Postcard Boy’s cross medium work holds his vision true and creates a space of its own
Stream: “Flight” – Postcard Boy
It’s always refreshing when an artist’s musical vision is blended seamlessly with a unique visual purpose. This is the case with Postcard Boy, whose music comes to life in his visual work. Prior to releasing music, Garrett Seaman focused on his visual work through the alias “phlym”, capturing photos for clients like LANY, Brixton, and Emma Chamberlain. His genuine enjoyment and passion for his work, led him to learn a lot about himself and has continued with who he is as a creative today. When honing in more on his music, he realized that he was connecting with people in ways he didn’t see coming. “That’s what makes art so powerful, it can pull out emotions and come to fruition in ways that surprise the audience as well as the artist themselves.”
Postcard Boy blends nostalgic sounds with strong visual aspects to transport fans into his world. Directing and editing his own videos allows his imagination to become real life. It’s obvious that his accompanying videos have a clear vision, thus elevating his artistry. “I’ve just gravitated toward the freedom of creativity since I was super young and that has carried through until now.” Sonically, his music can take you into a place of happiness and sadness simultaneously. With mellowed electric guitar and a soothing voice, there is a nostalgic element in the mix. Possessing melodic vocals reminiscent of Ryan Beatty and Role Model, everything about his music project is beautifully executed.
Spend everyday like it’s the weekend
Wasting freedom and the
boredom’s setting in
We’ll talk for hours about nothing
Just how we wish were something
like we’re in kindergarten
Going through the motions
Oh so sunkissed and full
of a hundred pointless tales
Still we hope it never ends,
it’s closing in now
We decide that it’s the perfect moment
The uncertainty in pursuing music can be daunting for some artists, but Postcard Boy is a firm believer that what you put in is what you get out.
Consistently learning and putting in the work, will open up anyone’s creative capacity. There’s one thing for sure. Postcard Boy is an upcoming artist of his time. His passion with unwavered dedication for art is apparent, and will be joining household names in the near future.
Atwood Magazine talks with Postcard Boy about what he’s up to these days, his creative background, and his forthcoming EP Limbo coming out this June. The first single off the new EP, “Flight”, is out now with the first of many accompanying videos for the project as a whole.
Time stands still for a while
These days replay in my mind
Tonight til’ I realize
These feelings already took flight
Yeah, you could tell me
Yeah, you could tell me
Reminisce on your old memories
All about bullshit fantasies
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:: stream/purchase Postcard Boy here ::
Stream: “Flight” – Postcard Boy
MEET POSTCARD BOY
Atwood Magazine: Hello! First, I hope you are doing well during quarantine. What is keeping you busy these days?
It fluctuates for sure, but I’ve actually been doing pretty good. I’ve been taking walks everyday around the neighborhood and reading. I’m back at my home in San Diego with my parents, so I’ve been enjoying good home cooked meals and watching movies with them. I’m also in online school now for college, which is a whole new adjustment to say the least. And of course, I’m making music when it feels right. Definitely missing my friends a lot too, so my screen time has skyrocketed because of FaceTiming.
Anyone new on your playlists that you have been listening to?
I’ve been listening to a lot less music on quarantine, which is weird. Normally at school I’d be walking around campus listening to something. If I’m driving somewhere there’s music always on. At home, I only listen to music if I go on a walk and that’s about an hour a day, which isn’t much. Narrowed down to artists I’ve been mainly listening to American Pleasure Club and Luke Prost.
I’d love to know the backstory behind the name Postcard Boy. Where did it come from?
It’s actually from a lyric I wrote in 2018 before I had music out on streaming. It was a more alternative rock and in the chorus there was this line, “Can I be your postcard boy?” When I wrote it it just felt right, so I made that my name. It fits great, the way a postcard is associated with photos, memories, and all that. I didn’t intentionally think about all these possible submeanings when I made it my artist name, though.
Have you always wanted to be a musician? What made you want to start your career as an artist?
Music was always around. My mom is Filipino and her family is sprinkled with musicians and they all just like to sing, especially my grandma who loves to dance. My dad was in bands growing up. So when we would have family celebrations there was always a little concert around the piano or a guitar and everyone singing together. It’s always been something I enjoyed because it was just there. It wasn’t like I made a real conscious decision that I want it to be a career. I started making videos with my sister when I was in first grade and I started playing ukulele in fourth grade. There have been a lot more steps in between, but I’ve just gravitated toward the freedom of creativity since I was super young and that has carried through until now.
Before taking on your musical career, you shot for clients like LANY and Emma Chamberlain. Was photography/film a stepping stone to get you into the creative industry? Or was that just your passion at the time?
It all comes from genuine enjoyment. That passion has driven me to some really neat opportunities for sure. Retrospectively, you could say that my visual work has been a stepping stone, but it was never a plan like “I’ll do photos, then after I do a bit of that, I’ll switch over to music and then after that…” Passion with a lot of dedication and good timing can lead to really great things. That’s my opinion at least.
What’s it like changing your role from capturing the essence of others to expressing what is within yourself?
It’s like a lot of things, you just keep learning. While trying to capture someone else visually, I’ve learned a lot about myself in that process, whether it be through an actual conversation with that friend, or if it’s because of the way they carry themselves. Same thing goes for when I start diving into myself and trying to articulate that in songwriting. While I’m opening personal doors, I also am realizing my connection to other people and experiences. You’ll have moments of clarity that you don’t expect. That’s what makes art so powerful, it can pull out emotions and come to fruition in ways that surprise the audience as well as the artist themselves.
Do you think people are born with creativity inside them or do you think it is something that is learned?
I think everyone has a creative capacity. Whether they tap into that or not is a whole different idea. I’m a firm believer in the idea that you get out of things what you put in. If you want to be a better artist, whatever media you love, you have to be willing to spend hours and hours learning and practicing to get better. On the other hand, creative talent is very subjective. For example, there is plenty of music I love that my friends are indifferent about and the same the other way around.
Have you ever doubted what you were capable of?
Inevitably. I talk about this a lot with my friends, the cyclical feeling of doubt. It’s so easy to compare yourself to other artists and just be like, “Damn, that is so much better than what I’m doing.” To a certain extent this could sometimes be true. This also goes way past art and applies to life in general. However, I now look at the world through the perspective that where I am is right where I am supposed to be. This doesn’t mean I just watch everything pass by and hope for the best, but it’s a sort of acceptance that where I’m at currently is totally fine. I still have goals and I still have bad days, but that mindset has helped me a lot.
Can you tell me about your upcoming single, “Flight”?
“Flight” is a feel-good track from the Limbo EP both sonically and lyrically. The song discusses summer boredom and doing nothing with your friends, but feeling better than ever. Sometimes you don’t recognize how good a moment is until it’s too late and you’re reaching for that memory again. That’s the chorus of this song “these feelings already took flight.” The ocean sound at the end is from a road trip I did with one of my best friends up the California coast. That trip represents everything this song stands for, so putting the ocean in at the end just made the song complete.
The single comes from your forthcoming EP, Limbo. What has been the most difficult and rewarding part of this process?
I think the most difficult is definitely waiting for it to come out. It is the longest I’ve ever sat on music. The most rewarding part is now. I hope I can get the music and videos into as many eyes and ears as possible. This is by far the most cohesive and complete project I’ve ever done in any art form. If I had to say another difficult time it would be directing and shooting the six music videos while balancing schoolwork. It was a very busy couple months.
How does the new EP compare sonically with your last EP Scrapbook? In what ways are they different?
Sonically, I think Limbo is a much prettier sounding project. Limbo is also just better produced and the songwriting is much better in my opinion. Scrapbook was very focused on highschool and it is a neat time capsule for that, but Limbo breaches way more universal themes about uncertainty, friendship, transitional phases, and more. It is a much more mature project as a whole. Scrapbook had no video accompaniment. Limbo has a video for every song, six music videos, and they all are super unique in style, but cohesive still.
Explain the importance of your forthcoming project. What does it mean to you?
This project is what I have dedicated my entire self to over the last nine months. Anyone close to me, I thank you endlessly for dealing with me ranting about ideas, playing demos, and complaining about things associated with Limbo. I wrote the project in the summer between graduating high school and going to college, hence the name Limbo that describes this weird in-between period. There are some very personal tracks on this project that were the only way I was able to deal with some of the feelings I had during this period. I’ve never been more proud of something than this.
What were some of your favorite memories making Limbo?
I consider Limbo to be the music as well as the videos. They are a whole. There are so many memories, but since “Flight” is coming out I’ll say one about that track. A beautiful part of shooting this video was the way the kids interacted. At first, I was all stressed out and my friends and I were just trying to get the kids to talk to us and laugh a little. The kids had never met each other or me prior to filming so things were very slow at first and I could feel a little bit of tension. However, as the day went by, the parents were trusting enough to let us venture off around the park to get the shots we needed with just the kids. Being away from their parents gave the kids a sense of freedom I think. Soon enough, it was hard to get them to focus for filming because they were making jokes and running around playing with each other. That immediate friendship is something amazingly unique to kids. I love that.
How do you think you are different from other musicians in the same realm as you?
I’m not big on comparison like I mentioned earlier. One of the coolest things I’ve experienced is becoming friends with the community of artists that I look up to and listen to all the time. Being able to have conversations with these crazy talented people is probably the thing that I love most. A lot of them have become some of my best friends now. If I had to try to identify anything to set myself apart it would be the visuals. I do everything from buying props, casting people, and storyboarding to directing, editing, and color grading. I also shoot all the videos with my good friends. I have a big focus on encouraging my friends to be creative and to pursue that. I’m lucky to have so many talented friends, and I just want them to know they can do really great things. I guess that’s why I’ve steered away from working with strangers or production companies. Although it’s all DIY it doesn’t mean we have to sacrifice quality. I want my art to be authentic and feel genuine. What better way to do that than with my friends.
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Stream: “Flight” – Postcard Boy
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