6. Do you have any advice for our readers who may be trying to play the mad game of music?
Absolutely; if you are new and still learning, the best thing for you to do is to start by emulating other people’s songs because you can at least get the blueprint for what you are trying to do that way, then I would always recommend to just be absolutely fearless when improvising music or art. When I paint; I just throw colours at the canvas till I think it looks good, if it doesn’t it just means it’s not finished yet and I’ll revisit. I’m the same with music, I might make forty or fifty beats to start a project off knowing that most of them won’t get used; but the ones that never get used still contribute to the sound of the project so they are never a waste of energy. If you try to think like that then everything you are doing feels like stepping stones.
In my opinion the ultimate thing to aim for once you are confident at playing and experimenting is making people really feel something or learn something through your music, there’s been loads of timesI’ve put Jeff Buckley on to lift my mood or to soothe me when I’m down. Also Gift of Gab from Blackalicious and Maxi Jazz from Faithless have both managed to rap words that were exactly what I needed at the time I heard them, then years later I revisit the same songs and I understand more of what they are saying because they both helped me level up.I’m not saying all artists have to do this, but if you are capable of lifting someone’s mood or raising someone’s vibration through your music, that’s a type of magic.The two songs that guided me in the direction of Buddhism and helped me understand what I’m supposed to be doing as an artist were Reverence by Faithless, and Automatique from Blackalicious, there are tons of downloads for whoever wants to sit with those lyrics and unpack them. First Born from Eyedea and Abilities is another record that teaches me things every time I sit with it.
Collaboration is an art in itself too; Dirty Chips with Lex Rush and Dale Novella was one of my favouriteprojects toworkon. I was really impressed listening to Dale’s vocals for the song Make It alongside Lex’s already finished parts in the Ableton project for the first time; that song just clicked together perfectly and just needed to be mixed and mastered; I had a real sense of that song being bigger than the sum of itsparts and that the right kind of collaboration is where you all bring the best out of each other.
7. Are there any artists on your radar right now that we should check out?
cropscropscropsis someone I really enjoy he has a very cool sounding voice and the beats are crazy, I really like Leave A Mark by Intuition and Equalibrium, that was my album of the year in 2025, the emcee is really slick and the production is awesome. Another interesting guy is Tenzoe, his album Eremition is really deep and has some amazing concepts on it.
Time did a hundred track mixtape over Alchemistbeats which is epic, and his group Calm have put out some really cool albums over the last few years; Paulo’s Path, Beyond The Willow Tree is my favourite, it follows on from the mixtape and I think if you are new to Time and Calm they are both great places to start in my opinion.
Slumber Logic is a really interesting emcee and producer from Canada, Detachment Homie and Only Detachment has one of the best opening songs on an album I’ve ever heard, it was so good that when I first listened to the album it took me ages to finish the thing because I kept playing that opening track over and over.
Also Lex has a series of singles with Becky Krill out at the minute that have been really fun to listen to and her last album with Mindframe MVEis another no skip album for me, really tight production and sick flows and some dope features too.
8. What albums are on heavy rotation on your Spotify playlist currently?
Tuff Racket from Noah23 and Fresh Kills is my most played album at the minute, Noah is an absolute beast of an emcee; really creative beats from Fresh Kills and razor sharp flows and it’s got some really cool samples throughout.I love Elevation from Fliptrix and Forest DLG too, everything about it, the feel of the beats and the wisdom in the lyrics and the black and gold artwork, that’s exactly the kind of hip hop I want to listen to these days. Gate Clicks Shut by Lee Scott came up in my suggestions today, that was another record I had on repeat through the pandemic, it’s my favourite of his solo records, his style is crazy.
Saviours of the Universe (The Dopermen) by Dopermen is a really fun album, the flows are brilliant and the skits are really funny; Cautious Kieran who half of the duo played a huge part in bringing ENTER THE DREAMTIME to life from day one, his solo stuff is awesome too.Bulletproof Carties from Wuzee and Bronze Nazareth is awesome and really soulful, Icanlisten to that over and over.Grown Up from Legs MC is class, the track he did with Frukwan from Gravediggaz in particular is sick.Trey Dog Whistle hasavery unique sound; everythingI’ve heard from him is bonkers but I also listen toalot of Primus and Mr Bungle soI have a lot of time for people who make bonkers soundingmusic to be fair.Also Cambatta is on my playlist a lot, his album LSD: Lunar Solar Duality is a masterpiece.
Finally; I’ve still got a lot of love for Deftones; I think they have consistently developed their sound on every album, Private Music has some gorgeous songs on and the atmosphere of Deftones now is unreal, I think anyone who is unfamiliar with metal and wants to hear a band that are heavy but also dreamy and experimental should check them out. If I could have any singer ever on a track it would be Chino Moreno, I’m gonna put him next to the guysfrom PENPALS as the answer to that other question.
9. What do you like to do when you’re not making music?
I train in Jiu Jitsu a couple of times a week, I have ADHD and I really need discipline to balance me out, otherwise I’d just be in artist mode 24/7 and I would burn out.
10. Name Three things you can’t live without when in the studio?
Since the pandemic my studio is really just me at home, I’m going to say my laptop, my MPK mini MK3 and a hot chocolate are the 3 things I need to get started and usually I know I’m making something good if I forget there’s a hot chocolate there haha.