After a brief hiatus, Noah Cunane releases his new single and video, "BOY WITH A BROKEN HEART." The track leads the way for an array of the singles set to be part of his upcoming EP in 2021. Noah has taken a new sonic direction after taking time off to focus on his mental health. During his time away from music, he’s leaned into creating a sound and image that felt more 'him.' Rediscovering himself with his roots of punk pop-rock and emo-inspired sounds, Noah took the challenges he encountered and put them into his music. Teaming up with Lonr. and Jutes, "BOY WITH A BROKEN HEART," tackles falling too hard in a relationship and dives into the emotional pains that it comes with. To further learn more about his career upbringing, future plans, and releases, he details this in his interview with Ethan Ijumba of Variance below.
Ethan Ijumba:
So, first and foremost thank you again for coming through. I appreciate your time. But you are Noah Cunane. Originally, you came out of Westchester, Pennsylvania, and have been making music since you were 15 correct?
Noah Cunane:
Yeah, 100%, and canon.
EI:
So initially, how did it all get started for you? When you first came into the music world, how did exactly all come about, and how were you brought up and what made you kinda want to pursue your career as an artist?
NC:
It first started off with guitar and my grandma played guitar and sang her whole life and she's kind of got me into doing music and started learning guitar when I was five and I just kept taking lessons around when I was 10. Then I started taking singing lessons too and around when I was 15 I was like, I want to take this one seriously and I went and bought some studio equipment, and I started making songs in my room and just off of GarageBand not knowing what to do, and I put some songs on Soundcloud and they got a pretty good response. So I was like, wow, I think I could do something with this and just kept doing it.
EI:
Based on when your career started to take off at a professional level how did the come-up happen for you in terms of getting noticed and signed?
NC:
So I was 18, I started broadcasting on this app called YouNow and that's how I started building a fan base, I would go on there and I would sing and play guitar and I was able to make money off of a broadcasting kind of like Twitch nowadays. After that, I was able to move out to L.A. and I did a song here and there then kind of felt it out, and then I ended up moving to New York. And that's how my manager, Nick Mueller found me through Spotify and he hit me up on Instagram and he asked what my goals were, and I kind of just told him the story, told him what goals were, sent him some music. And he was like, I think we could do some damage together and started working together, and he moved me back to L. A. and that's kind of how I got into the music industry. And I was doing all the meets with labels making more music, and that's how I ended up being signed to 300 and, yeah, it's kind of like the short story of how it happened.
EI:
So you initially started your career as an independent artist and you released songs with your first single titled “Lips” back in 2019. Then you released “Everybody Changes,” “Rich Girls,” “I Miss You” and “Medicine”. So with releasing that sound, how did you come about knowing this is the sound I want to make? This is what I fell in love with from what inspired you and influence you to make music the way you make your music specifically. Are there any artists, albums, or any kind of genre that changed you along with that?
NC:
That’s actually a really good question, because I changed my sound since all of the songs I have out about, except for my song “Vampire” is pretty similar to what I'm doing, but I'd say I didn't fully know what my sound was. I was still figuring it out so that's why if you listen to my songs, they're all kind of pretty versatile in their genres. More in the pop realm, but I grew up listening and I just always loved punk rock stuff and I feel like one of my true voice lines I feel the most comfortable with. The music I've been making lately and that I and my team think is the best I've ever made is more of this pop-punk music. And that's what I'm probably going to be doing going forward. But the music that I have out right now, I love it. And what inspired me to make that it's just like, you know like I try to make pretty realistic songs that people can relate to, comes to like anxiety, depression, bad relationships, and day to day things that I feel like I want people to become my friend without even knowing me when they listen to songs. That's like my main goal with my music. And I feel like how you can develop a really good relationship with someone over the music.
EI:
Regarding the influence and relatability listeners have with your music, your newest single “BOY WITH A BROKEN HEART”, recently just came out. What was the inspiration behind the song and how it came about?
NC:
Yeah, so that was, Riley and Evan and the people I work with now. We kind of just talked about when you fall too hard for someone and they f**k you over and you’re so hurt by that, but at the same time you take it and beat yourself about it and that's kind of where it's like you're so mad at this person, even though you love them so much that it's like that's why I'm like, like f**k you blow with a broken heart and like what I'm saying, okay, We're gonna be all right. So it's like, you know, it's gonna be all right, But you just keep thinking about it. I feel like people get into relationships where it ends up bad and, like, still wishes they could be with them. And at the same time, it's like, you know, Oh, it's not going to happen. So you got to kind of just be like, Okay, brush it off like you're better than this. That's why I'm like, you're all right. But it's time you're still in your head like, Damn, I hate you at the same time. I love you. So it's this hate-love relationship, and that's kind of what this song is portraying.
EI:
So with that being said about how you have friends, collaborations, and your creating relationships with music. This is your first single that's going to mark your first collaboration with other artists being Lonr and Jutes. How was the process like when you composed “BOY WITH A BROKEN HEART” with them?
NC:
I mean, I always f**ked with Lonr. and Jutes and their music. I feel like they're in a very similar realm to my music and both of them were the video shoot, and that was the first time I met them. They’re both super chill like I became friends with them and it was such a time that was probably one of my most favorite times ever making a video. So Lonr. was the first to do his verse and he did that verse and I was like, “damn, this is crazy, he killed it”, and my team thought it sounded great on the song but they were like, I wonder if we could get like, another artist. So my producer hit up Jutes because he works with them a lot and I had been following Jutes for a while and when he sent his verse and I was like this perfect and I was talking with my label and team and I was like, what do you guys think if we put the song out with them and so they reached out and got the okay and then we're maybe we could get everyone into a video to some kind of more like a collab instead of just like they're just a song. I feel like that makes it more authentic. That way it's like it's not just my fan base but all three of ours coming together in this song, and yeah, it just happened naturally and the video came out insane and I can’t wait for people to see it.
EI:
So with that being said, there's been, like, a huge delay because it was September 8th, 2020 since we last saw anything from you music-wise, and it's been such a time that your fans haven't heard anything from you seen much from you. The most recent we've seen from you was a “Changes” cover from your at-home sessions on YouTube. So why wait so long? Exactly what was the reason behind the delay?
NC:
So one of the biggest parts was I went through a really tough time in this past year and a half with anxiety. I have bad, well I had really bad anxiety, so there’s a part of me that wanted to take some time to focus on myself and feel better about myself and kind of understand what anxiety is. Also, I would have panic attacks a lot and a lot of my music is about dealing with it and going through it especially with all the things that are going on this past year and a half, and like was part of it. And the other part was when I was talking about how I'm changing my image and sound, you know as I've always listened to bands like Nirvana, Blink-182, and Green Day those kinds of bands have always been like my true inspiration music based on what I want to make, and I was figuring out what I wanted to make the past couple years, and I made “BOY WITH A BROKEN HEART” and that was kind of the first song where it was between punk and pop and I was just okay I really like this and then I went even more like punk rock and then I kept making better and better songs and I wasn't even trying to make anything I was just making music that I love.
EI:
Do you feel that the time you spent away from the music scene and started embracing more personal time for yourself that it’s taught you a lot as well as what you continue to remind yourself?
NC:
I feel like I've learned more about myself in those six months being gone and I also feel like I've been able to be closer to my close friends and my family because of how much I saw so many people were so supportive of all the things I was going through, and it made me realize how thankful I am and lucky to be in the position I’m in. So when I was 15 telling myself where I'd be right now, I'd be like no f**king way. I think about that a lot to be motivating myself and help me to just keep going and be better than I was. And like for my future self, I would say, you know, keep your head up and just keep going. You know, keep making more music and just be yourself. I feel like the biggest model for me is to just, like, be the best version of myself. I can be Not even for, like, anyone else but for myself, you know, just to know that I'm able to be myself and people understand it. And I can understand my music is like the best thing ever. And rather people judge or anything just regarded and just keep doing. You keep making music, keep living life to the fullest, and work through your problems and just come out the other side with your head high.
EI:
In addition to this how would you say you’ve changed musically as an artist as well emotionally as a person?
NC:
I feel like I found my sound of what fits me best, and what makes me happy to the point when I listen to my music I think it's dope. I know a lot of artists don't like to listen to their songs just crazy and feel that because we're all perfectionists cause when you're making music you have to be, but if you can be a perfectionist and still love your music that's the main goal. Going through all the toughness with Covid, dealing with anxiety, and learning about myself more about what music is best for and what makes me the best. I was talking with my management team and I basically said, hey, let's take some time to just focus on myself and they were supportive about it and I started seeing a psychiatrist and kind of just figuring out music at the same time while figuring out how to go through all this. I realized who I am as I was going through it and I feel like that changed my life like I was able to understand more and now I barely have any anxiety anymore and my music is just getting better and better and I feel like now’s the time where I can come out and be comfortable and be happy showing the world myself and being fully myself and I didn't feel like I was doing that before and that's kind of the main reason why I was kind of out of the spotlight for a while.
EI:
Do you feel that with everything that you're going through and gone thri musically and just life-wise, personal-wise, is there any main impact or takeaway or legacy that you want to specifically have?
NC:
Yeah, definitely one of my biggest goals is to be able to headline my own tour in the next two years. I'd say if I could handle on my tour and then eventually get up to, like, headlining like 5000 cap rooms. It's one of the main goals that I want to pack at Wells Fargo Center in Philly back in my hometown, like always had that dream. Since I was 12 years old, so that's probably my main dream.
EI:
So with how you mentioned before about how your new sound is much more pop-punk based and asking people to relate to. It has these elements that are more genuinely yourself and people can have more of a connection with it. Do you plan to do more than just that in terms of releasing singles though? For example, do you feel we could get to know you more throughout the video services, potentially releasing an EP or even an album in the future?
NC:
So, I'm going to definitely go about putting out an EP and I'm not sure exactly when my album would be coming out, but my goal is that I can out this year. Right now I'd say we're just going to be putting out a couple of singles and then probably an EP after I'd say three or four singles and then each single will come with a video. I feel like that's where especially not even just the videos the like behind the scenes videos where people can see who I am and my personality because that's basically like the real me not even knowing that they're filming. I feel like that's a good way to see my personality but also doing stuff like this, I love doing interviews and, being able to tell my story, tell stuff about my health, and so people can feel closer to me. They can understand my music more and just feel more impacted, and you know it’s all because of my music. When it comes to me personally, I try to try to just tell stories about my life in my music. I feel like everyone makes music similar to that, but this stuff is personal to me and at the same time it's very wide open unlike everyone else.
EI:
Bet and bless to you for that, because I see that the new direction. you can't compare it especially with how it’s been a huge change. One has such a more lighthearted vibe and this one just getting a little bit edgier and talking about the relatable s**t which is pretty dope.
NC:
Yeah, I haven't even teased the best music that I have yet but I guarantee that I have so many amazing songs that I feel are the best yet and even better. So to my fans and everyone I just want them to know that there's more and more coming and it's just going to get better and better.
EI:
Can't wait to see it. I mean, I'm sure a lot of people are gonna be excited for it, rather than being, “where is he and what's been happening” but moreso, “this is worth the wait.”
NC:
Yeah, 100%. Yeah. I think the way is exactly what I needed and just come back with a bang. I'm just really excited for people to see this new me, get to know me more, and see this new music and new video and just everything about it.
EI:
Likewise and thank you as well and appreciate your time to share.
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Be sure to watch the full video for "BOY WITH A BROKEN HEART" below as well as follow Noah Cunane on Instagram and Twitter for more updates, news, and future releases.
