Reflecting on your journey thus far and making his debut at just 17 years old.

Preston: That one’s a crazy one because I’ve been writing this script for a video that I’m putting together for my show next week and it’s something that I am actually reflecting on for the first time in a long time. The biggest thing when I think back to myself at 17, I was just unsure about everything. I was writing music with zero intention of it ever being listened to. Now that people are actually listening and now that I’ve grown as a person and as an artist and experienced all these crazy things – things that I never really thought I would. It doesn’t even feel real when I think back to that place where I’m just writing songs in my bedroom, it’s almost impossible to imagine it actually working the way you want it to.

On winning Breakthrough Artist of the year at the Juno Awards last year & how it has impacted his music career since.

Preston: It’s definitely had a positive impact for sure. After the Junos I felt a shift in the live performance side. I was playing a lot more shows, a lot more people were reaching out for me to come out and play festivals, and it also kind of just was like this confidence booster that fed into my creativity as an artist. It’s not a forever thing. The first little while after that, I really felt like I was the man. That whole Juno performance and winning the Juno is this very reassuring feeling and this overwhelming sense of confidence that I kind of had after it…But it’s more so in the past now, not always top of mind. When it first happened, it’s kind of all you can think about because it’s fresh. It’s been a decent amount of time since then and lots has also happened since then and you kind of just have to keep on going. Awards like that can positively impact your career, but that most of the time just means that you’re taking on more work and more responsibility. So you kind of have to just keep on pushing and move forward. Now there’s a little bit more pressure and a little bit more to lose.

On his Platinum single “Flowers Need Rain”.

Preston: I had traveled to Montreal for the first time ever back in 2020. Right when the pandemic kind of started or right when that first wave ended, it was somewhere around then. I traveled to Montreal to meet with Banx and Ranx and work on music with them. I spent five days there in the studio with them. We actually didn’t write flowers during that time. It was when I flew back to Timmins. I just remember feeling very overwhelmed by the whole experience just because it was like a brand new thing for me. I had never been on a plane before and I was just in a new place, new environment, in a real studio for the first time. It was just like lots of things happening all at once. Getting back home, I just remember feeling very stressed out with all these questions asking, “is this what I want to do? Do I fit in here?”. Flowers kind of came to me during that time, very organically. I remember picking up my guitar one day shortly after getting back from Montreal and just singing and playing chords and the melody for the chorus of Flowers just naturally came out and I just kept singing that melody over and over and little by little put words to it and it became the chorus.

Why he felt out of place. 

Preston: It was so brand new to me and out of my element. I was used to growing up in Timmins, there was never like any sort of music community other than my elementary school band. I had never been in a real studio. I didn’t understand how the process of writing songs with other people worked or being in front of a microphone while someone else is recording your vocals. I was watching my idols like Justin Bieber and The Weeknd, or whatever artist I was listening to at the time, you get to see that success part but you don’t really see the path that it took to get there. They’re doing real work and they’re not just on stage being stars 24/7.

On the feeling of nostalgia inspiring his new single.

Preston: Similar to Flowers, Dance Alone was one of those songs where I was by myself in my room creating in a free space. I was on Splice, it’s what producers and artists use to find different sounds. I found the synth sound that’s predominantly used in “Dance Alone”. I remember singing melodies and writing over that. It was four chords and I had it on loop and I wrote the hook to “Dance Alone”. I immediately just felt this sense of nostalgia while I was writing it. It made me feel like I was back in grade seven or eight, listening to some radio-dance-pop hit and it just made me feel so free. I started reminiscing about being younger and I wanted to convey that feeling through the song. So that’s why I chose the lyrics and melodies that worked with the synth chords that I found.  I feel like it does a really good job at being a nostalgic song.

On finding moments of inspiration and balance to ensure that your creativity continues to thrive.

Preston: Honestly, it’s hard to even know, like sometimes those kinds of things just happen when they happen. My most successful songs have happened at times where I least expect them. I think something that helps me stay inspired and willing to create is taking time to actually step away from it rather than just being in the studio every day. I know that works for some artists, but that’s definitely not the kind of artist that I am. I don’t enjoy spending all my days and hours in the studio. I enjoy being outside of the studio, living my life as a human. When I feel like there’s something I need to get off my chest, or some sort of emotion I need to convey, that’s when I’ll go to the studio with some sort of purpose or idea in mind.