Name: Zion Garcia
Nationality: Australian
Occupation: Rapper, songwriter, producer
Current Release: Zion Garcia's new EP The New Film Star is out via Mandatory.
Recommendations for Sidney, Australia: Fried brothers blacktown. Bar luca parramatta. Golf store Sydney. Western Sydney as a whole. Not much to do there but fuck it you’ll be around the coolest people. Golden age cinema.
Topics that i am passionate about but rarely get to talk about: Guitar Hero. Tony Hawk games. Paranormal Activity movies. Found footage movies in general. Aus rap. Full Circle’s deep cuts in their discography. My favourite movies. Smash burgers. Fried brothers. Gahhhhhhhh … Sollyy’s debut album.

If you enjoyed this Zion Garcia interview and would like to know more about his music and upcoming live dates, visit him on Instagram, Soundcloud, and bandcamp.
 


Do you think that some of your earliest musical experiences planted a seed for your interest in writing lyrics or poetry? How and when did you start writing?

Absolutely. Guitar Hero / Tony Hawk games, my parents opposing musical tastes, the only DVDs we had at the time, my Polyneasian/Spanish culture … music was everywhere.

My mum liked 80s music, and my dad liked metal / rock / hip hop. Guitar hero games ranged from death metal to electropop in the same setlist. The only DVDs I had at one point as a kid was School Of Rock, Napoleon Dynamite, Kung Fu Hustle, and Nacho Libre, and the music of those films changed my life.

ESPECIALLY School of Rock. Seeing kids living out their band dreams, that was all I ever wanted as a kid. I used to make fake album and DVD covers as if I was in the School of Rock class, and it was the coolest shit to me. You can hear Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk sound effects throughout all my songs, even on the new EP. “I Miss You Baby” and “Scorpio Sword”.

This is how I started writing. Just by wanting to incorporate everything I loved in something tangible. I wanted to not feel so alone in how passionate I felt about these things people called futile around me.

Entering new worlds and escapism through music and literature have always exerted a very strong pull on me. What do you think you are drawn to most when it comes to writing?

100%. Escapism mostly, but it’s funny. For me, I’m more escaping to myself. Fully just being there for me. It’s a chance for me to slow down and zone in on where I’m at. Who I am. What I am. It’s one of the only ways I actively feel I become present.

I’m drawn to the self care of it all. Even if doubts creep in. It’s like I’m taking a chance on myself, and everything I’ve ever wanted. Especially for the younger me. Validating him and what he cares about. That’s the world to me.

I talk about this heaps on “This Feels Like Therapy.”



What were some of the artists and albums which inspired you early on purely on the strength of their lyrics? What moves you in the lyrics of other artists?

MICHAEL JACKSON - BAD (just all the inflections. It’s not just what you say- it’s how you say it. Sometimes sacrificing clarity for emotion). ISAIAH RASHAD - CILVIA DEMO + THE SUNS TIRADE (how the fuck do you write such disconnected and fragmented bars but make it feel so good. Frank Ocean level fly on the wall swag)



Frank Ocean - Endless / Blonde (enough said). A Tribe Called Quest - Their final album Thank you 4 your service … AND Bonita Applebum. Tyler The Creator - Wolf, Cherry Bomb and Flower Boy. Cherry Bomb especially.



Fat Freddy’s Drop - Based on a True Story (made me love and want to make LONGER songs).



Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly & DAMN. Gorillaz - Self-titled, Demon Days, and Plastic Beach. Dr Dre. Compton. Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots (BIG songwriting inspiration).

Have there been song lyrics which actually made you change (aspects of) your life? If so, what do you think, leant them that power?

Frank Ocean - “White Ferrari” + “Dear April” + “Alabama – Rushes”:



Just the fact that you don’t have to necessarily understand what I'm saying. It’s just how much you can see yourself in this hyper specific world that is entirely mine, yet yours too.

Isaiah Rashad - “Dressed Like Rappers” + “Rosegold” + “Hereditary” + “Free Lunch” + “Find a Topic” - same as above. Gorillaz - “Every Planet we Reach is Dead” + “Kids with Guns” + “Clint Eastwood” + “To Binge” + “Rhinestone Eyes” + “O Green World” - WORLD BUILDING. IMAGERY. ALLEGORY:



It is sometimes said that “music begins where words end.” What do you make of that?

It’s the space. It’s what isn’t there. That’s the most important part. It’s release. It’s tension and beauty in one. It’s a language that transcends singular cultures and life.

Music for me, explains me to those I love most in ways I could never be aware of- and I'm a hyper aware person. It’s just real.

I have always considered many forms of music to be a form of poetry as well. Where do you personally see similarities? What can music express which may be out of reach for poetry?

Same. Going off the above- it just can help fill in gaps I don’t know how to access.

But otherwise I feel poetry can take you anywhere. Maybe people just need to know they can be more blunt than they think in poetry.

I lack subtly sometimes in comparison to my favourite poets, but then again, that’s almost what I think can be what I bring to the table in my circles.

The relationship between words and music has always intrigued me. How do you see it? In how far can music take you to places with your writing you would possibly not have visited without it?

Man. It’s ALL about the music underneath the words to me. As much as writing is important, I couldn’t care less what you say if the music doesn’t strike me first. It’s kinda funny.

This will probably sound backwards BUT in film for example- screenplay VS the direction. I see the screenplay as the music as opposed to the writing, and the writing is the direction. Because the screenplay has to be the greatest foundation- no amount of direction will save a shit script. The music has to be so striking and make me feel something- ANYTHING AT ALL- and then the lyrics will hit.

I mean me- I'm rapping about drinking cider and referencing Sonic Youth.



I don't know who cares, but I don’t really mind because 1. I do + 2. I think the music no matter what you get from my words- is gonna get your arse shaking (hopefully).

What are areas/themes/topics that you keep returning to in your lyrics?

Understanding myself before I project something I don’t mean into the world + my parents and their connection to my culture + trauma + my friends + being from Western Sydney + who I am outside of Western Sydney + who I am in general + where I belong + love + my friendships.

I deep it all.

On the basis of a piece off The New Film Star EP, tell me about how the lyrics grew into their final form and what points of consideration were.

“SCORPIO SWORD” changed the most. So many different verses.



It was all lowkey about just feeling insecure about how I felt people were treating me. But since it took a couple years before the final version would see the light of day (started the song April 2023, pre first EP), I grew into myself a bit and realised it’s really more about how I see myself deep down.

I’m young, and I'm growing and evolving everyday.

Do you tend to start writing with what will be the first line of the finished lyrics? The chorus? At a random point? What are the words that set the process in motion?

Man, once the music is there and I'm feeling something, flows and mutterings of rhythm follow that. Then the words fit those moulds, and from there it really gets done quickly.

I can’t help but structure things as I go, I'm not a demo type of guy. Usually when I'm making it, it all happens at once, but usually verses happen before choruses, just because I got so much I wanna say usually it just spills out of me.

That’s why my songs usually have weird structures. I try keep em as natural as they were made in real time, but on my new EP, I learnt the power of editing in music. Created like a kid, edited like a mad scientist, as they say.

I'd love to know how you think the meaning or effect of an individual song is enhanced, clarified or possibly contradicted by the EPs, or albums it is part of. Does the song, for example, need to be consistent with the larger whole?

Man. I’m a project artist. I want my work to be consumed in the context of the whole picture. I hate singles. Especially in our content age. I feel nuance is lost in my music once I gotta clip it or some shit. I want that shit to just happen naturally. I don’t wanna force anything ever.

With my whole EP, I feel each song is stronger. Each song is a piece to a bigger vision. Even this EP, once it’s consumed next to my first EP, I feel the picture grows. I know what’s it’s supposed to look like by the end of my next projects, but as a listener I feel it’ll be dope to be consuming my songs the way I intended (as the whole EP).

But also, that’s the cool part about art. I don’t wanna tell anyone how to consume whatever I put out there. I’m grateful if anyone listens to anything. If you wanna pick a song out and fuck off with the rest- do it.

But I do hope deep down you give the whole picture a chance.

When you're writing song lyrics, do you sense or see a connection between your voice and the text? Does it need to feel and sound “good” or “right” to sing certain words? What's your perspective in this regard of singing someone else's songs versus your own?

That’s where my chorus brain comes in. I try make the chorus be the part where I’m cautious of words and syllables and inflections, so it feels right on a more general basis.

But verses- that's where I'm self indulgent and I let myself say whatever I want and sound like however I wanna sound. I can’t get in my own way.

When I sing other people’s songs- that’s me entering their world. I don’t try make it work for me. But for my stuff- that’s me on my own.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you feel as though writing song lyrics or poetry is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Music is colour. It makes everything less dull. If anything it is inspired by the mundane shit in my life for me. It makes everything have a bit of an edge. It helps me to show people what I think is dope. I try find magic in everything.

Music and creativity helps to transport people around me to see what I see in those mundane things. Peep “Sensitive” for example.

It’s all shit that is hyper specific to me- mundane- but I think the music helps to make anyone see the colour in it.