For those who aren’t familiar with your journey, how did you get into producing? 

I started when I was 14 making music with my cousins in a group producing and rapping. We were heavily influenced by east coast hip hop and grime. A football coach gave us a bootleg version of FL Studio 7 and from there I never left FL. 

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Your sound floats between UK Bass, Dubstep & Garage, what are the main inspirations behind your productions? 

At the moment, I’ve been really inspired by the music I’ve heard out touring. I was lucky enough to play at a festival called Sustain Release last year in New York. I witnessed some amazing sets, Tim Reaper b2b Special Request, Nick Leon b2b Bitter Babe & from there started to hear new patterns and styles I felt could influence my music and DJ sets. Growing up I took a lot of influence from East Coast Hip Hop producers like Q Tip and Havoc, new jack swing influence from Teddy Riley, then from Grime and Dubstep it was Joker, Breakage and Dot Rotten. It wasn’t until I was 19 I learnt to actually make Garage! I literally stuck a MJ Cole song into full studio and tried to emulate the drum pattern.

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What are some of your non-musical inspirations? Do you find living in a city impact the way you make music or finding solace in nature? 

I think travelling plus being able to take in nature and the surroundings has positively impacted my creativity. I’ve learnt to balance taking time away from being in front of a screen and being present in my actual surroundings. 

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You’ve been touring for some time now, what have been some of the highs and lows of being on the road? 

I see every show as a blessing and always have gratitude for the fact I’m travelling somewhere to showcase my sounds to people. I think the connections I’ve made whether it be from fans to uber drivers are so special. I really love the humanities of it all. I think the main low is the mental and physical toll. Recently I’ve been able to get to grips with it, but it’s something that many people underestimate and often neglect until it’s too late.

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Your label Kiwi Rekords has been pushing the Nu UKG sound for the past few years, what are 5 tracks that define the current sound? 

Prozak - Like This 

Silva Bumpa - Dreaming

Aluna - Body Pump (Sammy Virji remix) 

Kyo - How Can I Live 

Sammy Virji, Oppidan - Foundation 

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What can we expect from Klub Kiwi this year? 

Last year, the emphasis was shows and touring. The next six months were looking to get back into the swing of things with releases. Although we have a takeover with Defected at their festival in Croatia now, which will have some kiwi favourites. 

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Are you more of a software baddie or a hardware babe? 

I’m definitely a software baddie but I’ve been flat out with hardware recently. I had a great couple of days at Devon Analogue Studios, and I completely get the temptation. It was almost the equivalent of playing FIFA as Arsenal then actually going to play at The Emirates stadium. 

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Talk us through the track you last [cmd] ‘S’d ? ([ctrl] ‘S’ to PC users)? 

It was an edit of BreezyLYN featuring Lola Brooke and Kali track entitled “Bad Bitches”. I was in New York trying to work on some music for my set there. 

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What can the CDR audiences expect from your time with us? 

Hopefully an honest breakdown into not just my process, but some of the inner workings of production in general. 

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And finally, for those just getting to grips with producing and keen to get their Works In Progress out there, what advice do you have for them? 

My biggest advice would actually be to hone in on your sound. Don’t be so quick to just drop something for the sake of dropping it.. there’s a real value in creating your own sound. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but make sure that you’re happy with the final outcome rather than putting something out just so people can consume content. The more value and attention paid to your art from the beginning will put you in good stead for the future.

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