in the sense that I’ve got to wake up and I’ve got to make a tune today, or have 3, 4 ideas - I just kind of… when creativity hits me, that’s when I’ll make stuff so it’s never – well, touch wood – a case where I’m like, ‘oh God!’ If I can’t write music, I’ll do something else, like I do radio, so I’ll try and concentrate on that a little bit, or I’ve got projects on the go that involve music, but not me directly making music for me, in terms of Ghostpoet stuff, so I just do that type of thing to keep it fresh. Everything I do will hopefully inspire another thing.
I read an article where you talked about the fact you like using analogue because it slows you down. Is that a difficult discipline, learning patience? And what comes out of it? Erm, it’s become easier as I’ve got older. I’m 30 now and the way I work and the way I look at the world has changed a lot since I was 20 and yeah, analogue equipment is a case of patience and like, I’m using some unusual synths and I know if I change the settings that I’ve put them on now, I’ve lost that particular sound, so I have to take pictures every time I make a tune!
gonna create something along those lines and do a one-off performance, visual/audio performance of that particular composition. So yeah, that’s the plan.
Oh, that sounds good – when will that be done then? It’s got to be done for early October, I believe… like first week in October, or last week in September, I can’t remember –
Music was a hobby – it was a serious hobby, it’s just that I never thought, ‘oh, this is my ticket out of this 9-to-5 situation.’
I’d really like to hear about a new project you’re working on – you’re asking everyone on Facebook what lyrics and words moves them – - Oh yeah, it’s a thing I’m doing with Levi and a producer, Koreless and a director called Alex Turvey and it’s just a project that revolves around human emotion and movement, emotional movement. We’ve basically got to produce an audio/visual piece that incorporates that kind of a theme and yeah, we’re
- Because that would fit so well with Sound and Vision, wouldn’t it, which you’re obviously performing at. Indeed it would, and yeah, I’m coming to that!
So you were nominated for the AIM ‘Best Difficult Second Album’ award – but in reality, how difficult was it, or was it quite a breeze? Erm, it was a combination of the two; it wasn’t easy peasy, but it wasn’t hard as nails either. It was kind of a case of having fun with it and enjoying being creative again, which is how it’s supposed to be. Just trying stuff out
really; I don’t look at things in the sense of chart positions, or being A-list on the playlist, I just kind of make music and if people like it, they like it and if they don’t, they don’t. I’ve just got to get it out, that’s the most important thing.
It was a different process for you - you’ve talked about it stepping up in the production – it was in a studio, for starters. You got a producer in, you involved lots more people – to me, I’d think you’d need confidence to do that, because sharing your work is exposing. Did it marginalise your creativity for any time at all? Not really, no, because it was 60% done, or 70% done before I got into the studio, so it wasn’t a case of me going to the studio to write it, it was just a case of
unlike the first record, where I’d produced it at home, this time it was in conjunction with a co-producer, Richard Formby. So yeah, it was cool; I want to make another record and it’s almost like I want to go back on myself in the sense that I want to do it mostly at home, but at the same time I like elements of making that second record and working with musicians. At the same time, that was the first time I went down the analogue route fully and that’s influencing my production a lot more than it has done in the past, so that’s an element that may continue on the next record.
You sound really comfortable in your own skin, but did you get nervous at all when you invited Tony Allen in to play drums? Yeah, it was erm… I don’t know if I really get nervous, but it was an honour to meet him and something I’ll never forget. It’s part of my history now that I’ve met him and I’ve recorded music with him, as well as people like Charles Haywood, who’s a legend in his own right and everyone else I’ve met – all legends in their own ways. For me, I was in the process of making that second record when I met Tony and it’s a case of I think people are accepting me for me, musically and knowing that that’s going to happen, I just thought, ‘I’ve got to keep going on this route really, of me being me’, and hope I can gather more people to my corner along the way.
Now to talk quickly about a couple of shared passions we have – your track ‘MSI Musmid’ is obviously ‘Dim Sum- ism’ backwards, and you also have a track called ‘TymeTymeTyme’ – food fills more than your belly, it seems? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I do like food. I like cooking it, but I don’t get as much chance to do it as I would like, in terms of cooking. Yeah, it’s part and parcel of my existence of me as a person and I think lyrically, it’s important to incorporate as many aspects of your life as possible because that’s what’s important. In terms of music, the kind that I gravitate towards is very much about somebody, or a group’s unique view of the world, or insight in some shape or form. Tat’s what I try to do with my music.
Emma R. Garwood
Ghostpoet headlines the proceedings for Norwich Sound & Vision at Norwich Arts Centre on Tursday 10th October. You can buy a ticket for the gig at
www.norwichartscentre.co.uk or an NS&V wristband for £40 from
www.norwichsoundandvision.co.uk that will get you entry to all bands across the 3 days. Read the uncut version at
Outlineonline.co.uk
14 /October 2013/
outlineonline.co.uk
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