Written by: Oliver Heffron
Rising underground MC Trevor Spitta has a vibrant, cinematic vision to share. Encapsulated by the title of his new breakout album, SUNSET MOSHPIT, the New Jersey native’s sound paints visceral, energetic pictures through animated lyricism, dynamic beat selection and impressive music videos that tell a story for each track–like the late-night joyriding of “ME ‘N U,” the deadpan aspirations of “COULDA BEEN PRESIDENT,” and the charming Bonnie and Clyde romance in “GIRL IS MINE.”
Coming off the heels of his recent inclusion in Tommy Richman’s debut album, COYOTE, in which he steals the show on the hard-hitting “TENNESSEE,” Spitta separates himself as a talented voice to watch within the alternative hip-hop space with SUNSET MOSHPIT: a distinct, immersive 16-track album that impresses from start to finish.
Fresh off a mini tour run for the album with stops in NYC, Chicago, and LA, Trevor Spitta sat down with NUANCE to discuss his musical background, creating the Sunset Moshpit sound and capturing cinematic visuals.
Growing up in Oakland, NJ, Trevor Spitta explains he was raised by a family of musicians who surrounded him with eclectic sounds from an early age. He explains, “My mother was a singer from the Philippines. She sang there until she moved here when she was around 21. My grandmother was a jazz musician from the Philippines. She was in these jazz clubs in the West Village where I was growing up. I used to go there a lot down there, every weekend when I was a young kid—10 years old, 11 years old, even younger than that.”
Photo Courtesy of Andres Sanchez
As he grew older, Trevor Spitta found his own taste in rap music via boom-bap, lyrical artists like PRO ERA, Mac Miller, and Lil Wayne. Later, Spitta became a fan of cloud-era crooners like Lil Yachty, Lil Uzi, and Young Thug and their ability to use their melodic flows like an instrument.
Inspired by these artists, he took to the bedroom studio to find his own sound, exploring the different styles he grew up listening to: “As I just ventured through my career, I just experimented more. I did a bunch of different genres and different things, but it was always rap where I belonged and where I knew it would land.”
Having put years of work in to find his sound, Spitta describes SUNSET MOSPHIT as the triumphant culmination of that hard work: “I feel like everything, all the sounds I experimented with, have culminated into what I now have, which is the SUNSET MOSHPIT sound. It’s just the sounds that I grew up making, just mixed together.”
He explains how the name came to him: “I felt like my stuff was very original in a sense where I didn’t really know how to explain it, so I just kind of said it sounded like Mosh pitting under the sunset, and that’s where sunset mosh pit came from. Because with my music you can listen to my music and just walk with your friends and hang out, but when I perform the same song live, it’s a whole different vibe, and people are really pushing each other and having a great time. Really that’s all I want is for people to have fun listening to my music.”
On the visual end, Trevor Spitta says he’s most inspired by artists with a distinctly cinematic vision, like Tyler, the Creator, and A$AP Rocky, as well as film directors like Wes Anderson and the Coen brothers. Currently planning a slew of new videos, Spitta aims to release a music video for each song on SUNSET MOSPHIT.
Trevor Spitta quickly credits the people he works with on the videos for bringing his visions to light: “It’s really not just me; I work with a bunch of really talented directors who I collaborate with. It’s never just me alone. I’m really not much without the people that I work with Because one thing I’ve learned is that it really takes a village with the music videos, especially with the crew and people who really care about it. That’s really all it is at the end of the day, is working with people who care about it as much as me.”
Discussing how he can pull off so many impressive videos, Trevor Spitta says, “Me, my friends, we’re very unorthodox when it comes to shooting things. It’s very much not by the book.” On shooting the video for hit single “M ‘N U,” which depicts the Oakland, NJ MC cruising through the empty streets of downtown LA in a beamer, Trevor Spitta explains, “We were trying to get this shot where the car was in the second to left lane, and the car would veer five lanes over and we’d zoom out. We never were able to get the shot, because it looks like it was empty, but it really wasn’t empty. There were a lot of cars, and it was just very dangerous we were trying to do, and that’s what I meant by unorthodox.”
Currently focused on producing the rest of the music videos for the album, Trevor Spitta looks forward to more new releases coming soon, as his fans should already know: “If you know me, I don’t go too long without dropping the music. So I’m already working on the next release, and it won’t be too far along.” For now, give SUNSET MOSHPIT a listen and let that magic hour energy take hold.