Portrait of an Artist: Zack Villere

Zack Villere is a musician from Covington, Louisiana known for his humorous social media presence and distinctive, eclectic music. While on the road for his “Trevor Rice Is Not Going On Tour” tour, Villere sat down with The Harvard Crimson to talk about his creative process, musical aspirations, and unique sense of humor.

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

The Harvard Crimson: How are you feeling? What was for breakfast?

Zack Villere: Today I had a turkey bacon egg and cheese. That’s all I’ve had. I’m gonna eat some food after this.

THC: From a one to 10?

ZV: I would say probably five. The turkey bacon wasn’t really crispy. But it was good. I like turkey bacon, personally.

THC: Is this your first time playing in Boston?

ZV: This is my first time being here. Ever.

THC: How do you like it so far?

ZV: Seems dope. I haven’t seen much but we drove past the river. It seems dope. Where I’m from, the river is like really fucking gross. It’s like a dark, dark brown river. It’s really polluted. I don’t know, I like it.

THC: In what ways, if any, has your hometown shaped who you are or shaped your sound? Have you drawn any inspiration from it?

ZV: I would say a bunch. I love my home a lot. So I would just assume it’s influenced me a lot… I have this song on the album called “Rope Swing,” it's about a rope swing back home.

THC: With this being your first time in Boston, both long-time fans and strangers alike will finally be able to see you perform live for the first time. In general, what do you hope for people to receive from attending one of your shows?

ZV: I'm just trying to have fun. I'm not that interested in performing that much, in general, so I just want to have fun with it. I don’t feel like I am expressing myself that much live. I mean, I'm doing shit but, like I said, just trying to have fun and get through it and enjoy it as much as I can because it is really not my interest. I don’t see it [as] part of my art, really.

THC: You named your tour “Trevor Rice Is Not Going On Tour." Where does that name come from?

ZV: Yes sir, he’s not here. That’s my dude. Yeah, he’s a mogul. He’s a billionaire. He’s a good friend of ours, so shout-out to Trevor Rice. Yo, put his @, his @ is soggynewport. Like the cigarettes Newport. Please put that in there, thank you. Shout him out. Shout Trevor out.

THC: You also recently released an album titled “Cardboard City” on Valentine’s Day. What were your intentions with the release date and this new project?

ZV: The release date was an accident, it just came from the album being delayed a lot. I was really eager to have it out because it’s been done for a while. There was just a lot of shit that held it up. So I was just like fuck, I want this out. There was really no reason for the date, it just happened. I didn’t even know it was coming out on Valentine’s Day until like a few weeks before.

THC: Okay, random question. If you were in a fight with a stranger, would you rather have them scream or whisper at you?

ZV: Probably scream, I feel like I wouldn’t even hear them whispering. If it was a loud whisper it’d be kind of funny. I guess it’d be kind of creepy. I can’t really imagine what that would be like. I honestly can’t give you a verdict. I would just say scream. Nah, I’d say whisper because it’s funny.

THC: What are the most and least sexy names you can think of right now?

ZV: Fucking Christmas, sexy. And non-sexy, Cobra.

THC: I was thinking more like Keith or something.

ZV: Keith? That’s my dad’s name.

THC: Yeah, well there you go.

ZV: I wouldn’t say that’s sexy or non-sexy, that’s just my dad. Do you think Keith is not sexy?

THC: You’ve been at this for a really long time, and there are articles that state that you are comfortable with being in this middle earth between hardly known and super-star. Can you elaborate more on that?

ZV: So, actually that shit kind of pissed me off. It just annoyed me. I don’t think he meant anything by it, but I kind of came across as ambitious-less. I don’t know if that’s a word. But I am. I was just like, no, it's cool that a lot of people can make money and be a middle class of artist through streaming. It’s really sick, but that doesn’t mean that’s where I want to stay forever. I'm trying to scale my art. I don’t want to just stay at the same level, but I think it’s cool that people can do that. And I’m grateful to be able to do it, so that’s how I feel about that. I still have more ambition, but yeah, that shit irritated me.

— Staff writer Brian Medrano can be reached at brian.medrano@thecrimson.com.