With the recent release of his new EP, ‘Blind, this summer’, West-London’s eclectic artist-producer Kadiata chats to The Pit about the creative process of the project; working with some of the best upcoming artists in the UK; and happily doing something wrong, in order to make something new. 

Emily: Your recent project, ‘Blind, this summer’, just dropped a couple of weeks ago, what was the main inspiration?
Kadiata: It was various things, I just wanted to do things a little bit different. Obviously, I’m a big fan of film, I’m not there yet where I’m going to make a film but I just thought how do I take some of that influence into the music, you get me? So, I just decided to write an audio-movie. I’ve had the idea for a couple of years now but it was just the case of finding how to do it. 

You kind of did a similar thing with, ‘Dnt Tell Me Plz’, but this time more fleshed out, is it important to create a narrative within your projects? 
I think it is because if I just make loads of songs and put them all together, it’s ok but if I’m making a project, I have to put in time and package it in a way that’s like, this all belongs together.

How was the creative process of the project and who did you work alongside? 
It was really organic, a lot of people think that it would’ve been hard, because I’m a producer as well. The main producer, who produced four songs, his name is Michelin Shin. I met him at this RedBull TV show I did and we just clicked at the show and I just said, “Bruv, you’re fucking sick, we should continue working together, if you’re down”, we had just made two bangers in 24 hours, we have to get back in the studio.

So, as we got back in the studio, we were just making banger after banger, after banger, so we just had to decide which ones were going to go on the project. As for the rest of the people, Sokari is someone that I worked with before, he produced, ‘Pornhub Freestyle’ and New Machine was somebody who shouted me off the back of hearing some of my other music.

So, it all came together very naturally?
Yeah, and what I like to do too when I work with producers is take a seat, unless it’s not going in the direction that I want. I might start it like I started a lot of the songs and I did, add a few bits and bobs but for the most part, I like just sitting back and letting the producer do what he has to do because otherwise - I could’ve just produced it!

Definitely, does it feel strange watching someone else produce for you?
Yeah, a little bit. I’ve gotten kind of used to it now, I’m in a place now where it’s like, ok if you’re just an artist, then put 100% into the writing and the performance. At first, when I started working with other producers and stuff, it was like, “nah, you’re doing it wrong”. But I guess I kind of just learnt to let go and let the music be whatever it’s going to be.

What were the main inspirations for ‘Don’t Tell Me Plz’ and do you feel your sound has changed or grown, since then?
Yeah, I feel like it’s grown massively, I wouldn’t say that it’s a completely different thing that I’m doing. I would say in terms of the sound itself, the instrumentation I feel like it’s changed a lot. It’s a lot more current, it’s a lot more of what’s going on. Obviously, still very me, like “let’s do this genre, but different”, you know? There’s still a lot of that, but I feel like it’s grown massively. 

Also, I feel like the first EP was still incomplete, the reason why I say that is that there were a lot of songs that I wanted to put on there that I couldn’t because of sample clearance and that. So yeah, I feel that it was incomplete but the sound was still developing. The EP is good but in terms of what I wanted, which is making songs that everybody can sing along to and get played on radio, just a bit more pop and a bit more urban. I feel like I’ve been able to find that.

How did you get into production and how does being able to produce aid your creativity when writing? 
It can be both a blessing and a hindrance. I started writing first a really long time ago. Then, it felt like it wasn’t enough, I wanted to be closer to the music itself. So, I started producing and I was doing both for a few years but I always felt like, even up until recently, the production always held back my writing. Just because when you’re a producer, you do and create so much and so many layers. So when it came to the writing, I always felt lazy with it because I’ve already done so much. So until I realised that, I didn’t feel like I was hitting the nail on the head with exactly what I’m trying to say. That’s why in recent years my writing changed a little bit, it’s more direct and I’ve even been giving people the torch to be able to say, “OK you produce this and I’ll just write”.

Do you find as an artist-producer, you have different influences for production and then for your lyricism?
Yeah, definitely. In terms of music and listening to music just for the sounds, I listen to everything. It could be music from today, it could be soul, pop, R&B but then in terms of writing, it’s very close to me and my life. Obviously, sometimes I take inspiration from how people would say certain things but I feel like with the writing it all just comes from my experience and my life.

Do you feel having an idea of instrumentation is important as a producer? 
The thing with me is I can just about play the guitar and piano. It’s very interesting actually, I know a lot of musicians, like people who can play mad but they can’t make beats. They’re so closed to the formulas of what works and chords and a lot of them can’t expand their creativity enough to do things wrong. I feel like you have to do things wrong to make something new. So I would say it’s definitely helped that I can understand chords and music theory but I feel like the reason why I produce how I produce is because I don’t know so much, as well. I’m not super closed or super glued to the theories and stuff, I feel like you kind of need a bit of both.

How does your creative process differ when producing for yourself and producing for another artist?
I wouldn’t say that it does. Maybe when I’m producing for myself I feel like I can take my time more. The reason why I say this is because whenever you’re in the studio with artists, they don’t necessarily have a lot of patience. So, whenever you’re in the studio with them, you just need to get all of your ideas out, as quick as you can so they can start writing. 

I guess you’re the beginning of their process … 
Yeah, like when it’s myself I can do things and obviously because I’m going back and forth with the writing, I might produce the bare bones of the beat and then go straight to writing, I won’t finish the beat. As I’m writing, I’ll think of different things that I can put into the beat, as well. So, that way, the writing is basically a part of the instrumentation as well, I do that with artists as well but it’s just a lot quicker because I realise a lot of them don’t want to hear the same loop over and over again because they don’t know where I’m going to take it - but I know where I’m going to take it. 

Was there an artist that taught you something that stayed with you, when creating?
I feel like every artist has taught me something, every good artist I’ve worked with. Even if it’s not taught, they’ve just shown me a way of doing things that I didn’t see. 

So, I might be working with Jesse [James Soloman] or someone and his approach to recording music is super free. He’ll write a little bit but then he’ll just go in and be like, “Fuck it man” and just record and try loads of different stuff in the booth and that was a very interesting approach.

Then, there’s other artists like Miraa [May] she’s very on topic all of the time and very open to trying new things. So, yeah, I feel like loads of different artists have taught me different approaches and different ways to look at the creative process. 

You’ve produced for a lot of different artists, which two tracks would you say best show your range?
I would have to say, ‘Night Time’ by Master Peace because I can’t even believe I made that, like what do I know about Indie music? So, that and I would also have to say, ‘Rack Up’ by Sam Wise. It’s such an interesting song, it’s Trap but it’s not Trap at the same time. It has so much detail that you would never find in a Trap song. So yeah I really appreciate that song still.

If you could produce for any artist, who would it be and what kind of track would you want to make?
If I could produce for anyone? I can’t answer that … I can’t answer what kind of track as that’s a very in the moment thing. I don’t think we create with our minds, I feel like we create with just being in the present and doing whatever felt right at the time. But, I’ve always wanted to work with Dido, you know. 

What has been your favourite video to make so far and how important are visuals to you?
If it’s not ‘On Tap’, then it’s ‘Blindside’, which I’ve got coming out in the next couple of days.

Do you find it important to be involved in the making of your videos?
I don’t think it’s important but I feel like I’m just the type of artist that is extremely creative, so I would hate for that to go to waste.

Which five artists would you recommend to your listeners?
It’s so mad because my sound is such a hybrid of loads of things, so I might tell you to listen to one guy that has influenced me but, you won’t see it. 

Five artists, I would say, Lady Wray. She’s like a new-age soul singer but it’s not neo-soul, it’s like proper soul, it’s just made very recently - she’s proper sick. 

Listen to Knucks. He’s sick still because he’s a producer too, so I appreciate him on a different level. 

Tiana Major9 - oh my god, she is fucking … I can’t even describe, she is hard. She is sick, still. I’m always showing bare love to her, I don’t even want anything, I just appreciate her a lot. 

The Isley Brothers - you see them, obviously they’re rated, but they’re so underrated. For what they’ve done, they’ve been about in so many different eras, it’s actually crazy to think about. They’ve made soul songs, R&B, they’ve done it all - it’s actually scary.

You should listen to Kadiata … you know them ones! You should listen to … I would say Miles from Kinshasa, the thing with Miles though is I feel like a lot of my fans might not get him because he’s a bit more left-field but in terms of the music, itself, he’s pretty amazing.

What’s coming up for 2020?
So, for the rest of the year … getting over this bloody Coronavirus! I’m going to do another project for the end of the year, just as a continuation of ‘Blind, this Summer’, called ‘Lost, this Winter’, it’ll have a similar format to this project. There’s going to be some really good music on there, some features … so, yeah!