Compiled by the 73 Collective Marketing Team
When the 73 Collective Marketing Team invited journalism students of all ages to submit questions for Garth Phoebus, we expected curiosity — but what we received was thoughtful, vulnerable, and impressively mature insight from students across the country. Below is a curated interview built from those questions, honoring the young journalists who contributed.
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Q (Emily Torres, 14, California): How did you discover that you wanted to write music, especially since you don’t see yourself as a traditional musician?
Garth:
I’ve always been drawn to music, just not in the classical sense. I’m a trumpet player — not professional, but lifelong. What I lacked in skill, I made up for in emotion. Poetry became my outlet because it allowed me to express thoughts I didn’t always know how to say.
I never imagined those poems could become songs. AI changed that. Suno didn’t “make me talented”; it made me capable. Sometimes capability is all creativity needs to find its voice.
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Q (Jamal Reynolds, 19, Howard University): What role does AI actually play in your songwriting process?
Garth:
AI doesn’t create for me — it assists me.
I write the lyrics. I build the message. The emotion comes from lived experience. AI becomes the instrument that brings it to life. Some people call it cheating, but every generation feared the tools before them — autotune, synthesizers, even electric guitars at one point.
AI isn’t replacing creativity. It’s amplifying it for people who never had access to the means of expression.
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Q (Sienna Price, 12, Vermont): Why do you use different artist personas instead of releasing everything under your real name?
Garth:
Because people aren’t one thing.
Holden Ridge captures my emotional and introspective side.
Savannah Brindle reflects what I’ve observed in love and partnership.
Midnight Rye is my stoic, no-nonsense voice.
Luna Fuega lets me explore vibrant Latin EDM energy.
And then there’s my Christian music — that stays under my real name, because it is the most personal and honest expression of who I am.
Personas give me space to tell different stories without diluting the authenticity of each one.
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Q (Aiden Clarke, 17, Colorado): How does your Marine background influence your writing?
Garth:
The Marines didn’t make me a songwriter, but they made me observant. They made me reflective. I learned from silence, tension, resilience, and human emotion in ways I couldn’t have otherwise.
Those experiences seep into my lyrics — not as a badge, but as a lens.
My identity isn’t “Marine who writes songs.”
It’s “writer who lived a life that included the Marines.”
That difference matters to me.
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Q (Katalina Phoebus, 13, Maryland): Why do you listen to your own music — and why do we have to listen to it?
Garth:
This is the most honest question I received — and it’s one only my daughter could get away with.
I listen to my own music because it reminds me of the things I’ve overcome, the emotions I’ve worked through, and the stories I didn’t always know how to tell. It’s not about hearing my own work — it’s about reconnecting with the feelings that shaped it.
As for why you have to listen… you don’t.
But I hope you choose to.
Not because you’re my daughter, but because one day you might hear something in the lyrics or the emotion that feels like a reminder of where you come from — or even a piece of advice from me that I didn’t know how to say out loud.
My music isn’t meant to impress you; it’s meant to be a part of the legacy I leave behind for both you and your brother.
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Q (Maya Johnson, 25, Texas): What do you hope people feel when they listen to your music?
Garth:
Connection.
Maybe comfort.
Maybe recognition.
Maybe permission to feel something they’ve been carrying.
If the lyrics don’t reach me, I don’t release them. I want my songs — all of them — to uplift or create a moment of reflection. Even when the themes are heavier, they should never pull people into negativity without offering meaning.
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Q (Leo Martinez, 20, NYU): Do you ever worry about falling behind as an artist who uses AI?
Garth:
I used to.
But I realized something important: there is no “behind” in creativity.
There’s only expression.
AI didn’t replace musicians — it gave lyricists, poets, and everyday people a way to create. Suno’s recent $2.45B valuation proves that creative access is expanding, not shrinking.
I’m not trying to compete. I’m trying to express.
If someone connects to my work, that’s the victory.
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Q (Hannah Kim, 11, Washington): What’s next for you and 73 Collective?
Garth:
Growth — rooted in purpose.
We’re building a creative ecosystem where:
• Personas can evolve
• Christian music remains personal
• AI is used ethically
• Genres coexist
• Creativity stays sincere
73 Collective is still young, but its foundation is strong: integrity, narrative, and meaning. We want everything we create to outlast trends.
As I say often:
I don’t multitask. I dominate priorities.
And this journey is one of them.
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Closing Note from 73 Collective Marketing
Thank you to every student — especially Katalina — who submitted questions. The themes you touched on — identity, authenticity, AI, purpose, family, and emotional expression — reveal how deeply the next generation is thinking about creativity and meaning.
This blended interview shows something essential about Garth’s journey:
Creativity isn’t reserved for the technically trained.
It belongs to anyone brave enough to express their truth.