Monica Cruz

It was during the pre-COVID era — I was kind of like, sick around the time, so I had to spend a lot of my time at home. I had this new Apple laptop that I hadn’t used for a while, and then I found out that it had some cool applications. And that’s kind of where it started. I was also looking for new music, and I don’t know — I just wanted to dabble in and see if I could create something because I was inspired by Mac DeMarco’s songs. 

So, I wanted to reciprocate that kind of “lofi” feel, and I was also listening to other artists like Tash Sultana. I just like using different sounds — especially bells. I guess I want to go outside of the box and see how many sounds I can make with either a soft sound or a harsh sound and see what I can make from that. For a lot of my songs, it is kind of experimental, so I don’t even know how to categorize it, but I make a little bit of everything. 

I like to dabble in a lot of little things, just to see what I can do. I want to do things for myself and I don’t want to live in myself and I want to try new things. Even if it’s something like creating little crafts. I like to make my own thank you cards, or those cute 3D photo frames — shadow boxes. I spend a lot of my time creating things or using my hands to make things.  

But yeah, music brings me a lot of joy. It makes me feel satisfied, like, “oh, I made that.” And I know that there’s still more that can come from that, but right now I’m just messing around with it. It’s just a hobby, but if I put in a 100% in it, that’s something that I could probably do in the future. For me, this music is another form of expression for me, a different outlet.  

Wanderer (Mac DeMarco Core)

Koto Creation (Lofi vibes)

All My Sorrows (Coming of age vibes)