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Hi El Train, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?
I’ve been good, thanks guys! Really excited to finally have all this new music in the world!
Can you talk to us more about your latest single “Feeling Blue”?
‘Feeling Blue’ was a track that came together at the beginning of this year. I’d made the beat a while back but wasn’t really sure what to do with it until I heard a track by Mom Tudie & Byulah called ‘2’. I immediately reached out to Byulah to see if she was up for working on some music as I thought the track would be perfect for her. Obviously we couldn’t get together in the studio at the time as we were in lockdown, so she sent a demo back, which I fell in love with straight away. There was definitely something missing on the track though after we’d recorded the vocals, so I asked Jackson Mathod to record some trumpets for it which pushed it to the next level!
Did any event in particular inspire you to write this song?
So the instrumental that I sent over to Byulah was called ‘Feeling Blue’ and I’m guessing that must have inspired the lyrics for the track. The lyrical themes themselves I can’t take credit for, that was Byulah and I think she’d be the best person to ask for a deeper understanding!
Any plans to release a video for the track?
No, there’s no plan to release visuals for this one.
The single comes off your new album And Then We Woke Up – what’s the story behind the title?
The last couple of years felt like the music industry (and the whole world really) was hibernating, grinding to a halt, so the title ‘And Then We Woke Up’ is to signify that we are finally waking up from this long period of slumber and getting back to some sort of normality.
How was the recording and writing process?
Unfortunately 99% of the album was recorded over lockdown so the majority of it was recorded remotely, and there was a lot of sending files back and forth! Collaboration wise, there is a mix of friends I’d worked with before and a whole host of musicians and artists that I’d wanted to work with for a long time. I think I had about 4/5 tracks that I thought worked well together when I conceived the idea to create a full length project and from there, it was about piecing everything together and creating tracks that had a similar vibe to what I already had.
Once I had what I thought was the final track list, I reached out to an amazing artist called KOMIKAMO (who also did the artwork for my first album) and I knew he would know exactly what to do for the artwork.
What role does the UK play in your music?
I think the UK plays a huge role in my music. Growing up, I listened to a lot of Grime and nowadays there is so much great new Jazz and R&B/Soul which I take inspiration from. I wouldn’t say that my sound was typical of what you hear in the UK, but it’s definitely a lot of influence from all the amazing music the UK has to offer.
What aspect of the pandemic did you get to explore on this record?
The album shows that even in times where it’s really hard to meet up with people, it’s still possible to create and connect through the wonders of the Internet. Everybody has been using Zoom and all these crazy new apps over the last couple of years. I just wanted to show that just because we could no longer have sessions in person, it was still possible to create great music!
I know everybody has felt lonely and disconnected from the world at times (I know there’s been times when I didn’t leave the house for a week). However, in 2021, we are probably more connected than ever and I’ve been able to (e)meet so many amazing people from around the world. I think that’s the main takeaway from this album.
Where else did you find the inspiration for the songs and lyrics?
I can’t take any credits for the lyrics on the album, that has to go to the songwriters. In regards to the music, the instrumentals were all created in the last 2/3. 90% of the beats I make are usually inspired by me hearing some new music that I love and then jumping straight onto my computer to create! Albums from the likes of Kaytranada, Saba and Little Simz have been on repeat for me over the last couple of years, so I’m sure some of that seeped into the production.
What else is happening next in El Train’s world?
So with the album dropping a few weeks ago, I’m hoping to be able to go out and DJ a lot more in 2022. I’m also currently putting together a remix EP featuring reworked versions of tracks from the album from some of my favourite producers.
