Q&A with Cover Star Abbleby

By Abby Fritz

Tennis player turned musician.

The beats are like the slow steady breeze of California where musician Justin Burns, who goes by Appleby, moved last September. An easygoing rhythmic experience juxtaposed against the honest lyrics that took years of self awareness and vulnerability to muster into words. It’s like his music knew before him that he belonged in Los Angeles.

But the trajectory of the 29-yearold tennis prodigy who grew up in Ohio, Illinois, and Florida has never been clear. When speaking about staying creative during quarantine, prioritizing mental health among hate, and learning vulnerability through music, it is clear Appleby is an old soul on a lifelong mission.

Read more about falling in love with music and pushing the boundaries of creation with technology in this Q&A with Zipped’s cover star Appleby.

“Where did the name Appleby come from?”

“It’s my mom’s maiden name. I kept the idea of me being an artist from my family and friends, so Appleby was a way to keep them on the journey with me despite not including them initially.”

“Is there a particular reason you chose your mom’s maiden name?”

“I wanted to find a name that is at the core of who I am, what I reflect, and something that I can grow with. My family’s never going to change. So it was to include them in the journey, but also a way for me to maintain humility. No matter how big I get as an act, my name is my family’s name. If I start fucking up, I’m screwing up my family’s name.”

“How would you personally describe your music?”

“It’s interesting. You’re catching at a point where I’m transitioning and learning to separate myself from the struggles of genre. For a very long time I was making music not for genre, but then when you release it people will ask: ‘What genre is it?’ Since I’ve never gravitated to one specific label—it was just more of a feeling—I would just accept whatever genre somebody would tell me. Alternative R&B was how so many people described it. But as of late I recognize that I don’t fit inside of that box and have stepped outside of that mindset to create a sound that reflects Appleby.”

“When did you start really getting into music?”

“In terms of being creator of music, that was seven years ago. I watched a music video for this artist named Spooky Black who now goes by his real name Corbin. I was like, ‘Oh, this is so sick, I want to try writing.’ That actually gave me purpose that I lacked years previously.”

“How were you lacking direction?”

“I grew up playing tennis. I started playing when I was five, traveling the country by 10, and the world at 12. I tried to go to traditional high school but I was missing so much school that they threatened to hold me back. My mom was like, ‘Nah, that’s not gonna happen.’ So I went to a tennis academy for the remainder of my high school years. By the end of that time period, when it was time for college I had burnt out.

That first year of being responsibility free after playing tennis seven hours a day for five or six days a week—and that’s not including tournaments—I recognized how many hours are in a day. Initially, it was kind of fun, because I can party with my friends and finally get out of the house for the first time because I didn’t have to be up at 4am to practice.

I eventually lost myself trying to figure out how to make days matter. Without tennis, I didn’t really have anything to describe myself other than being referred to as the former tennis player that could have been something. It wasn’t until I found music that I started to address those emotions and find the words to express what I just expressed. That gave me sort of peace of mind and comfort.”

“What’s your favorite way to create?”

“I think I have a dual ideal. First and foremost, it has to be a comfortable space. My room is typically my favorite space because it’s the spot that I know the most. It’s my curated environment, everything on the wall is my choosing, everything in it is mine. I also love being on my own, because then I can bump my head up against the wall for however long I need to to get the ideas out.

Then on the other hand having somebody else to bounce ideas off of or just to gauge what’s good and what’s not is nice. Artists like myself who write autobiographically, it can sometimes be hard to judge your experiences properly, so it helps energy wise when you have somebody you trust to help you figure out what’s good and what’s not.”

“Has COVID impacted your creative process?”

“I think it hurts from the collaboration aspect. But luckily, with technology it actually made the idea of collaboration that much easier. It puts the control in my hands and the understanding that it was always there. So a lot of times you’ll wait for your friends that are overseas to come to LA or New York or Chicago or vice versa. Now everybody can be collaborative partners if they’re comfortable with virtual creating.”

“There has also been rightful uprisings and political unrest of the past months, has this impacted your creative process?”

“We’re already dealing with COVID and there aren’t essays about how to deal with this sort of isolation and the relentless sadness. So we are struggling to handle that and as you find your flow, then you have the the side of the social movement kicking in. For any of us that had our lives uprooted, as African Americans and especially as an African American male, you start to see a lot of imagery that could either be you, your family members, or somebody that you know. That can mess with you emotionally. It can make it challenging to know what to say creatively or even be inspired to say anything. Even just to be able to feel like yourself and comfortable in your skin. All of that then impacts the creative. For me respectively, I’ve had moments where I had to step away from music and get my mental health to a good spot.”

“How has music been able to serve you on this journey?”

“I write autobiographically, I spend a lot of time diving inward to better understand myself. To understand what it is I’m trying to do, achieve, say, or feel. Through the creating process, it makes me a better person because I’m a bit more self aware. You find things about yourself that you like and things that you don’t like, then once you’re aware of that you have the ability to either change or not change.”

“What do you hope your music brings to people?”

“A big thing for me is being honest and vulnerable in my music. Most of what I make, has a root of human interaction and human emotion. Hopefully I’ve found a way to say something that somebody else has always felt but never had the words for. That’s something that I hope, because if you hear that, you feel a little less alone and that’s always been something I’ve always wanted to feel—a little less alone.”