It’s been a moment since we’ve heard from Cal Shapiro, who was the co-founder and epic freestyler of the gold-selling pop phenomenon Timeflies.
Since announcing the band’s hiatus in August, the 31-year-old singer/songwriter has been busy working on his new solo project, CAL, and to sum it up, the music he’s put out so far is pretty freakin’ awesome.
Speaking with Celeb Secrets host Juliet Schroder backstage at the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas last week, CAL shared the reason behind pursuing a solo career, as well as what fans can expect from the new material that he is “beyond hyped” for.
“I wanted to tell my story,” he says. “My story is about highs, lows, and everywhere in between; heartbreak and tragedy to fire you up and ‘let’s go and party,’ and I’m beyond hyped for it.”
Just today, the buzzy singer/songwriter released his new single “Better by Now,” which represents an emotional apex as the artist sings about his dad’s passing over sweeping electronics.
“I lost my father at a young age,” he adds, “The chorus is direct. I’m supposed to be better by now, but I’m not. It’s very personal for me. It’s something I couldn’t have written before.”
CAL is gearing up to release a new collection of music dubbed The Identity Crisis, and it serves as his most personal project to date. “I have an EP dropping early November and that is going to be part one; there’s another EP and then a full album, so I’ve been working,” he tells Celeb Secrets.
It seems as if Timeflies and their “Timeflies Tuesday” will always stay close to Cal’s heart, as he hopes to put out more freestyling tracks in a similar way the band released new songs every week.
“I want to create a new way to get my freestyling out there to fans. We did this thing called Timeflies Tuesday which kind of put us on the map and so I’m going to do my version of that,” he gushes. “I’ve been wanting to freestyle and try to find the right way to do it, so Cal’s Corner is coming soon.”
Learn more about Cal’s original music by watching our full interview below. You can catch the two night special of the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Festival on October 2nd & 3rd @ 8PM ET/PT on The CW.
