IRIS

When Did Your Music Journey Begin?

"Hmm, my music journey, well I grew up playing football literally all day every day, that's all I ever wanted to do, that was my thing, we didn't have much else, I was totally hooked on football, I lived for it so I didn't really get into music until my teenage years. I did however, audition for a primary school play by singing Impossible by James Arthur, I guess that was my first fascination in the art of performing? they gave me the role of a non-singing presenter so i must've been awful, poor sod lol. 

In secondary school, I got my first iPhone where I remember spending my birthday money buying about five quids worth of pop singles on iTunes. It was at the time Divide dropped and that album was literally everywhere in England when it came out, I first heard the announcement for the album on the radio before school one morning, I remember hearing Castle On The Hill on Heart radio for the first time ever and the song just felt so personal to me and I guess the song was written about Ed's life at the age that I was hearing it for the first time ever. After school I watched the music videos on YouTube and was so hooked on Ed Sheeran. 

The first song I ever bought was River by Ed Sheeran and Eminem. Before then, the only access to music I had was birthday parties, video games, and maybe songs on the radio? Like I was so disconnected, it's crazy really, especially given my life and dreams now. I really wish I had grown up with stronger music foundations you know but in some way, discovering music at an older age, truly put a spark in my eyes, it was like connecting with a long-lost family member that you never met."

What Did You Know About The Music World?

"I really didn't know anything about the music world, like I literally knew nothing, no theory, I didn't understand instruments and I  couldn't tell you many musicians and as a matter of fact, I remember hating music class so much in high school, I would try do the most stupid things like throw pens and scrunch up paper balls and throw them at my mates, hoping I'd get kicked out before the lesson starts, like I would probably last 10 minutes before I was kicked out the class, (I'm sorry Mrs Jones). It just didn't resonate with me, like at all, I just always wanted to be an athlete, I had always assumed I'd never need to know anything about music, 'I will never need to use this in my life', it's so funny how things have changed.

I will say though, it probably stems from my parents, they had no knowledge or interest in music either, like literally nothing. I don't think they even owned anything music related in the house, my father was incredibly football mad and probably knew the name of 3 songs. And as for my mother, well, the same, my siblings are the exact same, nothing of actual interest to them, it's probably why no one in my family has ever supported my music or understood why a football scholar graduate decided to retire and start pursuing a career in music."

When Did You First Start Connecting To Music?

"At fifteen, I would walk home from school past a super loud and busy road, and I saw this as an opportunity to express myself and try singing, yeah I was terrible, like really terrible, but it just felt right, you know? Ed's songs really opened my eyes to music, his songs made me realise music could tell stories. It wasn't just something you listened to, it could make you feel like you were living inside one. I vividly remember hearing the instruments and lyrics in Perfect and absolutely being mesmerised by the feeling I got, it was like I was in a movie. 

I remember winter 2017, I changed my route to school just so i'd get an extra hour listening to music, and singing, I fell in love, it was snowy and I just felt so connected to the few songs I had purchased on iTunes. This was my first proper connection to music, I couldn't believe I had spent my whole childhood avoiding music, I mean I didn't really have access to it at home, I just played football on the streets, before the era of JBLs and Spotify, the only music I enjoyed at this point was video game music, the soundtracks on the Pokémon DS games were unreal, and then when I started playing Rocket League, those songs were also insanely cool."

How Did You Discover Rap Music?

"2018 was a real life changing year for me, I was between houses a lot, parents weren't in my life much, I hated school, felt out of place often, I didn't have many friends but those that I did were from outside school. We were involved in all types of bad things, but in some twisted way it was exactly what I needed to grow as a person. It's funny because, in school, I was quiet, reserved, awkward, lone, but outside of school with my, let's call them 'cool friends', I was a whole other person, I was able to reinvent myself, and do things that taught me, well, let's just say character. We were always causing trouble, involved in gang related nonsense and always trying to prove our status and hardness. 

Undoubtedly, hand in hand with this kind of lifestyle, the music we listened to, very often glorified the things we would get up to, we'd spend hours on end in caravans, smoking, drinking, listening to drill and UK rap music. I think the first artists I caught onto at this time were J Hus, Dave & Loski, at this time in UK rap, drill was so alive, like it was gangs of musicians, Harlem Spartans, 1011, 410, 67, these were all big notorious names in the drill scene, it was less about the music but more about the street credibility. Naturally, I began learning the lyrics to these songs and began even listening to Drill like all the time, I guess it was natural the life I was living.

In 2019 I began writing my own lyrics, I didn't really know much about the musical elements, I just loved writing hella creative bars and doing loads of wordplay, it was like putting pieces of a puzzle together finding connections between pop culture and language. This went hand in hand with my love for singing and as my voice developed, I felt more comfortable freestyling and trying to battle rap with my friends, those were some good times."

Who Inspired You To Make Your Own Music?

"So obviously it was Ed Sheeran, who in a weird way saved my life, but that's another story for another day but more personally, by summer 2021 after I graduated the football academy, which took me out of London and to East Anglia for 2 years, I moved out to Malta. I had spent many years of my childhood in Malta, having a Maltese background meant I had been there since I was a baby and often returned to visit family. I initially moved out there to pursue a football career, but my great-grandma kicked me out because she didn't believe in me and was adamant I must get a job for 4 euro an hour, in which I refused, for a reason I think is just generational differences, heck my great grandma is like 90. Well anyways, I had money, that wasn't the issue, it was the fact all I did was train football all day, you know? chasing my dreams, I was on the verge of signing a pro contract until I got kicked out (this is a returning theme with my family over the years as I pursue my dreams).

With nowhere to stay, one friend I made over the summer offered to let me stay with his family for a few days, this moment singlehandedly changed the trajectory of my entire life. My friend, let's just call him Bay, he was big into music at the time, I remember I'd come back from football training and he was always producing music, he was so into the process, it was so cool, I would listen to his songs and thought it was awesome, something so creative and so expressive, I was genuinely inspired about something other than just football for once. When I came back to London that fall, after a brief stay in Paris, I stopped playing football and decided to finally get a job, a real one. 

I began working at the West Ham United store in Thurrock, printing names on jerseys, at this point I was writing all the time, being creative, big into fashion and I was learning how to write deeper more meaningful lyrics, i was artistic. Whilst working at West Ham, one of my colleagues was a rapper, I mean I didnt know how big at the time but i'd often ask him about his process and style of music, I thought the way he talked about things was cool and very perceptive, like so authentic, he inspired the way I wanted to express myself in the world, it weren't until I left that job that I found out that he was pretty big in the UK Rap scene, it was Jordy as in the respected UK rap artist Jordyinit. Funny story for sure and if I could go back and learn from him I would, but the truth is, I was still a kid figuring out my place in the world and to be honest, I was really struggling mentally, I was lost, but beautifully, it was this lost lack of meaning in my life that made me fall in love with songwriting, and that gave me purpose."

What Made You Fall In Love With Songwriting?

"I think it was the genuine soul expression, being able to take your thoughts and feelings and articulate them like poems but on instruments just felt amazing, like the most alive journal I had ever written, sure I was awful at first, like awful awful, but i was hooked. It was when I was living in Wroclaw in Poland that i started writing hours on end everyday. Whilst my girlfriend at the time went to college, I would stay at her house and write bars and practice rapping, i'm pretty sure i still have those notebooks somewhere, I'd love to read them one day. 

When I returned to London in May, i'd spend hours on end in the kitchen until like 4am just writing songs and recording them. It's safe to say I was still finding my voice at the time, I remember one time my uncle came down in middle of the night to smoke a spliff and he said 'man you rap like a girl'. Over the next few weeks in London I naturally just kept meeting people who were musically focused, I remember the day after I returned from Poland, my best friend, Vale, she already got me a ticket to a music industry event that she was offered through her videography course in college. On like 2 hours sleep i decided to go but to my surprise, at the event, i met a bunch of huge names in the music industry, from Atlantic Records, to Ed Sheeran's manager, the CEO of Warner Music UK, and even Ghetts, yeah that Ghetts.

Talking to people who did what I wanted to do, for an actual living and having such deep convos with them about their story and how they started, I don't know man, it just bare inspired me to actually take my music seriously and work hard to drive my artistry, i believed i could do so much in music after talking to them, i related to almost all of them in some way. I remember waking up that day at 7am thinking, 'what on earth am i doing going to a music event, I was training to be a pro footballer less than 6 months ago', but little did i know, that day probably changed my whole story."

What's Your Proudest Moment In Your Career So Far?

"I have so much to be proud of in this journey, and it's not all just about music or milestones, I think some of the most important parts of my success is being able to have met such amazing people, in some way i feel rewarded by the amount of close friendships and connections i've made through music has been worth every moment I swear. I've worked on some great songs with great people, like once you're in that studio, and hear the beat and you get that very first line, there's no moment like it at all, it's just magic man, i think Michael Jackson used to call it 'channeling' like downloading music from the divine source, i'm a big believer in that too, I do wonder how i come up with my lyrics sometimes.

If i had to choose a single creative moment though, it would probably be when i wrote and recorded the song 'Right Here' at Sony Music Publishing UK. Like knowing how many superstars have recorded in that very studio, on that same microphone, I felt beyond proud and grateful. I was still young then too, like teenage years, to be in that building and talking with the people who, literally make the music in the world go round, yeah it was unreal."

What Is The Dream For IRIS In The Next 5 Years?

"In a song on my debut EP, The Price of Paradise, i answer this question quite literally in the lyrics, but that's a more personal and material note, those don't expand my artistry much. I aim to have released a few incredible studio albums, perhaps even some high budget music videos so that i can truly express my creative vision, music is more image driven and visual than it ever has been, you kinda gotta ride it nowadays, it's essential. I would love to tour and travel to places that i've never been, let my songs connect with people around the entire world. 

Stats and numbers, i guess I don't really care about those things but they are crucial to music, so i'd love to make some big hits and hopefully reach a lot of people around the world, but i'd also love to prove that you can come from nothing, with no support, no luck, no skills, exactly like I have, and still be able to achieve your dreams. Performing in a big stadium or festival would be incredible, I visualise it everyday before i fall asleep, yeah dreams."

Interview conducted for the Official Artist Archive.

This archive will continue to grow alongside the journey of IRIS.