TRILLVO Interview | Ezekiel & KNOTZ

Starting of the new year, TRILLVO has released it’s first of many tracks. The 1st track we’ve released is ‘Angel’ by local Houston producers, EZEKIEL & KNOTZ. ‘Angel’ is a melodic, future bass track about never giving up and always keep looking for the one you love. The single is off of EZEKIEL‘s upcoming EP, ‘Prophecies‘. The two got together and created a beautiful track with a strong vocal feature. If you haven’t listened to the track, get ready to get into your feels.

We had a chance to talk to the two artists to see how they got together, what inspires them and what created ‘Angel’.

Let’s get to know you a little bit more, What got you into music?

EZEKIEL: Well, that’s a hard question because to answer that you have to know a little more about my life. Growing up my parents tried to shelter me from a lot of the world, and music was a big part of that. For the first 12 years or so of my life the only music I was allowed to listen to was music sung by my church choir, and anything played on the local gospel radio station. The only glimpse of any other music I ever heard was at school dances, and stuff my friends would play on the radio. I grew up learning piano, trumpet, guitar, drums, and eventually, as I heard more and more of the music that the world had to offer me, I started to want to create my own. That’s when I downloaded my first cracked version of FL studio 10, and took to learning exactly how to do that.

When did you realize you had a knack for singing and stage presence? How did that evolve into producing and vocal features?

KNOTZ: I’ve always been a big energy, all over the place kinda guy. As a kid, I grew up on a lot of musicals and what-not thanks to my mom. I started doing theatre in 9th grade and just sorta fell into it all. Musical theatre was my primary thing, so doing vocal features just felt right. I got into producing to be able to express myself more musically, but I’m always down to write some lyrics and sing!

When producing your music what makes you realize you need vocals along the process? Is it something you realize in the process of or do you go in planning to build a track around vocals? When did you realize Jason was the perfect fit for ‘Angel’?

EZEKIEL: It’s funny you ask that because usually most of my music has little to no vocal elements involved at all. I had sent the finished track over to Jason and he came back with the lyrics and a rough recording in little under 2 hours and I knew we had something special on our hands. Interestingly enough it’s actually the only vocal element on the entire EP.

Tell us the story behind Angel

KNOTZ: Corey I’m sure has his own origins behind the actual beat of it. I was at the gym when he sent me the instrumental and I just felt it really needed a vocal element. He let me give it a go and I wrote the lyrics in two hours. Just came very naturally to me. It’s a song about trying and failing. Having someone who wants to be there for you when you don’t necessarily think you’re worth someone’s time. We all have our faults but there’s someone out there who can love you for those faults.

EZEKIEL: Well, I’ve actually had the bassline for Angel written for some time, although at the time of conception it sounded nothing like what the finished product ended up sounding like. A lot of my projects start from a bassline and develop into more from there, and Angel was no exception. I had a bassline and I had a sound I wanted to capture, and once I got it just right that’s when the inspiration for the rest of the song hit me. At the time I was going through a lot in my life, and the song was a manifestation of the way I was feeling at the time, but as the track continued to develop it quickly became a manifestation of how I WANTED to feel. Angel is a song I wrote for people who desire something or someone so badly they will do anything to attain it.

What are some of the best things about collaborating with someone?

KNOTZ: In this case where I just do the vocals, I Love molding a story lyrically with the Producers vision of the music. Telling a story melodically that feels like one cohesive thing is such a cool experience. When I’m actually producing a collaboration, I love learning all the tips and tricks other producers use on projects. Great way to learn!

EZEKIEL: Well considering that this and my other collab on the EP with the homie Don Rey are my first official collabs ever, I can only really speak from my own experience. Since both collaborations are different in nature (KNOTZ being a vocal producer, and Don Rey being a guest producer) they were both very different experiences.

With KNOTZ I had a song written and a vision for the finished product, so because of this he had a little less creative freedom with what he brought to the project. With Rey I had a basic concept, a tempo, and a key I wanted to write in, but I wanted him to bring his own sounds and ideas to the project because I knew that his sound would complement the vision I had in my head for the finished product. In a collab like that, there is a lot more bouncing back and forth between us and making sure our individual ideas were cohesive enough to make a good track.

That being said, honestly the best part of these 2 collabs was definitely how much I learned from working with these 2 incredibly talented artists. Getting a look into someone else’s creative processes is always a learning experience, and as producers and musicians we all stand to learn so much from each other.

Should we see any more collabs from you two in the future?

KNOTZ: I wouldn’t say no! Always a pleasure working with someone you vibe with!

EZEKIEL: Well….no spoilers but there may or may not be a remix EP/LP coming sometime in 2020…..so maybe.

We’re super excited to have these two producers on our radars. Be on the look for an EP from EZEKIEL titled ‘Prophecies‘ coming out January 13th and an EP from KNOTZ, titled ‘Neapolitan‘ on Valentine’s Day 2020.