ITW – The U.S. band New Heights is making its way to Singapore
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On July 7, the four-piece makes its first appearance in Singapore. The band is made of lead Travis Graham, guitarist Chris Kwak, guitarist Kiyung Park, bassist Tyler Carroll and drummer Bobby Walker. They are based in Federal Way, WA, and already released their first full-length album Something to Believe. It features well-regarded names such as Jon Howar, guitarist for the band Paramore, Chad Howat of the band Paper Route and producer Aaron Sprinkle. Collaborations with artists such as Clara C., Jennifer Chung and Brian Joo can also be found on the album.
The success of New Heights was pushed by YouTube after their single Peaches gained fame when it was featured in a short film by the Jubilee Project titled Love Language. The film went viral and led to many different variations by other film makers, all featuring the track. After millions of views including their song, their first official music video was in the making.
FindYourWayInSG took the opportunity to ask New Heights about their album, the future of the digital music industry and their performance in Singapore.
How did each one of you develp an interest in music and what made you finally become a professional musician?
- We all separately began playing music at different various ages but playing together over the past few years has really opened our eyes to see what’s possible and we’re excited for that.
You started to make music while you were still attaining school. Does your family support you along the way?
- Totally. Our parents and family are extremely supportive and have been with us from the start.
Please, tell us more about the songs of your first full-lenght album “Something to Believe”. How does the music style differ from your older material?
- It’s definitely more poppy in terms of the melodies. We naturally gravitate towards writing pop melodies so it was a really natural process for us when writing the record.
The album features a collaboration with the South Korean pop star Brian Joo. What do you like about K-Pop 
music? And who are your favourite musicians of this music genre?
- What we love about K-Pop music is that it’s so catchy and I think that’s why the whole world is really starting to see how K-Pop is influencing other countries. We really like Big-Bang, 21, and over course, Brian!
Jon Howard, the guitarist for the band Paramore, worked with you on your first album. How did you get in touch with him? And what did you learn through the co-work with him?
- We were friends with him prior to him joining Paramore so we already had a relationship. We learned a lot through working with him on the record. He has a great ear for production elements when adding stuff to songs and we loved working with him.
Did you already choose musicians for your next collaborations?
- As of now, not yet. We have some people in mind that we’d like to work with someday but we’ll sure how things pan out.
As many artists today, you are using social media to promote your music. Your song “Peaches” made you very famous on YouTube. Do you think the digital music industry will replace CDs and vinyl sales one day?
- The time is very near. Physical CD sales are going down every year and we’re moving into a digital age where people can have music at their finger tips instantly and as technology continues to progress that process will only continue.
What kind of projects are you working on back at home? Do you still have a regular job besides your music career?
- We are getting ready to release a brand new single called, “Man on Wire” in September. Some of us in the band have other part-time jobs and some are doing music only.
On July, 7th, you perform at TAB, Singapore. Is it the first time for each one of you to pay the island a visit?
- For most of us it’s the first time but Travis was there a couple months ago playing guitar for Jason Chen at the YouTube Stars concert.
What can the audience expect from your performance?
- We are different than most YouTube performers because we have the band element and since we’ve played with each other for years we feel like we bring a lot of energy to our performances. The audience can expect to hear a lot of the songs from our full length album, as well as older songs like “Peaches” and also some cover songs as well.
- Jennifer Menninger -
