BETØ INTERVIEW

• BETØ, thank you for sitting down to take the time to do an interview with us here at Starwave Magazine! Can you give us here at Starwave a little introduction to yourself and who you are as an artist?

My name is Beto, stylized as BETØ, I am 23, born and raised in Chicago. If I could boil down all of the many, many genres I have done as an artist, they all revolve around one thing. Mental health. Whether they’re songs about betrayal, abuse, gifted child syndrome, and most recently addiction. BETØ is my personal journal and magnifying glass into my life.

• You just recently dropped three new singles: “Sober”, “IDK” and “The Feeling Inside Us”. What lead you to do a series of single releases rather than an EP, or album? 

I’m always trying to be intentional about my albums, I use singles as a method of instantaneous coping. I love when you listen to an album and it’s cohesive and a story with a plotline, and that’s the approach I tend to take for EPs and albums

• What does the name @BETØ mean to you? Is there any cultural or social significance to your name? 

Well, my full name is Devinn Alberto Sanchez. Alberto is my grandfather’s middle name. His wife, my grandma Betty, had passed away when I was younger and I really have grown to honor both my Guatemalan and Puerto Rican side. BETØ was the amalgamation of both names.

• Was there anything that inspired the creation of these singles? I know you’re in early sobriety, and “Sober” talks about that. Will you go into more detail on that track?

Sober was definitely a mix of accountability and a cry for help. The thing with recovery is that no one can force you to get Sober. The lyrics of the hook change from someone else wanting me to get sober, to myself quietly admitting that I want to as well. I talk about my struggling with my DOC, methamphetamine and the shitty situations that I had gotten into. Nowadays, 3 weeks into sobriety, I’m just appreciating the mental and physical clarity. Makes running for the CTA a lot easier that’s for sure. 

• What internal and external factors of your life inspire and push you most to create your music?

Internally, the pursuit of happiness. I’m a chronic overthinker and perfectionist, the ability to essentially rant and sound design your emotions is incredibly important to me. That’s why I haven’t settled on a genre because they all carry importance. Externally, love. Love is the easiest emotion to write about for me, all of the pain is essentially rejected love.

• Can you walk us through how the creative process that you have developed for yourself in your songwriting has changed with your personal life being in such an important developmental stage [of recovery]? 

Prior to recovery, everything needed to be completely flawless. Now, I’ve gone a lot easier on myself. Understanding that exposure is more than just posting but it’s meeting and connecting to the individuals who feel or have felt these same emotions. The interpersonal connection gives me many ideas. 

• How did that process play into writing “IDK” and “The Feeling Inside Us”? 

IDK is one of my songs that has seen many versions but I’ve never had a version with just me. Incorporated into the songs are many different things I had forgotten about myself. Showing myself a little bit of that aforementioned grace. I played the guitar during the drop instead of using MIDI. I played my midi keyboard. Even the flamenco clapping, commonly referred to as palmas, was done because I was in a flamenco dance company. As for The Feeling Inside Us, I had released it during a period of my life that felt loveless, internally and externally. Funnily enough, I feel it’s returning back to my life. I’m ever so grateful for him too.

• What’s next for you in your creative career? Should listeners be expecting anything else beyond these three new singles from you?

August 18th I have a remix/cover of a Micah Turner’s song titled “Do It Better” and August 21st I have a collaboration between Ikarus and morse., the two producers who have worked on “Beg For Forgiveness (Feat. Emmet Montiecarlo)”

Outside of that keep an eye out for announcements of Brokenness Expressed Through Øpenness, my new album in early development.

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Additional Information on New Releases:

"Do It Better"- A cover and remix of friend and previous collaborator, Micah Turner’s, track of the same title from his album Eclipse

"Scythe" (feat. morse., and Ikarus) -

A bass music track about taking your love back after you’ve over poured it for far too long. Featuring morse. and Ikarus who’ve previously worked on both versions of “Beg For Forgiveness”

Coming August 28th:

"Daddy Long Legs" - As a new step into hip-hop this cocky, humorous, yet devastatingly tragic song about addiction, impulsive sex, and feeling sexy during it all is spoken from truth and openness

"Dance Upon The Moonlight" - This sentimental ballad contains motifs of celestial bodies and astronomical terminology. The inspiration coming from viewing the Perseids during rehabilitation.

Thank you for having me and seeing me. I will forever appreciate this moment.