Mustard had the pleasure of speaking with Thorne Malik. on the debut episode of the “Music Shelf With Mustard” podcast! Below is an abridged transcription of our conversation. Mustard hopes you enjoy!
1. We both have history with Channel 3 Kids Camp. You were both a camper and a CIT (counselor in training.) How did your time there influence your music?
In my 15 years at channel 3 kids camp, i was able to be a camper, teen leader, CIT, run the CIT program, lifeguard, and be a counselor. during that time i learned a lot of humility in that i know what I’m best at and what I’m not but I’m never afraid to take a stage or really just be myself because of my time at camp.
2. Your debut EP is titled “now wha(t)?!” Was this a response to something that happened? Or a statement in itself?
sort of both. I’m 2019, I was working on a different project and it fell through for a few reasons one of which being the pandemic in 2020. when i started over, i was also finishing up my bachelors in quarantine and had no idea what my next steps would be and the question that’s kept me going these past few years really is now wha(t)?! I fail? now what. I win? now what. I’m not done and until i am the question will remain.
3. What (or who) is your main inspiration?
I’m inspired by something different everyday being honest with you. some days it’s my loved ones like my roommates bert knox and tookhozy or my family like my older brother dopeydgtl. my current favs are tyler, the creator, rex orange county, and I’d really love to work with kaelin ellis.
a lot of my writing is just pulled from experience though. the chorus on family matters was something i wrote after a night at a bowling alley with all of my closest friends on a Wednesday night in December. i think it all pours in from everywhere
4. On “Family Ma(tt)ers” you claim “Phineas Ferb my brother tell me what we getting up to do.” What has your brother gotten you into recently?
for anyone who doesn’t know, my older brother is an artist that goes by dopeydgtl. right now he’s living in North Carolina and drawing and doing cool stuff to be honest. he went sky diving the other day and I’m not gonna lie, I’m very jealous. we’re both working hard to make the most of our artistic dreams right now but i look forward to seeing him in person again.
5. Who are some of your biggest influences?
without getting too specific, I’d say some of my biggest influences are mary j blidge, tyler the creator, t pain, miles morales and izuku midoriya from my hero academia
6. You’re putting together an all-star talent show at Channel 3 Kids Camp. Who is on the line-up?
aside from myself, my DREAM line up is definitely gonna include chip skylark, kyle and tank and the bangas
7. How do you balance being a student and making music?
I finished my undergrad in 2020 and in adjusting to the world, the one thing i’d say is consistent is the challenge of balancing being an artist and quite literally everything else from work to relationships to keeping up with tv shows. what really helps is committing to the bit a lot of the time. when i get wrapped up in other things i have to remind myself that I’m a musician that works in whatever to pay my bills. I’m coming to appreciate the tedium of everyday life because it bleeds into my creative process.
8. If you could go open a show for any artist who would it be?
i would love to open for Gorillaz with some super cool stage effects and like a lil animated thorne malik.
9. Where have you performed? What are your favorite and least favorite venues? Do you have any upcoming shows?
Brooklyn knitting factory
sunnyvale
blackthorn 51
hofstra university
a bar in england
my high school
uhart multi purpose room
channel 3 kids camp
amityville music hall
DROM
and karaoke at luv story every Wednesday night
fav is either luv story or Hofstra. i played my biggest shows in Hofstra and that’s probably the closest i’ve felt to the dream so far. the uhart multi purpose room was my least fav cause they only let me do a feature on my friends performance but i’m just glad i touched the stage.
I’m performing and something called safe and sound in Connecticut this weekend and I’m in the process of rescheduling the ep release show i was supposed to put on in December. currently looking at summer dates
10. Is it true that you cannot rhyme anything with orange?
I’m a firm believer that nothing is impossible. you can rhyme with orange but there’s no PERFECT rhyme. if you play around with the pronunciation enough orange rhymes with solange tho and that’s pretty cool.
11. Mustard wonders what is the best advice you’ve been given?
one time after dinner at camp on our way out of the dining hall one of our younger campers stopped me out of the blue and told me to never stop rapping. completely caught me off guard cause bro was like 6, had been at camp for a day and a half, and as far as i know had no idea i made music. it was a bit trippy honestly.
also i once met Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of eat, pray, love and she told me to sleep on everything before deciding what to do next. if i feel like something is perfect or if i feel like something isn’t that good she suggested going to sleep on it and coming back with a fresh pair of eyes/ears. some of my best ideas have come from a good night of sleep after a good idea.
12. Describe your creative process.
it always goes 1 or 2 ways. sometimes i get chord progressions or melodies in my head and i can sit down at my laptop and flush the entire idea out, add drums, write a verse and sequence in one go. that’s how i made the first part of ego dea(t)h, the song kind of just fell out of my mind and came together.
on other occasions my creative process can be super drawn out and i have to spend time with parts of songs until the feel just right. those are probably the songs that talk about things happening in real life. sometimes stuff that’s hard to talk about and because it’s hard i have trouble recording. the version of (t)here that ended up on the ep includes a second verse that i ended up writing because the original second verse while some of my best writing was something i just couldn’t get myself to record and be happy with. it really just depends where i’m at mentally
13. Finish the lyric: his name is mustard, they’re a condiment….
she told me i’m spicy, i take that shit as a compliment
hate to brag and boast, they want me out here lacking confidence,
still ain’t reach my prime but ima optimist,
it’s happening so i just hope you’re watching it
Music Shelf With Mustard 