[vc_row][vc_column][wvc_typed font_weight=”700″ speed=”100″ text=”ARTIST. OF. THE. MONTH.”][vc_column_text]As our Artist of the Month for Nov – we caught up with Liam about everything from New York to his mam. Plus how the beast of a new album came to be…<\/p>\n
Firstly, a really interesting album name. What inspired it?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n When I was living in Sneinton I was watching some community TV or whatever was on, this is back in the day. About 2003. And there was a show about a Nigerian mother, she came over with this little yout, and his name was Ekundayo. It just struck a chord, it was sick. Yeah he was a dude. And then I named my band Ekundayo. And then we split up. That was like 15 years ago but I\u2019ve always loved the word. And then when Leon (the album\u2019s producer) pressed me for the name of the album during the lockdown, you know it just came back. So, I just thought right that\u2019s it then.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Your last release was in 2015, how long has this been in the making?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n I go to New York for say, 2 weeks. We go studio for like 8 days. You do your thing, you\u2019re chilling. And then you know, you come back, live life a bit. I think I went over there like 4 times. So it was kind of a process. My EP came out in like 2018, so, I\u2019d say the past 2 years I\u2019ve been nipping over there and getting it done.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Did you find a lot of inspiration from being over there?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, I mean, its vibey because of how it is up there. Go on @elmichelsaffair on Instagram and you\u2019ll see pictures of his studio, you\u2019ll catch the vibe there. Its like, look how me dreads are fucking all over the place. I ain\u2019t combed me hair, tits up, you know what I mean. That\u2019s how it is in the studio.<\/span><\/p>\n We do it on tape, it\u2019s all old school. We just wanna make something interesting, that\u2019s what I wanted to do anyway. Because I naturally write melodic, I\u2019ve got a naturally smooth voice, I hate to say it but that\u2019s what it is. Working with Leon we always get music that sounds cool. And I\u2019m just buzzing at the minute cause it\u2019s all going down really well. You wake up and you\u2019re getting all these compliments. It\u2019s not being in the real world you know?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n How did you find working with Leon?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Known him for time. So it\u2019s always bless with me and Leon. Very natural. I don\u2019t want to curse it, you know it\u2019s always the vibes. You know, it\u2019s not rocket science. And it\u2019s lovely just chilling up where he lives upstate New York. Upstate New York\u2019s like all country, so its their version of the countryside innit. You got the Hudson Valley, you got the mountains and that. It\u2019s a bit like Scotland. It\u2019s just cotch. It\u2019s so lovely and you\u2019re out in the morning, next to the big Hudson river there, and then there were some weeks we\u2019d be in Queens, New York. White light was mostly done in Queens.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/TwnoR24a4Ec”][vc_column_text]Paper Tigers is an incredible track. So different to the rest of the album. The album is just changing constantly, but it flows so well. Was that intentional, did you mean to make so many genres?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, I know! I can\u2019t believe it, because it\u2019s not like we sat there and went \u2018oh\u2019. I was saying don\u2019t put <\/span>Paper Tiger<\/b> on, innit. I was saying look, we won\u2019t allow it. And then Danny and Leon was like, no, what you on about that\u2019s gotta go on it\u2019s sick. So I was like oh, but I don\u2019t know where it can go on the tracklisting. Then I\u2019m looking, and I thought that it would be a bit mad if you ended with it. And then luckily we\u2019ve already gone to that kind of world in<\/span> \u2018Don\u2019t Blame NY\u2019<\/b> earlier on in the record. But I didn\u2019t realise, I wasn\u2019t thinking of it like that you see. And then Leon just went for a walk with it, you know a couple days later he was like that’s the vibe. In my experience if you try and plan things like that, you can\u2019t.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One of my favourites on the album is definitely Vixit, it\u2019s really different to the rest of the album. What was the inspiration for the track, did you write it to be that raw?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah you know how that happened. So, I\u2019ve been playing spanish guitar. Now, you know I\u2019ve not been trying to do the fucking, all the carry on, I can\u2019t do that, but anyway I\u2019ve been vibing with it. So he just sat at his desk and we were in the room next to each other and I was just playing that picking thing. And just started singing it, like a kind of melody, humming it along and Leons like \u2018oi thats sick you know\u2019. And I was like \u2018oh alright then\u2019. So then he\u2019s gotta go and do something, he\u2019s got kids innit. So I wrote that and then he came back about forty five minutes, pressed record and we did it in that one take. I\u2019ve been writing those types of songs all my life but I\u2019ve never really put them out. On the last album (track)<\/span> \u2018Battle Hymn of Central London\u2019,<\/b> that\u2019s acoustic as well. It\u2019s all the time I spent in Matlock acoustic nights at the fish pond. That song, you ask anyone that\u2019s known me for years and they\u2019ll tell you that I\u2019ve probably heard that in the Fish Pond somewhere in like 2001, when I used to go to Muse sessions on a Sunday night.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What have you been up to over lockdown?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Literally just at home and just doing different creative things. Writing different ways and that. More computer,\u00a0 trying to do beats and all that carry on. And then I had these drum and bass projects as well this year that have been coming out. Done a drum and bass project with <\/span>Dogger<\/b> and <\/span>Mindstate <\/b>and another one with <\/span>Alix Perez.<\/b> Then I wrote a song with<\/span> Brookes Brothers<\/b> that ended up being this crazy nextness. So lockdown\u2019s been quite surreal. There\u2019s been loads of excitement. But then ups and downs like everyone really I think. You know, it\u2019s not nice when you talk to your mum and she can\u2019t see anyone, you know what it\u2019s like grandmas and all of that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What\u2019s coming next?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s a good time you know. You\u2019d be surprised because loads of producers are sat at home wanting to do stuff. So, I\u2019m gonna carry on. I\u2019ve done a couple bits and bobs with different people and then I don\u2019t know what to plan for because I don\u2019t know when we are gonna be able to gig. All I know is I\u2019m gonna be carrying on writing during the lockdown and hopefully it won\u2019t be too long before I can get back into the studio and we can play a live show now the vaccines here. <\/span>After this lockdown, right now, I will take the vaccine bruv. I don\u2019t give a fuck yeah. If it means we could have some normality back, Jesus Christ. Just the threat of taking away Christmas. My mums literally on the phone, she\u2019s just not happy. Everyone’s mums are just fucking shook. Like all those students I feel sorry for. My brother can\u2019t come back, he\u2019s living in Amsterdam with his mrs so we\u2019ll be zooming. That\u2019ll literally be like the Royal Family, that show. That\u2019ll be what we\u2019ll be like zooming, my mum is literally insane, anyway. <\/span>Big up.<\/span><\/p>\n