Confidential delves on his creative tastes, musical influences & collaborative single ‘Turning Red’
Great to have you on Xttrawave. Please, introduce yourself.
Thank you so much for having me! I am Confidential and the name is almost like this juxtaposition where a lot of other lofi beatmakers hide their identity behind pseudonyms and anime artwork, whereas I’m being a lot more open about my identity and putting my face on the artwork.
What got you into music and made you realize that it was your chosen path?
When I was about 12, my mum showed me this old British comedy called The Young Ones and in each episode there’d be a different music guest. So I saw bands like Dexie’s Midnight Runners and Motorhead on the show and thought they were cool, but I was completely floored by Madness when they played House of Fun on the show. That was the moment I wanted to start playing guitar.
I can’t say there was any real moment other than that, to be honest. I just always really enjoyed playing guitar, then my dad encouraged me to get into music production and it kept going from there.
Tell us about your new music? And what’s the story behind it?
My latest release was a collaboration with an artist in Bristol called Neshy. She messaged me about promoting a track from my new album, Memories. I was really grateful and we got talking which was how I found out she was a singer. She sent me some of her music and I was immediately impressed, so I asked about collaborating. That’s how the track Turning Red came about, which I’m really proud of.
What makes your music unique? How would you describe it?
At its core, my music is lofi hip-hop. The unique part is that I’m a classically-trained guitarist who later ended up playing progressive metal whilst studying at a music school that did a lot of jazz and blues. So I’m bringing in influences from all these unique places to create a sound that I think is distinctly me. Naturally, there’s a lot of guitar in my music, but there are some tracks with no guitar.
Aside from that, there’s also the mental health side of things. It’s hard to talk about my music without at least mentioning mental health. I started my journey as a solo artist in summer 2020 and I was at the lowest point of my life for a bunch of different reasons. But being able to write and release music made such a difference to help give me an identity again and provide a therapeutic outlet.
Who are your biggest musical influences? And any particular artist/band you would like to collaborate with in the future?
Without a doubt, I’ve got to give major props to The Roots, which was the first hip-hop band that I really got into. I’d never heard anything like them before and was completely blown away when I first heard them playing You Got Me on Jools Holland. Then there’s Pete Rock, who’s my favourite beatmaker: he’s an absolute master. Of course, for lofi beats I have to show respect to J Dilla, who’s often called the father of lofi beats, and DJ Screw, whom I think deserves more credit for his influence to the hip-hop genre. Also a big shoutout to Larry Choppins, who was the artist that inspired me to start making beats. He’s amazing and I owe him so much.
For collaborations, I mean, I’m keen to keep working with Neshy, I’m so proud of the Turning Red track we did. On the larger stuff, I’d love to do something with The Roots, that would be amazing. If they see this and decide they want a second guitarist, I’m very available! Likewise, Pete Rock did his Petestrumentals 3 album with live musicians and if he wants to do that again, I’m available.
But realistically, there’s Chali 2na, Dub Pistols, harry was here, Daisy Chute, heath240, the list goes on. There are a few local artists as well, like GiwHa, Normanton Street, Lu’Ami, and Lundon. They’re all really amazing and I feel like I have a lot to learn from all of them.
Which is the best moment in your musical career that you’re most proud of?
I was 16 and doing my first tour with my first band. We were playing this festival where the lineup mixed in the unknown bands like us with the more popular ones throughout the day, instead of having the more popular bands at the end of the day. We were really lucky and were playing straight after one of the most popular bands of the day. So as we took to the stage, we watched as 35,000 started walking away to go to the bars or another stage. Then as we started playing our first song we watched 35,000 people stop, turn around and come back to watch us. We couldn’t believe it, the crowd were so into our music, I’ll never forget that.
How do you balance your music with other obligations – family, friends or work?
It’s tough, my friend. I’ve got a full-time job, wife and young child. I wouldn’t give up my family for the world, though; I hope to inspire my son one day when he’s old enough to realize that the music his mum plays him is mine. Being a musician is a tough job because you have to pay dues and grind for years with no return. I get my son ready for nursery, work 9-5, pick him up again and put him to bed, make dinner and spend time with my wife after she gets back from work before doing some songwriting late in the evening. I don’t get much sleep and don’t have much time for anything else. But I love what I do, it’s like an addiction and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
What advice would you give to aspiring musicians?
Listen to Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory 20th Anniversary album. If you listen and do a bit of research about the story behind the band’s early years, you’ll really see that it’s less about natural talent or immediate success and much more about pushing yourself and putting in a lot of effort. No band has ever been as open about their formative years than Linkin Park and there’s so much to learn from it.
If you listen to their earliest demos, which are on that 20th anniversary album, you can hear remnants of how they would later sound, but there was also a lot of poor songwriting and production. They worked extremely hard to improve their craft and their music to the point where they ended up releasing one of the most successful albums of all time.
I’ve been written off my so many people because I wasn’t immediately good, but I’m always working hard to push my own boundaries where others have been complacent. Now I’m at a point where suddenly people are asking to work with me on music and I recently celebrated over 250,000 streams on Spotify.
If you had one message to give to your fans, what would it be?
Thank you. As simple as that. I’ve been contacted by people from all over the world, from places like Brazil and Singapore, telling me how much they like my music and I’m truly grateful for the support and positivity shown. It means so much to me. Thank you.
What’s next for you? Any upcoming projects?
I’ve got a new single called Lost Identity coming out on 25th June. It’s the first single from what will be my 4th album. Aside from that, I’m hoping to be working with Neshy again in the near future, which will be a lot of fun.
There is one other project I’m working on that I hope will be unveiled this year. I can’t really say anything about it yet, but I’m beyond excited and I highly encourage everybody to follow me on Instagram to hear about it first. You won’t want to miss anything.
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