Hey Aux, thanks for talking to us here at AM and recording an Apocalypse Session for us! Could you start by telling us a bit about the track you chose to sing and why you wanted to sing it!
Thanks for having me, I chose to sing Armada as it was something I hadn’t done live and the song is about my fear of death which has been very prevalent this last 18 months.
We have been talking a lot about mental health and music here recently as May is Mental Health awareness month. A lot of your music discusses issues around mental health lyrically- I would be really interested to hear how your take on how it affects your music?
It’s pretty chaotic in my head sometimes so I guess the music is reflective of the polarity I’m my personality, how one side of me is so drastically different to the other. I’m most honest in song, so I guess my reality tends to be reflected.
Are there any topics in particular that you would like to be discussed more openly that you feel people are perhaps overlooking?
At this point I think what bothers me most, is hearing how people feel like they get to have an opinion on someone else’s mental health. As if there’s a checklist or criteria that you have to meet for them to consider your mental health situation, like there’s a trauma tick box you need to fill in order for you to be able to express when you aren’t feeling well mentally. Poor mental health is very common and I think it needs to be addressed, not policed.
What artists/sounds have influenced your style the most and is there anything in particular inspiring you artistically at the moment?
I grew up listening to a variety of different artists in different genres. But I’d say, my roots are in RNB, Soul and Hip Hop, I spent a lot of time listening to Missy Elliotte, Busta Rhymes, Musiq Soulchild, D’Angelo, Omar, Lauryn Hill and then there’s all the legends, Whitney, Aretha, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Beyoncé…I could literally list forever. Kendrick Lamar is also a big inspiration, and I’ve spent a lot of time listening to Tierra Whack and Chika recently. I hate answering these cause I always feel like I’m missing so many artists out.
What’s next for you musically- any plans for the future/releases on the way?
Ooh I’m keeping this close to my chest, but what I will say is, we’ve been in the studio a lot recently so maybe we’re cooking something exciting.
Where can our readers find out more about you?
On Insta it’s @thisisgramn Twitter is @GRAMN10 and Facebook is @GRAMN.
Words by Hermione Kellow & Aux
Photo © GRAMN (Facebook)
