Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: My passion for music comes from my parents. My dad is a guitarist and I started to follow in his footsteps during my teens. I’d say learning an instrument definitely kindled my curiosity to delve beneath the surface of the music I liked just from learning how to play songs. My mum played Motown records in the house growing up which familiarised me with R&B and soul, and to this day I’d say that is my favourite music. Years later when I started making beats I was already intrigued in breaking music down to be able to reproduce it myself, and I had learnt about the lineage of hip hop music out of my own interest. Therefore attempting to sample music that already sounded beautiful to me and in doing so emulating the great producers that paved the way for made sense in terms of musical direction.
Q: How are you planning on growing your fan base and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover “CAKbeats”?
A: I plan on trying to reach as many people globally with whom my music will resonate because I know they’re out there. Over the last 3 years I’ve discovered and resonated with artists from parts of the world I know very little about which has inspired me to express myself through my own art. Obviously I will be trying to utilise the internet, and travelling to certain hotspots that I seek out at the right time. I’d like to tell anyone who is about to give me their ears to simply relax and enjoy it.
Q: Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?
A: Other than environments, experiences and emotions, my inspiration for making music comes from hearing other great music, old or new, similar or different to what I make. I like Travis Scott’s new album for example, the production on it can be considered risky which I like, and that just makes me feel that I should keep doing what I’m doing.
Q: Can you tell us about the story or message behind the album, “PILOT.”?
A: The pilot in this situation is me. I am taking you on a flight when you listen to this project, the music was intended to evoke similar feelings to being on a plane. Relaxation, euphoria, the ambience. Hopefully the listeners feel like they’re floating, and the atmospheres I create in the beats allow them to imagine scenes from a film they might watch while they’re on this plane.
Q: How would you describe your sound in one word for potential listeners?
A: Visceral.
Q: Did you face any challenges while writing or recording “PILOT”?
A: I thought I would but to be honest it panned out the opposite way. I had made some of those beats two years back and was just sitting on them, procrastinating the mix down and sequencing of the project. However, once I made myself sit down and get the job done, it was over much sooner than I anticipated and I was able to put the EP out shortly after that. I guess that serves as a lesson too!
Q: What is the message of your music? And what are your goals as an artist?
A: I don’t have a message as such because I’m primarily a beatmaker; I let my music speak and I let people interpret it in whatever way it may speak to them.
Q: Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (dead or alive)
A: I’ll stick with living artists as those dreams are least possible. My two favourite rappers to listen to at any time are probably J. Cole and Benny the Butcher, so if in this life I could get either of them on one of my beats that would be a proud moment for sure! I also love Potter Payper.
Q: What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?
A: I’m still figuring this out myself! But I have been told a lot and I would reiterate that you have to consistently put yourself out there, you can’t let people forget about you while you’re coming up. Sometimes networking and social media presence can be more important for you than perfecting your craft on a daily basis, because you can make more tangible progress.
Q: If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?
A: It would probably be a variation of the answer I gave to the last question. Life does get in the way which makes it hard but you have to do something regularly whether it’s releasing your art, putting out content or connecting with people. I’d probably tell myself to hurry up and release a project much sooner than I have done, because as I said earlier I put this off for a long time and was then surprised it didn’t take that long to finish. I could have gained even more followers by now had I been quicker.
