WEBVTT - Ep 27: Ghostpoet 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:22.200 Loud and Quiet Presents Midnight Chats. You don't need me 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:24.480 to tell you that. If there's been one red hot 0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:28.319 topic that's dominated national and international politics for the last 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:34.199 few years, it's immigration and post Brexit, post Trump. It 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:37.760 continues to do so. So maybe it's surprising that more 0:00:37.840 --> 0:00:41.080 musicians haven't tackled the topic the subject in some way 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:43.600 from some angle, but I guess it's one of those 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:48.040 things that's still very divisive. However, my guest on this 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:51.760 episode of Midnight Chats has talked about it, has written 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:55.160 about it, and it's Ghost Poet. Last month in April, 0:00:55.200 --> 0:00:57.280 he shared the first taste of new music from his 0:00:57.360 --> 0:01:00.400 fourth album that will be out later this year. It's 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:05.440 an emotive and pretty arresting piece of storytelling called Immigrant Boogie, 0:01:05.720 --> 0:01:08.399 written from the perspective of a father, his wife, and 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:11.560 his children in a desperate situation traveling on board an 0:01:11.560 --> 0:01:14.040 immigrant boat attempting to make a journey to a better 0:01:14.120 --> 0:01:17.399 quality of life, something we've read a lot about and 0:01:17.440 --> 0:01:19.640 heard a lot about in the media the last few years. 0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:22.320 I'm happy if you want to pause this podcast and 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:24.319 go check out the song and come back to this, 0:01:24.440 --> 0:01:28.399 because for me, it's a really powerful piece of songwriting, 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:30.840 and one which forms a large part of this conversation 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:33.480 that you're about to hear, which was recorded when a 0:01:33.520 --> 0:01:36.040 barrow came into our office here at Loud and Quiet 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:39.520 a couple of weeks back. It also won't have escaped 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:41.800 to notice that there's a general election just around the 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:44.479 corner here in the UK two, so we talk about 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:48.440 that as well. If you're thinking, oh, this episode sounds 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:51.600 like it's going to be a bit heavy, it wasn't all, 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:54.920 I promise. We also chatted about how he's recently moved 0:01:54.920 --> 0:01:57.560 out of his native London, got a place in Margate 0:01:57.600 --> 0:01:59.560 on the coast, and like lots of other people in 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:02.440 the creative industries have in the last few years, where 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:05.960 he's hatching plans to start his own online radio station, 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:09.239 so we hear about his inspiration from wanting to do that. 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:11.960 There's also a barking dog in the background of some 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:14.040 of this and we like to kind of keep that 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:16.680 stuff in, I should say, in case you need any 0:02:16.880 --> 0:02:19.720 background on Ghost Poet. He's the British artist who was 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:23.440 based in Coventry after studying there but almost a decade 0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:25.560 and he's released three albums, two of which have been 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:29.639 nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize, including his most recent one, 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:33.960 Shedding Skin back in two thy fifteen I think it was, 0:02:34.280 --> 0:02:36.000 and he's also been a judge for that as well. 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:40.200 In person, he's a really gracious guy, quite softly spoken, 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:44.000 but very focused and humble. You'll hear me mentioned this 0:02:44.040 --> 0:02:46.760 in the podcast too, that right back at the start 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:49.679 of Midnight Chats in the spring of last year, he 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:52.120 helped us skeet this podcast up and run him by 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:55.720 writing some music for it, which we're still really grateful for. 0:02:56.639 --> 0:02:58.760 And that's kind of the ideal opportunity to say that 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:01.240 if you do like what you hear, there are now 0:03:01.280 --> 0:03:04.600 more than twenty five episodes to go back and listen to, 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:09.440 everyone from Ryan Adams to Laura Marlin, Rizamed to Mac 0:03:09.480 --> 0:03:13.040 DeMarco and last time out, Stuart was speaking to slow Dive. 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:15.040 So do subscribe. 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:17.160 That means you'll get every new episode that goes up 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:20.720 fortnightly on a Thursday at midnight. And if you want 0:03:20.760 --> 0:03:23.680 to leave us a review, rate us or comment that 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:26.799 all helps in spreading the word too. Anyway, I will 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:28.960 leave you to this. I hope you enjoy a conversation. 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:47.760 This is episode twenty seven of Midnight Chats with Ghost Poets. 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:54.160 Before we kick off, I've got to say thank you 0:03:54.200 --> 0:03:57.120 to you because we've been doing this podcast for about 0:03:57.120 --> 0:04:00.480 eighteen months now, in the spring last year with an old, 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:03.320 battered laptop and a microphone we bought off eBay. I 0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:05.840 didn't really know what we're doing, and you kindly lent 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:09.040 some music to us to really get our podcasts off 0:04:09.040 --> 0:04:09.360 the ground. 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:11.680 So yeah, yeah you did. 0:04:12.920 --> 0:04:14.520 So you've been there since the starting. 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:16.640 A way, indeed very much. You're welcome, sir. 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:18.039 How have you been anyway? 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:22.720 Yeah, really good, really good, and just been you know, pottering, 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:26.520 really pottering. Moved to Margate about four four months ago 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:31.359 and yeah, wond this all was in zen life. 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:33.360 Now have you lived in the city all your life? 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:35.160 And this is the kind of first move out of 0:04:35.240 --> 0:04:36.040 the big smoke in. 0:04:37.600 --> 0:04:40.560 No. I moved to Coventry when I was like eighteen 0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:47.680 for university and then I stayed there for about ten 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:52.000 years or so in total, and then moved back to London. 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:55.680 So London and Coventry, so it wasn't totally alien for 0:04:55.720 --> 0:04:58.839 me to move out of London, but yeah, it feels 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:01.760 like it's different type of move I think being in 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:05.159 this sea is really good. Everything being so close where 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:07.400 you can walk through everything in like ten to fifteen minutes, 0:05:07.440 --> 0:05:12.599 and bumping into people and having conversations a bit much 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:17.719 like this, there's like wholesome conversation where it isn't about 0:05:18.279 --> 0:05:20.560 how much you've been able to achieve in your in 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:23.920 your life thus far. It's just like I think, yeah, cool, 0:05:23.920 --> 0:05:26.119 we're up to but it's nice. Yeah. 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:29.880 Was it a mixture of like having enough of certain 0:05:29.920 --> 0:05:33.159 elements of living in a city like London and the 0:05:33.240 --> 0:05:36.039 appeal of having a little bit more kind of time 0:05:36.080 --> 0:05:38.080 and space? Was it one more than the other? 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:41.360 For sure? It was the desire to have a bit 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:45.919 more space was starting to get stronger and stronger. And yeah, 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:49.640 it was just like London, it's just very busy and 0:05:49.960 --> 0:05:53.560 mentally it's very for me, it has become very draining, 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:55.919 just because just the way it's set up is the 0:05:55.920 --> 0:06:00.360 capital city, and you know, living here you sign almost 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:08.760 like a contractor disc constantly have beyond attack mode, you know, 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:13.200 constantly being this kind of I've got to keep working. 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:16.039 I've got to if I'm enjoying my life in any way, 0:06:16.880 --> 0:06:19.359 I'm going to feel guilty about it. I just didn't 0:06:19.360 --> 0:06:21.480 want to do that anymore, and I was born here. 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:26.440 I still love it, but it was time to find 0:06:26.480 --> 0:06:29.240 another base of operations, you know. 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:31.679 So what are the things you're enjoying about marketing? 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:34.839 Being able to walk to everywhere it was great to 0:06:34.920 --> 0:06:39.120 see obviously, just making lots of new friends and lots 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:42.120 there's a lot of artists, a lot of creatives down there, 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:47.279 and there's lots of really interesting opportunities that come about 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:51.200 from a place where for a long time it was 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:55.360 there was hardly anything going on, like the traditional kind 0:06:55.360 --> 0:07:03.240 of seaside industry was unfortunately was devastated by the introduction 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:06.520 of like cheap flights abroad through like things like easy 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:09.640 Jet and so on and so forth. So for a 0:07:09.680 --> 0:07:12.120 long time it was just on its knees. So it 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:15.640 slowly started to develop again. And there's this opportunities I'm 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:17.440 trying to start, and like I mentioned, I'm trying to 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:21.880 start like a radio station, aren't there, And just trying 0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:27.720 to give Margate a voice through music and give people 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:30.000 an idea of what's going on down there in terms 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:34.080 of the creative arts and so on and so forth. Really, so, yeah, 0:07:34.160 --> 0:07:37.080 it's quite an inspiring place, I haven't. I haven't actually 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:39.600 made any music since I've moved down there, so I 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:41.840 don't know what is going to come out from it 0:07:42.040 --> 0:07:43.720 when I start making music again. 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:47.160 But I was going to say, because when when often 0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:50.400 when you read about the things people say about the music, 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:53.440 that you make a consistent reference that always pops up 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:55.760 is this is the sound of the city, this is 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:59.120 the urban sound of nighttime. If I have to read 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:02.240 that ghost it's new track sounds ideal for listening to 0:08:02.320 --> 0:08:05.120 on a night Plus, do you know what I mean? 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:08.840 It's a regular reference. How do you I guess you 0:08:08.840 --> 0:08:10.800 don't know yet, But how do you imagine that that 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:15.360 new scenery might sort of appear in your music? 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:18.120 I don't know. I really really don't know. I kind 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:22.160 of I know, I'm very much more my mind is 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:27.840 much more settled living in market now, and I feel like, 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:33.280 I don't know if I could put like I never 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:35.160 think about it in generous sense. 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:35.160 But. 0:08:37.440 --> 0:08:40.000 I assume that the music will come out much more 0:08:40.040 --> 0:08:43.920 relaxed and much more kind of scenic, which is not 0:08:43.960 --> 0:08:46.640 what I want. So I don't know. It's kind of 0:08:46.679 --> 0:08:50.400 like it's like you could say the same about somebody 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:52.200 like Nick caves, not in terms of my music, but 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:54.480 in terms of somebody who lives by the sea, lives 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:57.439 in Brighton, and it hasn't seemed to affect his music. 0:08:57.480 --> 0:08:59.400 He's still very much makes what he wants to make. 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:02.720 I don't think it all change dramatically, but I feel 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:05.880 it will seep in this in slight shape or form 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:09.720 for sure. I just don't know how yet. It's almost 0:09:09.760 --> 0:09:11.840 like a fear. I feel that's what's stupp in me. 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:15.719 I'm afraid to find that what will well, how it 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:19.800 will manifest itself in music. So I've just just deciding 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:23.240 not to make any So yeah, I'll come back to 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:25.040 you and let you know how that one goes. 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:29.320 It's a familiar trend, like not just from London, but 0:09:29.360 --> 0:09:31.640 also like other big cities across the UK or even 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:36.040 places like New York, whereby particularly people in the creative industries, 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:38.800 you know, have moved further and further away from their 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:43.000 sort of like traditional heartlines within the city. What's it 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:46.920 like being part of a sort of growing creative community 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:49.800 in somewhere like Margate, Like how have the sort of 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:53.640 traditional Margate locals welcomed in? You know? I don't imagine 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:57.679 they've had people coming along saying like having the enthusiasms 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:00.000 to set up a radio station or club night or yeah, 0:10:00.200 --> 0:10:02.559 something a little bit more experimental. Is there any friction 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:03.320 between those things? 0:10:03.520 --> 0:10:08.160 Not really, not on the surface. There is definitely. You know, 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:12.840 you've got people who've lived there for forever, you know, 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:17.120 who may look at that the new influx of people 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:23.160 think this isn't what market needs. And there's stuff like Dreamland, 0:10:23.200 --> 0:10:26.800 which is a retro amusement park that's okening up again 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:30.640 soon where it's going to be like a they're building 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:36.400 like a fifteen thousand outdoor stage space and bars and 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:39.439 stuff like that, and I'm sure there's local people think 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:43.600 that's not what market needs. So there's definitely that camp, 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:45.840 and then you've got a camp of people who are 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:49.160 embracing it. And there's a lot of the businesses that 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:52.160 are being set up in Market by people who've just 0:10:52.280 --> 0:10:57.120 moved down in the last four or five years are 0:10:57.240 --> 0:10:59.840 very much about trying to build a community and not 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:04.840 kind of not to say it's only London specific, but 0:11:05.480 --> 0:11:07.920 there is this kind of thing of going into an 0:11:07.920 --> 0:11:12.280 area and then almost just taking over and making it 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:15.440 in your own image. Whatever that is. And I feel 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:18.560 like the characters moving down to Margate and the people 0:11:18.559 --> 0:11:20.800 who have been there for a period of time very 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:27.160 much understand that it's important to incorporate everybody within anything 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:31.360 and the sensitivity for sure, for sure, And I think 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:33.800 that's it's the stand to the type of people moving 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:36.680 down there, and it's I guess the general feeling of 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:39.320 people that yeah, there's a community spirit here, it just 0:11:39.360 --> 0:11:42.240 needs to be built on rather than created from scratches 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:45.679 some shape or form. So it's really, excuse me, it's 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:52.079 really interesting to see yeah, people, local people and newer 0:11:52.120 --> 0:11:54.760 people being together in a club night or in a 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:58.480 coffee shop and this like this, you know, just living 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:02.240 beside each other. I think it's like it's like a 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:07.920 social experiment really, but I really I'm enjoying seeing the developments, 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:08.360 you know. 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:11.040 So moving away from London, has that been the kind 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:14.240 of big life change, the kind of significant stuff that's 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:17.120 happened in the time since really shedding skin? 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:21.920 It's the last record I what have I done? I 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:26.440 got married last year and congratulations, thank you, Like I 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:29.920 shouldn't really forget that, but yeah, that up in last year. 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:32.360 And I think for me it's always kind of been 0:12:32.720 --> 0:12:36.720 a case of being inspired by this living, you know, 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:42.880 rather than creative pursuit. So yeah, getting married is a 0:12:43.640 --> 0:12:47.600 life changing thing, and making the moves to market is 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:51.120 another life changing thing. And there's been you know, ups 0:12:51.120 --> 0:12:54.960 and downs in between personally wise over the last couple 0:12:55.000 --> 0:12:58.600 of years, and all these things are just stored up 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:03.640 basically for me. And whence I start putting down music again, 0:13:04.480 --> 0:13:06.240 it just starts to come out in its own shape 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:10.320 or form. But yeah, just like I can't say it enough, 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:15.400 I feel so much more relaxed about everything. And I 0:13:15.440 --> 0:13:20.080 feel it's good for me because mentally, you can not 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:23.839 that affected my music so much, but I just feel 0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:26.400 it's nice to be in a good mental state to 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:29.840 just deal with everything that the music industry confer at you, 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:35.400 you know. And I would say it's definitely been a 0:13:35.440 --> 0:13:41.520 couple of years of this life development really and obviously 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:44.760 touring the last record, which was good and it was 0:13:44.800 --> 0:13:48.760 really really well received, which was nice, but that kind 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:51.960 of just pitted off and I was just living, you know, 0:13:52.120 --> 0:13:56.600 just trying to be a good human being. You know. Yeah, 0:13:56.640 --> 0:13:59.719 it's been nice to have that time. And you know, 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:04.160 I'm thirty four now, so it's kind of like, as 0:14:04.240 --> 0:14:07.360 much as I am very much about the music, I'm 0:14:07.520 --> 0:14:10.040 just trying to think about other things and what else 0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:12.600 I can do with my life away from music. 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:15.840 You know, let's talk about Immigrant Boogie, because that was 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:18.640 the track that you shared in the middle of April. 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:21.720 Tell me a little bit more about that song because 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:25.920 it's written from a first person perspective on a topic 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:29.800 presumably is that you've kind of like it has really resonated 0:14:29.840 --> 0:14:31.800 with you. So what made you want to write about 0:14:31.840 --> 0:14:32.760 that as a subject matter. 0:14:33.040 --> 0:14:36.680 Well, my music has always been about I guess, social 0:14:36.720 --> 0:14:42.760 commentary and writing from trying to write in the moment, 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:46.480 and it was just something that was just I was 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:50.200 being bombarded with wherever I look to be it, you know, 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:53.680 visually on the television or you know, stuff that I 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:56.760 was reading, and it just felt like right to talk 0:14:56.800 --> 0:14:59.400 about it. You know, it's not kind of like it's 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:02.200 been kind of banded around as a kind of you know, 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:05.760 a strong political statement, and it's not that. It's kind 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:11.120 of it's something that I felt was very much the 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:15.200 zeitgeist of the time, where it's everyone's either talking about 0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:17.680 it or it is very much it's it's it's people 0:15:17.760 --> 0:15:21.000 are aware of what's going on with immigration and the 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:26.160 immigration crisis, so it felt like the right kind of 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:28.400 thing to write about, really and like this kind of 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:31.480 decided to do it as a song. 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:35.200 Is it something that you feel, like lyrically is empathetic 0:15:35.240 --> 0:15:38.800 because he talks about the experience of somebody bringing their 0:15:38.880 --> 0:15:43.040 children and being with their family and like very obviously 0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:46.120 extreme circumstance. Is it, in any sense like a kind 0:15:46.160 --> 0:15:48.520 of call to action, you saying like this is still 0:15:48.560 --> 0:15:51.240 an important thing that we need to recognize, and kind 0:15:51.280 --> 0:15:53.480 of just because it's not being reported in the headlines 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:56.240 perhaps as much as it has been like week to week, 0:15:56.400 --> 0:15:58.720 it's still like a desperate situation. 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:01.520 Or Yeah, for sure, I wouldn't say it's a cool 0:16:01.520 --> 0:16:05.600 for arms because throughout my career, I've never I've never 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:09.160 wanted to put my political views out there because I've 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:11.640 always wanted to this. I never wanted to alienate anybody. 0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:14.600 I just wanted I want as many people as possible 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:18.360 to hear my music and appropefully appreciating. So it's not 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:23.120 me chicking out chicking chicken in out. It's more kind 0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:27.320 of a case of I wanted to write from the 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:30.400 perspective of somebody in that situation, but almost kind of 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:34.720 tried to put the listener in their shoes, and this 0:16:34.920 --> 0:16:39.080 question if if you were in their shoes, how would 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:41.080 you react or how would he deal with a situation? 0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:44.280 And that's kind of what I've always tried to do. 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:48.280 I guess with this it's just a bit more maybe 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:54.120 hard hitting, and I'm a bit more concentrated in subject 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:59.120 matter when before and still I kind of always have 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:03.680 tried to never kind of stuck to one particular path. 0:17:03.920 --> 0:17:05.919 I may want to talk about a particular thing, but 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:09.640 I'll link it to other things and connect it all 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:13.160 within one song, and with this is one of the 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:15.760 few I would say what I felt like. I just 0:17:15.800 --> 0:17:18.960 want to focus on one particular thing and carry that 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:23.000 through the whole song. So, yeah, it's been interesting the 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:27.200 reaction to it. It's hard hitting, which is what Oh dog, 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:32.320 it's yeah, it's it's it's immediate, and that's what I 0:17:32.359 --> 0:17:35.600 wanted it to be. I wanted I didn't want to meander. 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:39.160 I wanted to just hit the listener from from the earth. 0:17:39.600 --> 0:17:42.679 Did you have an image of a particular person that 0:17:42.720 --> 0:17:44.720 you were writing it in mind, or was there a 0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:50.479 particular event that that spurred you on to write about it. 0:17:50.520 --> 0:17:54.479 I just this in the news is reading again and 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:59.919 again and again about groups of people with inadequate equip 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:04.959 meant trying to get over either to hear or into 0:18:05.320 --> 0:18:10.119 you know, Italy or somewhere into Europe. And it was 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:12.520 just it was almost getting to a point where it 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:16.960 was just becoming so normal to just hear about another 0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:22.399 dinghy boat where hundreds of people have drowned or you know, 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:26.520 haven't survived because they were you know, sold a dodgy 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:31.840 boat and they were given and fake life what do 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:35.240 you call it, well, like people trafficking gi yeah, all 0:18:35.280 --> 0:18:39.239 that stuff and in another content, yeah, for sure. And 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:42.000 it was just like I just thought it was just 0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:44.760 it just really hit me, this is this is crazy 0:18:44.880 --> 0:18:49.000 to think in twenty seventeen or twenty sixteen, really when 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:53.760 I wrote it, where this is happening, this is becoming normal, 0:18:53.960 --> 0:18:57.160 you know, And it just it wasn't like an immediate 0:18:57.200 --> 0:18:59.200 thing like I need to write about it. But when 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:02.159 I when it was the right time for me to 0:19:02.200 --> 0:19:05.199 sit down and write music, this was one of the 0:19:05.200 --> 0:19:07.720 things that just came out, you know, and I just 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:11.920 thought it just felt right to write about this and 0:19:13.359 --> 0:19:16.320 if nothing comes from it other than people just reminding 0:19:16.359 --> 0:19:19.560 themselves of this situation, then that's good enough for me. 0:19:19.640 --> 0:19:22.199 It's just kind of I just I just shocking, and 0:19:22.240 --> 0:19:24.640 you see the images and the videos, and like there 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:28.679 was the one small boy that was found dead on 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:33.080 the beach, and just like, how have we how have 0:19:33.200 --> 0:19:35.960 we let this happen as humans? You know, how is 0:19:36.000 --> 0:19:39.679 this possible? It's just yeah, that's where it kind of 0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:40.600 stems from. You know. 0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:43.840 It was interesting, wasn't it That it took something so 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:50.000 that that was in I think twenty fifteen, Yes, that 0:19:50.160 --> 0:19:53.639 was the three year old Syrian boy who was the 0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:56.320 photograph of him kind of washed up on a beach 0:19:56.359 --> 0:19:56.840 in Turkey. 0:19:57.000 --> 0:19:58.560 Horrible, absolutely horrible. 0:19:58.760 --> 0:20:02.280 But what did you think But the fact that it 0:20:02.359 --> 0:20:06.240 took something that kind of explicit and extreme for it 0:20:06.359 --> 0:20:09.119 to make it onto the front page of some newspapers, 0:20:09.240 --> 0:20:09.679 I don't know. 0:20:09.720 --> 0:20:15.120 I can't talk for the media. I guess it just 0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:19.080 felt it felt like it was extreme enough, I guess 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:23.920 for it to make the front pages. Maybe it shouldn't 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:27.080 have taken something like that to happen for it to 0:20:27.119 --> 0:20:32.440 become major news. But the news works in its own way, 0:20:32.640 --> 0:20:36.280 you know, it's just yeah, it's just sad, you know, 0:20:36.359 --> 0:20:39.320 it's just really sad. And yeah, it just felt like, 0:20:40.160 --> 0:20:44.600 especially nowadays, where I just again I've always just been 0:20:44.680 --> 0:20:47.440 very stubborn in that respect that I've always tried to 0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:50.680 go against what seems to be the norm. And I'm 0:20:50.720 --> 0:20:54.200 just sick tired it's just the same old shit where 0:20:54.200 --> 0:20:59.320 it's like not everyone at all, and because you could 0:20:59.440 --> 0:21:04.360 even say a section of the music coming out of studios, 0:21:04.359 --> 0:21:06.280 but it's just so much of this kind of like 0:21:06.359 --> 0:21:09.679 everything's fine, you know, it's all good, let's go and 0:21:09.720 --> 0:21:12.359 have a good time, and it's like, no, it's not, 0:21:12.640 --> 0:21:16.119 it's not and it's not me you know, banging the 0:21:16.200 --> 0:21:19.600 drama and you know, going political, but it's just a 0:21:19.640 --> 0:21:25.560 case of things are going to shit. And I don't 0:21:25.560 --> 0:21:28.159 know if it was Nina Simone or somebody said that, 0:21:28.280 --> 0:21:31.280 you know, it's the it's the role I'm paraphrasing, but 0:21:31.359 --> 0:21:33.679 it's like the role of an artist is to right 0:21:33.720 --> 0:21:38.399 about the times. And it just felt like my duty 0:21:38.520 --> 0:21:41.000 to do that, you know, in my own way, and 0:21:41.160 --> 0:21:44.240 I think I'd be cheating myself by not doing that, 0:21:44.320 --> 0:21:47.200 you know, So it just felt right. 0:21:47.880 --> 0:21:49.520 It's interesting to hear say that, because I was going 0:21:49.600 --> 0:21:52.119 to ask about how there were lots of people that 0:21:52.280 --> 0:21:57.879 felt very discouraged by the state of things just because 0:21:57.920 --> 0:22:00.919 of the sort of tumultuous politics the last like eighteen 0:22:00.920 --> 0:22:04.560 months or whatever. Those people that were, you know, wanted 0:22:04.560 --> 0:22:08.800 to understand the kind of put a try and chin up, 0:22:08.840 --> 0:22:12.360 et cetera. Or it's like, well, in times of like strife, 0:22:12.560 --> 0:22:16.359 you know, great art gets made. And I suppose that 0:22:16.480 --> 0:22:18.399 is you know, they were maybe taking that as a 0:22:18.440 --> 0:22:21.639 bit of a consolation. But do you think that's true? 0:22:21.720 --> 0:22:23.919 And do you think that I mean, it sounds to 0:22:23.960 --> 0:22:26.159 me like you kind of like take a responsibility to 0:22:26.240 --> 0:22:29.720 kind of reflect the times. But is it an artist's 0:22:29.720 --> 0:22:32.320 responsibility to vocalize that stuff? 0:22:32.359 --> 0:22:35.359 Do you think there's different schools of thought, isn't it? 0:22:35.359 --> 0:22:39.359 It's like I, on one hand, I feel no, it 0:22:39.440 --> 0:22:42.840 isn't you know, it isn't a responsibility of an artist too. 0:22:44.600 --> 0:22:47.320 Doug again, I like dogs, so great nights. 0:22:47.400 --> 0:22:48.360 That was like a friendly dog. 0:22:48.520 --> 0:22:52.520 Yeah yeah, And one how I feel like it isn't 0:22:52.560 --> 0:22:56.399 the responsibility of an artist too. Artists right with the 0:22:56.440 --> 0:22:59.600 fun they want to write that's that's one that's I ficked. 0:22:59.600 --> 0:23:01.200 I wake up. I would think like that one day. 0:23:01.520 --> 0:23:05.879 On some days and other days I feel like we 0:23:05.960 --> 0:23:11.040 should write about the times I feel it's important to 0:23:13.080 --> 0:23:15.639 As always, I always feel it's important to write your 0:23:15.640 --> 0:23:19.800 own unique story and stories. But how can I just 0:23:19.840 --> 0:23:24.520 don't get how, And again I always get myself in 0:23:24.560 --> 0:23:29.320 trouble by talking like this. I'm not saying any particular 0:23:29.480 --> 0:23:34.719 The douggrees, I'm not particular particularly saying that you know 0:23:35.520 --> 0:23:37.359 your shit as an artist because you don't do this. 0:23:37.480 --> 0:23:41.439 But I feel like, how can you not use the 0:23:41.440 --> 0:23:46.440 advantage of having a mouthpiece, you know, opportunity to air 0:23:46.560 --> 0:23:50.479