Conan Gray x conangrayupdate
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Follow conangrayupdate: Instagram
‘Fan Account of the Month’ (#FAOTM) is a fan-appreciation series on UMUSIC!
At UMUSIC, we acknowledge and value the efforts of fans from around the world. The passion, dedication and love fans have for their favourite artists is something the team at UMUSIC has admired for a long time. For this reason, UMUSIC has decided to feature a fan account every month. This will give our UMUSIC community the opportunity to learn about different fandoms, their hardworking members and more about the artists!
Fan account: A social media account created by a fan dedicated to a particular piece of pop culture. This series will focus on fan accounts dedicated to artists.
Update account: A fan-run social media source for fan accounts. An update account serves as the main source of updates on a specific artist. An update account will gather all media, promotional items, and information on an artist and share the information with other fans. Think of update accounts as a constantly updated Wikipedia for fans. This series will also focus on update accounts, which are simply larger fan accounts.
Read our November #FAOTM post here!
Read our October #FAOTM post here!
Read our September #FAOTM post here!
January’s fan account of the month features the Conan Gray fan account, @conangrayupdate, that has been updating fans on everything Conan since 2020. The account is run by four different admins — Sai/Victor from Myanmar, Isabelle from Malaysia, Oscar/Staurn from Australia, and Shristi from India — who were brought together as they all started to become fans of Conan in early 2020 and created an update account on Instagram. Unfortunately, their first update account got hacked shortly after creation, but they decided to make another one and have been posting news and updates about Conan Gray for almost two years now.
The team at UMUSIC interviewed the conangrayupdate administrators about their love of Conan, their favourite moments and much more. Below is a collection of their answers…
1. Why are you a fan of Conan Gray?
Victor/Sai: There’s a lot of reasons why I’m a big fan of his but I think it’s because I can seek safety in him and his music.
Isabelle: I’m a fan of Conan because of his lyrical skills. Every time I listen to his music, it feels new yet familiar.
Oscar: I’m a fan of Conan Gray because he’s given me a sense of security when I had none. He’s helped me feel at home and that’s why I’m such a fan and why I’m still apart of this fandom. Conan and the fandom are like family <3
Shristi: I am a fan of Conan Gray because I relate to his music on a personal level and the way he is so honest about his feelings in every song he makes.
2. What makes Conan Gray so unique?
Sai: I think it’s because he puts all the raw emotions in his songs, his honesty, and how he wrote all his songs right from his heart. I love how he’s not afraid to speak his mind.
Isabelle: Conan is so unique to me because he doesn’t sugarcoat the harsh truth of the world; making everything as raw as possible. He is able to express what he has been through clear enough for me to sympathize with him.
Oscar: People may say looks and things that allocate with that but for me, it’s his personality. He can be quite outgoing but also be so introverted and self kept at the same time.
Shristi: His songwriting – I think that is what makes him unique. That he writes his own songs and how he never uses any hidden metaphors, like they are always straightforward,his lyrics are profound and it really feels like whatever he does, he does with the utmost passion and that’s really inspiring.
3. What about Conan resonates with you?
Sai: Coffee. Joking, there’s more than that. I think the best one would be his song “Comfort Crowd,” which he wrote about his best friend Ashley. To be honest, I’m not a person who trust others very easily, so I keep close like this with one friend who I can talk about everything that I’m going through.
Isabelle: Something I can resonate with Conan is that my friends are everything to me. They are apart of my family.
Oscar: His experiences. In his song “The Story,“ there are so many things I can understand. With “Idle Town,” I can understand being in a small town and wanting to leave for so many reasons. And funnily enough, his coffee addiction. But the main things that resonates with me are his stories and what he’s been through.
Shristi: The way he expresses his true self through his songs, which is so relatable and you can feel the distress in every song of his and all the pain behind it.
4. How would you describe his fandom?
Sai: Chaotic, weird but a really fun and funny group of people with a coffee addiction. The fandom is very respectful of Conan, which I think is very important; like we wouldn’t do something that Conan said he doesn’t like and as soon as we’d notice it, we’d stop. Really comforting and lovely people.
Isabelle: Conan’s fandom, I would say, for the most part is very respectful. We listen to what others say, then we laugh it off after comforting each other.
Oscar: The Conan Fandom consists of a mixture of introverts and ambriverts. They can be the sweetest people and occasionally chaotic. It’s one of the funniest and most amazing fandoms that I’ve been in. Of course, most of the Conan fandom have a caffeine addiction, that’s just how it is. The Conan fandom can consist of the most adventurous people and bring so much excitement to a conversation.
Shristi: Conan Gray has fans ranging from teenagers to 30-year-olds – including Ms. Taylor Swift 😉 His fandom feels like a family; everyone knows everyone and they’re very chaotic, wholesome, funny and sarcastic, but very supportive.
5. When and how did you first discover Conan Gray? What was the first song you heard?
Sai: I first discovered him on Valentine’s Day in 2019 when I got back home from school and was on YouTube. I saw “Crush Culture,” played it and loved it; just listening to it for a while but didn’t think much of it. But after Covid hit and we were all in our houses, and I was on the internet a lot since my finals for eighth grade finished, I had nothing to do but run my Taylor Swift fan page. I saw Taylor posted on her story about Conan’s new album at the time, so I gave it a listen and loved it. And now here I am, one of Conan Gray’s number one fans lol.
Isabelle: I discovered Conan through a friend who was into TikTok songs like I was in October of 2019. We were in class and she showed me her TikTok playlist and pressed shuffle. A few songs in, “Maniac” started playing. I told her I really like the song and looked at who the singer was. A few months later, I decided to just search him up again. I was extremely mentally unstable during that period and found “The Story.” It made me cry so hard, it was funny.
Oscar: If I can recollect properly, I believe my first listen of Conan Gray was in April of 2019. Although before I realized who it was, my sibling used to listen to him. So to be correct, I found him through my ex-partner and my brother 🙂
Shristi: So back in January 2020, I saw his song “Maniac” playing on VH1 India and then I immediately went and searched him up. Yeah, that’s how I discovered him and “Maniac” was the first song I heard.
6. Are there any lyrics of his that have had an impact on you?
Sai: A lot. I think the lyrics that have the most impact on me are lyrics from “Astronomy,” “The Cut That Always Bleeds” and “Lookalike.” “The Cut That Always Bleeds” is really underrated. The whole song is like being stabbed in the heart and makes it really hard to breathe, but it’s just so good with the lyricism.
Isabelle: ‘I’m afraid that’s just the way the world works’ and ‘it’s not the end of the story’ both from “The Story.”
Oscar: Gosh, this one is quite a mind boggler. All of his songs have been so influential and have helped me leave a dark place. One of the lyrics that have probably impacted me the most would be, ‘Take every part of me until the puzzle pieces aren’t me anymore’ from “Jigsaw.”
Shristi: ‘Just wait and see, it’s not the end of the story’ from “The story” and ‘life feels so monotone but I still keep hoping’ from “People Watching.”
7. How would you describe the new Conan era post ‘Kid Krow’? What do you think is next?
Sai: I think he might be testing a new sound and I love every single he’s dropped so far. I really hope “CG2” drops soon. Hoping for something like “Astronomy,” “Jigsaw” and “Overdrive.”
Isabelle: I joined the fandom quite late but early enough to celebrate the ‘Kid Krow’ release with others. I don’t know much about how different or similar they are but the new era does feel like it’s a more mature version.
Oscar: I feel that the ‘Kid Krow’ era started with Conan figuring out his sense of style and going from street wear to now mixing dark academic style with more causalities. I believe that his next era and style code might have a sense of grunge but he also might maintain his causalities.
Shristi: ‘Kid Krow’ era was very exciting because it was Conan’s first album and the fandom’s excitement was on a different level at that time. But I’m really looking forward to this new era as it’s obviously very different, and I think it’s not going to be very sad. We’ll see though, I’m really excited for his next album.
8. Who would you like to see him collaborate with in the future?
Sai: I want to see him collab with Taylor since I’ve been a swiftie my entire life and also because he’s one too, so it would just be so cool. I also want him to collab with Lana Del Rey because I’m such a Lana stan, but I think the chances are really slim. I also want him to work with Lorde.
Isabelle: I would love for Conan to collab with Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, FINNEAS, Jeremy Zucker and maybe even Lorde.
Oscar: I would love to see Conan collab with maybe CG5, Wilbur Soot and Olivia Rodrigo definitely. To add to that, having a collab with Taylor and Lorde (his inspirations) would be absolutely phenomenal.
Shristi: Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo and Lorde.
9. What would you say to Conan if you got to meet him?
Sai: I don’t know actually. I’ve never been to a concert or a show before so I’m hoping to go to his when I’m 18. I don’t think words would come out when I meet him because I’d be really starstruck.
Isabelle: If I ever meet Conan, I would say he has had a big impact on how I act, my music taste and how my art improved because of him.
Oscar: I would most probably tell him about the impacts he’s had on me, and how he’s become an inspiration, how having his music has comforted me in times i had little to nothing. I would most likely ask him permission for a hug and photo, and maybe ask him questions about his music, and if he’s happy with the progress as well as his rapid growth.
Shristi: If I ever got to meet Conan, then I would say how much he has inspired me in so many ways, how his songs have impacted my life, and how I started to see my life in a different way because of him.
10. Finally, are there any other Conan Gray fan accounts you recommend?
Sai: There are a handful of amazing accounts. I’d say @conangraymxc, @physiognomyofconangray, @conanupdating on Twitter (she inspired me to make this account), and @conangraycharts.
Isabelle: My best online friend, @beespeoplewatching. They are pretty much a multi-fandom but they post quite a lot of Conan content. Shameless plug: my art account, @ifeellikespaming. And definitely @conangrayupdate. Victor, who mostly runs this account, works really hard on it. It would be a shame not to give him credit.
Oscar: There are so many and to list them all would be bizarre. @you_should_really_run, @bonancray, @conan.cray_ are just a few.
Shristi: @grayconehead – they’re so funny. @ifeellikespamming – I love her art so much. And @conangrayupdate because Victor deserves everything; he literally handles this account so well.
From all of us at UMUSIC, we would like to thank the admins of conangrayupdate. We applaud you and all Conan Gray stans for your time, effort and dedication to supporting Conan.
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