Kenyan Alt-RnB artist IkeN found himself in Nottingham when he moved to the UK to study Business Management. Alongside this, he also makes music, releasing his debut album Galatea last October. We find out all about it...
You are Kenyan and your upbringing spanned various countries including Zimbabwe, Iran, and Bangladesh, but you are currently Nottingham based because you are studying at university here. What made you decide to study here?
I think I knew I would be studying in the UK from the beginning - I really wanted to go abroad for university, but I didn’t want to be so far that speaking to my family would be a struggle, so the UK was an obvious decision. I’m quite enjoying it! One thing I’m still not used to, however, is the weather… it's absolutely killing me.
I bet! You're studying business management; how does this help with your music career? How do the two things co-exist with one another?
So far, what I’ve learned in business management has to do a lot with entrepreneurship, which definitely helps with my music. There’s a lot to do with marketing, managing projects, and planning, which I’ve actually ended up using, especially while releasing my album, Galatea. I’ve managed to balance the music and university without much of a problem so far… university doesn’t take up too much of my time, so I find time to sit down and compose quite a lot.
How does your location influence your music? How has Nottingham shaped your sound or the way you write or record your music in the time you’ve been here?
I think that the music around me definitely influences the music that I make - weirdly enough, being in Nottingham has got me more into indie music, and (somehow) afrobeats as well. I’m experimenting with songs that are in those sorts of genres right now.
That's really cool! Nottingham definitely has a vibrant music scene. You write, compose and produce all of your own music. How did you learn to do all of these things? And what motivated you to be able to do them yourself, rather than asking other people to get involved?
YouTube! I’ve watched hours upon hours upon hours of beatmaking videos, how-tos, basics of producing music, over and over and over again. I still continue to watch those types of videos to this day. Youtubers like Versus WYD, In The Mix, Asher Postman, and so many others played a really integral part in teaching me how to produce music.
Honestly, doing everything myself was more an issue of laziness than anything else - I really wanted to make original songs in high school, and while I could have asked other people to help me out, I felt like the fastest way for me to make music would be to do it myself. Singing wasn’t even really part of the plan - I just needed vocals for a song and couldn’t be bothered to ask someone else. Despite how it may sound, I do enjoy collaborating, though, and I’m trying to do a lot more collaborations this year!
That's very impressive. You mentioned your debut album Galatea, which you released back in October. Could you tell us more about the themes and the story behind the album?
Sure! Galatea is meant to explore the tale of the Greek sculptor, Pygmalion, who fell in love with his sculpture, Galatea. In the story, he decides to sculpt his idea of the “perfect woman”, and falls in love with the sculpture he eventually creates. During a festival celebrating the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite, he desperately prays that he might find someone like the statue he made, and returns home to find his sculpture has come to life.
I tried to explore a more modern take on that story, so the album explores how 'sculpting' a person into an unrealistic ideal can be harmful. Written in the perspective of Pygmalion, the album explores how he meets Galatea and immediately decides that she is perfect in every way, putting her on a pedestal that is bound to collapse, hurting them both in the process.
I read the story about Galatea around two to three Christmases ago, and I had a few songs I was working on that ended up being in the album. Galatea was the first of those songs - the idea for the song came with the story for the entire album… as soon as I made Galatea, everything else followed like a massive wave.
That's awesome. What are your favourite tracks from the album? And which ones have become fan favourites since the album was released?
My personal favourite tracks are Miss Me and Divine Intervention. Miss Me is a little personal and I probably stream that song more than anyone else does. Divine Intervention, on the other hand, was just really fun to make! I didn’t really spend too long making the song - I had a month where I was completely stuck with nothing but a really light instrumental, then in literally three days I had the full song done.
I think that the fan favourites so far are When Pygs Fly and Galatea, which I also enjoy quite a lot. People liking When Pygs Fly did kind of surprise me, though, because its a lot more experimental and I didn’t really think people were into that.
And for anyone who hasn’t heard your music before, but is about to go and check it out after reading this interview, how would you describe your sound?
I would describe my sound as Alt-R&B. With this new album, its pretty sparse in terms of genre - there’s indie influences, R&B influences, pop influences - I don’t really mind experimenting with genre. I generally try to make really lush, ethereal sounding music, though. There’s also lots of thick vocal harmonies in my music.
Who would you say your biggest influences are and how do you feel they have influenced you?
I would say Alina Baraz, Frank Ocean, and Bruno Major. They represent the genres that I make (and listen to) the most, and my music takes a lot of inspiration from their music. Alina Baraz’s music is super ethereal - I feel like I’m floating whenever I listen to her music. It’s also very unique - I don’t tend to hear structures that I’ve heard in other songs… the same goes for Frank Ocean’s music. I try to be more creative with my music because of them. They’re all also really good with lyricism - something I’m trying to improve on.
Do you have any live shows coming up, particularly in the Nottingham area?
I can’t lie - I’m terrified of doing live shows. I’ve never performed my own music live before. With that being said, I’ve promised myself I’m doing live shows this year, so as soon as I set that up, I’ll let people know!
You'll have to keep us updated! Finally, what else does 2024 hold for you? What have you got coming up that you want to shout about?
I have no idea! It’s quite exciting. After releasing my album, I’ve made virtually no plans, so honestly whatever happens, happens! I’m making sure to release a lot of music this year, though. Keep an eye out during the next few weeks!
Galatea by IkeN is out now on all streaming services
We have a favour to ask
LeftLion is Nottingham’s meeting point for information about what’s going on in our city, from the established organisations to the grassroots. We want to keep what we do free to all to access, but increasingly we are relying on revenue from our readers to continue. Can you spare a few quid each month to support us?
