This interview was conducted in late 2021 during my time with Dreamer Data. My friend Jared Avalos played an integral part in bringing this all together, so shout out to him. He helped out when it came to the topic of NFTs. He also helped me get in touch with Victor in the first place.
Victor Internet is one of the more authentic minds of our generation. Their music is a reflection of them, and they make sure that their fans feel that. Following the release of their EP BLUE 2000, we were able to hop on the phone with Victor to pick their brain about their career.
Marcus Pruitt: Seeing how you’ve remained independent throughout your career, I was curious as to why you chose to stay independent. Do you prefer the creative freedom or is there another reason?
Victor Internet: I feel like there are certain freedoms that come with it. Being independent, you’re able to come up with your own merch designs and pick who designs those merch designs. You’re also able to work with any producer you want, any writer that you want. I feel like when you’re signed, maybe there’s expectations that are set up for you as an artist and I prefer to just live by my own expectations that I hold up for myself. I feel like that makes things easier on me and it sets up less pressure, so I think I prefer being independent. I’m just able to make these choices and choose the length of my projects, my songs and I really enjoy that. I feel like it keeps things genuine and it also keeps things genuine with my fanbase, I think they really appreciate that too.
MP: You’ve been in the game for a little while now. What challenges have you had with staying consistent, if any, within an algorithmic system?
VI: I would say that the biggest challenge has been adapting to the different sounds and also just the different marketing that people come up with. I think a big challenge that came up during the pandemic was TikTok [and] just adapting to making TikToks and using it as a tool to promote my music. I think that was a challenge for me because I don’t really make TikToks, I don’t really make videos of that sort, so just learning how to use it efficiently and learning how the algorithm works on there, I think that was a big challenge.
I enjoyed the challenge because I feel like it opened me up, it opened my mind to different marketing and different techniques, really. Knowing that there are all kinds of audiences out there and how people cater to them, it was really interesting just observing how others did it. I had a lot of fun making my own TikToks during the pandemic along to my music, so that was a really fun experiment, but it was also really challenging.
MP: Since taking on that challenge, would you say TikTok has become an asset for you or is it just like another social media?
VI: At the moment, it’s another social media. I wouldn’t say it’s a big part of my career, I feel like I’ve done pretty well without it. But, it is good to still interact with your audience on every social media; I think every social media has a different kind of people. Like Instagram compared to Twitter, you have different people on there, some people don’t really use Instagram [and] prefer to tweet out their opinions, some people prefer to just post photos, so it’s always good to stay on top of all your social media because you never know who’s there. And it’s good to stay connected.
MP: How did your EP Blue 2000 come about? Can you walk me through that a little bit?
VI: Blue 2000 was a name I had in mind for awhile, [with] my favorite color being blue, and I was born in the year 2000 so I thought that’d look really cool together. Really, it was almost like a diary of what I was feeling through the pandemic and just all of these experiences that I was thinking about and remembering, and I wanted to write about them and just put them together in a fun way.
I went for a more pop sound on that EP and I also used a lot of analog synthesizers, which was really fun. Usually I’ll use a software where it emulates that synthesizer, but to use the real things was really exciting and I think it made the EP sound a lot more raw and even vintage, I would say. On tracks like “Forever,” I really like how the synths came out on that song, they just sounded very piercing and I love that whole process.
MP: You mentioned how the analog synthesizers sounded a lot more real and raw. Is that something that you try to aim for with all of your music? Just a general sense of something that’s more real and raw?
VI: Yeah, definitely! I really like to go for a warm tone. I like songs that feel very rich but also minimal, so I try to keep things very raw and unfiltered. I don’t use a lot of compression on my voice or anything, I like to keep things pretty smooth. I also just love experimenting with pitch, I think pitch is really cool and can bring about a lot of different emotions. Like, when something is detuned it’s really nice on the ears, so I like to mess with that. I think it’s fun to experiment with and I want to keep that up.
MP: Moving a little bit away from the music, what would you say your future looks like when it comes to NFTs?
VI: I noticed that NFTs are taking over and there’s talks about the Metaverse, which is crazy to me. It’s a very conflicting situation, and I was actually talking with some of my fans about this, we had some discourse over it because I wanted to mint my first NFT and I was excited about it. But, I don’t think I fully researched the environmental risks and also how a lot of people may see it as a scam, which I totally understand. It’s definitely conflicting, you want to always be careful on what you’re doing and you want to treat the Earth with love, you don’t want to mess with the environment. I’m still very conflicted on them, but I do enjoy the idea of a Metaverse. I really like that people can exist in a virtual world and share music on there, and I feel like it takes your ownership of music to a whole ‘nother level. Even like the interactions, I feel like artists are able to create more immersive experiences in virtual reality as opposed to signing to a label. I don’t know, I just feel like it takes a whole ‘nother level. It’s really really cool and I can’t wait to see what happens next!
MP: I’m definitely excited to see everything that goes on with the Metaverse, too. There was this concept I learned in class the other day called the Flattened Earth Theory. It kinda just means with the reach of technology and everything else that you can talk to anyone anywhere in the world, no matter where you’re at. I feel like that idea, applying it to the Metaverse is gonna be something that’s definitely next level. Even for musicians, they’ll be able to interact with fans in a way that they haven’t before just because of that intimacy of the virtual world.
VI: Exactly! I think it takes things to another level with fans that don’t really live in the U.S who are far, far away. I think it’s really cool that through virtual reality you can connect with someone from Australia or Mexico and it’s such a fun experiment. I hope I can mess with it a little bit more.
On NFTs, I don’t know if I’ll mint one anytime soon. That’s something that I wanted to just observe and see how people are doing with it. I think I would really opt for an eco-friendly crypto, once we figure that out I would love to jump into that.
MP: What advice would you give to others trying to do what you do?
VI: I’d really say just stay true to yourself. Don’t try and replicate, don’t try to imitate, just be the best version of yourself that you can be, because ultimately that’s what’s gonna catch people’s eyes. You just want to be you. I think when you stay true to yourself that’s the most beautiful thing and just being vulnerable and putting your heart on your sleeve, that’s what matters to me when I look up to other artists just seeing them be real. I love that and I think that’s what I’d recommend people do.
MP: Throughout the course of me doing interviews, I’ve asked that question to a lot of people and staying true to yourself is always the answer. So, I’m wondering, what challenges have you dealt with when it comes to staying true to yourself?
VI: They say comparison is the thief of joy and it’s so true. I think a big problem that a lot of other artists deal with, besides having an overinflated ego, I think we’re very sensitive. We’re always comparing ourselves to our peers and we have a very competitive nature about us. I think sometimes that can stray us from being true to ourselves, just wanting to be like someone else or wanting to be where someone else is at. But, I think realizing that everyone is in a lane of their own and you can’t really control everything, just letting go and focusing on what you want to do, that’s the most important part.
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