Written by Sophie Wyatt
Meet Blake, the London based singer-songwriter is bringing his own soulful sound to the music industry. Blake’s unique sound is instantly recognisable, and undeniably captivating. We got the chance to sit down and discuss his influences, plans for future music and what he’s listening to at the moment.
Blake explained to us that his earliest memories of music were from the radio; ‘It’s always been on constantly in every house I’ve lived in. My immediate family aren’t musical in the slightest so I really caught on to wanting to make music at a later stage, at around 13/14 when I met my Close friend Bacchus, a music enthusiast. We were paired up in the same form in year 7 and would be asked to perform in school assemblies and events, normally him on the piano and me on the vocals. It was in 2016 when we collaborated on an instrumental E.P together ‘L.D.N’ and dropped it on Soundcloud, at the time I had only just started getting into producing so really I was just still trying to find my specific sounds.
‘My mum really wanted me to continue music and singing so went out of her way to buy all the equipment I’d need for a home studio, 2016/2017 I was doing covers over songs. When I covered James Arthur’s ‘Say you won’t let go’ it got a lot of positive feedback and that was really the driving force for me wanting to continue and make something of it‘.
The London music industry is constantly developing and producing new artists, as well as being the home to so many great artists we still admire today. We asked Blake if he thinks that growing up in London has had a big influence on his music today; ‘I do think living in London and being exposed to all sorts of sounds have influenced me in a one way or another, but I’d say artists overseas for example Daniel Caesar, Khalid & Drake, just to name a few, laid most of the foundation down in how I wanted to be and sound as a singer. Their songs and stories correlate a lot to me in how I am and feel’.
‘Currently I’m listening to Loyle Carner, I can’t believe I discovered him so late. I was at Jorja Smiths London concert back in October and he came and performed a surprise guest and that was the first time I heard him. Soon after I heard his album, I realised his style is so relatable to mine. Having said that, I had people in the past message me after ‘Magazine’ saying they could see Carner feature on a track but at the time I didn’t even know who the geezer was somehow, best artist discovery of the year for me 100%’.
With such a broad set of musical influences, Blake tried to explain to us how exactly he would describe his sound; ‘I’d be lying if I said I knew my specific sound, because I think it’s always changing and adapting constantly. I listen to so many genres that vary from each-other, like most people, so sometimes I’m rapping, sometimes I’m singing and sometimes I’m doing both at the same time. To answer your question about my R&B tone, I definitely did explore a lot as it didn’t come naturally because of all the reasons I explained before’.
‘All songs I write are 100% from experience. I write about my true feelings, past/present/current and couldn’t lie about them on a song even if I tried. The music I make has to be true, no fabrication. Sometimes I take a while to write a song because I’m still working on trying to not be too personal however not too general about the story I’m trying to convey’.
Over the past few months Blake has released a few songs as well as appearing on one of up-and-coming music producer Mom Tudie’s one minute video series, and he told us that his future music plans dont stop there; ‘This year I’m planning a big project. I’m going to be stepping out my comfort zone and doing things I haven’t done before in music. I’m nervous yet excited to see where this leads me’.
Listen to BLAKE’s tune ‘The Trouble with Miracles’, featuring Lauren King here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgPiCRVYu4k