By Hannah Nicholson-Tottle

Photographers: Hannah Nicholson-Tottle, Sam Nahirny, Sam Huey               Location: Stokes Croft

Q You're releasing the first track of your upcoming EP, Turbo Island, for NOX.  Tell us a bit about it?

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A  "Shine On" was one of the last tracks I wrote for the new EP. I'd had those initial chords in my head for months and always jammed them out on the piano, but a full song just didn't want to surface until much more recently. In a way it flows like a story. Lyrically it deals with a lot of underlying feelings of uncertainty and frustration personal to me, but also that we all deal with but perhaps don't actively acknowledge on a day to day basis. However on the flipside I think it carries a sense of bittersweet optimism too. I'm really proud of how this track came together and the few times I've played it live now it's gone down amazingly.

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Q  How and why did you get into music?

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A  I've been playing music almost all my life so I can't give that a definitive answer! A lot of classically trained musicians seem to come from musical families, where from day one there's an expectation of some form of musicality. Although I started music lessons at a very young age, my family background is definitely not a musical one. Instead I think an early passion for music kept me on this path to where I am now, as well as all the support from my parents and family. How I got to the music I'm making now has been a strange path though. I was a metalhead in school, especially into blackened and progressive stuff, but I got really into Hip Hop and Electronic music towards the end of my GCSE years and haven't looked back since. Despite all this, a large part of it's really down to my musical friends and associates who drive me forwards. I think throughout my childhood and to this day being surrounded by other likeminded musical brains really inspires and drives me to keep working on my craft and pushing forwards.

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Q You’ve been involved in a fair few visual projects, modeling for Andrea Galer and working on a piece for the Bristol BUFFA exhibition alongside Pierce G. Wilson to name a few. Do visuals act as a springboard for your music or is there a different order to your creative process?

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A  I think of the arts in general as being a big collective of ideas and concepts that can be drawn out through different mediums. Modeling's definitely been an interesting one for me and something I would never have seen myself doing a few years back. I've been involved in quite a few cool things with that now and whilst I intend to continue down that path it's something I see as separate from my artistic endeavours. My piece with Pierce G. Wilson was definitely a collaborative effort in the purest sense, and honestly I think was a breath of fresh air from my normal creative process. The visuals were massively inspired by my music and musical themes though, and I think I often find visual and artistic concepts emerging in the wake of a musical idea I have, but rarely in the opposite direction. So I would say the inverse is true then, that perhaps my music acts as a springboard for lots of other developments. Certainly to create art without a musical impetus is something I would be interested in exploring more in future...

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Q  So you’re touring with Suzi Wu next month as well as having played some shows with Denzel Himself, how did those collaborations come about and what were they like?

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A Yep! I've been friends with Suzi for a while and I'm honoured that she wanted me to play live with her and bring her visions to life onstage. We're still in the rehearsal stage but we should have some exciting stuff happening over the next few months and beyond. Me and Denzel go back a while now, I first saw him perform when I was age 16 or 17 ish at a great venue called Power Lunches that I used to sneak into underage back in the day. Honestly was blown away by his stuff and we kept in touch ever since, fast forward to now and we've ended up performing live and working on music together which is still a bit surreal when you think about how it all started. To be able to work with other musicians who inspire you is a blessing and something I hope I'm able to continue to do throughout my musical career.

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Q  Tell us a bit about your upcoming EP, Turbo Island?

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A Turbo Island is something that's been in the works for a good few years. Some of the music I started writing almost two years ago, but recently it's turned into an avalanche and things have rapidly fallen into place for the EP. I moved from London to Bristol two years ago to study at the University of Bristol, and although I'm now based in both Bristol and London equally due to my music work, a lot of it is inspired by my experience here. I'm in my final year of studies now and I can safely say at this point I don't think it was the right place for me, I never really felt a sense of belonging that I do back home in my circles in London. I also had a bit of a rough time with relationship issues about a year back, dealing with a break up in which my ex effectively began a relationship with another person whilst still in a long distance relationship with me. All this in combination with too much partying and excess really snuck up on me, and whilst by and large I've worked through that life hurdle, a lot of it has come out in material on the new EP. 

That being said it's definitely not all doom and gloom! A lot of positive vibes and musical ideas I hope really shine through the cracks and make for an engaging listen. Musically I use a lot of lydian modality as well as elements of quintal harmony to bring that sense of optimism and hope through. Expect a release towards the end of this year. My website, Instagram, and Facebook are the best places to catch updates.

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Q  Is there a single thing you want your album to say?

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A  Because the content is so personal, I feel this EP is more a piece of myself I'm giving to the listener. My voice lies in the music, and I hope the music speaks for itself.

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