Even though Pixel Bath is categorized as “alternative,” Dawson is part of a generation of artists who aren’t constrained to one genre, in part because of the exposure they’ve had via the internet. “We have a passport to ideas; we have an entire infinite encyclopedia of anything and everything that we’re interested in. We are probably the generation that fully is taking advantage of it.” Still he acknowledges that there’s negatives in that access to information. “It’s kind of like when you realize how big the universe is, how the small things should be hyper-irrelevant. I guess it’s the same thing with the ideas you hold so valuable because there’s an entire ocean of things you have yet to see.” The only way to deal with that is create your own filter, which Dawson does—selectively. When he’s in a musically creative zone, the one thing he avoids is music from his peers. “When I’m making something, I won’t really listen to new stuff,” he admits. “I try not to listen to my contemporaries. Not out of fear of making something like them—I just try not to judge my music on the current things. I guess I want my music to be timeless so I try not to get caught in the time that I’m currently standing in.”

Pixel Bath sounds like it could have come out of the early-2000s pop-punk scene, or the indie-rock wave that emerged at the end of that decade, or can slot into the trend of rappers trying guitar-driven sounds. “You’re using other people’s ideas and inspiration to show your individualism,” he says, appreciating the irony. “…which, in itself is kind of a paradox, but it kind of chain-links us to everything around each other.” He’s translated that energy into design as well, a passion that he’s been exploring more and more. “I’m usually just playing with my hands and making something that, I don’t know if it will be revelatory or anything like that, but basically things that I find interesting.” He launched Turbo Radio, a brand of clothing and merchandise that gives him another creative outlet, but regardless of the medium it all ends up as a deep personal expression that continues to grow beyond himself. “I’m always looking at myself as a primary reference for anything that I make, because I only have experience in my skin. I feel like it will always be a representation of my being—and hopefully something bigger than that.”

Nonetheless, music remains Dawson’s preferred outlet. Even a day after Pixel Bath came out, he was back in the studio working on new things just for the sake of release. “I’m always making music,” he says, “and sometimes aimlessly. And I think kind of the most healthy thing you can do when you’re a musician…to kind of just let yourself exist somewhere and sit there for a while.” That attitude combined with his devotion to music paves way for a promising, and undoubtedly eclectic career.  “Sometimes I’m making stuff when there’s no purpose of it other than ‘I want to do this right now.’”