By Lily Belcher
Connor Paycheck started writing stories in middle school. It came easily to him and was something fun for him and his friends to do. His love of music merged with his love of stories, and he started turning his paragraphs into songs.
“I was always into music and rap, so it started out as a comedy thing me and my friend did in middle school. We made a song about being a redneck and driving tractors and stupid stuff,” explained Paycheck.
After middle school, his songs adopted a serious tone and he started writing about the real things he has had to deal with in his life. His music became an easy way for him to express himself.
“If I had to pick one [artist that influenced me] … Juice WRLD changed my life in a lot of ways through inspiration and just listening to his music when I would have a bad day,” said Paycheck.
Juice WRLD’s lyric, “If I can, then you can too,” was motivation for Paycheck to stay on the right path in life and continue to pursue his dream of being a singer. He does what he does because he wants people to enjoy his music and ‘be free’ when they come to his shows.
He kept writing songs and used the money he had originally saved for college to transform his room into a studio and take professional classes on how to improve as a singer and songwriter.
In January, he signed with Symphonic Distribution in Tampa and was just hired as an assistant engineer at Hands in Motion Music School and Productions. He said that he takes the songs he writes and records in his room and sends them to Symphonic Distribution to put on Spotify and music streaming services, so they can handle the business side while Paycheck handles the content.
Paycheck said his favorite song he has written is “My Piano Song.”
“It’s basically a poem I wrote. I wrote it on the piano and recorded it all by myself. It was the first song I’ve produced all by myself, so that’s why it’s my favorite, but all my favorite stuff is unreleased,” said Paycheck.
Listen to Paycheck’s music on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and other music streaming services.
