photo: Louise Clutterbuck
Busy 2016 so far?
Exciting. Busy as hell, though.
Highlight?
Being put on Future Bubblers [a talent discovery and development project led by Gilles Peterson and Brownswood, supported by Arts Council England], got a meeting with my mentor in London soon. Been in the studio with Sticky Blood [Sheffield based producer duo, one half of whom is ex-Arctic Monkeys bassist Andy Nicholson]. Finishing off a couple tracks that’ll be singles later on in the year. Working on a music video for my EP, which is coming out soon. The video is near enough finished – actually hoping to receive the last edit today.
Did you have to apply for Future Bubblers?
Yeah. I go to The Elementz studio, and they told me I should go for it. At first I wasn’t sure, but then thought, “why not?” So I submitted three tracks and then I got the email.
What’s happened with it so far?
I’m working with Sway, my mentor, next week. I haven’t done much with it yet cos I’ve been so busy with everything else. But we’re gonna be planning a release, maybe a vinyl. I’m working with Red Bull as well – I’m the key artist for them in the East Midlands. At the minute it’s a case of trying to figure out what I want to do with what.
What do you think to the other artists on Future Bubblers?
I’ve met Yazmin before, and I’ve seen the other peeps from Notts around but never met them. Turns out Gaz from Congi is kinda from my area as well, but we didn’t know each other. And I listened to some of his early stuff when I was growing up, which was weird when I applied as well. Nathaniel from Mimm told me to apply too, so there’s a few people on it associated with Mimm. I’m the only rapper on Future Bubblers, though.
You get quite a lot of loving from 1Xtra…
Yeah, I’m on there quite a lot. It’s like a second home.
How do you manage to keep the quality of the stuff you upload to SoundCloud so consistent?
I don’t upload everything. I’ve got enough tracks to last me till the end of next year, and I’m still building on it as well. Once I get my EP out the way, I’ll open the floodgates to everything else.
photo: Louise Clutterbuck
How do these songs come about – do you work off a beat or come up with the bars first?
One of the songs I’ve done is with a London producer called Masro. He sent me a link to the instrumental, then I wrote to it that night and sent it back to him. And now Universal wanna sign the track. So, it just depends really. I might hear something on the way somewhere and be like, “Let me get it”. Red Bull linked up me and Sticky Blood. They showed them one of my tracks, they liked it, and then went to their studio in Sheffield, recorded Gravy, One Bar In which is on Channel AKA. I just got another one with them as well.
You’re a very high energy performer. Is it the live side of things or the songwriting you enjoy more?
I love it all. I just love music. I love being on stage – even though it is tiring – and I like making songs as well, helping people with their ideas. I’m in the studio a lot, at least four days a week. I can’t stop, if I do I don’t feel right. It’s tiring, but it’s fun.
Did you grow up making music?
I’ve always liked music. And when we were younger everyone on the estate used to do it, so I thought I’ll do it as well. I stuck with it and it’s taking me places. It’s better than sitting at home. If I weren’t doing music I don’t know what I’d be doing, if I’d even be around right now. It’s good energy.
Locally, who are you loving?
I work alongside Mez, Kyeza, DDot, Kidda Beats, and BeatGeeks as well. Illmana (Kaiden Gray), Riddla and Greeze Team, I work with them a lot. There’s a lot of people in Notts, but I’ve got my tunnel vision on right now, I know what I need to do and what I want to do.
Musically, in Notts, what clicked?
Notts don’t like me. They love globally before they love locally. I don’t know why, but Notts hates me. I think it’s cos I don’t care. Especially now more than ever, people see what I’m doing – when they see this full page they’ll be like, “what?”. People always tried it with me and now they can’t. There’s a few times I performed in Notts and it’s been nice. Took ages to get the love. I’ve been grafting for five or six years now, and I’m only nineteen.
What can you tell us about the EP?
I thought of a name for it the other night – Knotts – it might not be the name, but I like it. One of the lead tracks on there has that title. It’s about how my head’s all over the place at the minute. It’s six tracks long, all grime. Gonna be released through redbull.com. The video should hopefully be online very soon and remixes and videos will come out after too.
Snowy’s brand new Knots EP is out now at Redbull.com
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