aficionado Connor Small aka "Husks".

Connor is an artist whose life is engulfed by music. He works in the music industry by day and uses his afternoons, nights and weekends to create and produce his original work. He has been involved in music for as long as he can remember, starting off with cherub choir as a kid to being involved in bands and A Capella groups through high school and college. Nowadays, he is working under the name Husks and has two singles out entitled "Corrode" and "Design Me" which you can check out below





Connor took some time out of his busy day to speak with Computed Beats.

CB: Welcome to Computed Beats

CS: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

CB: First off, tell me how long have you been involved in music?

CS: Pretty much my whole life. I got started in the cherub church choir as a kid when my parents threw me into it. Both my parents have always been singers and my sister did musical theater so it was always around the house. I started playing the piano at the age of 7, the guitar at 11 and drums at about 13 years old.

CB: Nice, so you gave yourself about 2 years each to kind of master each instrument

CS: Yeah, I never really noticed that until now. I really hated piano at first and I kept asking my parents for a guitar. They didn't get me one until I showed them that I was committed to learning music. At first I wasn't really that into music itself until my sister and I went on a road trip one time and she gave me three albums: Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP, Offspring - Americana and Dr. Dre - 2001. That's when I really got into music.

CB: Wow, three great albums to get you into music. So tell me, what did you do with music? Where did it take you?

CS: When I really got into music, it started becoming an escape for me. I was bullied a lot as a kid so whenever I turned to music I felt safe. I would go sit in my room and play the guitar and everything would get better for me, mentally it would take me to a different place. As far as where it took me, I stopped doing choir around the age of 12. That's when in middle school I was involved in chorus and A Cappella which I kept doing through high school and college. In high school, I was a part of a band called "Yield" named after the Pearl Jam Album. We would play grunge parties, underground basement parties and all that good stuff, it was mostly punk rock and ska based music, partly influenced by Sublime's music.

CB: Right on, so throughout these years, what have people said after listening to your music? Whether it is your band playing or whether it is you picking up the auxiliary cord and playing a song at a gathering?

CS: People have always told me I have musical ADD. I try to stick to the right vibe of what's playing so I'm happy to throw on anything from Young Thug and Future to classical jazz if that's what the vibe is like.

CB: Who inspires you as an artist?

CS: Throughout my years I think Led Zeppelin have always been around. They have that combination of the rock and roll and mystical folklore going for them that always intrigued me. John Mayer is also important. I try to emulate his guitar playing skills a lot when I pick up the guitar. I have a personal relationship with Bon Iver's music because I feel like every time I listen to his music I hear something new, and that's something rare to have in an artist. More recently, I have been listening to Jack Garratt from the UK,  The Soft Moon, Fever Ray , Arca and FKA Twigs. All of whom have influences on my sound now.

CB: Perfect, which leads me to my next question. How have these influences manifested themselves in your music?

CS: So if I were to describe the music I am creating now, I would say it is a more dark electronic type of genre. My single Corrode is a perfect example of how these influences have manifested themselves, that darker hollowed out sound that sounds like you are walking through a factory almost blends all of these artists kind of into one for me. Movie scores have also always inspired me. I would describe my music as music that sounds like what Hans Zimmer would make if he was making dark moody club music. Design Me , the other single, has much more concrete examples. It has a blues guitar solo, hip hop drums and a melodic dark vibe throughout. One thing about me is I like sharing with people how I create the music but I will never tell them how to receive it, that is up to the listener.

CB: Amazing stuff. So tell me more about the name Husks. Where does that come from?

CS: So to give you a little context, I am a horror movie nerd in every meaning of the word. My girlfriend usually asks me if we can watch anything other than horror. So it has a huge influence on me. So after I was making some music with my friend Andrew in our duo called "Youth Culture", I started noticing that everything I was creating sounded like a horror movie score. So I started doing some research and realized that there are not that many artists that are going with that dark horror vibe with their music. So in horror movies usually a husk is a shell or an empty skull that represents something that has been taken away basically. That hollowness is very apparent in most of the music that I make, so I went with Husks.

CB: So how does someone like you fill their days with music usually?

CS: It is all I do really. During the day I work with music and artists. Sometimes its so much that I need to give myself a break. It consumes me and my whole day. But I can't get away from it for too long. So every friday usually I listen and explore to all the new music that's coming out; chasing new sounds and seeking inspiration. During the week I usually listen to some playlists that I have on Spotify. If I'm feeling adventurous I go with the occasional click on the related artists because you never know who you can find.

CB: So is Spotify your go-to?

CS: Usually it is. But I can never forget SoundCloud. It is a different platform that has a lot more room for creative exploration and it is where most artists post their new songs.

CB: Nice, so when do you have time to make music?

CS: As soon as I get home from work I either head to my studio or go to a studio that I split with my friend Becka Krueger who co-wrote my upcoming EP.

CB: Great, so new work on the horizon for the Husks fan out there. Tell us more about this EP.

CS: Sure, this new 5-track EP is called "Design Me EP" and will be coming out May 25th. I am really excited about it, spent a lot of time working on it. I will let the EP speak for itself.

CB: Alright, we cannot wait to hear it. What are your plans for projects going forward?

CS: I really want to put out a remix project of all the songs that inspired me to make this EP. Towards the end of the year, I also want to put out a full length project. I also plan to have shows around the east coast, mostly Philly, DC and New York.

CB: Sounds like a lot of fun times coming ahead. So for any fans who do not know you, what should they expect musically from Husks?

CS: Like I said, I want to fill that void in music where the dark horror vibe isn't really touched upon. I am not doing that to be the scary artist per se, it actually is the complete opposite. I want to make music for people who sometimes feel alone or scared or down and let them know that they're not the only ones feeling that way and that there is music out there that reflects those emotions in people.

CB: Good for you man. Any last words to our readers/listeners?

CS: Stay tuned for the EP, stream and support artists when you can. It means more to them than you think.



I cannot wait to hear this new EP that Husks is coming out with. I see a musician that is only trending upwards with his skill and production chops. All the best of luck to him. Thanks for giving this interview a read, and as always, stay tuned for more awesome music.