It’s a special moment when you become a parent and your child becomes old enough to enjoy similar things like video games, tv shows and music. One of those moments happened when my 8 year old found a song inspired by the game Poppy Playtime called “Sleep Well“. This happened to be a track made by the musician CG5, with whom I had the please of e-meeting and get to ask some questions.
Being a fan of his music then seeing my son discover it on his own was a great moment in being a parent. Read on!
Benny: Being an active musician releasing music for over a decade, how have your writing styles evolved from when you first began releasing your music?
CG5: I believe at this point I feel like I have writing music down to a science. I’ve been learning and working for over 20 years on my craft in songwriting, composing, and music production. I work faster and better than ever than when I was using GarageBand on my iPad when I was 14. I’m always all over the place when it comes to writing songs, but the process always comes out with a finished product in the end, and that’s all that matters.
Do you have a genre of music you have not explored that you would like to?
I have explored so many genres at this point, but I wonder what I could do with the baroque genre. There’s always something to explore.
With many popular topics, you cover music including memes like your song “Crawl” or the 10 Year Anniversary of “Five Nights at Freddy’s”. How do you decide which to write for since they can be time sensitive.
Projects being time sensitive doesn’t scare me! I always find a way around that. I love working with topics that are new and entertaining, and Five Nights At Freddy’s has always been so much fun to write about, because of its luscious stories and lore. Then there’s the meme stuff, which is definitely a way different, more goofy thing, but still fun. I see making my songs as if I’m speed running a video game. But I always, and I mean ALWAYS, make sure that the song is quality enough to go out to the world before I do. That’s never not important to me.
What is your favorite Meme and have you made a song for it?
My favorite meme always changes with the frequency of memes that are created every passing moment. I can never land on one. But I really liked the Grimace Shake meme when it was a big thing, because it was so eerie and horrific, and I love working with that kind of stuff in general, and that song I made in an hour was no exception.
When did you decide to become CG5, and not have a different moniker outside your initials?
I’ve gone by CG5 since I was 12, and I want it to stay that way. It just feels so much more personal than some random moniker that I generated from a Random Name generator website. I am the fifth generation of Charles Green in my family, and I always will be.
How is the tour treating you?
It’s exhausting but it’s so rewarding. I’m grateful to be able to come back and take a break after performing over the weekends at wherever I’m headed. And I’m grateful to meet fans everywhere I go, and to give them a core memory as soon as I step onto that stage.
Do you like being on the road and meeting your fans from all around the world?
I think my previous answer answers this question perfectly.
Will you be coming to New Jersey in the future as my 8 year old and I would love to see you live!
There’s always a place I gotta be on tour that I haven’t been yet. We’ll put New Jersey on the list of possible places to go.
When collaborating with other artists, how do you connect with them, do they reach out to you or vice versa?
It’s all over the place when it comes to connecting with artists about collaboration.
Is there a Meme or topic you want to write about but haven’t had the chance to?
I want to write and put out more songs about myself and my life, or things just not involved with memes or topics. I feel like I’m kind of stuck doing what people would expect from me, but I still love researching on other topics and putting them to original music, so I really can’t complain. Whatever pays the bills, right?
Do you have any advice for musicians in the digital age that want to grow their fanbases?
Make bad songs until they sound good. That is to say, take criticism, especially from people that may not know how to create their own music, but they listen to it. Of course, these people listen to songs on their own playlists because it just sounds good. And you’re catering to these people. So take their advice.
This was a special interview opportunity and we are thankful to CG5 and his team for taking the time to chat with us. Maybe we can get him on Pressed For Time in the future!
You can check out CG5 on his YouTube channel here https://www.youtube.com/@CG5 and the official CG5 Music site at https://cg5music.com