Q+A: Sally Boy
By mixing lyrics of heartache with an undeniably upbeat energy, Sally Boy manages to uncover a hidden innocence in angst. He puts a positive spin on your typical rejection story, creating refreshingly lighthearted records that are as relatable as they are catchy. Refusing to be boxed into one genre, Sally Boy enlists the help of Hong Kong Boyfriend to release his single, “Good at Being Lonely.” The track approaches the relationship between love and loneliness in a truly unique way. Following that with the release of “Bad Habits,” a true pop sound at its core, Sally Boy perfectly captures the attitude of a care-free summer and leaves fans anxiously excited for his upcoming EP, Lies I Tell Myself due next month.
We were able to talk to the singer about his eclectic sound, the making of his new singles “Good At Being Lonely” and “Bad Habits,” and what to expect from the highly anticipated, Lies I Tell Myself.
Do you mind introducing yourself?
Hellooo, I am Sally Boy AKA Erez AKA buttercup bandit AKA q tip connoisseur AKA Googles how to spell connoisseur. I am an artist.
What fusion of genres would you describe your sound as?
I’d consider the base of all my songs to be pop, but built to include flavors of other genres as well. This can be rap, hyperpop, or R&B depending on the song. I don’t know, I just do my best to make cool music, don’t really align myself with any one genre. Just Sally Boy music.
What first got you into music?
I’m not sure I could point out any singular moment as the one in which music really clicked for me, it's just always been what made sense. I started playing piano at 3 years old, would participate in every talent show, perform when my family had guests over, write songs, and just continued to do it my whole life.
Where did the moniker “Sally Boy” come from? What does it mean to you?
Well it originally existed as the song, but as I was trying to decide what to go by I thought Sally Boy was perfect. Because it started as a song I wrote through stream of consciousness, it initially didn’t have that much meaning as a name, but as I’ve explored it and found out more about what the term means (a man with feminine tendencies) I’ve found that it spoke to me in more ways than anticipated.
Unfortunately, as a man, there were certain things I was made to believe were wrong; such as expressing myself truly and being emotional, so this name was a way for me to brandish those mannerisms. A way to say that I’m not embarrassed by them, instead I’m proud to be the way that I am.
I loved your music video for “Good at Being Lonely”. What was the idea behind the video?
“Good At Being Lonely” was always a fun song, from its inception to the day we released it so the goal was just to capture that energy and what my friends and I had been doing the whole summer. Basically finding fun in the unnatural environment that was lockdown in LA. Honestly we just used it as an excuse to dick around, rent a cool car and drive around with a camera strapped to the hood.
What was it like collaborating with Hong Kong Boyfriend?
It’s always easy. We’ve worked together on various things for the better part of 3 years now. We do a really good job of playing off of and bringing out the best in each other. Certainly not the first thing we ever did and far from the last. We used to joke about dropping a collaborative project but who knows, maybe you can expect that in the future. Fasho got enough songs for it.
Do you have a specific artist/genre that you favor collaborating with?
I don’t generally think of collaborations in terms of artists or genre, I more so prioritize how a person thinks. There’s something special that happens when you’re working with someone who is like-minded to you in that you create a hivemind. You arrive at ideas the same time as the other and the two of you work more as a symbiotic being than as separate individuals. So, finding that is much more important to me than working within a certain genre.
“Bad Habits” is such an upbeat, lighthearted track, where did the concept for it come from?
I was in my room one night, hella late, looping the guitar riff, and found myself describing a scene of drinking alone and missin on somebody. I liked this idea of having the energy of the riff colored by the somewhat darker lyrics. This turned into a practice of listing other unhealthy decisions I make often; lying to therapists, ignoring my dads advice, etc.. to the point where I felt I needed a chorus. So to drive it all home, I just shrugged my shoulders and chalked it up to having bad habits. oops. Second verse just came to me and song was basically done.
Tongue in cheek comes pretty naturally to me so this song was just letting my thoughts come out and basically just discussing with the listener. I just be talking on songs that’s all there is to it. If you like my songs you’d like me
Can we expect a mix of upbeat songs like “Bad Habits” and acoustic-driven “just friends now” on Lies I Tell Myself? Will the sound be more experimental than your previous projects?
Yes to both. It's a point of pride for me, to be able to make both slow songs/ballads and headbangers so yeah, you can expect that on this project. and every project I make in the future. It's also fasho more experimental. During its making there were plenty of times that I stood up and said “THIS SHIT IS SO COOL” so ya some would say experimental but I think its just cool music. Want people to hear this and be like damn I didn’t even know you could approach music in that way. Tryna keep it fresh
What song are you most excited for the fans to listen to from the upcoming EP?
“Martha;” my second from the “women’s names that start with M” collection. It’s a beautiful song and a bit different from the stuff I’ve put out, mostly because I think it really speaks honestly in a way I’m proud to have captured. That jawn gives me goosebumps and gives everyone that’s heard it goosebumps. So I can't wait to provide goosebumps to my listening base.
Would you rather perform at a small local venue, or a huge festival?
On a regular basis I’d probably rather perform at small local venues because of how strong the connection with the crowd is...however if it were just one show I would choose a huge festival. Just cause that would be hella fun. I’d prolly do that thing Uzi did where he would just jump in the crowd and run around the festival. I’m pretty fast. I bet I could beat Uzi in a race.
What can fans look forward to next?
Another single later this year, EP even later this year, and then a whole career of consistently fresh music.