Have you ever heard of “main character syndrome?” Maybe you have—maybe you haven’t. It occurs when you are the protagonist of your current environment. This environment could be a small town, a village, or your shared bedroom in San Diego. The last being the case for bedroom pop artist, Wabie, who’s spent ten hours in one day cranking out indie tracks for his ever-growing fan base. He is, in fact, the main character of Wabie’s world.
With a jumpstart into the songwriting business in—believe it or not—fourth grade, each song Wabie creates is a beautiful ballad, effused with passion, soul, and a little bit of heartbreak. But it wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows for the young musician, who admits to humble beginnings on Spotify with a mere seven to eight monthly listeners. “And two of them were my mom and my sister,” he laughs. Now, pursuing his musical career full time, Wabie recently broke 10 million streams, sending fans into a dreamy paradise with his overarching Palos-Verdes-pop daze. And guess what? All that beachy tunage was written, produced, and recorded by none other than Wabie himself. Considering he’s one impressive dude, Wabie’s world is one you should not only be interested in, but one you should be a citizen of.
Want to know more about what it’s like to spend countless hours polishing music to perfection and turning your life into monumental melodies? In a series of his greatest song titles, SHEESH! is diving right into Wabie’s world, exploring inspiration behind his best beats. So let’s jump right in!
Californ:
Some call it “cali;” no one calls it “fornia.” But for Wabie, he’s riding the “Californ” wave. By this point, it’s obvious that Wabie is a SoCal native, and he continued his education at San Diego State University, in pursuit of a degree in environmental science up until last year. There, he met his roommate-turned-housemate who introduced him to “surfer-y beach rock.” Together, the two take “Californ” by storm, climbing rocks in their free time. You could say that rocks.
However, as influential as California is on West-coast Wabie, he is looking forward to packing his bags and moving to “somewhere with seasons, like Oregon,” he laughs. Of course, he made a song about that state, too. Stomping around in the leaves and playing in the snow sounds like a joy for the young artist, and a perfect muse, as well. But what he admits about leaving a great place with even better weather is this: “it must seem crazy to other people.” After all, he lives in a place where The Sun Always Comes Out!
Venom and Honey:
For Wabie, music takes precedence in his world, which is why he dropped out of college this past year to put utmost effort into his creations. He’s literally got his hands full, playing bass, guitar and keys. “Everything that you hear going on is done by me,” he reveals, besides the business-y side of things, which is handled by his manager. But making beats is all fun and games until it becomes a job. “Making music is fun, but stressful at the same time because I don’t have a set thing to do on any given day,” continues Wabie. That’s where the venom and honey comes into play.
Music was ‘always for fun’ in his first band, Hooligan Mood, which still appears on Soundcloud. While jamming out was more of a side hustle in high school, it helped launch Wabie out of his initial “awkwardness.” And we can all relate to that.
Wabie also attributes “coming out his shell” to his father, who unfortunately passed away his freshman year of high school. “He’s a crazy character…he’d make a friend out of anyone immediately,” he recalls. At the time, Wabie disregarded his dad’s attempts to bring out his personality and opted for hours spent on Minecraft instead. “I wasn’t really listening, but after he was gone, I started to think about it a lot and how he was trying to get me to function in this world,” he continues. And Wabie was able to function through his fervent lyricism. Call that venom turned honey.
That’s What Everybody Said:
The story behind this song bases itself around Wabie being a self-proclaimed “loner” back in high school, a feeling that has recently resurfaced due to the monotonous rhythm of quarantine days. “I sit here, I make some noises and then I sleep; that’s the life right here,” laughs Wabie. But besides that, he admits to being pretty camera shy, despite attempting to enter the vlog scene. One time, Wabie toted his camera along with him to capture a “day in the life,” and what he got was this: “I got McDonald’s for breakfast and made music for ten hours,” he laughs. Something maybe not everybody says, but knows is that being in front of a camera is far from easy.
What are some other undertakings that Wabie voiced? The musician actually had a childhood dream of becoming a cartoon animator, and dabbled in making videos with Avatar: The Last Airbender background sounds on TikTok. And when school was in session, Wabie watches his artistic abilities pique due to the myriad of margins in his notebooks. That’s right—he was a class doodler, just like us! In fact, Wabie drew his own album cover for his single, “Darcy.” Speaking of which…
Darcy:
Lost loves—the typical romantic movie trope. In Wabie’s world, he’s no stranger to this intimate ideal. The lyrics situate themselves in the breakup between Wabie and his high school sweetheart, illustrating the young artist’s discomfort with “the single life” that followed soon after. But this breakup brought him to a realization of love in life. “You miss that constant affection, and sometimes, you try and find it in people who are not necessarily the right person,” he states. In simpler terms, Wabie found out you shouldn’t just date to date.
As for that album cover art? The interpretation is just as emotional as the sing-songy lyrics. With a girl situated at the top of the cover surrounded by a throng of people, “you’re sifting through the crowd to find that person that you genuinely like,” explains Wabie. That definitely takes the romantic cake over The Notebook—sorry, Ryan Gosling.
Cyclones:
Resulting from a mix of different influences, Wabie resembles the makeup of a cyclone. His mother “raising him to be a hipster,” Wabie’s musical style, as well as street style, strays from the norm that we see charting Top 50 and Instagram explore pages. After all, “pop music is engineered trash,” says Wabie in a hot take. His biggest inspirations are the oldies that he rocked out to with his mom on the way to school, anything from The Beatles to Queen to The Smiths. But recently, his roommate opened his eyes to Kanye West and Tyler, the Creator, two lyrical connoisseurs that flip the word “popular” on its head.
Now that music is his full-time job, Wabie explains, “it’s important to listen to as much music as you can from as many different sources as you can so your music is not constrained to one genre.” While Wabie acclimates himself to mixing beats in his bedroom, he does not lock himself to the “bedroom pop” genre. Having a wide range is important in gaining a diverse listening audience. Oh, and speaking of the audience, what does he say to everyone in Wabie’s world? “I love you; I hope to see you soon—YOLO and HAGS!” he signs off.
Check out Wabie on Spotify! Or Soundcloud for some retro “Hooligan Mood” beats!
