Writing music for yourself sounds like a pretty cool idea, doesn’t it? That’s what Greg Feldwick does on a daily basis and the world laps it up, gratefully. The London-based beatmaker who goes by Slugabed gets candid ahead of his debut tour to India where he’ll stop by Church Street Social in Bengaluru on April 15. He couldn’t stop talking to us about music, food, family and travel. Oh, and did we mention food (again)?
“I have always just accidentally made weird music. I never wanted to be a weirdo producer. I guess, I just couldn’t do anything else,” confesses the young producer. A native of Bath in the UK, he describes his music as ‘sort of nice.’
Blending influences of both, classic and contemporary, from the outermost reaches of dubstep, hip hop and beyond, the Brit bass producer is apparently influenced by everything. “Sometimes it’s clubby, sometimes emotional. Other times, it’s plain pointless. I have never been very good at recreating/replicating a particular genre – genres confuse me. I just write music for myself and if other people like it, that is a bonus,” he says.
Whether it’s writing, listening or finding music on his travels, Greg has always been about it. His parents too, have always been a quintessence of support, but the 24-year-old still doesn’t understand why. “Being a musician is a pretty crap idea, but I guess they saw some merit in it,” he explains, growing up in a household that enjoyed music, especially Van Morrison, Paul Simon and Miles Davis. “My dad and I sometimes buy each other weird jazz records for Christmas and listen to them together. My mum used to call me a Slugabed because I didn’t wake up too easily in the mornings. That name stuck on as I first started making music since I was 15,” he says of the role his parents played. “If not for a musician, I might’ve tried to get into design, film or something else creative. Or maybe, I would have just had a crap job and got on with it. I dunno,” he adds.
Music seems to be his forte because, well, he’s doing pretty well for himself. After receiving unanimous praise for his debut album Time Time, he’s now cracking on his second one. “It’s a very nice record if you ask me,” he says, as a matter of fact. “I felt a lot of pressure when I wrote my first LP, but this one comes from a different place – one that’s pure, with no sense of trying to do anything for anyone else and something that’s purely for me.”
Right now, his debut trip to India where he’ll stop by Mumbai and New Delhi, is exciting him to no end. “I’m a fan of Kishore Kumar and if he were still alive, I would have loved to use some of his ideas and/or just high-five him,” says the enthusiastic DJ who is always keen to learn or collaborate. “I’ve heard a lot of good things about Bangalore too. I just want to look around the city and soak up the atmosphere. I’ve heard it’s a very cool spot and I’m looking forward to partying and getting some good food,” he says, getting ready to flâneur.
