Happy Friday one and all, I do hope you are having the finest of Fridays. Welcome back to another chatty little sesh with moi and this time I am joined with the lovely Lex Low. Who just so happens to have released his newest single ‘Feel More’ today!
So, grab a cooling, refreshing beverage (Ideally, right now mine would be a frozen watermelon daiquiri, bougie I know, but unfortunately I’ve had to settle for a sparkling water ) and lets get down to the details in todays Beneath The Surface.
Hello, howdy, hi, thank you for taking the time to chat with me today Lex! First up and perhaps a rather obvious question, but what would you say first sparked your interest in music/who inspired you to make music?
It was always something I had a simmering interest in, I would spend hours straight listening to all kinds of music. I was diving deep into artists like Bread, Fleetwood Mac and Jimi Hendrix. Later on, I began to immerse myself in stuff like N.E.R.D., The Weeknd, BANKS and Frank Ocean. I think I realised that what I was actually interested in was the composition of the song when I got to secondary school. I got a cheap off brand guitar and started to dissect my favourite songs. Then I would repurpose those progressions and write heart-wrenching teenage angst laden lyrics.
Got to love some heart-wrenching teenage angst and I also have a certain soft spot for BANKS & Frank! How would you describe the music you are currently creating?
I think my new music is far more confessional than it used to be. It’s a more honest and raw look at moments in my life that made me who I am today. ‘Feel More’ is my way of looking back at the moment my parents told me they were separating; all those muddled emotions and feelings. I started therapy last year and I think it has helped me to get comfortable with exploring uncomfortable parts of my life. Sonically, it’s moved towards electronic soundscapes peppered with organic instrumentation and some textured samples. When you produce your own stuff, it’s a constant journey into different corners of your own sound. I love rising really high in the chorus and leaning into the shaky, falsetto side of my vocal. All the weird stuff comes out there.
Congrats on the new single & video BTW, they’re fab! What does your creative process look like?
It differs depending on what I have with me at the time. Usually I’ll start on the guitar, with a chord progression, and then I mess around with loose melodies. I then try to find a moment, or part of my life, that connects with that melody. Lyrically it starts pretty open, and I’ll fill the song in backwards – starting from the chorus. The production phase can completely change the pathway of the song once I get going, it’s the bit that takes the most time.
I love hearing about the songwriting process, it can differ so much or ever so slightly between artists and is simply fascinating! Who would you most like to collaborate with? (let’s send it out to the universe and make it happen!)
I think I’d be lying if I said anybody other than Frank Ocean. There’s a real emotional underpinning to the writing. The connection is the same with artists like Chance The Rapper, The Internet, Duckwrth and Jhené Aiko. I’m half Malaysian, so I’m a big Yuna fan.
Yes to Frank, he’s a firm Fav, this is a collab I would LOVE to see. What is the one message you would like to send out to your fans?
I love hearing when people connect with the music, just enjoy the song and relate to it however makes sense to you.
Perfectly said! What’s your top tip to rejuvenate your creativity/get over a writer’s block?
I take my set up – my laptop, small keyboard, a mic and I change my surroundings. I actually mixed one of my singles ‘Higher’ in a coffee shop in Los Angeles called Rise N Grind. It wasn’t an ideal audio environment but I couldn’t sit in the studio anymore. The original voice note for ‘Feel More’ was recorded when I was walking around East London – it happens when it happens.
And finally, what’s next for you, what do we have to look forward to/ what are you currently working on?
I’ve got quite a lot of half finished projects, but I’m currently working on finishing a song that I wrote with Latir. He put down a vocal and it’s so sumptuous, really glassy and calm. So I’m reworking that a little bit and hoping to put it out as a collaborative single.
Exciting! Thank you so much for the chat! We look forward to the next tune.
I cannot wait to hear more from Lex, but in the meantime I will just rinse his newest tune ‘Feel More’ here and you can all do the same!
Keep up with Lex:
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