Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
Cleve: I go by the name Cleve. I’m 19 years old. I grew up in a small town called Millstadt, Illinois, about 20 minutes from Saint Louis. I started making music after a few of my friends put me on it about 6-7 months ago, but only started taking it serious about 3-4 months ago. I sing, rap, and write all of my music, and I produce a majority of it.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
Cleve: My last name is Cleveland so I’ve been called Cleve by friends my entire life, so it was a pretty easy choice.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Cleve: I give out all my music for free. It’s a lot easier to gain new fans if they can listen to your music for free rather than having to buy it.
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
Cleve: I’m still a start-up artist lol
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Cleve: I gather inspiration from my life I guess. I usually write about something that has happened to me or someone I know. I try to put a different twist on it though, so people normally don’t know the specifics. As far as the process goes, I usually listen to some of my beats to see which one I want to write on, then I’ll try to think of a hook, or get a feeling of a flow for a verse. When I have a pretty good feel for what I’m going to write about I just start doing trial and error of what sounds good and what lyrics I like, not always the best rhymes. From the start of the process to the end, I might have 5 different song ideas to a beat and I choose which one I like best. I usually try to have some sort of story or meaning in my songs too.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
Cleve: I just promote myself on social media right now. My Twitter and Instagram handles are both @austincleve. My soundcloud url iswww.soundcloud.com/austincleve
Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?
Cleve: I don’t have songs on an MP3 player, but I watched High School Musical the other day with my nephew and I like some of those songs, so I guess that’s embarrassing.
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
Cleve: I would buy a bunch of studio equipment and pay for promoting myself and my friends with the money. With the year off I would spend all my time with the people close to me and make a bunch of new music. Maybe try to get out to LA and get noticed.
Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?
Cleve: Right now I do all of my producing and writing in my basement. I have a little studio with some monitors, a few keyboards, and a microphone. I do some work at a couple of my friend’s houses too, but most of my music starts in my basement.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
Cleve: I pretty much just use social media and word of mouth right now.
Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?
Cleve: That’s a tough question, but if I had to choose one person I’d probably choose J Cole because I’m a fan of his music and his shows are more than just an hour of people going crazy.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
Cleve: I just dropped an EP called “thinking out loud” on August 31st which is on soundcloud right now and will be on other websites soon. I’m working on a collaborative project with ggKizzy as well as more solo music and some songs with other friends that will be coming soon.
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Cleve: Probably working and going to school just like I am now, I’d just have more free time. I used to play golf in high school and college so maybe that, idk.
Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?
Cleve: I don’t remember buying one, but my first memory of listening to an album was an old Eminem album. I’m not sure which one, but I remember being a little kid and having to bleep out the cuss words when I rapped the songs or my parents weren’t going to let me listen to it anymore.
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Cleve: I just like making songs, so it’s what I want to do in my free time. A few of my friends make music too so it’s just what we do when we hang out. It doesn’t feel like a responsibility until the recording and the mixing/mastering.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
Cleve: Fans should look forward to some music videos for the songs I have out now, as well as new music from myself and all the people I work with.
I want to give a shoutout to
@ggkizzy
@deliverthecrush
@anngelocaponi
@yo_drawls_big
