☆ Q&A with RUNNER BOY☆

RUNNER BOY on Producing, Finding Yourself, and a New Single

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DIVE IN — and get to know RUNNER BOY, your next favorite anti popstar. Their album “BOY” is on my list of favorite 2022 releases due to its addicting blend of genres and relatable themes in the lyrics.

The title track “BOY” captivates you immediately with crisp vocals and a catchy flute-like synth. “PRETTY” is one of RUNNER BOY’s favorites as it contains clever lyrics along with bouncy pop synths and a beat that you can’t help but dance to. Touching on topics including gender, insecurities, and finding yourself, the album provides a listening experience that takes you through a journey of self-reflection and the realization that you are not alone in figuring things out.

I had the opportunity to speak to RUNNER BOY and found out more about what the process of creating “BOY” was like, as well as their background in producing for themselves and others. Additionally, I got to learn more about them as a person as well as their interest in film photography and film scores. Scroll to read our conversation.

Ale: Hi! It’s so nice to meet you! Tell me a little bit about yourself, where you’re from, and what hobbies you’ve been enjoying lately?

RUNNER BOY: Hi I’m RUNNER BOY, and I’m from Phoenix, Arizona. I’ve moved around a lot. I used to live in Missouri for a bit. Kinda just been all around Missouri and Arizona. Some of my hobbies are film photography. I’m super into it and it’s something I recently got into a lot. Just shooting my friends and stuff. I mainly use Kodak Gold and Portra 800. Obviously music’s a big part of my life. It’s something I got into really heavily in high school and kinda just learned, adapted, and figured out my own thing. I also work on short films in my spare time with one of my good friends, Nathan. I’m going to a film festival with him in LA.

Ale: So you produced this entire album by yourself, how long have you been producing and did you teach yourself everything you know?

RUNNER BOY: I started in high school and [during] those four years before the making of “BOY,” I was working on lo-fi, rap, and stuff like that. Then I started working on pop, and that’s when “BOY” was being made—around 2021 to early 2022—as well. I taught myself through YouTube videos and trying to recreate beats and instrumentals from songs that I liked.

Ale: How did the creation of “BOY” come about?

RUNNER BOY: I was making a lot of rap stuff at the time. I was like, “I don’t want to keep doing this. I’ve been doing this for so long. I’m getting bored of this.” So I scrapped an entire album before I started making “BOY”. It was during the quarantine period in 2020 when everything was getting chaotic and shutting down. Anyway, so I scrapped it, started working on other stuff, and I decided to make a pop record, and that’s kinda how it came about.

Ale: You’re signed to Caleb Carnell’s independent label named “t.i.n.a.s”. Can you tell me a bit about that?

RUNNER BOY: It’s a great label with lots of talented people. When Caleb and I made the single, “BOY”, which is the first song on the album, he had offered to sign me and then drop it under the label, which is what we did. I work with him a lot. He’s a super close friend. He shot, edited, and directed the “PRETTY” music video. He helped me mix the album, master it, and also helped with the cover art. He was a big help in the process of making the album as cohesive as it is. He also does my merch—like he is a powerhouse of a human being and I adore him for that. He is just such a genuine and caring person who wants other people to succeed with him.

Ale: I saw your TikTok about your song being played on Radio 1’s Future Artists with Jack Saunders! What was it like to hear your song being played by BBC along with other cool artists like Remi Wolf, Fousheé, and Anna of the North?

RUNNER BOY: So when the episode originally aired, I was working. I had no idea that it aired. About a week later, I was scrolling through which Spotify playlists my songs were on and I had seen a BBC archive playlist of what they played on a certain day. I was like, “That’s weird. . . they didn’t play my song on the BBC.” I knew they had archives, so I went to Jack’s show and looked for the episode. [My song] was played at the very end so I skipped to it and found that bit of it where they played the song. There were so many people that were played that day that I loved, which is so cool. It was a surreal feeling, like just finding that out, and then just having to act like my day was normal. There was other stuff I had to do and I had to shut up about being on the BBC for the rest of the day and just kind of do my day-to-day stuff. It was fun but weird, like trying to adapt—being like, “Oh I’m on the BBC!” to “Go do your job, go do what you need to do.” It definitely was a moment of like, “Shit, two years of working on this project paid off and it wasn’t wasted.” I think one thing that a lot of artists don’t talk about is post-album depression. Before you drop a body of work it’s not real, it’s just a concept. When you put it out into the world for people to perceive it and look at it and listen to it, it becomes a real thing. When that thing doesn't build up to how your concept was in your head or how the numbers would do, it’s a huge weight. Seeing how numbers affect it, and thinking about how the numbers weren’t as big as the concept, or seeing that it’s not being playlisted automatically— it’s a lot. Being played on the radio show was a help with that, in how people who are huge noticed the song. It was a cool thing to find out and made me feel like those two years paid off.

Ale: “DON’T CRY” is a moving instrumental piece that leads into “WHAT HAPPENED?” which has themes of mental health and feeling lost. The following track is “DIVE IN” which digs further in talking about finding yourself and analyzing your life. The tracks collectively come together with overlapping themes and references that tell a story. Can you give some insight on the message you are trying to send to listeners with this album?

RUNNER BOY: It definitely is a concept album. I had made this album during quarantine and during that time, I had found out a lot about myself when it comes to gender and stuff like that. I kind of was airing out how I felt and figuring things out and, you know, dealing with a lot of insecurities. It was just a whole bunch of emotions that I was dealing with and I was trying to put that into one cohesive project. I was just trying to make an album for people who are like me and who are trying to figure their shit out and trying to figure themselves out. The message behind it had to do with gender and insecurities and being you and being okay with figuring it all out.

Ale: Do you happen to have a favorite track from “BOY”?

RUNNER BOY: I’m going to be honest, it always changes for me. My favorite might be “DIVE IN” at the moment, but also I just love “PRETTY”. It was one of my favorite experiences working on a song. Flying out by myself for the first time to Kansas where Caleb is located, and working on the music video, and talking, and just doing everything. . . it was a very cool experience. I think that’s why “PRETTY” will always have a sweet spot for me on the album, but it constantly just changes because I genuinely love every single song on the album. If I have to give a definitive answer though, I would say “PRETTY”.

Ale: What was filming the “PRETTY” music video like?

RUNNER BOY: Usually what you do when you’re making a music video is you prep out what you’re gonna do, what stuff’s gonna look like. . . we didn’t do any of that. It was very much, “We need to figure out an idea before tomorrow before Evann comes down.” We kind of talked about videos and one of the main influences for me was the Remi Wolf music videos, like how she had that VHS style. There were a lot of good moments in the process of making it. There was one moment that was in Caleb’s documentary for his album. Joe was behind the scenes holding the green screen for the room shot and then Joe goes, “Can we get a deer? Like from outside?” and everyone just starts laughing before the take. I think just showing up and being there was so fun. I remember when Evann pulled up, we were like, “Oh you actually showed up” [laughs]. That was a funny moment.

Ale: Your album has many amazing featured artists! What is the process for working together? Do you reach out to them? Do they reach out to you? Is it a mix of both?

RUNNER BOY: It’s a mixed bag. Usually it depends on who I know at the time. I had found Evann [McIntosh] right before they had gotten big on TikTok. I had messaged them asking if I could send beats and so that’s how I knew Evann, just from sending beats in the past. I’ve known Caleb [Carnell] since 2019 when he dropped an album that I enjoyed a lot and I’ve followed him since. Then I deleted a bunch of my social media and got new ones, and I didn’t know what his account was. I found him again through Evann though. tdk, I have known for years, ever since I’ve been making music. I have been sending him beats since high school. We did a bunch of stuff back then. I met Maxx, Solomon, and Calson through Caleb. A lot of these people I know from Caleb but also just from reaching out to them or posting snippets. Maxx hopped on “DIVE IN” after posting a snippet of Solomon’s verse. He recorded his verse and the hook at the very end and the track was completely finished after that. It’s just a mixture of me reaching out. When I make a beat, I have an idea of who I want on it and what parts will go to who. If it doesn’t work then we find someone else. It’s just about pivoting. When you’re making a body of work, you have to be really good at pivoting. You have to find an alternative if something isn’t working. Like if a sample can’t clear, you gotta swap the sample and do something different. You just gotta figure out.

Ale: I saw your playlist titled 'some songs that inspired “BOY”' which I thought was really interesting! I was curious to know a bit more about which of those songs inspired certain tracks specifically. Furthermore, what inspires you in general? Are there certain artists or just life experiences?

RUNNER BOY: That playlist is a rough idea. Mort Garson definitely inspired a lot of the instrumentals and how I did synth work, arpeggios, and leads. BENEE had been the biggest inspiration for a lot of the pop elements. The way she does drums, especially in her debut album, really inspired how I did the drums and how I branched into pop and tried blending genres. Depending on how I’m feeling at the moment is how the song is going to sound. It's a mixture of emotions like—am I upset or happy? Like, if something happens that makes me upset, then I lean towards more sad jazz bass chords and stuff like that; but it’s definitely a blend of what I’m listening to, how I’m feeling, and what’s happening around me.

Ale: Lastly, any upcoming plans, performances or future releases you would like to share? It would be so cool to see a set by you!

RUNNER BOY: I definitely have something dropping this month on the 30th. I am constantly working on stuff though. I think the last time I took a break was senior year of high school during finals week. I don’t think I have fully taken a break in a long time—which probably isn’t the best thing in the world to do by myself—but I’m just constantly working on projects, whether it’d be for myself or for other people. As for performances, I definitely want to do some sets. There’s been talk about doing them and it's more or less how I would do them, because I need to figure out what songs I would want to play, how I would perform them, and just figuring all that out. I hope to do one next year for sure. That’s a goal of mine.

Ale: Now for the get-to-know-me questions! What is a movie or T.V. show that you can watch over and over again without getting bored?

RUNNER BOY: I feel like I can get a better answer if I look at my Letterboxd really quickly. . . I’m gonna go with “Fantastic Mr. Fox.” I love the style of animation and how everything’s done in that film. As for T.V. shows, I’m gonna go with "Community”, because I always come back to it when I’m bored. I absolutely love that show.

Ale: If you could immediately master any instrument, which one would you pick?

RUNNER BOY: Probably the guitar. I feel like that would transfer over to bass as well. I’m not good at guitar. I do not know enough chords to successfully make a song with it and understand it. I want to put it in my songs more, but I don’t understand chords well enough to put it in a bunch of songs.

Ale: Favorite album of all time?

RUNNER BOY: Absolutely by Dijon. It’s one of my favorite albums. The way it’s mixed, the raw emotion of Dijon’s vocals, the instrumentation—everything about it is just one of my favorite things ever. It feels like you’re sitting in the room with them when you listen to it. It’s sonically one of the most pleasing things to listen to, ever.

Ale: Dream collaboration?

RUNNER BOY: I think I’ll say my top three. . . Dijon is number one just because of how much I love his album. I have always wanted to make an album like that. I think JEAN DAWSON’s really tight. He’s been putting out a lot of cool stuff. I wanna work with Beyoncé. I love Beyoncé. I think her last album was great.

Ale: Go-to gas station snacks?

RUNNER BOY: A hot pickle and an Arizona iced tea. I feel like I can’t go wrong with that. . . but I feel like that’s also just a really bad combination. I’m just gonna go with that and hope I don’t get judged for it.

Listen to RUNNER BOY’S album “BOY” which is available on all streaming platforms. Check out their new release “BACKWARDS” that came out today! This track has production by RUNNER BOY, vocals and lyrics by Babebee, and mixing and mastering by Caleb Carnell.