#Freshfind: We chatted with VeeAlwaysHere about his latest song Joker
Producer, Songwriter and Recording Artist, VeeAlwaysHere, has released the next single, “joker,” off his upcoming album broken: playlist II. A track written about hopelessly trying to fight for one's love, even though you know that there’s nothing left to fight for; “joker” is the last single before the release of Broken: playlist II, where the entire story from start to finish will be revealed.
“joker” is for everyone who’s ever struggled with just walking away, even though it was the right thing to do. VeeAlwaysHere elaborates; “Acceptance is the hardest part and the biggest struggle in this song. When you know it’s doomed and it’s better to just walk away, but the comfort and the familiarity are keeping you from moving on. “Life is a movie and you play the lead. I’m trying to see if there’s a role for me” - this feels like her story and not mine. “You played the joker, while I played myself” - she set everything up the way she wanted, and I fell for it and ended up just lying to myself, but somehow “I can’t seem to let it go.” It’s a mystery even to me.”
We had the chance to chat with VeeAlwaysHere about the songwriting process for the new song.
What is a joker to you?
This song is about someone who is aware that a relationship can no longer be saved, someone who knows that they are unhappy; but someone who still continues to show up and make an effort, even though it makes them really miserable. They put themselves in this position, but it’s very difficult for them to get out. It’s about the feeling of being stuck, but understanding that it’s ultimately their choice.
Going in on creating this song, what were the original intentions of writing this song?
The entire process of making this song was so much fun. I wish there was one deep personal experience or heartbreak that inspired this song, but the reason this song exists is because some friends and I just got together at the studio, talked about life and then when we started talking about movies, I had the first lines of the song in my head already “Life is a movie and you play the lead, I’m tryna see if there’s a role for me.” We took it from there and built and wrote the whole song in one night. It was such a magical experience with everyone pouring their heart into this song, so I guess in a way, “joker” is a collective of all of our personal experiences and I tried to do them all justice with my performance.
Did the writing of this song change as the song progressed in the studio process?
In terms of the sonic world of “joker”, since my friends and I were talking about movies and that inspired the key concept of the song, I wanted the sound to be very epic and cinematic. I collaborated on the production of this song with my producer friend ‘Mexico City’ and we were really making a movie instead of a song. The song was almost fully made and recorded in one night, but when I brought it home after my studio session I wanted to re-record some parts, because I felt like it was a movie and I wanted to give a good acting performance with my voice. The entire time I was recording, I pretended like I was on a movie set with a camera pointed at me just saying my lines as an actor, and I bet I looked really funny doing that haha.
Who/what do you usually gravitate towards for inspiration?
I am very fortunate to be able to say that anything can inspire me. It hasn’t always been the case, but over time I learned how to see inspiration in everything and everyone. Whether it be me overhearing a conversation in line at the grocery store, or talking to my friends, or even watching TV. Anything can trigger that creative part of my brain and make it start creating melodies and lyrics at any moment.
I’m curious why this album is called Playlist: Part 2.
It’s a follow-up project to last year’s “ego: playlist I”. I started working with this “playlist” concept, because I really enjoy channeling that love I have for music as a consumer into my own music as an artist. If you look into any of my personal playlists, everything is so different there. There is no set sound or genre, and as an artist, genre- hopping is also something I really enjoy doing. I don’t have a sound. My sound is whatever I want it to be that day! It keeps my process really exciting and allows me to have so much fun making music. I also want the fans to keep guessing and expect the unexpected whenever I announce a new release.
With that in mind, How does it fit in the overall theme of the album?
It’s still the same story that I started in “ego: playlist I” - the journey of finding love while recovering from previous experiences; but don’t forget, it is my playlist, so you can expect to hear many different sounds and vibes on it. Out of all of the songs in this album what one was the most challenging to write? While I made it a point to challenge myself with every single song on this project, I would say that track #1 “pink roses” was by far the most difficult and vulnerable song I’ve ever made. The production, melodies and the lyrics are so unusual for me and it really took a lot out of me to put this one together. I can’t wait for people to hear it!
Has a stranger ever changed your life?
Everyone in my life started off as a stranger and every single person changed it somehow. That’s the beauty of the random nature of life.
What are you craving right now?
You know what? I was just about to order some sushi for lunch!!
MORE INFO:
Hailing from Siberian Russia, VeeAlwaysHere always had a great passion for music, and a heavy influence from American Pop music. The ability to tell a story in its most vulnerable and raw way moved him despite the heavy language barrier. As a child, VeeAlwaysHere pushed through the language barrier to write songs, however because he couldn’t speak English - they were initially just gibberish. While having mastered the English language in a mere 2 and a half years, VeeAlwaysHere is now a self-taught musician who handles his production, writing, recording and mixing. “joker” follows the release of “irl” and “I don’t dance” ft. Ted Park in 2023, and ego: playlist I in 2022, which received praise from MTV, Billboard, Consequence of Sound, and more.