Cold for Notion 92

It felt weird, but I’m glad I got it, obviously. I’m very excited to be part of it.

Connection, in varying forms, with an audience and within my practices.

Understanding the value of myself and what I can do, but also my peers, my friends, and my family. Trying to respect and uplift those equally.

I’ve been working on a project for a minute, and I’ve just started doing vocals as well within the last two years. I used to just produce and DJ, so this is quite new to me. Having mentors who can give me pointers on what I should and shouldn’t be doing in terms of marketing, the overall sound, recording myself—that whole process will be really useful.

Being able to connect with people through the live performance that they have set up and other opportunities.

I was playing a lot of parties in south London and someone that worked at a radio station asked me if I wanted to have a show on that station. I had a few shows on there, but they got shut down.

I think it’s about to become important for me to do that. I’ve tried to, but it’s been stressful at times having to invest my own money out of my own pocket and that kind of thing. I’d rather pay my friends/collaborators than ask for favours so I’ve not been as consistent as I’d like to have been. It’s taught me to go at my own pace though, which has become invaluable to me and helped me build to a point where I can release more regularly soon.

I’ve been unpacking different situations and relationships that I’ve been through in my life and putting them into my creative practice. There’s been a lot of figuring out an order in which those experiences fit together and how to place some of them into a cohesive project. So I’ve either written the lyrics to a song first and want to capture the essence of what I’m saying in the production, or I write over the top of other people’s songs to find a vibe sonically. It depends.

I’ve got various synths that I write with too, so sometimes I’ll start there and then add drums or whatever. If I’m bored in the middle of trying to make something, I’ll make something completely new in the project and that turns out to be a new track. Once I’m done being so fluid it’s about making that track sound as good as possible, sore-recording vocals, changing certain patterns in a track and being able to really nail a song that feels finished.

I came up in music through DJing instrumental grime music. That’s how I started producing as well, I started making stuff for those sets. I still like to chop up samples and lay down grittier drums, I’ve never been too into sticking to one specific BPM or sound. There’s bits of mine under various aliases floating around, I loved and love the freedom of experimenting without having to be the face of anything.

I realised I had things to say, and I wasn’t afraid to say what I wanted to anymore.

Being okay with being open, honest and vulnerable publicly, but on my terms.

I decided to drop the ‘Intentionally’ in my name because I felt that I’m not actually that intentional as a person. If there was a perceived coldness about me, it wasn’t necessarily on purpose. I can be quite an anxious, shy person, and I thought Cold just stood out a bit more by itself.

Yeah, that’s what people have been saying now and I like that a lot more. I think it means both.

Being able to remain as independent as possible… to have full creative control over what I do, when I want to do it, has been a really great thing. To be able to take breaks when I want, and not have to work towards any schedule except for my own, has been good for me.

I guess the cons are that it’s also been quite difficult working alone and not having that much help. Unless you’re seeking advice from people, there’s no advice there. Things are a lot slower usually because there’s no one advocating for you but you, and that can get tough.

I think it’s important. I’m one of three people that have been selected for this year’s Paco Rabanne Fund, and there are so many more people who also deserve that help. I feel there should be more opportunities for artists like this one. That’s why it felt kind of weird to be accepted. But I also have to look at what I’ve done and why I deserve it, you know?

I generally don’t like networking, I like meeting people through friends. I’m lucky to have been around a web of musicians I really admire for a while now. I’ve met loads of great people by being out and about over the years but I don’t like to go in with any intention if that makes sense.

Be patient with yourself. Always take time away from what you’re developing when you need to so you don’t burn out. Never feel guilty for that. I think adaptability is important. Don’t be afraid to learn more about or change the course of what you thought you wanted to do if it’s no longer motivating you. Better ideas come and the most concrete old ones circle back. I’d be a hypocrite if I said don’t overthink anything — just make sure you’re having fun with it.