- Words Liam Cattermole
Polymathic electronic pop artist Delilah Holliday and kaleidoscopic rap duo They Hate Change talk the importance of internet radio and how making music like David Bowie helped them create their new collaborative singles.
What happens when you have two artists from seemingly disparate worlds colliding for the first time? In the case of former Skinny Girl Diet singer Delilah Holliday and chameleonic rap duo They Hate Change, you get a testimony that could prove crucial to how we share and interact with music in years to come. Across two singles, the restless jungle manifesto ‘Eyes On You’ and the comparably spacious trip-hop ballad ‘Life’s So Strange’, they reflect on the pressures of artistic integrity in the digital age with admirable candour. Yes, they’re from opposite sides of the Atlantic (London and Florida, respectively), but here we find collaborators who remain uncompromising.
“Sometimes as an artist, things can feel coordinated,” reflects They Hate Change wordsmith Andre “Dre” Gainey from his Tampa Bay home. “If you don’t know the person, it feels like a job. The music you make in those moments works occasionally, but other times it doesn’t,” he adds. Delilah found Vonne Parks, who also dials in, and Dre’s music while digging online and was instantly taken by their ability to mix intrinsically British soundscapes with hip-hop and Tampa jook. When they pulled up to Peckham Audio, touring their riotous neo-rap record, Finally, New, the Holloway Road native was there, fan-girling over the gig’s bullish mix of booty bumping Miami bass, ragga breakbeat and lyrical bravado. After the show, Delilah got them to sign her copy of the album and said that they should come to Carnival. Having tried and failed (shock!) to meet amongst the towering soundsystems and colourful Afro-Caribbean floats, they found themselves at an after-party, and completely hit it off.
They’ve since become friends as well as collaborators. “I just felt like I had to get them on a track when they were in London, because I respect them so much,” concedes Delilah from Berlin, where she’s escaping the hustle of London to begin demoing a new project. The experience was informative for both artists, exploring new ways of blending genres whilst traversing the encyclopedic range of sounds they’ve experimented with until now. Even if you aren’t aware of their music, one listen to the double single leaves you pining for more.
As we eagerly wait to see where their joint endeavours take them next, we called them up to get the lowdown on their London link-up, the importance of internet radio and how making music like David Bowie helped them create ‘Eyes On You’ and ‘Life’s So Strange’.
NOTION: How did you guys all first meet?
Delilah: I found They Hate Change because I’m a music lover. I think I heard ‘From the Floor’ first; it sounded like DnB or garage but it had that Tampa Bay seasoning. Vonne and Dre’s flows reminded me of Outkast, who are one of my favourite artists of all time. I needed that flavour on my beats. I went to their Peckham Audio show, which was a lot of fun. I queued up to get a vinyl, which they signed, like a little fan girl. I told them to come to Carnival. Naturally, we couldn’t find each other, but we met up at an after-party. Vonne said he was a fan of Skinny Girl Diet and he got a friend to send one of our Zines over to Florida. I’m a spiritual person, so it felt like it was meant to be.
Vonne: Tell them where the after party was at, though…
Delilah: It was at Ridley Roads in Dalston and it was a Northern Soul dance. We were bussin’ moves like our grandparents.
Vonne: I thought I’d never experience Northern Soul in real life. We came home and started a party here in Tampa Bay.
Delilah: Our generation is picking it back up because it feels so free to move in that way. There’s a big scene here in London.
Vonne: It’s one of the only all-ages events we do around here, so all the youngers are hyped on it. We put a lot of lovers’ rock stuff in there, too. The aunties and uncles pull up as well. That was a transformative moment for us. That was our first time at Carnival; I was double fisting magnums.
Tell us about those recording sessions to make the two singles you released earlier this year…
Vonne: There was an interesting parallel between how we worked. Delilah had these little scraps and skeletons for songs; recordings of minor ideas that she wanted to piece together.
Dre: When we were in the session, I was like, ‘Wow, that was quick!’ We were nervously, on the spot, trying to finish these lyrics which we had.
Vonne: Dre wrote two verses for ‘Eyes on You’. It puts you in the zone to be on the clock in that way. I gotta ask you, D, the version we heard had higher vocals! Why are you depriving people of the octaves?
Delilah: I thought it sounded cooler deep! Maybe next time you’re in London, we’ll give people the octaves. David Bowie used to record everything in the moment. If he had creative inspiration, he’d just put it down. That’s how I like to make music, too.
Tell us more about the radio station you’ve created in Tampa Bay…
Vonne: We were hanging around NTS a lot when we were over in London. They gave us the whole breakdown on how everything was run. Right now we’re in a temp studio in a coffee shop. We’re currently building somewhere more permanent, but we loved the idea that you could just start a radio station anywhere if you wanted to.
Delilah: Internet radio stations are so important because it takes some of the power back from streaming services and for the artists. We have more autonomy over the music that we share.
Vonne: It makes people remember that they have the freedom to listen to so many things. Music can work in so many ways.
Delilah: I wrote something down in my diary to say in this interview, that we made these tracks to remind people that they have freedom over their lives and the choices that they make. That’s what ‘Life’s So Strange’ is about.
It must have been rewarding coming away with that feeling of freedom…
Dre: Sometimes as an artist things can be coordinated. If you don’t know the person, it feels like a job. Sometimes the music that you make in those moments works, and other times it doesn’t.
Delilah: This wasn’t calculated at all. It was about three artists coming together to create something that could hopefully help someone, or expand their minds a bit.
In that process, did you find anything that you envy in each other’s work?
Dre: Well, I wish I could sing! We can’t sing.
Delilah: I wish I could rap as well, of course. When I rap, it’s more Mike Skinner vibes. Maybe we’ll make that Tampa-meets-London EP.
Vonne: I’m also rocking that bass now, so you know we need to do some shit with Skinny Girl Diet.
Delilah: They Hate Change ft Skinny Girl Diet is definitely happening. I need to hear them on a punk track. For me, they have such a punk spirit and energy. That’s why I wanted to reach out.
Vonne: Our first shows were not hip-hop shows. We were playing wherever, with whatever type of genre.
Dre: Sometimes you might wanna make what you wanna hear, but other times you should try something new. You’ll get rewarded for it!
What’s one genre you’ve made that we maybe haven’t heard you on?
Delilah: For me, it’s drill. I’ve got some fairy drill stuff loading. I’m always coming up with the blends. What about you guys? Country?
Vonne: We talk about country music a lot! We’re always making hip-hop but pulling other genres into the mix. We’d love to make a broken beat record, some Bugz in the Attic type shit. That would go crazy.
What was your introduction to music in the UK, They Hate Change? Particularly rap and grime.
Vonne: Just by digging for music, period. If you really listen to music, you’re gonna find that shit. There was a record store out here called Micro Groove and we were talking to a guy in there about Madvillain and a load of American hip-hop. And based on that, he asked us if we fucked with grime. We were like, ‘Nah, actually no.’ I had only heard ‘Next Hype’ by Tempa T, which I didn’t like to begin with.
Dre: In the beginning, it was sort of alienating. It was the same with DOOM, but then it catches up on you and you realise it’s dope.
Vonne: There was a CD in the shop, Run the Road Vol. 1, for like two dollars. That shit did not leave the car for months. You can’t compare it on a hip-hop level. A lot of people in America think Dizzee Rascal is a rapper, but he’s a grime MC. Going back and listening to ‘Next Hype’ through that lens helps you understand how crazy it is.
Delilah: To me, grime is so DIY. That DIY thing of having the odds stacked against you and thinking about how you can get out of your situation.
What’s next for you guys?
Delilah: I’d love to do a punk album with you guys.
Vonne: We need the punk project, you need to be on some Florida shit. Nobody would have heard anything like that.