Q: Hey, can you tell us a bit about where you come from, and what made you want to start a career in music?
A: Hey thanks for having me! So my birth certificate says that I was born in Camden, so that’s pretty cool, pretty ‘hip’. Unfortunately, I actually grew up in Oxford, which is slightly less ‘hip’. I definitely think of London, and specifically North London, as my home though, and plan to live here for as long as I can, at least for as long as I can afford it, which might be a case of months because this city is so stupidly expensive right now. However, if my career takes off and I get that townhouse next to some opulent garden square and smoke my pipe in peace I know I will have conquered everything. I’ve always wanted to be a musician, basically since before I was born because mum used to sit with me in her belly in front of the stereo (though I don’t have any recollection of this). Probably some 90s nonsense about it making your kids musical. However, it seems to have worked, because I was endlessly crawling towards the piano and the stereo (and the washing machine) and started writing songs very young. I am still here because of the innate arrogance that has come with this talent bestowed upon me, as every rational indicator over the last few years is pointing towards me not having a career in music. But who cares, whether I’m 25 like today or 55, I’ll make it. That’ll be embarrassing to read back if I’m 56 and still yodelling at innocents in some godforsaken bar.
Q: And what other artists have you found yourself listening to lately?
A: Well well well… where to start. Actually I’ll give you my top 10 Apple Music Replay artists from last year, that gives a pretty good indication:
- Kraftwerk (I’m Half-German, this top placing was not optional)
- Aphex Twin (The genius of geniuses, and I’m seeing him live at Field Day this year)
- Brian Eno (Total cheat, his songs are incredibly long, go home Brian)
- Prince & The Revolution (Prince 4Ever and Purple Rain… nocturnal paradise)
- Wilco (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, more nocturnal paradise)
- Michael Jackson (I don’t know if he’s a paedophile or not, I do know that he was
ridiculously amazing) - Madonna (Provocateur-ess No.1 with the greatest pop song of all time, Like A
Prayer) - Paul Simon (Graceland is essential musical education, I’m quite proud that I can kind
of play Bakithi Kumalo’s bassline on Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes) - Kendrick Lamar (Listened to his new album quite a bit. To Pimp A Butterfly is genius,
though I do wish he’d stop taking himself so seriously nowadays. Have a laugh and
take off that obnoxious crown mate.) - Sade (Love Deluxe is just ridiculously good. I Couldn’t Love You More is a masterpiece
of chords & melody and Mermaid is one of the great album closers).
Q: Who were your first and strongest musical influences?
A: I do remember running up and down the hall in my house when I was like 3 to that fast bit in the second movement of Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez. Also running around to Accident Waiting To Happen by Billy Bragg. I once got Billy to sign his book for my dad who’s a big fan of his, what a lovely man. I told him that story and he said “yeah that’s too much energy for a three year old to handle”. Strongest… I mean when I was a teenager my world was tipped completely on its head by Oasis. I don’t care what Rate Your Music gurus think of them, Oasis changed everything for me. From there came all the British guitar-based pop music. An artist like Amy Winehouse was really important in that she gave a white boy from Southern England like me permission to listen to Nas, and Radiohead allowed me to explore electronic music. So within that initial stage there was gateway artists like that. And then that melon man Fantano popped up on my YouTube feed. I watched his review of To Pimp A Butterfly, and since then like 5 years ago I just listen to everything, without any rules, and I try to be as open minded as possible, with all music. I’m inspired by anything I consider great, which is basically anything that emotionally moves me in some way.
Q: You have just released your new single, ‘We Talk’. Is there a story behind it?
A: Well, the gestation of this song ‘We Talk’ is kind of an interesting one because it’s a very old song. It was one of the first songs that I wrote that I think still holds up today. I started writing it when I was 16 years old, and when I was writing that I knew it was pretty special for that period in time, but obviously that was nearly 10 years ago. I did an acoustic guitar demo few years after writing it, and it’s gone through a lyrical evolution and stuff and then this version that you hear on the single was recorded at the end of 2020 and the start of 2021 and, and in 2022 it was remixed and new bass guitar was added. And now it’s out! Now thankfully I have many, many other songs apart from this one, otherwise it would be a ridiculously slow work rate. But yeah, unusual things? No, not really, very usual things to me like worrying about everything and micro analysing every tiniest detail of the song.
Q: Can we expect a new EP or even an album from you in the near future?
A: I don’t want to release an EP or album until I have people around me that can make the songs sound as good as possible and for there to be some kind of financial backing. I need a fanbase and for someone to look beyond me having less than 1000 followers on Instagram, two things that are not easy to come by. But the battle goes on.
Q: What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
A: Erm I dunno really. This’ll probably sound like what every artist says. I suppose a sense of honesty, a sense of songcraft, of simplicity on a surface level but something for the musos to appreciate when you listen closely? If the listener happens to be a record label boss, I hope it resonates with him (let’s face it, it’ll sadly probably be a him) in a very “The acquisition of this boy could help me buy another golf course” way.
I’m a pop artist, but for the genre classification I suppose you’d say I’m Alternative Pop. It hasn’t been alternative since about 1990 though, so I don’t know what to call it. It’s melodic, it’s catchy, it’s got an edge, it’s got soul, it’s got something for all the family!
Q: Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more?
A: The music yes for sure. I realised when I was about 18 that I’d already achieved everything there was to achieve. I had made music that had put me into a sacred place and that extreme level of emotion would sustain me forever. All that I needed was for it to materialise into a career of some sort. In a career sense, absolutely not! No one knows who the fork I am, and my child ego is incredibly confused about this. Surely this’ll happen soon? In my head, I try and think that all you really need is a good work ethic (I have that), a bit of luck (can’t control that) and to not be shit (I’m not). So surely, something will come of this? Please?
Q: Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song?
A: Yes I’ll describe it to you. An idea comes into your head. You expand upon it. You think it’s utterly extraordinary, you think you make Lennon/McCartney look like dustbin smashing dimwits. You wake up the next morning. Your head goes into a tailspin, and you decide that it’s the most awful thing that has ever been made, and that it’s time to start writing that will. You recover from that and decide that it’s actually good. You record a demo of it. You go through extremes of emotion. You realise that this is not normal and start taking Sertraline and carry on working very hard on learning about your obvious mental problems and talking about it with people who care about you, which actually helps a lot. You carry on. You accumulate an absolutely vast amount of material, and you try to write as many good lyrics for it as you can, and try to have a good variety of song styles whilst still having something that ties them together. A song feels completed when I feel really good about it. That can be when the recording is finished, it can be when I’m writing it. I don’t know I find it hard not to control emotions. Hence OCD. Annoying.
Q: What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
A: The aforementioned little mental health issue of OCD, specifically Pure OCD. It’s an incredibly difficult thing to describe to people, but I’ll describe it in this way. Imagine that you’re trying your best to concentrate on the task at hand. However, there’s one little problem: There’s an annoying little twat and he’s punching you in the head, around every 20 seconds or so. It feels like he has control over how you feel, and you just want to feel okay. You theoretically know that if you just ignore him he’ll get bored and skulk away, but actually you’re scared of him, so you fight back. This only excites him more and he starts going all Mike Tyson on you. You despair. Repeat for year after year. However, fortunately I’ve worked very hard to make this situation better, and right now I feel stronger than ever. Bring it on boxing bastard. Well actually bring it on or don’t, I don’t care, you can be here or not (Dr. Steven Phillipson is an angel).
Q: On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
A: Well actually, I’ve also had a voice condition called Muscle Tension Dysphonia for about 10 years, and it has been exacerbated by me having a tongue tie. I am finally having the tongue tie release in just under two weeks after years of pain and months of preparing for it. So if I then manage to become a better singer, it’d probably be the proudest achievement of my life, because the odds have been so unbelievably stacked against me on that one. Thanks a lot!
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