Originally published in the 2018/2019 University Express, Issue 8, on Tuesday 19th February 2019 – Byline Interview by Byline Editor, Ciara Dinneen (that’s me).
Ireland,
it seems, is currently moving through an experimental development in regards to
its music scene, producing an increasing number of artists that are veering
away from the more general singer-songwriter vibe (there is nothing at all
wrong with this genre, of course, but it did become the typical for a while),
breaking into an interesting blend of hip-hop, rap and techno music that is
contributing to the creation of a new, uniquely modern Irish sound. While many
deny rap music’s place in an authentically Irish music scene, it is no surprise
that rap has become a genre through which Irish artists are increasingly
expressing themselves; when we look back to our root traditions of sean-nós and
story-telling ballads, one cannot deny the close connection to a rap style of
musical expression.
One
such artist is Uppbeat, undoubtedly a name to watch in 2019. Originally from
Mayo but currently living in Dublin, Finn, the man behind Uppbeat, began
writing at age 11, inspired by his parents who are both painters; “because I’m
really bad at any other form of creativity, I tried writing. I used to listen
to a lot of punk and rock music and eventually that developed into rap. When I
started listening to rap, I said to myself ‘shit I should try that’, because I
used to write just pop songs. Now I’ve moved even beyond rap – I don’t know
what you’d call it.” In his latest works, most notable the hit-single ‘Tsunami’
and the EP Enter Aquarius, Uppbeat
displays a unique blend of rap and an intensely atmospheric vibe.
Having
heard and loved Uppbeat’s ‘Tsunami’, and been excited by hearing about
Uppbeat’s release of his EP Enter
Aquarius, which so successfully delivers on its promise to take you on an
intimate journey through the thoughts and feelings of a young person in
Ireland, I was anxious to talk to Finn about his music and what Uppbeat has in
store for the future. Describing the EP as “a little glimpse inside who he is
as an artist”, Uppbeat explains the meaning behind the name, Enter Aquarius; “I am an Aquarius, so
the EP is basically me giving you a glimpse of who I am and where I am from.
It’s an introduction to Uppbeat, what he is and what he sounds like.”
You address aspects
of growing up in Ireland in your music. What is it exactly you address, and
what is the message you are trying to get across?
“A
lot of Irish artists are tackling a very specific side of things, like one
certain path, whereas a lot of the music on the EP, [Enter Aquarius], is relatable to anyone in Ireland. Like, ‘Irish Blood’
is talking about a lot of people in situations they feel they can’t survive,
like in college with issues like housing, and obviously mental health, all that
– basically a very mainstream person’s experience of life in Ireland. It’s not
too in depth or in detail, it’s just your average day to day stuff. The EP was
more music driven, it wasn’t that conceptual – I had a lot of the songs already
done before, then I just pieced them together as an EP. The main idea was to
capture the majority of Ireland in one vibe as opposed to one very specific
walk of life.”
Where did you record
the EP?
“Most
of it is recorded in a studio in Swords, in North Dublin, which is run by
producers Chilli and Shortcut. I stumbled across them this year – they’re absolutely
incredible. ‘Tsunami’ was recorded by a guy called Tunde (mixedbysimba) – he
records a lot of the urban, hip-hop stuff in Ireland, he’s based in Tallaght.
One or two of the tracks were recorded with a guy called Kreo Ghost, he’s from
Waterford. So between those three places, but most of it was recorded in
Swords.”
What do you think of
the music scene in Ireland currently?
“I
absolutely love the Irish scene. I’m a fan of so many of the people in the
Irish scene. I think it’s such an extraordinary scene compared to any other
scene at the moment – I actually think it will be on the same level as say the
UK or America; it’s got its own sound. Very few other places in the world
actually have as many artists that are as developed as ours, look at the likes
of Jafaris, Kojaque, Chasing Abbey and Rejjie Snow, people that have already
made it, they’re all not just semi-okay artists, they’re all very, very good
artists; I’d call them all top-tier artists. They’re creativity is
extraordinary. In Ireland there are very few average artists; everyone is at a
very high level. Their exposure may not be, but their actual music and videos
and everything is top-tier, I feel.”
It is so true that
the music scene in Ireland is really kicking off and seems to be going
somewhere new and great…
“I
think it’s in a really healthy place and that it’s going somewhere incredible. There
is so much to it; it’s not as basic as it looks from the outside. There are a
lot of stories. We even have an Irish drill scene, which is like the rawest
strain of street music coming out of the UK. There are so many niche scenes
within the Irish scene and that’s what I think it making it a healthy one; it’s
not just the one sound, everyone has a completely different sound, and that’s
healthy. I feel like that’s how you know a scene is going to grow. Like,
there’s only about two or three sounds coming out of the UK, whereas in
American there are thousands of different sounds, and the same in Ireland;
there are about four or five, six, maybe ten different sounds coming out of
Ireland and it’s good to see that.”
Do you think
streaming sites, such as Spotify, are making it difficult for artists to make a
living?
“I
think Spotify is a great thing. It’s actually so easy to get your music out there
on Spotify. Yeah, it is rubbish that Spotify only pays like 0.006%, but also if
Spotify wasn’t there, there probably wouldn’t be any way to monetise it, so at
least it’s something. One of the amazing things about Spotify is that it is so
easy to discover new artists and people are actually looking for new artists. In
terms of making money, that’s more of a gigs thing; that’s across the board,
not just in Ireland. So it’s definitely more of a performance-driven industry
than it is sales and streams.”
It’s so great to hear
how positive you feel about being an Irish artist in Ireland.
“I
actually feel blessed. This is the perfect time. We are so lucky to be making
this music at this time in the world, because it’s only just becoming a cool
thing. Like, obviously we were here before, and it was cool then, but it’s
becoming so much more so; people are actually looking for new artists and
loving what is coming out of Ireland and I think the Irish scene really is
going to become something that people look to. They already are, like blogs
wise, there is a lot of exposure coming in for the Irish scene. We just need to
keep delivering and keep actually stepping up to that mark. I think we’re in a
really great place and that it’s just a matter of about two years before things
are at a really high level.”
Have you ever
received any negative feedback, claiming that rap isn’t an authentically Irish
thing and asking you why you’re doing it?
“I
think that’s absolutely mental, like. We’re writers. Irish history, and going
back to Irish mythology, we’ve always been writers, so I think the fact that we
make rap music couldn’t make more sense. The amount of poets and the amount of
different creative writing artists, and there are other amazing artists in
Ireland doing others things too, but we are champions for our writers.
Obviously we didn’t grow up with a culture of it in the same way that America
has, but we have our own culture. If you go to Limerick, for example, it’s just
a bed of culture when it comes to hip-hop; if you go there on a night out you’ll
bump into someone, just a lad, chilling there, rapping or spitting bars or
whatever. There definitely is a huge culture here. In terms of feedback I get,
nothing too bad. Obviously it’s not all positive. Everyone around me is
involved in what I do, so there isn’t anyone in my life that would be negative
about it. You do get shit, like, but that’s all part of it.”
Apart from Irish
traditions, are there any other cultural influences that you experiment with in
your music?
“Something
I find really interesting and what I’ve been playing around with a bit
recently, and you can probably hear it on the EP as a lot of people would say
that my accent on the EP is very African sounding, are the tones of voice that
are in say afro-beat music or scat style. It’s very similar to sean-nós
singing; it’s all in the same space vocally. That’s another thing I find very
interesting: if we actually use that whole tonality of sean-nós singing over
hip-hop music – I think that’s something that could be played around with as
well, if it’s done properly. Blues is another thing: blues is huge in Ireland,
and hip-hop comes from blues. It’s all connected! Where I grew up in Mayo it’s
all blues bands, rock bands, and it just makes sense that that progresses into
hip-hop, we’re just a few years behind the rest of the world.”
Hip-hop is
incredible, but some of it does get a very bad press…
“As
much as it is great, a lot of hip-hop is still incredibly sexist and homophobic;
it just isn’t really saying anything. You get this over-saturation of everyone
talking about the same thing and it really pushes certain stigmas and makes
them stronger, which isn’t great.”
Who are some of your
favourite current artists?
“I
really love J. Cole, Flatbush Zombies, I love a lot of the UK scene. I
literally grew up on grime, since I was about ten I’ve been listening to grime.
That was a really interesting scene to see grow. A guy called Yela Wolf, he’s
from Alabama, he’s incredible. On an alternative buzz, I also like the Horslips,
they’re an Irish band, they’re absolutely incredible. I like so many people.
Like, Irish wise I like nearly everyone on the scene. I actually don’t think
there is anyone I don’t like in the Irish scene. Mura Masa is amazing, probably
one of my favourite artists. FKJ, too.”
Dream collaboration?
“I
don’t know why, I have a weird thing where I really want to collaborate with
Lana Del Ray. I just think she’s really cool. Mura Masa would be very high up
there; I’d actually love to make a whole project with Mura Masa. I’d prefer to
go with people that aren’t just straight hip-hop artists, but on the hip-hop
front A$AP Rocky would be really cool person to collaborate with. Yela Wolf
would be amazing as well. Phil Lynott would be really cool, from Thin Lizzy,
he’d be very interesting”
Who is your least
favourite artist at the moment?
“To
be honest, I don’t have a least favourite artist, because everything is way
more than you think it is. Like, if you listen to say mumble-rap you might
think ‘this is shit’ but it’s not, it’s genius – the way they can tap into
tones and certain sounds, even though the artist is mumbling, it’s genius. I
think it’s really ignorant when people in music are like, ‘oh all you’re doing
in rap is this’ or ‘all you’re doing in country music is this’, but there is so
much more to every type of music so you can’t ever right it off as shit.
Obviously there is music I don’t like, like I don’t like music that promotes
toxic shit. That’s something that’s really draining.”