Who is Zway? 

“So Zway is probably best described as my inner self coming out. Like how hypnotism therapy works; I let my the wall slip and either I make something about my emotions in the moment, or I let off some rage by making some metal or insanely hard hitting rap just cuz i feel like flexing.”

Where are you from? What history would you like to share that makes Zway?

“Uhhh my dad was a marine so we moved around a few times, so it’s hard to say where “home” is. About 9 ish years in one state that we moved from when I was 15, but it feels like I didn’t do too many memorable things. I remember the house and my neighbors, but mostly just sitting in my room. When I moved to Virginia was when I first started being more outwardly expressive, going to do things and forming true memories. A lot of good and a lot of bad there, but memorable. And then in tennessee I grew into being an adult, and became more of “me” then before. Not sure what sort of history there is to speak of because of all that, most of what makes Zway happened between ages 17 and now. Falling in love, losing it, moving away from my friends and a couple enemies, to now being here after taking a major risk.”

What's it like living in Michigan?

“Pretty cool to be honest, a lot more to do than in the last few places I lived. I haven’t been around too much stuff that people wanted to “warn” me of lol. Only one shooting a couple doors down when people kept saying there would be one every day. I’m not THAT close to Detroit and even then, everytime I go down there nothing is really going on. One of these days I’m gonna go out and get into the real dirty shit like a takeover, as bad as they are and as much as I talk shit about them, simply for the music videos. The first winter sucked due to my van being fucked up, and I’m not looking forward to this one, but I’m prepared now. I feel better than ever here.”

Where did you learn to sing?

“Growing up we all sing along to the songs we love, even if we do it badly. I wanted to be good though and would put a ton of effort into it as a kid, resulting in the eventual first recording at 16ish. I was making beats at 13 and figured no one else wanted to do anything so I just started singing on them, and after 8ish years of work it’s starting to sound not so bad.”

What is COUGHINCLVB?

“It is firstly a clothing brand, but since I’ve moved here it’s a grown into a lot more. This isn’t to say I am the reason for that, as the plans and ideas were sort of already there with the owners (scvm45 and his wife, idk if she would want a name drop). Since I’ve joined up, first through Twitter connections into eventually me moving up here with them, those ideas and plans have come into a sort of fruition. It’s now a label, not managed by me but something I give advice on, the clothing brand, a live music venue and host where I do all the live and studio engineering, and lastly just a group of friends. We are a part of the Michigan underground trying to not only put people onto bigger opportunities, but to get the artists connected with the fans more. We did a BBQ and beyblade tournament recently and will keep doing more besides just music, we want to make the community that we love into a more connected one.”

We know you as a very versatile musician. Are there any genres you'd like to tap into that you haven't yet?

“I haven’t thought about it much. I sort of just find something that catches my ear in the moment and go. It’s why I can’t just sit down and make a metal song, or a Detroit style banger. I gotta immediately feel something and go off of it, so it’s hard to just pick genres. There’s a lot people ask me to make that I could but just haven’t heard the right thing yet, or I already have and it’s in the vault. One I hear a lot is some like jersey club or new wave jazz inspired trap stuff idk how to describe it. It could be interesting but I don’t know the sort of head space I would need to do it.”

Which genre has been your favorite to make and why?

“When a death metal track comes together well, it’s definitely going to be one of my favorites. But at the other side, super bouncy tracks like “the game freestyle” or  one that goes hard non stop with no breaks like “new check” I always look back in months later and think, “damn man I really kill this shit everytime”. End of the day though, I love all my music and hate all my music depending on the day. Just kidding it’s the acoustic emo stuff. Easy answer.”

Who are some of your biggest influences?

“I always struggle to answer this because I feel like any influence is usually more subconsciously done. The only REAL influence I can say I have is gojira; the first time I heard “the heaviest matter of the universe”, or in the universe I can’t remember which it is right now, but the first time I heard it I was trying to emulate their low screams. Not the heaviest screams on earth, and I would argue that where I’ve come with my lows is impressive, but they really made me think like “I want to sound that way”. Another potential one that I haven’t really thought about but could be one, is jack kays. I feel like he may not have directly inspired me but listening to him I can hear a lot of similarities in description of emotion, and a lot of what I listened to growing up has those sort of descriptions. Terrible answr that makes no sense but shoutout to him lol”

What do you hope for your music to represent? 

“Just allowing yourself to feel things, and the ever changing position of life. My music sounds different from song to song, I almost never make the same sound twice in a row. I might release them that way but they weren’t made that way. Life changes, so allow yourself to also.”

Is there hopes for another Zway album and if so, how does that look?

“I’m not sure I’ve technically dropped one, I released a ton of singles and then grouped them together on Spotify as one. So like, a cohesive, thought out album would be a first. I don’t know though, that’s a tough one. I’m so constantly flowing between states of myself and my emotions, i feel like an album would need to be structured thoughtfully to achieve something that feels like “me” without being too… I’m not sure what to say, without being too rigid Or manipulated. Authenticity in my music is hard when I have to put thought into it. Maybe I need someone on my team who can be the Rick Rubin of sorts, saying “nah those 12 ordered like this follows a theme of this” right? That would be cool.”

As a multi talented artist, what is your main tips for growing vocalists and engineers?

“Work thoughtfully and work often. A ton is lost when you’re sitting idle and nothing is gained. Dedicating each day to being better, even outside of the music and in general life, pays dividends. I also wouldn’t just take advice, I would try and find lots of info on what you want to learn and then testing to find what really does work well. For example using an eq on vocals. People recommend this and that and this, but it’s not for your vocals. So try out this piece from that guy and that from this guy and find YOU in all of it. You have to love learning just as much as you love creating to get better, so take the time to learn.”

We love to see rising artists being constant with playing shows! What is a coffinclub x zway show like? 

“It ain’t a coffin clvb show without Zway and it ain’t a Zway show without the clvb. Lots of emotion and sound, tons of energy. We won’t let the crowd sit still we give them orders and they listen because they know it makes everything more fun. We love it. The only way to truly understand is to experience it.”

What's next or coming up for You?

“Nothin man, I’m about to go fishing. maybe I’ll write some music tomorrow. Maybe I won’t. We will just have to see where the wind leads us, won’t we?”

Follow Zway: soundcloud.com/zwayofficial x.com/ZwayOfficial?t=X6oNXVbpctYSdUMsSV6dvw&s=09 

Written By JAYD3D!: linktr.ee/jaydedofficial