HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) - At 21 years old, local musician Quinn Hogan has over 33,500 followers on the video social media platform TikTok and is preparing to step into the professional music industry, but he can still remember the first time he heard music that inspired him. Green Day’s “American Idiot,” in all its gelled tips and smeared eyeliner glory of the early 2000s rock world, was the first record that gave little Hogan in elementary school hope of a society better suited for him.
Years later and sporting electric eye makeup of his own, Hogan is a college dropout and the happiest he’s ever been, preparing to release his first track under the new stage name Cactus Orange.
Last Sunday, Hogan debuted as Cactus Orange, which he described on TikTok as “a little piece to a larger part of my music.” Today at noon, Cactus Orange is sharing its first single, “I Could Get Away,” and the accompanying music video.
As Quinn Hogan on Spotify, he had nearly 3,000 followers and 1,915 monthly listeners. Within three days, Cactus Orange had 134 followers on Spotify on the musicless account.
From dorky home-schooler to a bullied middle schooler, Hogan had trouble making friends in his younger years until he discovered art in high school and began writing poetry, which soon turned into songs. He said the creative outlets saved his life.
“I did go through some really dark times when I didn’t want to be here,” Hogan said. “I was in as many shows as I could through high school, as many choirs as I could through high school. Any chance I could, I was in the arts every single day, and I loved it.”
After graduating from Turner Ashby High School, Hogan spent nearly a year attending Blue Ridge Community College before deciding to fully invest in his music.
“I want to make music that makes people realize they’re worth it, and who they are is perfectly OK,” he said. “Music is a part of me.”
Since debuting with the “If You Care To Listen” EP in 2019, Hogan has released four projects: singles “Tripping & Falling,” “Starlightcar” and “pumpkin” as well as the album “Pearl.”
His early discography is steadfast pop: cheesy lyrics fitted into dramatic, melancholic melodies that might belong to a love letter and angst-filled teenage diary.
“That whole EP is very set in like a dreamscape idea I had. This is a dream I always wanted to do,” Hogan said. “I was just trying to make music that people would enjoy rather than make music I enjoy.”
But Hogan began shedding the melodrama for more mature songwriting with succeeding projects. His music has steadily begun creeping into the alternative/indie realm, giving more weight to funky beats and cohesive whimsical harmonies that come with experimentation, experience and good energy between the studio team.
Lexington Bowler is the engineering producer at Blue Sprocket Sound behind Hogan’s music, and he said each time in the studio is an adventure because Hogan has an insatiable appetite for creating and exploring while discovering his sound.
“My favorite part of working with Quinn is he’s constantly growing,” Bowler said. “There’s a difference every time we work together, a freshness. He doesn’t just do the same thing over and over. … It makes every project super fun because it challenges all of us.”
You can look to main producer Joseph Nichols for the infusion of jazz that’s crept into some of Hogan’s music. Nichols mostly produces jazz, rap, and rhythm and blues, and he said the two began working together in summer of 2019 to produce the first EP.
“Our sounds have started to gel because we’ve been together so much,” Nichols said. “It’s been cool and fun to experience all those genres with him because some of it is stuff I wouldn’t have worked on if I hadn’t have worked with Quinn.”
He said “Pearl” is his favorite released album but it’s tied for first overall with the work they currently have cooking in the studio.
“He’s pretty unique in the fact that he’s willing to do different things pretty much all the time,” Nichols said. “You can expect more uniqueness from Cactus Orange and more of a storyline throughout his projects.”
Hogan said the next album from Cactus Orange is set to come out this year and will further explore topics of depression, loneliness and anxiety.
“Cactus Orange to me is just being able to be your true and authentic self and be open and accept the good and the bad and having that fine line between your life and dreams,” Hogan said. “The stuff I’m creating off Cactus Orange is some of the most meaningful music I’ve been writing beside the new stuff coming out.”
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