Malibu’s very own LIBERATI loves being able to tell a story through a song, and he’s on a mission to fill 2023 with plenty of great music! He recently released a new single titled “Find Out,” which is part of an even bigger project LIBERATI has planned. We had a chat about the song, what to expect next, and so much more!
Hi Dom, how are you?
Good. How are you?
Pretty good. I just ate a salad… and I feel refreshed!
That’s awesome. What is your salad go to?
My salad go to is kale, spinach, and then blue cheese crumbles, grapes, sometimes carrots… sometimes. And then blue cheese dressing on top. I just I love blue cheese.
I’m a big fan of blue cheese, though I do feel like blue cheese can really change wherever you go. Different restaurants, different brands, it’s so different.
I know. You can say that you like one thing. And then if you try it out at one place and it’s not like giving what it’s supposed to give, it’s kind of disappointing, you know?
Haha, agreed!
Well I’ll tell you what… your music is definitely giving what it is supposed to give. So that’s why we’re here today!
Thank you.
So… I hear that you have a very, very, very exciting project right around the corner.
Yes, I’ve been working on my new record. Because of the pandemic and everything, it took a little longer to get out than my first debut album, Endless Summer, which came out late 2021. That album, I had been working on for like years on end, and it was such a concept record and just wanted to get it absolutely perfect. So this one, I am really looking forward to how fast everything’s coming together, and all the different songs that are coming to mind to release.
Essentially, I’m trying to release a song every four to six weeks, and basically do the new album in installments. My latest single “Find Out” is the second song of those installments. I had my first single “Beaver,” which had like over 130,000 streams I think as of today, so we’re looking to do even better with “Find Out.” But yeah, “Find Out” is the latest single, and I’ll be releasing songs pretty much every four to six weeks throughout the year. Probably looking at spring of next year for a full album release with little bonus tracks and just a ton of content.
There we go. That sounds like a great plan for the new year. Pretty good New Year’s Resolution if you ask me. But that… you know, next year, it’ll be here in no time.
I know, I feel like we’re gonna blink and January’s already gonna be over.
What are some of the things that inspired you to do releases every four to six weeks, and keep the ball rolling?
Yeah, trying to get (for lack of a better word) a little less precious about… you know… obsessing over every single detail about everything, and more about getting it out there to feel like I’m really creating a relationship with my fans, and just giving them something fresh and new every month. And as consumers, you know, we’ve got so much thrown at us constantly that I think we’re a little more on a typical monthly consumption schedule. I know that me as a listener, I’d love to hear from all my favorite bands and new song every month or so and, and then still, you know, giving them something special with a deluxe album release at the end with like bonus tracks and alternate versions. Things like that. I think it’s really cool.
But yeah, I feel like I’m still building up my fan base. I want to really engage them as much as possible and I’ve gotten a lot more active on my socials. I used to get really intimidated by the TikTok bang, and by just Instagram reels and everything. And I’m like, yeah, I gotta basically unveil a little bit more and just be more myself and not be so worried about “everything’s got to be perfect” before it goes out the door. And that’s not to say that, you know, I’m not putting the same filter on my music as it comes out. But it’s actually keeping me on my toes and keeping me really fluid as a producer, because I produce all my own content as well. So that’s just keeping me constantly growing and growing a little bit faster. I think it’s kind of cool to just get that out the fans a little bit sooner.
Totally. I just feel like it’s a lot of work, you know?
It’s constant. But you know what… I was constantly like, on the same recording and writing schedule anyway. It was just that I wasn’t releasing them all. As they came, it was more of just waiting till the end and doing a bigger release. So it’s a little bit of a mixture of both now, but yeah, it’s definitely a lot of work for sure.
I was gonna say like, do you think you could get Rihanna to like, you know, maybe follow suit and do the same thing?
Oh, my gosh, I wish I think the world would be a better place.
Yeah! But anyways, let’s chat about “Find Out” because that literally is like right here.
So the featured vocalist on that, Rebecca Brunner, her and I met about a year or so ago at this songwriters collective in Nashville called The Song House. If you look up The Song House, you’ll find a ton of great songs. It’s a really cool thing my friend Tyler put together where he basically invites about 20 or so artists and songwriters from all different parts of the world. A lot of them are based in Nashville, but it’s not exclusive to Nashville. Essentially, you have a half, he splits these 20 to 30 people up into different writing groups. Each time, you’re randomly paired with different two to three people, we have a half hour to write over, write a song, or write a course, at least over the music that they give everyone. So everybody is on the even playing field… they all have the same piece of music. Typically, they’ll say you have to write this about a subject, or they’ll pick a word or something like that. So I got invited into that community, the first song that I ended up co-writing there was their biggest hit. It’s called “Parachute,” it got over like 10 million TikTok views. But I met Rebecca in that process, she’s part of The Song House, and she is one of their main powerhouse singers there. We met up, and we wanted to do a co-write at some point late last year. I was simultaneously sitting on this idea for “Find Out,” at least the line of “I don’t know who I am anymore, but you make me want to find out”… like that part of it. I had been sitting on it for like a year. It was one of those things where it sounds silly because it’s just like a line. But I knew that along with the chords and just the idea that I had in my head, it was like something where I couldn’t screw it up because it was so good. I was like, I need to make sure it’s the right person and the right timing. I sat on it for like a year because every time I would go revisit it, I felt like I was not ready to finish it. I still didn’t have the magic of what it needed to finish and be correct.
I sat down with her around November of last year. So this actually was a really fast turnaround. It was like mid-November 2022. We sat down to write together, and I was like hey, I kind of have this one idea that I just… haven’t been able to move forward, and I wonder if it resonates with you at all. I just played that same part, and she was like, oh my gosh, yeah! Then she just started throwing out little lines here and there. When she was singing it, I was like, wait a second… we should make this a duet!
Originally in my head, it wasn’t a duet. But once she started singing, I was like, let’s tell the story (or both sides of the story) of different people at their lowest lows. They’re essentially not looking eye to eye, and it’s like the last place they’d be looking for something new or a new love to get them out of the rut. But then they end up finding each other, and finding that each person is that safe place for each other. It was really cool how it unfolded naturally into this duet. And of course, her voice is incredible on it. So I just tried to like… stay out of her way on it basically. She’s pretty good.
Wow, it just it all just blended naturally. I love it when that happens.
Yeah, that’s how you know it’s right. I feel like because when it can organically just happen like that.
So about how long would you say that it took this song for Taylor to come together?
About two months. I think we were originally going to release this in December. We thought about waiting until after the holidays and just starting the new year fresh with it. But yeah, when we finished writing it, I think it was like second week in November. I was just obsessed at that point about getting it done. It was like in my head constantly.
Once I got back to LA, I just worked on the production nonstop. I think by about the end of November, it was like cut, ready, had her vocals on it. She actually tracked her vocals in one hour.
Honestly, that sounds like work ethic goals to me.
Yeah, yeah, totally.
Over time, have you seen your work ethic improve – especially with this project?
Great question. I don’t know that my work ethic itself has improved in terms of like, working harder. But I think I’ve learned to work a little bit more efficiently now, which is key for the schedule that I’ve created for myself. I’ve been a little bit better at asking for help here and there, and not taking every single part of the process onto myself. My friend Anthony helped with tracking some of her vocals. He’s helped with a lot of editing, helped with co-production, stuff like that. So I’m reaching out to more and more people. I have such a talented group of musicians that I’ve had access to over the years, I’m just starting to use that access and have different featured instrumentalists or vocalist on different songs, which helps take a lot of the pressure off of me.
Totally. And it’s also fun to collaborate with other people, you know?
Yeah, it actually is so much more fun. Absolutely. When you can share art together, that’s the best case scenario.
And then when you see it all to come together, you just get so excited. And you’re like, oh, I have more people to share this moment with! It just seems so fun.
Yeah, it’s definitely, I think, meant to be shared. And I’m, you know, opening up to more and more people, and it’s just becoming more and more fun throughout the process.
So I have a few fun questions for you. If you could play “Find Out” in any spot in LA, just having it blast through these big speakers… where would you have that take place?
That’s such a good question. The marketer in me says SoFi Stadium. Biggest place that anybody can be at one given time. Sentimentally I think, I don’t know if you’ve ever been to The Grove in LA. But you know, especially around Christmas time. Sentimental vibe, everybody seems cheerier and it just, it seems like Hallmark movie kind of thing. So I think playing there, you know, as during the holidays.
Yeah, totally. We should probably like pitch that to a Hallmark movie as well be like, hey, can we like sneak this into one of your movies? And speaking of movies, if you could pick a movie to place this song into which one?
You know, The Notebook seems perfect for that.
Now, if you could describe “Find Out” with different flavors that you can taste, how would you describe it? Would it taste like a candy apple? Butterfly tea?
I think find out what tastes like… let’s see here… I’m trying to think of what is sweet and savory together as one. I think it would taste like a good ricotta dessert. It’s got like, the sweetness to it with the toppings and probably put some, I don’t know, fruit topping or something on it. Maybe even chocolate. The ricotta itself is a little savory, but not too savory. Not too salty.
Dinnertime is right around the corner, and I’m totally not like asking for suggestions. But really, I am. And then of course, are there any artists that you would really, really, really like to collaborate with? Although of course, I am also getting the impression that you’re like, hey, let’s just go with the flow. Let’s see who comes through.
Definitely go with the flow. One artist that I’ve been listening to… well, there’s a couple of artists that over the last year or two on Spotify, you know, when you get the Spotify wrapped –
And you get exposed!
Yeah, exactly. There’s three artists that come to mind that I would just geek out over if we did collaborations. One is the instrumental Tycho. And I’m very much kind of in the same vein in terms of like, if you took out all the vocals in my songs. I think that would match well with his stuff. So it’d be cool to sing over a Tycho track.
My favorite band probably in last 10 years is The 1975. Love them, I would do anything with them. That guy’s a genius, man, Matty. Also, probably, M83.
And finally, is there anything else that you want everyone to know about? Find out? Or what lies ahead?
I think that my new record is going to be very geared, or laser focused in on what could be a soundtrack to somebody’s core memories. That’s like the overall theme, I think “Find Out” could be that. If there’s one thing to take away from “Find Out,” it’s that everybody at some point is going to hit their lowest low and there’s always the other side to that. Everything’s a wave and you’re in the trough of the wave. The crest is coming, and just hanging there, I guess is what I want to say.
Listen to “Find Out” below, and keep an eye out for more music from LIBERATI soon!
LIBERATI’s manifestation for our chat: “Well, one bucket list item for me has always been to win a Grammy as a songwriter. A songwriter, producer, artist, any of the three will do. But you know, it’s so something that is so based on other people’s opinions or votes or whatever. That’s always like a really tricky thing, but it’s very it’s very simple. Yeah. I would say that yes, I would love to receive a Grammy for my new record.”
