Trevor Poole

To provide an introduction of sorts to you, Trevor Poole is someone who is a sort of jack of all trades when it comes to music, and, he is immensely talented and savvy in every area he practices whether it be songwriting, production, or the business of music.  While, in my opinion, creativity is inherently a trait we all share, I always am so curious about the "lightning strike" that proclaimed creatives have all experienced; the moment where it is no longer casual and how that forms an artist. When someone happily wears so many hats and seems eager to put on more, I am even more intrigued to hear their lightning strike moment. So without further ado, let's talk to Trevor Poole.

Trevor was first drawn to music in the third grade when he joined his elementary school band playing the trumpet. "I loved being part of a performance and how each instrument section contributed unique tones and melodics to the story the piece told"; Trevor played trumpet in band through eighth grade. 

I also wanted to know what took Trevor's love of music and performance into the love and practice of recording music. He told me, that when he was 12, his Father had got him a copy of FL Studio (a recording software) for Christmas, and in turn, began to teach himself obsessively "every possible function" of the program. With the understanding of song structure and a basic recording software, Trevor had set an incredible foundation for himself but still lacked the tools to know "what makes a good mix, mastering, and how to acoustically treat my room" so he went to Belmont University for an Audio Engineering Technology degree in order to acquire those skills.

If you have heard any of Pooles music, it's moody, introspective, and sonically and lyrically rich. I was dying to know who his musical inspirations were. Poole named XXXTENTACION, citing his acoustic guitar and piano ballads, as a major inspiration to his music. "He is a large reason I make music, I learned from him that music can be very beneficial outlet to channel pain, sadness, anger, and heartbreak".  Another artist on the radar of inspire for Trevor is Joji; "he was able to change people's perception of him entirely." (I had no idea that before releasing music, Joji was known for his sketch comedy YouTube channel and I guess that speaks volumes about the effectiveness of his rebrand). Poole continued, "I think it is awesome that he just put the music out and let it speak his new truth for him."

There is typically a separation between producer and artist, a mutli-person effort to create a piece of work. But, in this circumstance, the producer and artist are one. He is of sorts, a collaborative team made up of one. And further, Poole is responsible for the mix and masters of his work. There is something so intimate and exclusive about getting to hear work from someone who does it all themselves, a peak of sorts into the mind. 

"I would often go through phases of 'I am an artist and just want to be an artist' when my music was performing well. Then, I would find a fire rap artist on Spotify and think 'I am gonna produce stuff like this and send a ton of beats to this artist.'" said Trevor on the matter.  For a time, he pretty evenly split the time he spent recording for himself and producing for others and explained: "each activates a different part of my creative mind, and I think I would feel very incomplete without one or the other." 

Additional to being a songwriter, artist, and producer, Poole has thrown himself into the business of music as well. (what did I say? Jack of all trades). He has recently gotten involved working in A&R.  He described that he scours Spotify for undiscovered talented and helps get them signed for releases; "that's something I find a lot of value in." He explained, "all of these roles are related in the sense that I love helping others. My music is designed to help people with their struggles mentally and emotionally, my production work is meant to help people grow and feel confident in their music when they send it out for the world to hear, and the A&R helps talented artists find a team of people to put marketing and distribution support into their music."

This past year, Poole dropped just less than 20 songs including 'Talk Too Much', 'Past Dawn', 'One Sided" and an EP 'Limitless'. AND His newest song 'Call Home' dropped today featuring Gustixa and Daniel Saint! All the while, Poole has repurposed his previous artist name, Fallen Oceans, as a record label to take his love for supporting artists even further. I would expect great things to continue coming from Trevor Poole in every facet, as an artist, songwriter, producer, and businessman.

A huge thanks to Trevor for doing this interview with me and bearing with me through the process. It is always an honor to be trusted with telling a piece of someone's story, thank you for trusting me Trevor.  So excited to have this out in the world now and can't wait to see what more is to come from this awesome guy and artist.