"The music video transports the story of the song into a new world, literally. The music video takes this to the next extreme; after experiencing great heights following creating my first EP, represented by me flying the plane of ‘Angel Airlines’, I crash violently into the unknown, with nothing to lose. Scared and confused, I pass through the mysterious terrain and find a sense of love - something to take me back to the heights and desire I know best. The video can be interpreted in a few ways, especially the ending, but to myself, I return to form and fade away in this unknown world, but somehow know everything is going to be fine."

What made you want to become a musician?

I've always been very much into writing, from comic books and stories as a young child to poetry in my mid-teens. However, while creating these, I found that music (mainly songwriting) was the perfect process that was a blend of both storytelling and creative output. Since then, I have never looked back, using music in my everyday life to keep afloat and stay creative.

Describe your favorite and least favorite part about being a musician.

My favorite part of being a musician is the free reign, and the ability to do so much with one song. Of course, I love making the music, but I think I might even prefer the creative ways of releasing it: the cover art, the music video, the photoshoots, all of that. I'm super involved in marketing, including directing my music videos and designing the cover arts myself. I think my most minor favorite part was the confidence aspect. I was never too confident, but music forced me to be over time. Now I'm grateful; it's helped with anxiety, so I can't identify anything I dislike about being a musician.

Describe your creative process when you wrote your single "King Of The World."

I sat on this song for well over a year. I originally wrote it for my girlfriend at the time, after she was going through some tough times, and I ended up loving the first demo so much that I performed it three nights later at my Single Launch show. Something was always' 90% there' was the song, and after myself and Jack (AKA Boy Banks, who mixes a large majority of my music) added a few instruments, we felt that the only thing we truly needed was drums on the chorus. The songwriting side was super fast, it was just a love song I wrote at the moment, but the production side was what took the longest for me.

Are there any musicians who inspire you? What qualities do you admire about them?

That's always been a tough question. I listen to many artists to whom I don't seem to make similar music, so it's hard to tell. The artists I listen to the most would be 21 Savage and Trippie Redd on the rap side of things, Disclosure and KAYTRANADA for electronic, and Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead for rock. While I can slightly see the influence in my music, I think my biggest influences come from my 'active listening' music, where artists like Nick Ward, Curtis Waters, and Dominic Fike are helping me find my sound. I love their originality and branding for all these artists; everything looks great and appears genuine. I love that.

What's your process for dealing with performance anxiety?

To be honest, I don't get that anymore. I feel like once I start, I don't stop, and I stay in that Wesley Black character for as long as I need. To many people's surprise, I try and perform as clean as possible - meaning no heavy meals for 4-5 hours before I perform, no drinking whatsoever, and no drugs or anything like that. Although I can't lie, I've done a decent amount of acting research, and I love just transporting myself naturally into the performance character I need.

If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?

I'd love to see a bit more spotlight on Perth. The community here of artists is second to none, but after traveling interstate for the first time, I've been open to how much more the country Sydney has to offer. I think it would be dope for more opportunities in places like Sydney and America to be available everywhere, but also, that's quite unrealistic. I think the industry works in a challenging way, but I should be more concerned with how I can maneuver around it.

What kind of musician would you classify yourself as?

A creator, I think. I love being involved with as much as I can creatively. The cover art has to be designed a certain way. The music video needs to follow a particular direction, and I think mainly what sets me apart is how I visualize who Wesley Black is; a character. He needs to adhere to certain qualities and have a specific type of presence; even on social media, I often ask, "How would Wesley do this?"

What's the best piece of advice another musician ever gave you?

Technically more of a manager than a musician, he asked me, "What's the conversation with this track?" What will people be discussing about the song next week? Sometimes there isn't a 'hook' or a 'conversation' for tracks, and I feel that hurts its success. I've tried hard to create something memorable for each release with all my recent work. Hearing people bring up my deserved 'conversation' always brings a smile to my face; it means I'm working hard and doing something right with each release.

Would you agree that learning, studying, and understanding old music flows is very important?

For sure! Any music will help you the more you listen to it and study it. Also, music trends often cycle around, so older music is a solid key to staying on top of trends.

What's next for Wesley Black?

A lot of new sounds. New styles and collaborations are locked and loaded, and I feel like this unique sound I'm finally implementing will be my favorite timing of my musical journey. Expect some crazy visuals and some in-depth and raw music. The future looks exciting.