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Since the whole country went on a lockdown we all have a lot of time in our hands. So why don’t you take a break from reading and watching the bad news and get to know a Liverpool based indie-pop musician Slye. He recently released a music video for his new single Into Colour and we had a chance to get to know more about Slye and his music.
What draws you towards 70’s/80s music style?
Slye: Characters of the artists- back then the artists were show people- like Bowie. They really put on a persona and character and now the way music is delivered has changed. When you watch George Clinton and Slye Stone you see them portray something more than just themselves, it tells a story. I think that and the sound of the era is what draws me to make similar music.
What inspires your music writing process?
Slye: It changes- the spark of it is probably personal experience but sometimes I don’t like it being too much into the personal aspect of it, so I try to find the underline story. I try to take my personal experiences to join it with stories that everybody can associate with, so I can add in my take onto the story.
Purple Revolver: Is that how you got inspired to write Into Colour?
Slye: Into Colour did come from personal experience and then I tried to relate it to something that everybody experienced. I just wanted to add my voice and unique take to that story.
How did you decide on the visuals for the music video of Into Colour?
Slye: The music video was actually done by a good friend of mine- called Dougie Savage. I picked the aesthetic of it and he went with it. The colours follow the sound so when I listen to the song the images comes to mind- its all blues and reds in my mind when working on the music video. I wanted to focus on certain scheme of colour and combine it with some 70’s/80’s aesthetic – we took snippets of adverts and other videos of the era to really match the aesthetic to the sound.
Do you have any predictions for the future?
Prince had a quote ‘before I used to plan three years at a time and now I’m prepared for the next 3000’. Whenever I think of the future I think of that quote, I don’t know what it means but it sounds promising.
I think the media landscape will be completely different. I don’t imagen there’ll be any news channels or newspaper. The way we consume things is so different now, like podcasts- it is quite a new revelation and now it’s picked up more than ever. I think people are getting much better educated through this.
Purple Revolver: Do you think it is more beneficial this way?
Slye: Yes! You can educate yourself at any moment, even while you’re doing other things. You don’t have to wait for a certain time to watch something or hear something. You have education at your fingertips and I think that’s amazing. I think channels like podcasts are going to be the ones that will be dictated.
Also, I don’t think we’re going to have TV channels like BBC for much longer- we’re already moving to private channels like Netflix and Amazon, so as individuals- we’re going to consume media in a completely different way. The music industry will have to learn how to adapt. That’s kind of obvious I think.
If you could collaborate with any artist living or dead, who would they be?
Kali Uchis, George Clinton, Slye Stone (who is one of my favourite artists of all time) and I’m not going to say Prince because I think it’s obvious I like his music a lot.
Purple Revolver: Are they the musicians that inspired your music?
Slye: They definitely have inspired my music style but I wouldn’t say I’m overly similar to them. I take an aspect of their music and apply it to my own.
What do you enjoy the most about making music?
I like the meditative aspect of preforming- when everything is going right in the performance, you’re not thinking about anything else. Your mind is constantly busy but I find that when performing everything else stays silent and being present on the stage is therapeutic for me. I love the writing side of it too. There’s nothing better than when you finally get that inspiration, it’s a great feeling.
What else is next for you?
Slye: Into Colour is part of an EP called Shades of Blue so there should be another single coming out soon and we are planning to do a music video for that. So yeah, the next step is more singles and music videos!
Follow Slye’s socials for updates on his music:
Instegram: Slyemusic
Twitter: Slyemusic
Facebook: Slyeofficial
Listen to his songs on:
Spotify: Slye
Youtube: Slyemusic