Following the release of his debut single, and prior to the launch of his upcoming album – we caught an in-depth chat with London-based rapper and artist EVØLUT NINEFIVE. We talk songwriting, aspirations, the live scene in London, music production and much more. Here’s the conversation in full.
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Hey – thanks for your time with this. Congrats on the debut single. Just to give a little background, how long have you been making music, and how long has this upcoming album been in the making?
Thank you & I appreciate the opportunity. I’ve always loved music, from a very early age, however I was always more of a listener rather than a performer. I bought my very first guitar at age 14 out of my birthday money for about £20. I managed to keep it in tune long enough to hit a few chords & that was about it, complete disaster! I soon got rid of that guitar! It was only when I reached age 16 that I got serious & started to learn the instrument, in the past few years I have learned to play existing songs as well as making my own originals.
Last year was when I first completed my home recording studio & began recording my material, which was predominantly Rock music – I have a complete Rock album that I will release at some point. It was back in January this year that I completed, mixed & mastered my very first track. I have since made over 50+ songs to this current date! The album Sunset At Five Minutes To Nine has been made over the course of this year starting from that month. This has been a solid year of hard work and determination & now I have plenty of material it’s about promoting what I have from here & seeing where it takes me.
How did you come to choose your artist name?
From the start I always wanted ‘NineFive’ that was a certainty, after my year of birth (1995) However I must of went through 101 different names to combine with it! In the end EVØLUT just stood out to me, it’s different, not in the dictionary & it just rolls off the tongue. The idea behind it mainly came from the word evolution, to rise, to progress, to grow & advance. Something that is relevant to me both personally & as a musician, it just seemed fitting.
How do you decide what to write about – is it preconceived or just expressed in the moment, depending on the day and the beat?
It’s a mixture of both really, most of my lyrics I write on my lunch breaks at work believe it or not! It’s all a melting pot of my true feelings & emotions that I go through. Sometimes in life we have good days, sometimes we have bad days. I express myself by writing how I feel, then translating that into a song. Sometimes I go on the search for instrumentals that fit what I want to say, other times I just hear a beat & the lyrics, the ideas & everything seems to flow & join together.
Do you produce your own beats?
I have 2 main producers, one is based in Germany, the other in Norway, I record all my own guitar-based rock music, however for these types of beats I leave it up to these guys, they are great at what they do. However, on the Sunset At Five Minutes To Nine album, there will be an acoustic track where I play guitar to a song named Alone in the Shadows.
In what ways have you managed to get involved in the London hip hop or indie scene – what’s it like there right now?
I go to a lot of shows! Just last month I went to see Juice Wrld in Kentish Town. It was a great night & the fans here love this type of music, the energy was turned up to the highest level throughout the night & it was great to be apart of it. The ambition is to eventually be up on that stage performing.
Who or what would you say have been your biggest inspirations when approaching creativity?
I have many different inspirations from many different genres within music, however if I had to choose one artist that really pushed me to do what I am doing right now today, it has got to be the late XXXTENTACION. I have always liked different genres of music, I also wanted to perform different types of music, however the blending of genres didn’t seem to be so accepting before as it is today. I felt as if I had to choose a path. To see him come from nowhere, stand up & jump from an intricate rap verse to an anger driven screamo-like chorus, to a moving acoustic track – it was eye opening. What I wanted to do all along, someone was actually doing something similar & people loved it!
I started to see I could have the best of both worlds & mix genres. It gave me the motivation to go for it. When I learned of his passing, it greatly effected me, however it really awoke something in me – that life can be taken from you in an instant, I didn’t want to waste anymore time, I decided to make myself heard. I released my first song ever online a week or so after his death, in tribute to him, titled X.
What’s the bigger picture – where would you like to be as an artist in the next five years?
The most important thing I want to do right now is grow a fan base & get my music heard. I’m a new artist that just wants to grow. The dream is to eventually to get signed & tour performing my music as a living. Doing what I love. That is the ultimate goal for me. I want to experience a unique connection with fans of my music & share times that I will remember for the rest of my life.
When is the album out, and where can people catch you performing over the coming months?
There is no set release date for the album currently. At the moment it’s a case of promoting these singles to their maximum potential & growing my fan-base, once I’m satisfied it will generate enough heat, I will set a date & drop the full album. I’m hoping that once this album is released I can start performing my music live from there & set some dates for shows. I encourage & welcome everyone who is interested to follow me across my social media for updates, I would love for you to join me!
Is there anything else we should know?
As mentioned previously, I have over 50+ unreleased tracks as well as the new material I will keep working on, so there will be plenty of activity moving forward. You will truly start to see the blending of genres within these tracks & I’m very excited to share my work with you, I already have the songs for my second album & it’s going to be something special, come & be apart of it! Thank you again & it’s been a pleasure!
Sean.
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Look out for the upcoming debut album Sunset at Five Minutes To Nine. Find out more here.
https://soundcloud.com/evolutninefive/untilyousayso
