Q&A: Caleb Hearn Shares Vulnerability, Growing Success & New Track “Friend Right Now”

Q&AMusic

Jul 25

☆ BY LISA VICTORIA ☆

WHILE EXPLORING THE SIMPLE ACT OF BEING VULNERABLE — Nashville-based singer-songwriter Caleb Hearn is in the process of revealing the beauty that can come from allowing yourself the opportunity to be transparent when creating and sharing art. During his decision in 2020 to leave his home in North Carolina to pursue his love of creating music, he began accumulating a large following and a slew of beloved fans when his song “Always Be” gained attention through TikTok. After renewing the song as “Always Be 2.0” on streaming platforms, it has gathered over 16 million streams on Spotify thus far. His projects consist of heartfelt and relatable lyrics that are easily adored by those who hear them.

While creating songs that perfectly fit for a breakup of any sort, Hearn has also managed to bring light to topics such as family hardship, friendship, mental health, grief, and personal growth, as well as childhood and the transition into adulthood. These undeniably difficult experiences that many struggle with have only fuelled his openness and willingness to expose his vulnerability with his audience, which has been met with a flood of praise and love.

Making his way to the stage for the first time ever just over a year ago, Hearn is now filling his days creating new music that he shares with the over 2.2 million monthly Spotify listeners he has built up since his first project release. “Friend Right Now” is his newest single to date and is one of the six tracks that are on his new EP, We’re Getting Older. The single, released on July 7, touches on the idea of harbouring internal guilt when a relationship doesn’t work out in the way you might hope and letting life take the lead. While this concept is one that is hard to master, the lyrics examine and unpack the intensity you can feel when you know what you want and yet cannot receive it.

Read below to learn more about Hearn’s new single, “Friend Right Now,” his creative process, and what’s next with his music.

LUNA: Considering your songs show off the vulnerability within your personal relationships and the aftermath of losing someone, do you notice a shift in the connection that you’ve developed with your music when this happens?

HEARN: Yes! When the music I write is about something I’ve gone through, I tend to like the song more. When I feel a personal connection to the lyrics I’m writing, the process is therapeutic, making me more passionate about it since it's more meaningful.

LUNA: Following that, do you think your goal as an artist is to express an overall message throughout your projects, or do you foresee the message of your music changing as you continue to go through relationships and experiences?

HEARN: There is an overall message I want to convey through all my music. As I grow up and the world changes, there will be different scenarios in my life that I find lessons in, but the goal of my music will always be to inspire people and convey hope.

LUNA: How does your single “Friend Right Now” comment on the current opinions you hold about the concept of relationships or the ones you have within your personal life right now?

HEARN: “Friend Right Now” is a lighthearted song that upholds my opinion on how it's okay even if things don’t work out between people. When a relationship doesn’t work out with someone, it can be hard not to be critical of yourself, but I want to remind people it says nothing about who they are. I’ve learned that just letting things work out how they are going is the best way to go about relationships.

LUNA: When sharing a piece of art as vulnerable as this single, what goes through your head knowing listeners might interpret the lyrics differently than your intended meaning?

HEARN: I love it when listeners interpret lyrics differently than I intended! With all my music, I write based on my own experiences, but I want my listeners to interpret my songs in whatever way they want to. I find it really special when listeners find their own meanings and make my songs relevant to something they’re going through.

LUNA: What was the process you had to endure as an artist in order to work through the heartbreak that essentially helped to create “Friend Right Now,” and do you think that process would be different if you didn’t create music?

HEARN: I think that going through heartbreak as an artist made it easier to endure. Instead of bottling my feelings, I could talk them out during sessions which helped me process them and move on.

LUNA: Lastly, what do you wish you knew before you started to create your upcoming EP, We’re Getting Older, and how does that coincide with what you hope your fans will gain from hearing it?

HEARN: I wish I knew more about the stages of heartbreak before I had to let my feelings come out through my music. However, if I knew more about it, my EP wouldn’t be as vulnerable and raw, which is something I really like about it.

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