Summer; a time for hanging out with friends, going to the beach, and for others, music festivals! The weekend of the 16th of June was Firefly Music Festival located in Dover, Delaware deep in the Woodlands at the Dover International Speedway. Among those attending the festival, were a wide variety of performing artists. I had the pleasure of being able to sit down with one of these artists to talk to him about his music and what it's like to be a young artist.
Quinn XCII, pronounced Quinn 92, was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. His parents were very influential in creating his love for music. As he went through high school he began writing his own music and collaborating with his childhood friend, who also performed at Firefly, ayokay. The two artists put out their first single together titled Kings of Summer and that immediately took off. Quinn's music is a mix of indie-pop and that EDM feel. It's the kind of music that leaves you singing the lyrics for days.
Jen Coffin (JC): How did you get into music?
Quinn XCII (QX): I started listening to music and dancing to it when I was three years old. My parents would play music around the house all the time, like old Michael Jackson and Motown music. I'm from Detroit so they would always play that stuff, like the Dave Matthews Band and classic 90's music. As I got older I started listening to more stuff and finding my own taste. It wasn't until my sophomore year of high school that I started writing my own stuff.
JC: What’s the story behind your (stage) name?
QX: So Quinn is an acronym that I got from a professor at Michigan State, which is where I went to school. It stands for “Quit Unless your Instincts are Never Neglected” and it’s a double negative so it’s kinda funny saying it. It basically means that if there’s nothing inside you telling you to stop what you love doing, then you should just keep doing it. Then XCII is the Roman numerals for 92.
JC: What’s it like performing and recording with your childhood friend, ayokay?
QX: I’ve actually known him since like third grade. We grew up in the same hometown, same elementary school, middle school, and high school. Then he went to the University of Michigan and I went to Michigan State. We always talked through high school and never really did anything serious, then he got into the school of music at U of M. He told me that they had studios there that they had access to and he asked if I wanted to record some stuff. I would go like three times a week, skipping classes to record music. That’s how everything sort of started, it was super organic and through our friendship, we just started recording music together.
In May of 2016, Quinn XCII put out his first EP titled Change of Scenery. "Change of Scenery was the first project that I put out and that just spoke about literally going from college to the real world, hence the name Change of Scenery" (Direct quote from Quinn XCII). Between then and now he has appeared on songs from other artists and put out a few singles of his own, Straightjacket in 2016 and Make Time, which came out a little bit before his first album this year. His first full album is titled Bloom and is mainly about becoming adults and developing as people. When asked about the album, Quinn XCII said, “We sort of shed layers of ourselves and it was a lot more emotional and relationship based. So that’s kind of how we got the name for it”.
JC: What’s it like being a young, up and coming artist?
QX: It’s cool. It’s super humbling to see things start to really happen. I’ve been doing this seriously for four years now; so to do festivals like Firefly and have a ton of followers on Spotify is just really humbling. But it also keeps me motivated to get me to the point where I want to be. I have a ton more that I want to do.
JC: Are you working on any new music right now?
QX: So I just finished my album actually! That’s coming out early September and my new single off the album is coming out July 7th, so definitely be on the lookout for that. It’s really exciting stuff, it’s the best feeling ever.
Quinn XCII is such an incredibly talented artist and it was such a pleasure being able to talk to him about his music. He was so humble and genuinely excited to talk about his rise to fame. Be on the lookout for Quinn XCII’s new album coming this September and the single release on July 7th! Also check out his first album Bloom on Spotify!
