An Interview with Slater
Slater at The Belasco in LA, May 2025
Interview & Photos by Avery Kightlinger
Slater is a genre-bending artist from Orange County. He experiments heavily with hip hop and rap beats/lyricism, specifically in merging it with SoCal rock elements to create his own distinct alternative pop sounds. With his first album 23 having come out in 2017, he’s known the game for a while; and his newest album, ESI II, proves it. I sat down with him last week to discuss his new album, current tour, and his unique take with his artistry and sound.
SL = Slater / AK = Avery Kightlinger
AK : With you being from OC, which has a big culture of music and artistry in itself, how did you specifically get into the industry and making music?
SL : I wouldn’t even say I’m in the industry, I feel like an outsider in the industry. I know a lot of people in the industry but like still, the industry’s clicky, kinda like high school vibes. I don’t like it, I think that it’s lame. But I grew up playing music, I was always in bands since like middle school and I just happened to meet, you know, different people along the way who played music and some of them were Wyatt and Fletcher from The Garden. We used to play together in different bands and then, you know, just that’s really it, just playing. It just kind of leads you down, and gets you to where you are now, you just got to be consistent.
AK: Do you attribute your love for music to any particular artist?
SL: A bunch of artists, I would say like. Like, you know, you go through like. phases of like, different types of music and artists that you really like at the time. So like, there’s times I’ll grow up and I’ll be like, oh, I really like this artist and like, then you get a little older and you’re like, you know, you kind of cringe at it. Yeah. But then you get even older than that and you look back and you’re like, you know, I actually, I fu** with that artist, you know, I’m not ashamed to say I like that and that made me who I am today.
AK: ESI 2, let’s talk about it. Has it been enough time where you think you have a favorite track off of it yet?
SL: Oh, yeah. Even before I dropped it, my favorite track was the second track, I’m in the Gang. That one and So Much Blood, which is the first single I dropped. Yeah. But I think I’m in the Gang. I like it a little bit more. It’s just more fun to play a little more hype, in my opinion. But those are my two favorites.
AK: And what made you want to make it be a sequel to ESI?
SL: It’s a sequel in the sense of like I’m working with the same engineer, or I worked with the same engineer that I did for ESI One. Yeah. His name’s Devin. And so we used a lot of similar landscapes of sound and tried to keep more like an electronic sound like the first ESI was. Because the first ESI was like electronic kind of hip hop, you know? There’s really no, like real live instrumentation in it. It’s all like we made the beats on with the synthesizers and keyboards and all the sounds and stuff. So like ESI 2 is pretty much that. It’s like, yo, let’s use the same philosophy. Let’s use like, no real live instruments, you know, some guitar here and there. Yeah. But like, let’s just go, like rap style and just get in there and just, like, make sh*t on synthesizers and beat machines.
AK: What takeaways do you hope your listeners get from the new album, and what kind of mantra do you hope to leave them with?
SL: Just, I would just say be original. I think because like, we have like, the internet and, like, there’s just a lot of a lot of artistry is kind of like afraid to take risks and, makes them be like I gotta kind of sound like this so that these people look at me and I get this crowd and I just think that’s – it works in the short term, but in the long run, like, when whatever that fad it is that you’re into with that scene you’re into is no longer the zeitgeist, you’re gonna be like, “Fu**, do I need to run to be this kind of artist now? Because that’s what’s popping?” You just gotta do what you like, and make it original, you know, as much as you like being original in your own way. Because that’s the only way you can make timeless music, and make music that you can listen back on and be like, oh, this is still sick. You know, this isn’t like reminding me of 2020 this style of music, like, this is like, my own thing, I can listen to it whenever and not feel totally timely. I don’t know. That’s just my take on it. Everyone’s different. Yeah. But it’s just because I’m just like older than a lot of these other artists, you know, so I kind of see things they are doing that I probably did in the past, that I regretted doing or, you know, would be like, oh, I wish I didn’t approach it that way. That’s just me. But at the end of the day, like, there’s nobody who sounds like you who looks like you who moves like you. So kind of that’s really all it takes to be original. Just keep doing your thing and be consistent.
AK: Something I really appreciate about your music specifically is your lyricism; it’s so unique and miscellaneous. I feel like these days it’s so common to hear everyone’s singing solely about romance and relationships, and I appreciate that you kind of branch out from that a bit. So what’s your writing process and how do you source your lyrics?
SL: It’s not too often where I go into a song being like, I’m gonna write it about this. I’ll kind of just, like, start constructing a beat that I like, you know, whether, like, I’ll make something on the keyboard and record it, or I’ll find, like, a cool sample, like somewhere like buried in the internet ether and like chop it up and like make it my own. Most of the time I’m writing something on a keyboard, I’ record it, and then I’ll start, you know, getting on my pad and making drum beats for it. I’m like, oh, this is sick. And then I put like, a fat bass on it. You know, like, you like a sub or get away. Just make a sh** bump. Cause I want it bump, you know what I mean? It’s gotta bump. And then I’ll just kind of be like, all right, I’m ready to, like put some vocals on here. So I’ll have like the first minute of a song made, like beatwise, and then, I’ll start doing like vocal riffs over it and just kind of freestyle.
AK: So the music comes first?
SL: Yeah, pretty much. The music always comes first, and that kind of like dictates what I’m gonna talk about. But I kind of noticed that my lyrics kind of go towards, like, talking about haters and, like, me versus other people, kind of I don’t know why. It just kind of goes to that naturally. And I try to expand on that more. Like, I have some songs that are more talked about, like, romance. It’s just more subtle. Like it’s not straight off straight up, like, you know, like you wouldn’t pick up right away that it’s about like a romance, but like, there are some that are like that. It’s just, I kind of use different metaphors for it. And a lot of the times, I don’t know, I’m rapping a lot in a way. So like, there’s just a lot of lyrics in it. So like, I’m just like, how can I fit, like, what do I kind of want to talk about? And then what words, like, work phonetically in there. You know what I mean? Yeah, to make a flow. So that’s kind of how I piece it, I guess. Sometimes I’ll write on my notes app, like some witty bars I like, make a beat, and then not have any vocals on it, and then just play it in my, like my truck when I’m driving. And I’ll just kind of like sing or rap over it, like while I’m driving, I’ll be like, oh, I like this is cool. Let me now record this in my voice apps so I don’t forget this melody. And then I take it back to the studio and actually put it in. Yeah. Yeah, I’ll do that a lot of times.
Slater at SOMA in San Diego, September 2025
AK: Where do you draw your fashion sense/style and your artistry from?
SL: A lot of it is, honestly just like Chicano, kind of street culture and trying to make to wear it in a way that’s not too thugged out or still has a slight weirdness to it and slight, like artistic femmie kind of twist to it. You know what I mean? I don’t want to go out looking all banged down on stage all the time because it’s not really my audience either, I do like having some sort of West Coast gangster street oriented, oriented, like elements put into the drip because it just feels so nostalgic and, like, from where I’m from and stuff like that.
AK: How’s it like being on tour?
SL: It could be it could be really fun. It could be like h*ll sometimes. I think it can make you feel like. kind of like. It’s hard to feel like level. You have a lot of highs and a lot of lows, you know? So it kind of almost makes you, like, feel mentally ill sometimes. You’re like, am I bipolar? I’m like, is there something I don’t know? And then you realize, like, oh, yeah, I’m on the road for over a month, you know, like seeing the same people every day, doing the same thing every day, but in a different city in a different place as sleep, so you’re not fully rested all the time. Like, you can sleep nine hours, but you still feel tired, kind of vibe, you know? But I love it at the same time, too. It’s really rewarding. You get to make memories, you get to meet new people, you know, check out new places, have good shows, sometimes not good shows.
AK: I can imagine that like, with the highs and lows as well, what contributes a lot is you never know what you’re going to get from a particular crowd.
SL: You don’t. You can be there one year and be like, that was so fu**ing sick. The crowd was sick. And then you go to the next year and like the crowd is like, like the attitude sucks and you’re like, whoa, like what the h*ll? Like, I thought it was like this. And then it’s like, it’s hard to say. It’s hard to predict. You just kind of got to go in there. I usually go in with like worst case scenario. I’m like, oh, the show sucks as*. Like whatever. I’ll be prepared, so it only gets better from there, you know? But yeah, that’s just my approach. It is what it is. And if you really love it, it shouldn’t really matter. You know, there are a lot of egos attached to being an artist. Sometimes you just have to let it go, because it’s just like, life’s bigger than it, you know what I mean?
AK: Do you feel like it drastically affects your mood if a crowd is interacting poorly?
SL: Yeah, I mean, it has in the past. It’s like, kind of, like, sometimes it’s it’s easy to get upset and, like, just blame the crowd, but sometimes it’s, like, the artist, you know, you got to work for it. Yeah. When I’m going to a show, sometimes I’m just there to chill and watch, you know, I get it. Like sometimes I’m not there to go crazy. I’m just there because I just actually want to watch it and like listen and see it. And that’s sometimes I’ll have to remind myself that too. Like, oh, I don’t even know what’s going through that person’s head. Like, sometimes I’ll see him in the crowd and they look just like, the whole time. I’m like, why the fu** are you here? What’s the point? And then they’ll come to me after, that was fu**ing amazing. I was in a trance. I’m like, “Oh, okay that makes sense.” At first, I was getting all insecure thinking, like, you were just bored as sh*t. It’s hard to get a read, like a concert I feel like I not a lot of people are less enthusiastic at just concerts in general just because of like, like bystander effects.
Recently I’ve noticed that people don’t want to be, like, outwardly crazy, and a lot of people are like, oh, like, I’m gonna lose my aura. And that brings me to a problem I have a lot with music right now is it’s kind of just like a, it reminds me of like high school. It’s like, oh, we’re this genre, we’re like, we’re popular. And like, we’re gonna act like cool kids and like, do this to you when we walk by kind of vibe. And I think that sh*t’s fu**ing lame. And I think it’s like, it’s just fu**ing corny at the end of the day, it’s just like, just be regular, be a human. Yeah. You know, they be putting on this fu**ing aura max stuff and I’m like what the f**k. I don’t know if I’m getting too deep with it, but it’s just like, yeah, I’m just like, sometimes I see sh*t. I’m like, dude it is so corny because you yourself are going to look back at it in 10 years and be like, why was I like that? Dude, I’m embarrassed of myself. I mean, there’s just a lot of shows now, a lot of artists, people get kind of jaded by their phones too. People are recording it so that makes them cool. Oh, my God. And it’s kind of like sometimes, you know, it’s cool to get some clips, you know, your favorite part of a song, but, like, so many times you don’t need to. Like, enjoy the moment while they’re physically there, rather than looking at the screen of them there. That’s what you were doing before. Now it’s live, like, actually process that, you know, someone else is probably going to film it anyway, so you can go back to that and just save that. I don’t know. That’s just my opinion.
AK: It’s actually really nice to hear you say that because I feel like, especially the bigger artists of nowadays are kind of holding that attitude so it’s nice to hear your inside perspective condemning that.
SL: There’s like great artists up and coming, I just think people need to stop trying. Yeah. Like, just kind of just stop trying to be too cool because you lose yourself in it. Just be you. People are going to gravitate towards that. And appreciate people around you, you know, have a healthy relationship with your fan base. You know, acknowledge them, like, give them the credit where they help you. Yeah. But also, you have to create like a line too, because like, you have a personal line there, you create. You know, like, in different scenes and stuff people feel like they need to act a certain way, and I think it’s lame. Just be a good person.
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