Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Blanks

Simon de Wit a.k.a. Blanks took the world by storm when he became a viral sensation with his inventive covers on YouTube. His videos, which feature him reimagining music’s biggest hits in an hour, quickly racked up millions of views. But more importantly, it showed Blanks that a career in music was possible.

Earlier this year, Blanks announced that he would be dropping his debut album Nothing Last Forever and That’s OK on October 29th. The project showcases another side of Blanks’ artistry and his talents as a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Blanks about the upcoming release, his new single “I’m Sorry,” and the moment that sparked his journey in the industry.

PC: How did you discover your passion for music?
Blanks: It was actually by accident. I was studying I.T., but I had always played in bands during high school and I like making music. I used to play covers and things like that. The last year of high school, I realized I could write songs too. I started doing that with a friend of mine. We actually got to play a song of ours on national radio. I was like, “Wait a second. This whole music thing is something you can actually do. It’s a career.” So I started to get interested in writing and producing music. During my university years, I learned how to produce and figured out that this was something I loved more than studying.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Blanks: That’s a great question. Professionally, there are a few songwriters and producers who I really look up to, from Jon Bellion to Max Martin to Kevin Parker of Tame Impala. They’re all self-taught geniuses in the music industry that I really like. I listened to everything that they did. I checked out every interview that they did and I was like, “That’s something I want to try to do too.”

On a more personal level, one of my best friends passed away six years ago, and that was the moment when I really looked at what I was doing with my life. I feel like that triggered something in me and also all of my friends who knew him. It made us reevaluate everything that we were doing in our lives. It inspired me to chase my dreams.

PC: You’ve had a lot of success already in your young career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out to you?
Blanks: At first, my career was more focused on YouTube. When I shifted to music, I had a few viral videos. But this one video of an ’80s cover of “Better Now” by Post Malone blew up to an extent that I could never have imagined. It still goes viral every now and then. I made that in one day. It’s racked up millions of views and I’m like, “How is this still possible?” That was a very special moment. And also the first time that I went to the States for my job. It felt like a dream to go to America for work.

PC: What has the transition been like going from posting covers and reinventing songs on YouTube to now releasing your own original music?
Blanks: The covers world is always very fun. You learn how songs are built. I figured out songs need different layers. I was like, “I can make my own songs.” But it’s very different than making a cover song because you have to figure out what your sound is. Generally being an artist is a very different ballpark than just covering songs that someone already made. I discovered that I really like having the creative freedom of coming up with the melodies and trying to make songs as good as possible. I feel like the covers helped a lot in the process of becoming more of an original artist.

PC: Tell us about “I’m Sorry” and the inspiration behind the song.
Blanks: “I’m Sorry” is a very special song because I usually do these happy, upbeat, energetic songs. This is a slow, sad piano ballad, which I feel like I had to write because I wanted my album to have balance.

I wrote it with a friend of mine. We were in a cabin in the woods for a few days. We were like, “Let’s just settle in. We’ll cook some nice pasta.” But then something happened and the song was created. We spent all night writing the song, and the lyrics and melody came out of us around midnight. We had a song the next morning. We slept on it for a while. We were like, “This is amazing.” We did the first recording and that’s actually the recording that ended up in the song. You can still hear the birds in the background because we recorded it with the doors open. It was summer, so you can hear the birds chirping and little glitches and sounds that the guitar made. It feels so pure and authentic.

The lyrics are very relatable. Whenever you’re chasing your dreams, you’re probably going to end up hurting someone you love at some point, even if it’s unintentional. Because you’re choosing yourself or you’re spending a lot of time building your craft or working on your career. That’s hard if you know that the person you’re hurting is someone you want to keep in your life. That sparked the inspiration for the song.

PC: The single comes off of your debut album. What can fans expect from Nothing Lasts Forever And That’s OK?
Blanks: It’s an emotional roller coaster with a lot of happy and sad vibes. There are songs that sound like nothing I’ve ever done before.

PC: If you had to pick one song off the debut album that best encompasses who you are as an artist, which would it be and why?
Blanks: That’s such a hard question. The first one that popped up in my mind is “What You Do to Me” because that’s something I made a hundred percent on my own and it’s happy. There’s a little taste of melancholy, but it’s upbeat. That definitely would be happy Blanks. Then there’s this song on the album called “Except for You.” That’s more of a sad ballad and it has all the ’80s influences and melodies. I feel like if you listen to those two, you’ll know who Blanks is.

PC: With this being your debut album, did anything surprise you about the process of putting it together? What was the biggest takeaway?
Blanks: When I was making covers on YouTube, I would recreate a song in one hour. Before I was working on the album, I used to go into the studio and make a song in a day.

When we decided to start working on the album, I was like, “I’ll write ten songs in ten days.” But it took one-and-a-half years because I wanted to put the best songs on the album. I think I wrote fifty songs and then I picked the best ones. I think I spent ten days on one song. I feel like there are artists that work on one song for months, so I’m still pretty fast.

PC: What do you hope listeners and fans take away after they hear it?
Blanks: The album is titled Nothing Lasts Forever and That’s OK. It’s based on the Portuguese word “saudade,” which basically means bittersweet. It’s a melancholic longing for something that you will probably never have back. For example, a memory or person that’s now out of your life. When I learned about the word, I was like, “That’s a beautiful emotion.” On the one hand, it accentuates the beautiful part of making a memory and having a beautiful memory, but it’s also sad because it’s never coming back. You’re never going to experience it again. If it’s a really good memory, you’re going to be like, “I wish it could be like that again.”

I really hope that when people listen to the album, it reminds them of moments like that. I hope it encourages them to go out and make more moments like that. It would be amazing if they did that with my music. If my music could be part of a memory that’s special, that’s the end goal.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Blanks: The Foo Fighters.

PC: First album you bought?
Blanks: It was a local Dutch artist.

PC: First concert you attended?
Blanks: Di-rect.

PC: An album that changed your life and why?
Blanks: Currents by Kevin Parker/Tame Impala—the sounds, the structures, how good it is, and how he did everything himself. It blew me away. That album was the soundtrack of an entire year of mine. It influenced me on every level.

PC: A venue on your bucket list to perform at?
Blanks: The Roxy in LA. We were about to play there when COVID happened. We were actually on the stage, then we got called off the stage because everything was canceled. That’s on my list. I want to go back there and finish that gig.

PC: A must-have on the road?
Blanks: A book and noise-canceling headphones so I can read.

To keep up with Blanks, follow him on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music. Listen to “I’m Sorry” today.

Photo Credit: Jantina Talsma