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Garret Paknis
"I live by my own motto: I’m not here to be liked… I’m here to be electricity"
Producer, rapper, spoken word poet and performance artist, GARRETT PAKNIS makes music and visuals that explore the many depths of the human experience.
Based in Berlin and from NYC, he creates trippy-chill-dance-and-sometimes-cry-worthy electronic music.
NEO: How long have you been making music?
GARRETT PAKNIS: It all started when I was a kid and wrote stories… which turned to poems, and then songs… and I also grew up playing violin and a bit of piano. I kept writing through my teens and twenties, but was working as a model and actor and then came back to music in the last ten years. I’ve been professionally releasing for about 3-4.
NEO: Who inspires you musically?
GARRETT PAKNIS: I fell in love with music by artists like Stevie Nicks, Janis Joplin, Bowie, the Stones, and Whitney Houston. I fell in love with the performance aspect of Grace Jones, and the story writing of David Gray.
NEO: Explain your last single ‘Baby’ using three words:
GARRETT PAKNIS: Empowering Breakup Song
NEO: What’s your favourite quote?
GARRETT PAKNIS: I live by my own motto: I’m not here to be liked… I’m here to be electricity.
NEO: What is the first thing people notice about you?
GARRETT PAKNIS: Probably my height (6’4”) and my unique looks and sense of style :)
NEO: What emotion do you experience the most?
GARRETT PAKNIS: Intensity and Wild Fun
NEO: If you were not an artist what other career would you have gone into?
GARRETT PAKNIS: Well, I used to be a photographer, TV and Film actor, and even wrote a book. I can’t imagine myself as anything other than a creative person.
NEO: If you could star in a TV show, what would it be and why?
GARRETT PAKNIS: I don’t own a TV - I rather spend my time creating and writing, so I’d probably write my own series about my life on the road for the past ten years and the people I’ve met and fallen in and out of love with.
NEO: What other music genre would you like to explore?
GARRETT PAKNIS: Disco… and lo-fi hip hop.
NEO: What is one thing that you are deeply proud of in your life?
GARRETT PAKNIS: That I haven’t lived a life by societal standards. I’ve been traveling and living all over the world for 10 years... including Africa, India and other parts of Asia. I’m always looking to grow both mentally and spiritually, and I’m constantly on the hunt for adventure.
NEO: Let us know where to find you on social media
GARRETT PAKNIS: @garrettpaknis