Editor’s Note: Today, Preston C. Howell of The Voice fame is releasing his single entitled “Supply and Demand”. This video highlights the plight of suicide among young people, which according to the mental health organization “Leave On The Light”, suicide is the second leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15-25. If you feel you’re at the end of your rope, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255. At Madness To Creation, Preston C. Howell discusses this single along with mental health awareness and he shares his perspective as a teenager on the George Floyd protests and his experience on The Voice, including that moment when Blake Shelton turned and getting coached by John Legend. Fans can find Preston C. Howell at the following locations:
www.facebook.com/PrestonCHowellpage
www.twitter.com/prestonchowell
www.instagram.com/prestonchowell
Madness To Creation: Preston, how are you doing? You’re releasing the single “Supply & Demand”, take us into the single and how do you come up ideas for a song?
Preston: Thanks for having me. Basically, I just sit in my room at my desk and I just write some stuff, and try to think of different things that I can write about and connect it.
Madness To Creation: Given a lot has happened in 2020, with the Covid-19 pandemic and the George Floyd protests, what are some different topics that you write about?
Preston: I would say a big inspiration for me is me wanting to just make people happy, I want to make people feel like there is no other care in the world, and I just want people to have fun sometimes.
Madness To Creation: You’re releasing “Supply & Demand”, take us into the song and video, and there’s a message in the video that talks about suicide among young people.
Preston: First of all, I sang this song because knew there was people going through some struggles with mental health, so I just wanted to sing about it and make a change and to make people know and realize that this is a real problem, and I felt that with this song, you could do something with it and reach a lot of people, but I wasn’t sure if I was the one that should sing this song, but when they said that, I felt so honored and I was just so glad for the potential of it. I’m happy to be reaching out to a lot of people, and it’s great because I never thought I’d be releasing a single at 15, a lot of people see that as, “oh, he’s 15 whatever”, but I see it as that I want to reach people my age in regards to teen suicide and mental health.
Madness To Creation: I think it’s amazing that you’re addressing this issue. If somebody is listening or reading this, what message do you have for them for someone that’s going through mental health issues?
Preston: I know that things like homework can be a load and a lot of different things in my age, I think sometimes we need to focus on not worrying about that stuff because sometimes parents really push that on their kids, I think that we all need to let go of something. My mom is a nurse so she always checks in on me and I’ve got a lot of the same attitude as her in terms of dealing with mental health.
Madness To Creation: In the education system, what advice do you have for teachers that comes across a student that might be in crisis?
Preston: I would just tell them that they can do anything that they put their heart into. I was helping with the Special Olympics one time and it was so eyeopening for me that they were so freaking happy, and it just made me feel so good about being there. I just want them to be as happy as they can be.
Madness To Creation: Did you do some volunteering for Special Olympics or were you just invited to sing or?
Preston: I was volunteering. I do a bunch of community events. Whenever, there’s an opening for my singing, my squad or little group that we perform around the community, we just find anywhere we can sing and we just sing out in the open.
Madness To Creation: Have you been out protesting or learning about George Floyd or racial injustice?
Preston: Yeah, I honestly really didn’t know much about it, so I’ve been reading a few things and listening and watching, and my mind is definitely open to it a lot more, before I didn’t really learn about it, so it’s nice to learn about it.
Madness To Creation: What was the biggest thing that you learned?
Preston: The biggest thing I learned was the focus on equality and seeing this as actually a problem, and sadly some people still don’t even care about it.
Madness To Creation: Let’s talk about your stint on The Voice. You got to work with John Legend. What are a couple of memories that you have while being on The Voice?
Preston: What I learned from John Legend is just the fact that he cares so much about reaching into the song and really feeling the power of the song and pushing it through while I’m singing it with my voice, and I learned that a lot, and I noticed that I didn’t really like doing that at first, but he really opened up to me about that, and that was such good advice that he gave me. Some of my favorite memories was just getting there when I got off the plane and just meeting everyone. It was so fun getting to know all the different personalities and it seemed like we were all best friends for such a long time. It was just an awesome vibe, but also walking in when the advisors came and Usher and Taylor Swift were there, which was just a freaking dream, I never thought that I would be singing for them, it was just crazy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIDknynH-ncMadness To Creation: What was your reaction during your first performance when all four of the panelists’ chairs turned?
Preston: I tried not to lose it so hard, right when Blake Shelton first turned, I had to look up at the audience and focused on them cause right then I would’ve just stopped singing. Right after I stopped singing, I noticed all of them, it blew my mind and my hands were just shaking like crazy, if you see the video, I just put my hands on my head and they were shaking so much and I was so nervous, I did not know what to do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui4e-_XAmucMadness To Creation: I cannot fathom what that feeling was like. I also checked out a couple of your cover songs, and the sky is the limit for you with your voice.
Preston: Thank you so much!
Madness To Creation: Fun question for you, who would you like to collaborate with?
Preston: I would love to sing with Michael Buble one day. Justin Bieber too, and maybe Shawn Mendes, I would love to sing with them one day, that would be crazy.
Madness To Creation: What’s your favorite songs by them?
Preston: I would say “Intentions” by Justin Bieber, I just did a cover by him and “In My Blood” by Shawn Mendes, and anything by Michael Buble, I just love his voice, he does write his own music, but when he does the covers, it just captivates me.
Madness To Creation: What’s the first thing you want to do when this Covid-19 pandemic is over?
Preston: I just want to get out there and perform because I feel trapped in here.
Madness To Creation: Your parents keeping you at home?
Preston: Oh yeah.
Madness To Creation: Do you have plans for releasing an album or an EP?
Preston: Right now, it’s just the single, but I want to release an album if I have enough songs ready, I’ve been trying to write my own music too.
Madness To Creation: Do you have any song titles in the can or is that not released yet?
Preston: Not yet, I’ve been focusing on chord progressions and different structures for different songs, and then I’ll focus mainly on the songwriting and the song titles.
Madness To Creation: What else would you like to add that we haven’t covered?
Preston: I just made a TikTok, which is a whole different world, it’s @prestonchowell , which is pretty much everything including my Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Madness To Creation: What can fans expect from your TikTok account?
Preston: I’m just trying to do some funny stuff, so that’s my big thing.
Madness To Creation: Thank you so much for taking the time and looking forward to seeing what the future has in store for you.
Preston: Thank you so much!
And there you have it! Check out “Supply and Demand” via Spotify below:
