Luke Bar$ - Interview

We recently got the chance to connect with this week’s featured artist, Brockton based, Luke Bar$ and ask him some questions about vulnerability, family, his musical process and more. His most recent project, GoodEvil, feels like a peak into an artist’s journal. Check out what he had to say by reading on.

Who do you make music for?

I make music for [my]self. It helps me travel physically and mentally. It’s therapy for me. I get to express myself through this. I get to say how I feel unapologetically. It puts me in a different space.

What is your favorite part about your artistic process?

Once again, just being able to express myself. I get to do whatever I want. That’s freedom for me. I like to make something out of nothing. Like a song really comes from a little idea and it can affect the world. That’s mind-blowing to me. You can make something so small turn into something huge.

GoodEvil has stood out so much because of the production quality and the flows/ melodies you choose to create with the beats. What role do you play in the production process? And what do you listen for in a beat?

I’m heavy in the creation of every aspect of the music. I have a pretty good ear for production/music. I just look for a beat that makes me feel something. Once words, visuals, and ideas start coming to me I know the beat is the one.

You share a lot about your family on this album. How does family fit into your artistry?

They inspire me. As an artist, all I ever want to do is tell the truth unapologetically. My family is the purest forms of my truths. I’m not Luke without them.

GoodEvil feels like a very vulnerable project. You share details about your family's history with bipolar disorder, your own personal struggles, as well as some of your aspirations. What roles do you feel like transparency and vulnerability play in your music and in this project in particular?

Truth is so big to me. My mother would always tell me “in the Bible it says the truth will set you free”. [Because of] the path I want to take in this field, I have to tell the truth, and I have to accept the truth. Me being vulnerable is me accepting my ‘evils’, me accepting where I come from, me accepting Luke. Because if I don’t accept myself, then it’s over for me. My validation is always number 1. So this album is really about me accepting who I am, in order for me to live in this world.

You're a part of the Boston (Brockton) based group Van Buren. What has it been like creating with the group, particularly in a city that seems to be on the rise?

It’s dope. Like we’re really building a foundation, and making history. Stuff like this doesn’t happen where I’m from. And to know I’m one of the leaders behind it feels surreal. But it’s dope creating with them, and being apart of a team.

The Aux is meant to be a platform where up and coming artists can share and learn from one another. What is an important lesson you've learned as an independent artist?

Just be you. Know yourself. That’s all that matters.

What else is in store for 2020?

Only God knows. I just put the work in, I let God control everything else.