Firstworld and Millionyoung are playing live at Gramps on November 11th in celebration of Firstworld’s debut album, Pop. Album release show tickets are available by clicking here. Before the gig the two friends took turns interviewing each other about music, movies and basketball.
Millionyoung: What is your most essential piece of music gear?
Firstworld: My hands. You can take away my laptop, my synths, my guitar, and everything else, but as long as I have my hands (and my voice) I can still create and perform. If you want me to be technical, I’d say probably either Ableton or my hydrasynth. Both are essential to crafting my songs and sound.
Millionyoung: If you could go back in time and score any movie which would it be and why?
Firstworld: I honestly don’t think I’d be any good at scoring! But if I had the ability to curate a soundtrack or pick the person to score it, I’d have Vangelis do the Star Wars soundtrack because HELLO HOW WASN’T THIS DONE IN THE FIRST PLACE?!
Millionyoung: What are your favorite venues in Miami past or present?
Firstworld: Grand Central is my favorite of all time. It was the perfect mid-size venue, a ton of my favorite acts came through there, I got to open for Hundred Waters and Mitski there. Wonderful place. Shame it got taken down for some dumb ass parking lot.
Millionyoung: What is your favorite Miami Heat roster and why?
Firstworld: I got into the Heat during the Big 3 era. That was elite basketball, they were basically like the Patriots (any team with Lebron turns into that). HOWEVER, I’d have to say my favorite roster was the 2019-2020 Heat. I love scrappy teams that no one believes in. Those Bubble games had so much drama, especially after Dragic went down in game 1 of the Finals. I cried like a baby. I think that hurt all of Miami, big time.
That was honestly the best basketball I’ve ever seen in my life.
Millionyoung: Where do you see Firstworld in 5 years?
Firstworld: Touring the world as holograms. If not, underwater, due to climate change 🙂
Firstworld: What is the most important part of a song? And I mean this in all aspects: songwriting, instrumentation, production, arrangement.
Millionyoung: I think production is where the real magic is, especially if you can come up with a sound that’s both unique and accessible. It’s one thing to be able to write a hook, or arrange the perfect drop, but in my opinion what really sets the great artists apart is when you recognize them just from the first few seconds, even if you’ve never heard the song.
Firstworld: Best show you ever played and why?
Millionyoung: I played this festival in Gainesville called Endless Bummer back in 2010. My friends Brian and MJ from the band ANR played with me too. We played in a bike shop to a few hundred college kids and it was this sweaty mess of moshing and dancing. People were crowd surfing onto and back off the stage. It was house show energy, but in a much larger space so it felt really special.
Firstworld: Has your perspective/goals on being an artist/performer changed a lot from when you first started Millionyoung?
Millionyoung: I used to think I would want to tour all the time. I did it consistently for about five years and am so grateful for the experience, but it can really burn you out, and you miss a lot while you’re on the road. So these days I prefer doing one offs shows and short runs.
Firstworld: If you could collaborate musically with anyone in 2022, who would that be and why?
Millionyoung: Of anyone current, probably Kacey Musgraves. I just love her voice, and she makes a lot of painfully beautiful melodic choices in her songs. That’s something I’ve always gravitated toward, like music that sounds equally happy and sad at the same time.
Firstworld: What is your favorite movie of all time?
Millionyoung: I’ll give you a different answer day to day, but my tops are usually: 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Room, The Big Lebowski, Kill Bill, and Spirited Away.
