Interview with F. Scott

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today? 

I wish this was a better story: when I was 5 years old I saw a neighbourhood poster for home piano lessons, ya know the ones with the perforated tags on the bottom with the seller’s phone number? So this poster had a clipart picture of a gold medal, and 5 year old me was obsessed with medals, so I was like “Mom, can I do piano lessons?” fully expecting a gold medal would be a part of the equation. So I got into piano, which started this whole music spiral. Still no medals, unfortunately.

If I hadn’t gotten into music I’d most likely be some other creative professional, maybe an architect, but that’s wishful thinking. I’d probably be an admin clerk or something super boring.

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

I love camping and outdoorsy stuff: like river canoeing, treeplanting, rock climbing etc. I actually wrote my first (real) song on a 35 day canoe trip on the Missinaibi River in Northern Ontario when I was 16. I guess it influences my creativity by giving me perspective. When you do the same thing in the same place everyday you don’t have much to draw on in terms of experience for your art. Anything that shakes up your day to day is good for creativity.  

How long have you been making music?

I’ve been creating songs since I was 10, so 19 years? I made a really awful political song about Paul Martin when I was 10… it was a bad start…

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

I’m based out of Guelph, Ontario. I went to school here and just built a good community of friends and collaborators. I moved to Toronto for a time but moved back to Guelph because of that social environment. It just feels like everyone is actually trying to make something cool for the sake of it rather than to get ahead in their artistic career. 

Tell me about your most memorable shows, if you haven’t played live what is your vision for a live show?

I got to play in between the Beaches and DJ Shub at the University of Guelph for a frosh week show: that was a lot of fun plus I broke like two strings in half an hour. 

What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

The Horseshoe Tavern was a really special place to play because it was the first ‘well-known’ venue I played, and we had such a group come from Guelph for the show. But also Two Doors in Brantford, it’s such a hole in the wall but is the best venue: the best people and it just feels like home.

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

Chance The Rapper, Vulfpeck, Tyler The Creator, Bon Iver, The 1975… god this is becoming a big show

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into making music and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

That advice would be the same for both: don’t be afraid to put out music that isn’t perfect. I’ve spent so much time obsessing over the music, production, audio, etc when I otherwise could’ve been putting out music, learning from the process, and getting better at all aspects of music-making through that journey. Lower the stakes. Just put shit out.

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why? 

I think Sweet Serenity: it was the first real song I wrote (as mentioned above) and I wrote it on a canoe trip in Northern Ontario when I was 16. Something about the time of my life when I wrote that song plus the fact that I really felt like I had achieved something makes that song special to me. 

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

Definitely Normal Behaviour for both, I love playing it for everyone and everyone always knows the words, it’s such an elating feeling.

What is your creative process, and what inspires you to write your music?

My process is to write, let it sit for along time, then revisit and chop it up and only take the best parts. It’s like a distillation process or something, you get rid of the excess/fluff from your art when you wait that long. What inspires me is just my life and experiences, the experience of coming of age in Canada, becoming an adult, navigating that. It’s what I know so it’s what I write. 

Do you have messages that you like to get across in your music, if so please tell me about them?

I don’t go to write a song with the intention that this song is gunna be about ‘not doing drugs’ or something, but I suppose a lot of themes that come through my music are about recognizing that your life is bound to be full of difficult things, and it’s ok to not know what to do. Just being ok with some of the meaninglessness of the world, maybe some sense of optimistic nihilism, maybe that’s what I’m trying to get at.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

Well I just finished Scotty Season, a collection of 10 songs released in 5 parts over 3 months. Considering I just finished my first full length project I’m thinking of taking a quick break, it’s been a lot. But that is definitely what I’d want to spotlight. Go check it out!

How can your fans best keep up to date with you, any socials you want people to check out?

Well I’m an old man so keep up with me on instagram @f.scottyy.