The Local 913 Podcast

The Local 913 Podcast


Treble NLS

September 17, 2018

Treble NLS – “Lately”


 


Pittsburgh MC, Treble NLS got his moniker in kind of a round-about way. The rapper first started out under the name “Trouble”


 


“There was a point in my rap life where a lot of my raps were angry and very violent. It [sounded] like all I [wanted] was trouble. I used to have anger issues and literally that’s all I wanted when I got angry, was trouble. I had the foresight [to know that I was] not gonna be like this for the rest of my life. [It was] a phase [I was] going through. I [didn’t] want to have to live up to that angry persona. So how can I make this more neutral? I liked the way “trouble” sounds phonetically, so I’m like ‘Ooooooooh Treble.’”


 


Treble tacked on “NLS” to differentiate himself from other possible artists with the same name. The NLS stands for a couple different statements, including “Never Lose Sight.” Something that’s striking about Treble’s music is the guitar work against his rhyming. Treble’s history of the guitar started as a teenager when he taught himself by ear.


 


I would start off trying to play songs I heard on the radio. I listened to Bob Marley, his music had a lot of guitar. I learned how to play “Redemption Song.” Then I heard this song by The Weeknd called “Rolling Stone” and I’m like ‘Ooooh this sounds intricate! If I learned this, I could do anything.’ It took me a lot of time to learn that. Once I learned that, I learned that it was called “Finger Styling” and I liked finger style and prefer the way it sounds over chords.”


 


More on Treble is at his Soundcloud.