In this interview spotlight, I chat with Confidential about the latest music, technology, challenges and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
I’m from Brighton in the UK and I create lofi chillhop music. It’s a mixture of sample-driven and fully original music, with a lot of emphasis on the guitar.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
My whole family works in The Arts in one form or another, so I think I was probably already on the path before I was even born.
But the real moment for me discovering my passion for music came when I was about 12. My mum showed me this old British comedy series called The Young Ones, and there was a scene where Madness played House of Fun in a pub. It was like a love at first sight or listen kind of thing where I instantly started listening to more ska music and started begging my parents to get me guitar lessons.
It was all downhill from there!
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
The biggest part of it was trying to take what I’ve learned from my past 3 albums and put it into a single track. This is probably the most personal thing I’ve ever written and I just wanted to get the point across with how lost I felt during a period of time between 2019 and 2020 when I started to give up on music as well as life itself.
But then there’s also a more positive side with the trumpet part, which was written to represent a more hopeful outlook, which is closer to how I feel now in 2021.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this over saturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
The biggest challenge is being heard above everybody else. You’re absolutely right in calling it an over saturated market. It’s really cool that there are so many great artists out there and releasing music, but it does make it hard, that’s for sure!
As for technology, I think it all comes down to accessibility: I wrote an essay earlier this year, which compares the lofi hip-hop movement of today to the punk movement of the 1970s. Back then, punk was showing the public that anybody could be a musician. There’s that Tony Moon quote about picking up a guitar, learning 3 chords and starting a band. Recording a production equipment is so cheap to buy and easy to use that people are able to buy a laptop, get connected to the Internet and start releasing music. It’s opened up the world to so many more people who are able to easily write, produce and release music. I definitely wouldn’t be able to have a music career without those opportunities.
What was the last song you listened to?
Breathe by Crossbreed. They’re this industrial metal band and they’ve just put their first album on Spotify. I’ve been listening to it nonstop.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
Vinyl. I like the experience of physically handling the record.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
That’s a tough one! As a listener, I prefer Spotify because it’s easy to use and has such a big library. It’s very convenient.
As a musician, BandCamp is my favourite because that’s where you can earn the most. Selling a single album for £10 on BandCamp is the equivalent of about 2,000 streams on Spotify.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
The best place is Instagram, you can find me at @confidential_lofi. Please do send me a message if you want to chat, I’m always up for talking music and listening to people’s stuff. I’m also on Facebook at /confidentiallofi.
Alternatively, you can buy me a coffee at ko-fi.com/confidential_lofi and for every £3 coffee you buy me, I’ll send you an exclusive Soundcloud link to some new music that nobody else will have heard before. It’s just my way of saying thank you.
Anything else before we sign off?
Just thank you to yourselves for giving me the chance to talk music and thank you to everybody who’s ever listened, shared, followed or made contact. It absolutely means the world to me and I am forever grateful. Wouldn’t be here without you all.
