We had a moment to chat with Lorenzo Cole an upcoming artist from Tennessee. Check out his full interview below and be sure to follow Jukebox Culture on Instagram.
Where are you from and how was life growing up?
I was born in the Hermitage/ mount Juliet TN area, I grew up with a musical family.. my father was a successful record producer and founder of street flavor records and had a lot of success with artists like Haystak, jelly roll, rude awakening ect. Music was always a huge part of my life and is what me and my father really bonded over and continue to work together on to this day. My mother has always worked and fully supported whatever I was doing no matter what it was. I was just a regular kid into playin guitar , punk music, and video games. That was pretty much the story of my elementary and middle school life. Was never really a total outcast but never really found who I was till i got a little older in my later years of highschool, hell I still feel like I’m finding myself now !
Where does the inspiration come from for creating music?
I always gravitated heavily towards metal and punk music. Starting out as a bass player I always looked up to people like Mike dirnt, Pete Wentz, Johnny Christ, syd vicious, and people like that. Something about the rawness and power of punk music always stuck with me. Of course being in tennessee country music and southern hip hop became a huge part of my life. Over all I just embrace my roots with everything that I do.
What artists inspired you the most and who do you currently listen to?
Off the top of my head, Greenday, fall out boy, social distortion, the ramones we’re all bands that I kind of naturally gravitated towards when I was young, when it comes to country music I’m a fan of pretty much anything from back in the day. I have always been more of a “song follower” than an artist follower if that makes sense – a lot of rappers inspired me like 8ball & mjg , yelawolf , Haystak, jelly roll and people like that. I continue to listen to all those bands and artists.
What kind of support do you get from your home town/state?
I am blessed to say that I have a lot of supporters in the Nashville music scene and so many amazing friends and family members that have my back no matter what. Always love to meet new people and introduce them to my brand.
If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing right now?
Probably be an EMT or some type of service job. I’m honestly pretty shit at anything involving school so who knows.
What really makes you stand out and different from other artists?
I think the biggest difference between me and a lot of young artists starting out is I am 100% invested in this game. A lot of people like to tell people they are rappers or that they are guitar players but don’t ever really embrace what they are doing. Southern punk is my brand, my music, and unapologetically who I am. So I just embrace it and run with it.
Tell us your craziest life story:
Honestly the craziest thing I’ve ever done in my life was open for yelawolf and bam Margeras band playing bass for Jelly roll at slum fest 1 back in 2015 – I remember loosing my mind seeing bam margera and being introduced to all these artists for the first time. I was 14 back then so I was completely mind blown at everything going on.
What’s your biggest goal in the music industry?
Honestly for me it’s just about making the best records and entertaining people, giving people something they can feel and relate but also have fun with. It’s easy for the records to get lost in the midst of all the weird things musicians think and fear when it comes to creating songs. I could really care less about being perceived as “Hard” or some kind of bad ass I just do what I do and if people fuck with it that’s cool and if they don’t it’s whatever. I just want to keep moving forward and dropping awesome content that I love and care about.
If you could collaborate with one single artist, who would it be and why?
I would definitely love to collaborate with jelly roll. I have played bass on a few of his albums but it Would be sick as hell to get him to drop a verse on a Lorenzo Cole record. I think a lot of people would enjoy that.
Favorite Artists of all time and why?
This is a tough question because of how broad my spectrum of listening is if I had to pick my top bands ever or ones that mean the most to me it would probably go something like
– greenday/ fall out boy/ linkin park/Jelly Roll
All of them played a special part in my musical and personal life.
What advice would you give to inspiring music artists?
A dream without putting in the work is a DELUSION. End of story, you will get out of this what you put in. I personally I have struggled a lot with self doubt and being way to hard on myself about to dumbest shit. I have walked away many times wanted to give up and quit but this music is who I am, I can’t escape it and a lot of musicians I’ve been around feel that way. It’s a rough game but can also be a rewarding one if you work hard Stay consistent and have confidence in your brand and your music! Enjoy the process, have fun.
Social Media Links:
https://youtube.com/c/LorenzoCole
https://instagram.com/lorenzocolesp
