Loyle Carner

Loyle Carner absolutely raised the roof when he played Norwich Arts Centre in October last year - he had such a great time that he’s already heading back to the city for a date at the Waterfront this month. Born and raised in South London, his amazing debut album has just dropped showcasing his poetic lyrical style, laid back hip hop beats and heartbreakingly honest truths. If you’re a fan of Kate Tempest, Akala or Skinnyman you’ll love Loyle Carner. I spoke to him about setting up a cookery school for kids with ADHD, why family means so much to him and how excited he is to get old.

You enjoyed rap battles at school when grime was just coming through, 15 years ago or so. Your own music is mostly lazy jazz beats and hip hop - were you not tempted to go down the grime route as that was really taking off when you were first making music?

It wasn’t really a conscious decision. I grew up on grime and hip hop, and I didn’t really see the differences between them, maybe in the lyrical content or the speed at which rappers were talking but the lines were very much blurred on this side of the river. For me it was a natural progression – as I grew up I slowed down a bit and found I leaned more towards hip hop.

You went to the Drama Centre but left to concentrate on music. Is theatre something you’d like to return to?

Yeah, theatre is definitely something I’d like to continue with – obviously at the moment I’m a bit too busy with music to give it my full attention. I still go to the theatre and check in with a lot of friends who are actors.

Your first official gig was supporting MF Doom – how did that happen and what did it teach you?

My friend was playing and wanted some back up, so he asked me if I wanted to jump on it with me. It taught me how much hard work you have to put in and how consistent you have to be to make it in the music world. That was about four of five years ago, and since then I’ve not been in the world too seriously but giving it a good crack. I realised it’s important to appreciate those who support you, that’s what I learned.

You collaborated with Kate Tempest, writing and recording the track Guts together which is amazing. Do you think there’s a chance you might work with her again?

Definitely. At the moment she’s really really busy and I guess I am too but hopefully it will happen again. We’re both from South London and we’re very close, she’s almost like a big sister to me. She’s taught me a lot.

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Your debut album Yesterday’s Gone is due out this month and the cover shows a group photo of your family. How come you picked this for the cover?

I wanted to have a family portrait taken but my family’s actually quite small, so in the end I made it an extended family photo – it’s everybody’s who’s helped to make the album happen, from providing to moral support to plugging my music on the radio, or designing my artwork. It was a thank you, because sometimes people think I’m the only person behind all of this, and as much as that’s true to an extent there are other people working very hard to keep this ship afloat, and to keep my brain afloat.

I see that the last track of the album features ‘Mum and Dad’. Is that your actual parents?

Basically my dad made a record before he passed away, and we only found that out after he’d died. I had it on my iPod for a long time before I could listen to it, and when I finally did I decided to sample some of it. My mum is also on the same track. I wanted to immortalise them together one last time together on record..that was important to me. It’s true to me, and if it’s done properly and innovatively it can be a very special thing.

I know quite a few of the songs on there already but there are also a good number of brand new tracks. Were they ones that you’d had ready for a long while?

The problem with making and releasing music now compared to how it was back in the day is that now all the demos that you have are already out and on Spotify or whatnot. I guess it’s good because it forces you to not be complacent and to keep on making new music. These tunes really all came about over the last year and half.

How do you tend to write your songs, do the lyrics come first mostly?

It varies from track to track but usually it’s the words that come first. I have a little idea in my head, get four or five bars down then I leave it for a bit. Once I find a beat that fits I write the rest of it.

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How did you find the recording and producing process for the album?

It was all recorded in different bedrooms. I didn’t want to record it in a flash studio because I’m not really a flashy kind of guy so it was just quite straightforward really. I recorded things there and then and afterwards tried to recreate it but it never sounded as good, so where possible we kept and used the original recordings wherever they happened. It was cool – I always struggled with recording and put too much pressure on myself so this made it a bit easier for myself. I guess it was a bit truer to what I was doing.

The Isle of Arran from your new album seems to be about hope through despair and about fatherhood – the video features men holding their babies which is a peculiarly and sadly rare thing to see on video. Where did you find the inspiration for this track?