When it comes to pop/rock trio PUBLIC, expect the unexpected. Those very words can also be used to give a pretty decent summary of their journey as a band. Back in 2019, PUBLIC’s single “Make You Mine” exploded on TikTok, and things haven’t been quite the same ever since. The guys have been working diligently on new music over the past year, and their new single “Little Drama Queen” arrives this Friday, September 24!
But first things first, members John Vaughn, Matthew Carter Alvarado, and Ben Lapps are slamming the doors into their world as musicians wide open. In the early days of PUBLIC, the trio would gather and play music for hours on end in Ben’s parents’ basement. “We’d literally just jam,” Ben recalls. “We’d have a rock/funk jam, whatever it was, we’d just play over and over. John would sneak off into another room and sing lyric ideas and melodies to himself.”
If a song came into fruition from those moments, it was a cause for celebration. PUBLIC just loved playing music together, and wanted to create great sounding tunes they could jam out to themselves. But after joining American Authors on tour at the beginning of 2020, the guys really started taking a more lyrics-first approach to their songwriting, rather than writing around instrumentals. Although it was a challenge at first, PUBLIC rose to that challenge, and they now feel like they’re better songwriters because of it all.
And of course, there was *that* moment. Back in 2019, PUBLIC found out their song “Make You Mine” went viral on TikTok. It came as a shock to the guys, especially because they weren’t really familiar with the platform at the time. They hopped onto TikTok for the very first time that March, and began to closely observe just how big of an impact the platform has had on the music industry.
John says: As an artist with a famous song or something, and artists in specific that blew up before TikTok came around, there’s a thing where it can reduce those artists to that moment they have. I found myself on… I think it was Papa Roach’s, and it was the ‘I’m the cut my life into pieces guy’ and it’s like NO! You’re so much more than that, that’s just what Gen Z knows you as basically, or these people who run this app. I think it’s also really important as artists to not buy into that too much, like ‘oh this is all we’re good for.’
The members have taken notice that there’s an immense amount of pressure for artists to go viral on TikTok these days. Since TikTok has become such a huge power player in the industry, it has also influenced media consumption patterns for millions of people around the world. But does it have to cause a change in the creative process for artists, and does an artist really have to be defined by a viral moment?
Ben says: We feel a little bit like the outsiders just by being a live band who loves to play their instruments. When we first started, it didn’t really feel that way. It was like oh, you wanna make music? Play an instrument, write songs and play songs. But now it’s like, you wanna be a musician? Download Ableton and make songs that way. So much cool stuff has come from that, but I feel like it’s not what it used to be to start being a musician.
Matt says: I think there’s a lot more focus on 15 seconds of a song now. I think when we first started, everyone dove into albums like, this is a body of work. This is what the artist means. You can dissect it. We blew up on TikTok, which is incredible because we didn’t know what that was at the time, and it brought us so many more levels ahead of where we were at the time. I think everyone relies on it now. A lot of new musicians are looking to put that 15 seconds in to get, for a lack of better words, kinda famous. I think it’s a lot less about the craft of songs now, and it’s about money or exposure.
John says: I don’t want to say being a great musician and great songwriter and all that stuff is not as valuable anymore, because I think it really really is. The music industry is gonna change yet again probably here sometime coming soon, I mean it always is. I think the way people consume music is very different, and if you look at everything (videos, music) it’s getting shorter because everyone wants to get right to the point. So it’s like, we don’t need a whole song, we kinda just need the sound, we need 15 seconds of the best part. Kinda like how Ben is saying, we had to really try and adapt. How does our identity as a band, and a band that writes songs… I mean we haven’t even put out an album. It’s like, a band has always had a dream of putting out an album. Nowadays, is that even cost effective? Does it even make sense to do that? Do we just hold our music off? I think we’ve just seen the industry really really change just what it gives attention to, frankly. The guys and I talk a lot about seeing peoples social numbers completely just eclipse the actual listens on their music, but we’ll see those people get these massive opportunities even when it seems like their music itself doesn’t make that much of an impact. It’s more about the face, the presentation, how you do it that way but it’s like, maybe their listens are not that high.
Shifts in the music industry are inevitable, but PUBLIC ultimately wants to take the route that will be the most fulfilling to them in the end. While churning out supplemental content can be just as important to many as creating the music in itself, the guys are pretty much just winging it. Matt jokes, “We’ve seen that the less we care about what we put out, the better it performs.”
“There is pressure,” John admits. “I don’t think we’ve done something where we’ve given into the pressure. Even when you look at the two singles we released after ‘Make You Mine,’ they’re not like that at all.”
When the pandemic rolled in at the beginning of 2020, holding virtual writing sessions was another challenge the trio had to face. There were plenty of benefits, such as Ben seeing it as an opportunity to work on his production skills. There was also a sense of disconnect in the beginning, which was something the group had to adjust to.
Matt says: Recently, it’s always been about co-writing over Zoom… which I think has been a little bit hard, because there’s disconnect. You can’t really feel chemistry going. We actually come to the table with ideas preemptively, so we’ll do a lot of voice memos or really small demos from Pro Tools or Logic. We’ll sit there and go through a couple of them and be like, ‘What are we all resonating with? Where do we want to go? What kind of direction with this…’ and then go from there. It’s just been a lot of kinda bouncing ideas off of each other, and working for like 4-5 hours until you’re completely burnt out, and then giving it a couple days and coming back and being like, ‘OH, this is dope!’ or ‘OH, this is REALLY BAD.’
Ben says: It’s interesting to see how some of us thrive in writing over Zoom, like Matt. Matt is just a mosnter at coming up with ideas and song starters, it amazes me. For me, it gave me a chance to work on my production skills. I feel like I wouldn’t have been sitting at my computer so much if we were still out touring. We’re just adapting. We’re adapting with the times.
PUBLIC released “Honey In The Summer” and “Splash” last year, both being loaded with euphoric summer vibes. But not all of PUBLIC’s songs are meant to make listeners “feel the funk.” Their music is a pretty huge reflection of what they’re listening to at any given moment, despite each member having varying tastes.
Matt says: I think what makes it a PUBLIC song at the end of the day is, I’ll bring a bass line that Ben or John won’t think about, but then John and Ben will bring guitar lines that I won’t even think about… ever… or lyrics or melodies. We’re all kinda built differently with that. If we all like something, it’s a really good sign because it fits all of our interests.
As you look forward to the release of “Little Drama Queen” this Friday, you can rest assured knowing PUBLIC crafted the song into something they’re truly proud of – no matter how an algorithm feels about it.
John says: At the end of the day, we’re always gonna care way more about our songwriting. “Make You Mine” has blessed us, it’s been incredible. But to us, we’re not just the ‘put your hand in mine’ band.
And that’s that on that.
Pre-save “Little Drama Queen” here, and keep up with PUBLIC on all social media @publictheband!