Last week, we introduced Alex Snape a.k.a. Sevv and Hunter Heflin as part of our CreatiVity program in partnership with Quadio — a new social streaming platform dedicated to showcasing the best new college music. Now, we asked them about everything from their humble beginnings to future undertakings in the music world.

On playing piano, doing Instagram live performances, making use of the time spent in quarantine and more — read the full interview below:

V Magazine What is your name and where do you go to school? 

Alex Snape Alex Snape aka Sevv, and I go to Vanderbilt.

Hunter Heflin Hunter Heflin, University of Pennsylvania.

V Where are you from originally and how did your career in music begin?

AS I’m originally from Washington, D.C., and it started with your average piano lessons when I was 6 and the rest is history! 

HH I’m from Bethesda, Maryland. I started producing music when I was 13 — back then I had an MM6 Synthesizer I would make beats on for fun. That was when I really fell in love with it. Throughout college, I would write and produce songs casually, and then my senior year I released a full album. After graduation, I knew my dream was to pursue music full-time, so I dove into Ableton and started learning as fast as I could. It’s tough for me to pick a defining moment where my music career “started” — it was more something that evolved over time from a passion into a career.

V Having a pop and electronic style, can you share what inspires your sound?

HH I want to make music that makes people feel euphoric, so I’m really drawn to big synths and expressive chord progressions. Having said that, I grew up listening to mostly hip-hop, and I love throwing in sounds and cadences from that genre. As far as musical influences go, there are so many. Post Malone, Justin Bieber, and T-Pain are melodic geniuses to me; Illenium, The Chainsmokers, and 40 are my favorite producers; lyrically, I’m inspired by J. Cole, Drake, and Mac Miller, among plenty of others.

AS If I had to define my genre it would fall somewhere in the Indie Electronic world, but I think genre boundaries are slowly fading away more and more; especially in electronic music. I think it’s important to continue to incorporate traditional instruments (piano, guitar, etc) into my music in combination with synthesizers. I’ve been finding a lot of inspiration in my sound design and trying to stay creative while creating new sounds from scratch. I’m also a sucker about recording objects around the house and using them as drums! 

V Can you tell us about your musical background? How many musical instruments do you play?

HH I took classical piano lessons for 12 years up until college. In high school I played the alto and tenor saxophone. I dabbled in drums for a little bit, but right now I really want to learn how to play guitar.

AS I played piano all my life so it was comfortable for me. When I started DJ’ing my freshman year of college I wanted to be able to play my own music, and synths were an easy choice at achieving an energetic sound.

V Sevv — could you share with us how you chose the name?

AS My last name is Snape (like Harry Potter) so I dealt with lots of people calling me “Severus Snape”, hence Sevv! 

V With COVID-19 impacting your schooling and your life, how do you feel heading into the summer months? Are you making any adjustments?

AS I’m feeling good headed into Summer! Quarantine has caused a lot of uncertainty, but I’ll be working on music a lot this summer home in DC! I am a big believer in collaboration, so the biggest adjustment has been the rise in Zoom calls with artists instead of in-person meetups. 

HH COVID-19 has shifted the timeline on the music video shoots, but my main concern is making sure that people around me stay safe. In lieu of music videos, I started doing Instagram Live performances that we’ve been calling “Fireside Slaps” — it’s a soothing sunset for your ears. It’s mostly acoustic covers (think John Mayer and Khalid), but I’ve been performing some originals on there too! You can find the first one on my IG @hunterheflinmusic.

V Can you tell us about your remix, “Everytime”? How was it working with Alex Snape and LOLITA? 

AS So the sketch for the track started back in January during Winter Break, and Hunter and I had been able to meet up I showed it to him. We worked on the song remotely a bit but didn’t get around to completing the idea until I saw LOLITA was holding an Instagram contest. It was here I found and listened to the vocals and immediately knew they would fit on the Sketch. I called hunter and told him we had to finish the remix and submit it, and within probably a week we took the song from being 30% finished to a final project! We won the contest, and although there was a language barrier between us and LOLITA, everything was smooth! Music bridges all languages! 

HH Alex and I reconnected about a year ago over music — we actually went to the same high school, three years apart. “Everytime” started as a demo he showed me six months ago that I really vibed with. We dove into the production around the time quarantine started, so we were just back and forth over FaceTime every few days, and eventually we landed a product we were really proud of. Alex had somehow heard of this Italian remix competition that Lolita was sponsoring, and we both loved her voice! From there it was just a matter of arranging it to match the energy of the song. Lolita is an incredibly talented singer, and we were so lucky to have her feature on this! On the production side, I love working with Alex. He has this magnetic, youthful exuberance and positive energy that is a blast to work alongside.

V How did you hear about Quadio? Can you tell us about the relationship you have with the platform and your music?

AS I first heard about Quadio in February of 2019 when I was approached by one of the co-founders while he was stopping through Nashville and the rest is history! I ended up interning with them last summer and continued as a campus representative this past year! It’s such an amazing platform and has changed the way I think about producing music, especially during quarantine, Quadio has been such a great way to stay connected.

V Why did you choose to showcase your music there?

AS Although I post music on other streaming platforms, posting on Quadio is a whole new experience. Posting on Quadio is about so much more than the number of plays you get: you can connect with folks that comment on your tracks, see how you compare on the charts and most importantly it’s all artists around my age. 

V Have you made any quarantine playlists that you can share with us?

AS Yes! I’m so happy these were added in the last update! My playlist is called Sevv Essentials and is on my profile.

V If you could work with anyone musically (past or present) who would that be?

AS If I could work with any artist it would probably be Juice WRLD. I always have thought (and still think) the world is waiting for the cultural streams of Electronic and Rap to mix, and I think he would have been perfect for it with his incredible melodic instinct and writing skills. His rebellious nature + sheer talent reminds me of Dave Grohl with a more modern twist. 

HH This is such a hard question! There are so many greats I’d love to get in the studio with. If I had to pick one I would have to say Drake, so I could see his writing process.

V Do you believe music is important especially during a time where the world is in crisis?

AS YES. Music is therapy and can unite us, and we need it now more than ever! I’m always checking out my friends playlists + chatting with what everyone is listening to. 

HH 100%. Despite the times, music is still such a powerful force for building community, providing catharsis, and lifting spirits. Look how many people “went to” that Travis Scott Fortnite concert! I think that shows how important music is for the world right now.

V Where do you see yourselves and your music career 5 years from now? 

AS I’ve always wanted to be a touring DJ, so that would be awesome and I hope 5 years is long enough to reach that goal! I know it’s not something that happens overnight, so regardless of if music is involved in my “job” after college, I know I will always be making music.

V What are some of your goals for this year?

AS Just to keep growing personally and in music. Making music has limitless areas for growth and improvement; as a musician and a person. They say 10,000 hours is required to master anything, and I’m still just trying to chip away at that day by day! I also started learning guitar a week ago so we’ll see where that goes!