My original draft article was fairly well received by my peer and teacher however there was a continuous point that was raised and that was that firstly my use of quotation was appalling! Another point made was that both the unstructured interview along with the Q&A perhaps is too much and to allow it to fit aesthetically into a DPS, I may have to either shorten the article or to spread it over 3 pages. This evidently meaning that the unstructured interview is on the DPS with another structured Q&A session on a seperate page. Possible subtitles/names for this session could be '60 Seconds with: [Syla]' or "The Grill" I shall decide on this after my article is re-read and finalised.
It's not easy to go out in public without hearing the name 'Syla'. The Chart topping dubstep producer from the east end of London, recently crowned the prince of dubstep and is letting people know that he is ready to take over the electronic music scene.
His recent domination of the iTunes Electronic Top 10, in which he is currently holding an unbelievable 9 spots, provides evidence of that. No other artist has ever reached that feat, not deadmau5 or Chase & Status, not even the king of dubstep Skrillex! Syla, once lead singer of the popular band 'Neurosis', has incorporated a new style into the genre, which is obviously loved amongst his vast fan base but perhaps the key question would be has all the success gone to his head? Well, we went to find out:
The noise was deafening and he had finished his set. Of course this was not the speaker shattering bass created by Syla, but the screams of his adoring crowd. As the man in question takes a bow I peer round the corner of the stage, attempting to reassure myself that this sound was man made and not a faulty speaker. Sure enough, the almost 5000 strong crowd at the Brixton O2 Academy were all shouting for more, at this point Samuel Morrison walks off the stage to come and meet me for the interview.
I barely get in the word "Hello" before he grabs me and runs me to his car, a customised Range Rover Evoque, complete with tinted windows, a must have for such a high profile celebrity.
As we drive onwards into the misty December night, he explains the exhilarating series of events that just occurred.
"Sorry man, need to make a quick getaway at places like that or you'll be mauled!" "I have enough of it when I enter the building, don't get me wrong it's amazing, just need to make sure you don't hit traffic 'n' all that you know?" Unbelievable that traffic is even a distant thought in this musical magicians mind.
As the journey progresses we listen to his new EP "Unwanted Distraction" (more on that on page 28!). As I go to talk I'm interrupted:
"I know right? It's fucking incredible! I couldn't believe just how high the quality of the tracks ended up! A lot of it was down to how great Daniel (Stephens) was and the amount of new stuff he and I created for it!"
For those of you who don't know, Daniel Stephens, one half of the popular electronic act 'Nero' signed Samuel to his label, GodWaste Records after hearing the talented producer at a 'Neurosis' gig, trying out his DJ set as an intro for the band. Believe it or not, he was actually booed off stage when originally doing this.
"Daniel saw something in me and my music!"
"He listened to what I was coming out with and saw the potential!" "He knew the vision I had for it, something a bit different from the norm'."
As we conclude the conversation we reach the premises in which we would be conducting the scheduled interview, this being his house which he shares with 3 friends, a modest living environment for a person who has sold over 2.4 million copies of his debut EP "Tackle Bug".
We enter the house, followed by the throwing of his keys straight on the floor. He grabs 2 mugs out of the cupboard, tells me to go out to the garden. There I find the stereotypical £9.99 garden furniture, of course for a normal person of his age you would expect this, perhaps I was being slightly snobbish, but why did this multi million record selling artist not live someone far nicer than a semi-detached 3 bedroom house in Bromley?
The lights come on, whilst Samuel comes out of the back door to join me. Clutching two cups of tea, a strange beverage for a guy who's just finished delivering some of the heaviest basslines I've ever heard! He hands me a cup, sits down, and breathes what I gathered to be a sigh of relief.
DT: Okay so this isn't on the list, but whats with the run-down bargain furniture & the cups of tea?
Syla: Hey, there's nothing wrong with the basics mate!
DT: Fair enough! So tell me, who would you say is your inspiration?
Syla: You would not believe how much I get asked this question, it's difficult to say really, since I started listening to music, I always liked a mix of genres. I can listen to something like Jamiroquai, then move on to something like The Prodigy immediately after. In terms of my electronic stuff, I really liked anything on Warp Records when I was younger, people like Squarepusher, Aphex twins and stuff like that
DT: Where did the name 'Syla' come from?
Syla: Um, well I guess my mind? Haha, shit, no I seriously don't know, it's just a name I came up with, I wish I had a mysterious description for you but no such luck!
DT: We mentioned it briefly in the car, but what happened with Neurosis?
Syla: Ha, knew this was coming. There was a lot of speculation over the Internet, stuff like I slept with Coles girlfriend and that John coming out as gay caused it. The most entertaining rumour I read was the one about being threatened from the local gang! To be honest, we just decided to do different things, I loved the band, I loved the music, it's just I felt that my Dubstep stuff reached out to so many more people! We're still good mates, Me and Cole went for a drink the other day, not the controversy you were expecting?
DT: No, not quite, was still hoping the "Bromley Massive" threats were true!
Syla: Haha, I know right? Fucking classic!
DT: Is there any DJ you really want to work with in the future?Syla: Oh too many to name! I guess I would love to do a track with Nero, I reckon Dan would be open to the idea but I'm a bit reluctant to ask him, the reply might not be what I was expecting!
DT: Let's hope he reads this then!
Syla: Hell Yeah!
DT: How big of a role has Dan and Joe had on your development?
Syla: When my EP was being released, they mentioned me in all of their interviews, put my EP up on their Facebook Page, were just constantly alerting the press of my existence and what they thought of the tracks, which, they actually helped me mix. In short, I owe the guys EVERYTHING!
DT: Nice, thanks for taking the time out for this interview Samuel but, we gotta ask, on a final note, are the rumours your headlining Coachella 2012 true?
Syla: Aha, no comment man, no comment.
No comments:
Post a Comment