The Honest Poet is an Urban Culture Wales favourite. His previous song Good Love has been played in our office on repeat for the past several weeks. However, there's exciting news ahead as The Honest Poet is releasing a new single on the 22 of this month titled Before I Go. PRE-SAVE IT HERE BY CLICKING THE IMAGE.
Check out the Music Video for The Honest Poet's previous single Good Love below:
We had the chance to have a chat with The Honest Poet. Here's how it went:
How did the journey with music start?
I started becoming interested in music when I was in primary school, I joined the choir simply to just get out of lessons at first, but then started to realise how much I enjoyed the way it made me feel. This was around the age of 7/8. As I grew older heading into secondary school my interest changed to sport I then forgot and lost touch with my creative side. That was until one school concert seeing my peers being on stage and them performing and it reignited that passion again. But this time it was a ‘I NEED to be on that stage’ so around the age of 15/16 I started singing again and showing a keen interest in music. When it came to sixth form it was time to choose my options, Music and Performance being one of them. People were shocked and surprised as I had never demonstrated an interest in music before…
The next 2 years it was a graft of finding my voice and style and countless horrible performances which became my training and practice that I needed to hone in on my voice. When it came to choosing what I wanted to do in University I had settled on Chester to do a Music Performance course, which unfortunately only lasted 3 months as I got bullied and left. I took a year out to find myself again and gained some gigging experience through open mic nights and supporting other acts. One person in particular that helped me was an artist called Tobias Robertson, Amazing musician! Taught me how to be humble and he is a brilliant songwriter! I later then attended USW on another music course, which challenged me as a musician stripping everything I thought I knew about being a musician. It was an amazing course, but unfortunately this halted to a stop after 2 years as my sister ended up passing away after 8 months after what the doctors described as an ‘inborn error’, this along with other events caused me to have a mental breakdown, later to be then diagnosed with Bipolar.
This is where ‘The Honest Poet’ was birthed. Through my manic episodes I was hyper sensitive to everything around me and started to notice when people were lying. Which gave me the lingering thought ‘why do people always lie’. I took that as inspiration and flipped it and combined my love and passion for writing poetry and music. Making a promise to myself that I will only ever write about things that are true to my soul and people can resonate with.
What inspires you most?
The things that inspire me the most are honestly my experiences and emotions. The love that I have for my fiancé and the people I have met. I often write about love mainly because it’s what I naturally gravitate towards and feel as though more should be demonstrated in this world that we lie in. Other than that I have previously opened up about my mental illness, not as a clutch but more as a ‘This will pass and you can get through this, love yourself’ this is demonstrated in an unreleased song. I’m just waiting to find the right producer.
Have you ever experienced writers block? If so how did you overcome it?
I do experience writers block and what I do to combat that is have a break and not put pressure upon myself, if it’s not working in flow then there is no place you can go. What I understand is that there is too much that I am thinking about at that moment in time and need a rest. But I do not lie in idle mode. I keep an online diary and just free write about things that have happened in the last few months that has past. That way you are not completely stopping writing and still flexing that writing muscle just in a different way. Either that or go on a walk or meditate.
How long does it usually take you to write your songs?
It all depends on how strong the feeling sits within me, sometimes I can write within a day other times a week or to, just depends on what message I want to convey. Although when I work with people I always feel compelled to get it to them within 2/3 days. I don’t like to keep people waiting, and that is not to say I rush it either. I like to know the whole concept of what that person is trying to achieve.
How would you describe the music that you typically create?
I would say that it is a blend of a few music genres ranging from soul, hip hop, pop spoken word and poetry. I am pretty adaptive, although I could never see myself writing to a grime track. Not that I am boxing myself in its just that the message would have to be a positive one.
Which famous musicians do you admire?
Chance the Rapper. Chris Martin (Coldplay). Hobo Johnson. J Cole. James Brown. Sam Cooke. Zach Said. Justin Beiber.
What do you like doing in your spare time?
In my spare time I meditate, work on growing my networks, go for walks, spend time with my fiancé (when this pandemic is over), I attend college on a health and social course as I want to become a youth worker/ support worker to inspire the younger generation of music makers and create writing workshops for them to come and express themselves and be a safe space for them to be who they are.
What's your annoying habit?
At times I can be forgetful.
Where would you like to visit?
Canada, seems like a beautiful place.
What's your favourite place to eat and why?
Spoons… Na I’m joking; I don’t really have favourite place to eat just as long as its quality food I’m not too fussy.
What is your favourite song and why?
Maxwell ‘This Womans Work’ mainly cos it got me through a difficult time in my life and I resonate with it, not because of the lyrics just because of the vulnerability of the vocals.
What’s next for you in 2021?
I have release on the 22nd Feb of a song called ‘Before I Go’ produced by Minas. Which talks about BLM, also I am close to finishing off an album looking to drop before the year ends. I have music videos planned for when the lockdowns have lifted.
Check out more from The Honest Poet here:
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