What was the creative process like for this particular song?
What is your songwriting process like? How do you usually start crafting a new song?
“RUN BOY RUN”
The inspiration came from an incident that occurred a few streets down from me, I live in Hollywood a quiet leafy suburb on the very edge of Birmingham UK...a city Synonyms with inner-city street gangs from the historic Peaky Blinders to the modern-day Burger Bar Boys... so it wasn't that far a leap to write “Run Boy Run,” especially after the attempted shooting of a witness who was in a safe house round the corner from me... what was quite unbelievably about this occurrence was whoever this witness was, he was allowed to drive around in a lime green Lamborghini which stood out like a cockroach on a wedding cake... it was quite simply the definition of stupid!
STAGE 1: There is only me so I always start with a rough jam, get it down quickly with a few rough demos... & then refine and refine again...then stand back a few days or weeks and rework again. The inspiration for “RUN BOY RUN” was the lyrics. I will always throw down a basic acoustic track first, bass guitar, piano and a simple looped drum kit to hold the tempo. I will always create a simple structure so that later on I can build upon it. I always record rough demos so I can listen with fresh ears over the following weeks and months, from work, in the car, basically anywhere I can take time to listen with fresh ears.
Can you talk about the recording and production process for "RUN BOY RUN?"
STAGE 2: THE PRODUCTION:
I have a small loft studio at home with samplers, synth racks, keyboards, guitars and basic drums. Once I have the structure, I will rework all the tracks starting with the vocals and creating all the backing vocals. I will often double up tracks to have multiple instruments that I chop and change until I find the ones that cut through, I often land up with 90 + tracks but will cut this down as I progress. The track gradually transformed through re-write after re-write... I used to feel uncomfortable that I let so many influences soak into my tracks but I gave up trying to fit into any one genre as I am completely incapable of sticking to the script, I am always drifting between styles so it's no surprise that they often overlap. 1: Indie Electro Fusion: Retro blending Rock, Punk, Funk pop, and Reggae.
2: Indie Electro: With a bias towards drum and bass, dance & pop
Can you recall a creative challenge that pushed your boundaries and led to a rewarding outcome?
STAGE 3: MIX & MASTERING.
This section was probably the hardest lesson I had to learn... about a year ago I got feedback saying I like your track but it's just a rough demo you need to get into a studio...I tried a studio but I soon realized I was not happy with the sound or mix... So I spent 6 months learning about mixing and mastering and then in the last 6 months I remixed and mastered all my tracks again for my debut album 'Grit In My Soul'...For me, this was the only way I could create depth and power into my tracks and while it was a painful journey it helped me realize the critical importance of this process to breathe life into my work... It's not for the faint-hearted!
What impact do you hope "RUN BOY RUN" will have on your audience?
I can only write about what inspires me, what moves me emotionally or what makes me smile... So all I can hope for is people connected emotionally, nostalgically or simply just enjoy the energy & vibe.
