Tyler Sellers is an up-and-coming teen pop sensation. He recently released a new song “Friend Zone,” a catchy pop-funk tune. The song is the first single off of his upcoming EP, due to be released this month.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JTYyCRWyDI
CelebMix chatted with Tyler about Friend Zone, his musical influences, and his goals for the future.
Interview with Tyler Sellers
What’s your songwriting process like?
I usually will get inspired by something (girl, song, experience) then head straight to my guitar. I think of a unique concept that I can write around. Then I start to play around and find a feel or vibe for the song. The melody usually follows which soon turns to lyrics. Before you know it, another song!
Who are you inspired by musically?
Musically I’m inspired by so many different genres and time periods (blues, pop, R&B, jazz, etc.) but when it comes to different artists, it changes all the time. Usually whoever I’m listening to will inspire the type of music I’m creating. Right now it has to be Bruno Mars, John Mayer, Daniel Caesar, NAO, and Justin Timberlake. Even though my sound is different, these artists are not only influences but goals as well because they are excellent in what they do musically and are incredibly successful.
What instruments do you play?
Are there any that you’d like to learn? I play primarily guitar, sing, and play the piano. I also play a lot of other instruments but don’t make them as much a part of my daily life as the others. One instrument I’d love to learn one day would have to be the mandolin. I just think it would be cool to do a song with one of those ?.
What are your goals for the rest of 2017? Where do you hope to be at the beginning of next year?
My goals for the rest of 2017 are to keep on writing, building connections, cranking out songs in the studio, and start to open up with someone on tour. I’m also excited to say that I have a song coming out in a new Netflix original film so I hope to have more opportunities like that. By next year I’d like to have built a larger fan base that I could connect with and start to do my own touring in the US!!
Your new single “Friend Zone” came out recently. What was the experience like creating the song?
It was really cool, I had this idea in my head for a song built around the concept of the friend zone. I wrote the chords down real quick, I then had this idea for a bigger sound then just the guitar. I asked my 10 year old brother to bring his drums into my room. I just told him what to play and we started jamming. I was feeling it, started writing lyrics real quick, and before you know we had the song. It was one of the quickest songs that I had written at the time, and it’s super fun to jam out to.
What about the music video? Do you have a vision for the video when writing the song?
So like I said, I was already starting to envision more than just a typical song. I knew that I wanted a full band sound and I wanted a story to it. Wasn’t sure how we would shoot it, but we found the right girl and I couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out.
If you could go on tour with any artist, who would it be and why?
This is a question that I’ve been thinking about for a long time. If I could go on tour with any artist, it’d either be Tori Kelly, John Mayer, or The Weeknd. These guys are the bomb!
If you want to see more of Tyler be sure to follow him on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram!
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