The Squires Da Gem track Year of the Rona is a big tune. This unique artist is a big talent in Wales and we're excited to hear what 2021 holds for him and all those at Winger Records. Check out the Music Video below:
We had a chance to interview Squires Da Gem. Check it out here:
What got you into to writing songs?
I started writing rhymes when I was 11. At first, it was to grime beats as that’s the stuff my brother was listening to at the time, then we got more into Hip Hop as we found out more about the music world. My mum had always played music like The Fugees, Michael Franti, Wyclef, etc, around the house when I was little. So, my brother (Po Griff) and our friend Finn started writing rhymes and freestyling together. When I was 14 we recorded our first track as Culture Vultures, and then we made our first EP called ‘The Hills Have Mouths’. We didn’t have much of a clue back then, just finding beats on the internet and recording around our friend's houses. So the simple answer would be I got writing songs because it was fun and maintain to do so because I love doing it!
Can you remember the first time you wrote a song? Describe it for us.
I remember vaguely writing my first rhymes, to grime beats and whatnot. I remember writing about a songs worth of bars to The Lox / Jadakiss beat ‘None of ya'll Betta’ (DJ Premier) - It was a scheme that just went on and on and started something like ‘Always dedicated, never hesitated, yeah I’m medicated, etc, etc’. We kept developing as Culture Vultures so we then made a mixtape called ‘Fucking Wing It’, and then ‘Squawktown’, ‘Wotw: The Prelude’, and then our last album which is ‘WOTW: One’ which you can get in digital or on CD from our website / Bandcamp. I’ve also released 3 solo E.P’s on Winger Records.
Who gave you the support to keep writing in the beginning? Who did you play the early songs for?
I would say support wise we all gave it to each other. Me and my brother we’re always writing and listening to music so we bounced off of each other. We played the early songs for our friends and our family we’re always supportive. My mum, Nan, Uncle, or whoever would always watch our videos on YouTube and show them to people. My nan (RIP) would give us money to go to gigs if we were broke and always pushed us forward creatively.
How would you describe the music that you typically create?
That’s kind of a tough one as I hate trying to put stuff in boxes genre-wise, but yeah, typically it's Hip Hop at its core, but our own version inspired by our lives and musically influenced by a lot of other stuff. We’re from West Wales, so we didn’t come up playing at Hip Hop shows, we came up playing gigs with Ska Bands, Rock Bands, Blues, whatever! It was usually an eclectic mix of genres when we did a show. Then as time went on we formed our own label and started putting on rap / hip hop shows ourselves. Musically, I think Culture Vultures draw influence from a lot of stuff, with Hagie being the producer, his beats can range from hip hop, to punk, noisy industrial type shit, dub, blues, indie, literally anything! I tend to sway more to lofi chill hip hop vibes a lot, but I love rapping on 140 beats too, and wouldn’t rule out anything genre wise!
What is your creative process like?
Creative process, hmmm. I’d say it differs. Sometimes someone sends me a beat and I’m straight on it, writing, and I can have a song done within the hour. Other times, I might have an idea for a track, but it needs to be thought about for a little while, and i’ll keep it in mind whilst looking for more inspiration. If it's with the boys, we’ll just get in the studio and start working. Hagie will start making a beat or have an idea he’s already been working on and we’ll start writing to it. Or if it isn’t occurring naturally then we might just sit with it, have a couple of beers and freestyle to it, suss out the vibe. I definitely like the vibe of all of us in the studio, bouncing back and forth, so there’s been a lot less of that with all this lockdown life but we can still work, just have to focus and adapt to new ways of working. I think playing the songs live is a huge part of the creative process too, so usually, we might have a new song and decide to play it for the first time at a gig. Then, we can go back to the song and work on it more if there are parts we think should be changed or amended.
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
That’s a tough one too. So many names. I’d say in the UK, I’m a huge fan of people such as Jehst, Chester P, Jam Baxter, Lee Scott, Trellion. Any of them lot. If we’re talking producers, I’d love to work with Sumgii, Lee Scott again, Morriarchi, heads like that. In the US, I’d love to get on a track with Wiki. For beats, you can’t miss out names like Madlib, DJ Premier, The Alchemist, Daringer, Kenny Beats. All those guys are crazy. If we’re talking all time, I’m a big fan of Mac Miller (RIP) so he’s definitely up there. Though if I had to pick just one, I think it would the supervillain, MF DOOM. His passing is a huge loss to music, what an artist. (RIP)
What is your favourite song to perform?
Favourite song to perform, hmmm. It’s gotta be a hype one, not sure which one though. ‘1984’ always goes off at a live show. Sometimes we link to songs together so we play half of one and then drop into another, like ’10x10’ into ’1984’. Those are dope. ‘Squires Da Gem Type song’ is a fun one to do live, anything with an intricate flow that keeps building is always fun. Culture Vultures track ‘No Shrubs’ is always a popper, and we used to end our set with a track called ‘Punanni’ which never actually became a recorded song but that beat was craaaazy. I think ‘Marauder’ with Zhubat will be a fun one to do live but due to current situations we haven’t been able to do so yet.
Which Welsh rappers do you think highly of?
There are so many, the scene has been bubbling away the past few years and in 2020, despite the negatives of the year, so much good music has come out of Wales. First of all, I'm gonna shamelessly plug the Winger crew. Zhubat is in an absolute lane of his own, he's a proper unique character and I don't think you can compare his rhyming style to anyone else. Boofy is another one, painting blunt pictures of life in Llanelli with a casual funky vibe on top. In 2020, we saw the return of Blaktrix, a well-known emcee from Cardiff. He is another one who doesn't miss a beat, every tune he sends my way gets infinite pull-ups. He's got a new single out on January 12th on Winger Records, produced by Morriarchi. Outside of the camp, you've got people like Luke RV from Neath Port Talbot. He and Minas have really been hitting it hard and the combination of them both is undeniably dope. Go check out his album 'Going Nowhere'. Also in Cardiff, you've got people such as Conrad, Razkid, Ez Rah, all of them boys are dope.
You've got Wheeze Team from Ammanford, those guys are killer. Check out their album 'Kings of the Swamp' out now via Winger. Mighty Mouse, formerly Smithy Blade, is another cat to watch. Gotta give a shout out to Mr Phormula up north, whose been killing it for years and has just released a new album 'Tiwns'. Spaced Apes are dope, although they haven't got any music out at the moment, we've had them play our Winger showcases and they kill it every time. Shout out to Pembrokeshire, Defects of the Dock, Lispy, there's some talent down there. I rate Joe Dirt highly, check his album 'Barrydockalypse'. I could keep going for ages! So many more names to mention but i'll cap it here otherwise I won't stop. Cymru!!!
What’s next for you in 2021?
For 2021, we're just going to keep creating, working on new music. We've got plenty of new projects we're working on. We've got some beats from a few killer producers we need to lace up. We're going to keep working on new collabs, working with other heads in Wales that we rate highly. We can't see live shows coming back anytime soon so it's just going to be focusing on the music and releases. As much as it sucks not playing gigs, at least we can still work on music and put our energy into that! We're also working on new Winger merch, so yeah we're just going to keep building!
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