“GIVE IT UP” NEW SINGLE RELEASE BY WEST

Singer/songwriter Weston Hine, one-third of the locally rooted but now Atlanta-based band MyFever, introduced the result of a solo project, a new single under artist name West. He will be performing live in local venues this fall. We wanted to know more about his inspiration and philosophy.

Can you describe your life’s milestones… as a musician and personally?

I’m getting married in January—does that count? Hmm… this is hard because of the broadness of the question. Musically, if I had to name a few benchmarks I’d say getting to tour internationally in Europe in 2018 with my good friend Ben from Old Sea Brigade. Getting to open for some amazing household-name artists such as Rayland Baxter or Incubus. Going on my first tours, releasing a number of albums and singles, and honestly, if you want to take it way back, just performing in front of people for the first time ever. I remember trembling at around 14 all those years ago, but I had some good people in my corner who told me to keep going, and I think every time you perform as an artist in general, there’s an opportunity to gain more confidence. I would say a personal benchmark in recent years for me is being okay with asking for help. I tend to want to be “the man” who does it all and doesn’t have to ask for anything. Whether that’s personally, occupation oriented, or otherwise. It takes guts to admit you don’t have everything worked out and you may require help from someone outside with more experience.

What is your current “home base”? Do you live in Atlanta or here?

I am currently in the midst of moving back to Panama City for a while. My fiancée, Lily and I have got our eyes set on Nashville in the long term, but “GIVE IT UP” NEW SINGLE RELEASE considering current climates with the virus and gig opportunities I have
here, it makes the most sense to save and work here for a bit.

What inspires your music? What has inspired the new release?

Generally, I’m inspired by things like nostalgia, certain conversations, the human experience. There are definitely certain feelings like sadness or joy that can inspire or the fact that we’re made from basically stardust in a vast universe that makes us feel infantile. {laughs} You know, the basic stuff. “Give It Up,” in particular, is a song I wrote at a crossroads in life at around 19 years old. I was struggling with what was next occupationally in life and I really feel like it was a reminder from God, the universe, myself—maybe all three—to just lead with love and not worry so much about how all the pieces land.

What is your first recollection of picking up a musical instrument?

I’ve revisited this memory a few times before. To my recollection, I was around 11 years old and my best friend at the time, Brad Hitchcock, had a knock-off brand Eddie Van Halen guitar. It had the bright red and white stripes and he had a little amp with a distortion button on it that got real loud when you pressed it. I remember it being around a little while before I ever picked it up, but one day we were bored and he showed me a James Bond riff he knew on there. I played up in his room until my fingers were sore, which didn’t take long, but I was hooked…for life. My mom bought me a guitar sometime shortly after that for my 12th birthday.

Music industry, talent, personality, expression, and art—what are your thoughts?

Hmm… another broad one. I think be yourself, first and foremost. Figure out what really lights your fire and do that without apology. Everything else should flow from that well, and also be sure that your art or the thing you’re creating stays the main thing. It’s easy to feel like social media, or ads, or Spotify, or a billion other things should be your focus as an artist in today’s climate, but it really starts with the art. I think going too hard after anything else is selling your listeners and fans short.

How do the terms above relate to you and your music?

I think for me, finding out who you are and your place in life has everything to do with the artistic journey. You’ll write about it. It will inform and direct how you feel and what you put into the world. For example, I used to hold some sort of weird stigma around being from the Panhandle, as if it wasn’t a cool place to be from or something.

Now, having left and returned, I’m learning that it’s part of my story and has a lot to do with how my music sounds, so I should never deny that, but instead, embrace it.

How often will we have the opportunity to see you perform live/solo here in northwest Florida?

Here’s a few places you can find me in the next couple months. Most of these are solo gigs in the 850 area, although I’ve starred a couple trio shows where I’ll have a small band:

9/5 – Bruno’s Pizza, 6–9 p.m.
9/11 – Slice House, 6–9 p.m.
9/13 – Papa Joe’s, 4–7 p.m. (w/trio band)***
9/17 – Beau’s BBQ, 6–8 p.m.
9/19 – History Class Brewing, 6–8 p.m.
9/24 – Little Village, 6–9 p.m.
9/25 – G. Foley’s, 6–9 p.m.
9/26 – Taproom St Andrews, 11:30–2:30 p.m.
10/1 – History Class, 630–9 p.m.
10/2 – Slice House, 6–9 p.m.
10/4 – Idyll Hounds, 2–5 p.m.
10/22 – Little Village, 6–9 p.m.
10/23 – G. Foley’s, 6–9 p.m.
10/24 – Taproom, 6–9 p.m.
10/30 – Slice House, 6–9 p.m.
11/5 – Los Antojitos, 6–9 p.m.
11/25 – Los Antojitos, 6–9 p.m.
11/27 – G. Foley’s, 6–9 p.m.

West’s new single “Give It Up” is available everywhere music
is found—Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, etc. just search
“West Give It Up” or you can go to linktr.ee/musicbywest.