Perhaps best known for his single ‘Tiny Dancer’, a collaboration with Chip and Sir Elton John, Ironik has been making music for over seven years, has charted in the UK top ten on numerous occasions and has even performed in front of The Queen. With his new EP set for release shortly, Matt Tarr caught up with the North London artist to discuss the EP, who he feels are the best up & coming artists in the scene at the moment, what he feels are the differences between working with an independent and a major label plus more…
MT: For people who may not be so familiar with your work, how do you describe yourself as a musician?
Ironik: DJ/Producer/Rapper I guess, or however people wanna word it. Started out at the age of thirteen as a DJ at first, playing a lot of garage music and then I got into producing at fifteen and started producing a lot of grime stuff. When I got to around sixteen/seventeen I started producing stuff for the likes of Chip, Wiley and Tinie Tempah and stuff like that when they were just early doors and you can find some of that stuff on YouTube. Then when I got to about eighteen/nineteen I started writing my own stuff and then I put out a song called ‘So Nice’ which was one of my first releases and that got on Channel U, or Channel AKA now and the rest is history. Got signed to a major record label after that and we’re seven years down the line now after those releases.
MT: For me it doesn’t feel like it’s been seven years since you released your first track. How does it feel for you?
Ironik: Nah me neither. It’s mad cos people say I’ve been doing this for so long but it’s gone really quick. I dunno, I try and put out releases every year or every two years so maybe that’s why, cos I’m always working and so I don’t ever stop to notice how long I’ve been doing it.
MT: The last release we saw from you was the EP Independantly Unstoppable which came out last year and this year we’re looking forward to the new EP Ticking Off Boyhood Dreams. What sort of sounds can we expect to hear from this record; is it gonna be along the same lines as the previous release or are you gonna come with a new sound?
Ironik: It’s a whole new sound. Even what you hear from this single compared to the previous stuff, it’s totally different. The last stuff was basically me just talking about the last two years of my life, so like 2011-12 and what I’d been up to cos I didn’t put out anything in 2012, I put out something in 2011, a song called ‘Killed Me’ with Maclean but 2012 I didn’t do much. So I was just talking about what I was up to and certain things that happened in my life and story telling, so it was a bit more slower and explaining where I’m at in life. Now is kinda the same, but I’m happier, I’m in a better place at the moment, I’m feeling good and hungry for the music to work so I’m just working, working, working and just feeling good man. I think it comes off in the new stuff as well.
MT: I would say so. So far we’ve heard the single ‘Die For You’.
Ironik: And there’s another single we put out from this EP called ‘It’s Alright’ which is just a throwout song. But you can kinda feel that I’m feeling better on that song as well; a bit more happier on songs.
MT: Well ‘Die For You’ has a much more drum n bass feel than previous tracks we’ve heard from you and also features L Marshall on the hook. How did that collaboration come about because I know he’s worked with several other artists in the scene such as Wretch 32?
Ironik: Well he worked with Wretch on his first single ‘Traktor’ and that’s where I first heard him and I thought “this guy’s kinda dope” although I couldn’t hear much of his vocals but I thought he was sick. I then heard a single he put out called ‘Castles’ which was sick but didn’t get as much recognition as it should have. I always wanted to work with him from there. We kinda saw each other about because the scene is small so everyone sees each other and I’d had ‘Die For You’ for about a year actually and we needed someone on the hook. My manager said “I think we should get L Marshall” and yeah man we just made it happen. He’s actually in Canada though working on his album so it was an email to email thing but he seems cool and hopefully we get to perform it one day.
MT: Talking about performances, you’ve performed in some pretty impressive places over the last seven years, but have you got a performance that stands out to you as your most memorable?
Ironik: That’s a hard one cos I don’t think it’s possible for me to say the best one because there’s some surreal ones like at Buckingham Palace. The only thing I would say about the Buckingham Palace one is that we weren’t aloud cameras and stuff so there’s no point in that being my favourite init cos there’s nothing for me to look back on. So I would probably say the MOBO Awards 2009, that was quite an amazing night or the National Movie Awards cos I met Tom Cruise that night and Chris Rock and all my favourite actors and they were all watching, so that was one of my favourites as well. I just love performing; when I’ve done the Under 18’s shows to the Uni shows to T4 On The Beach, all of them have been amazing!
MT: In terms of the releases that we’ve seen from you so far, your first was on a major and then you’ve had different releases on other labels; how has the experience been releasing your material through different labels across your career?
Ironik: I think they’re all different. Being with a label is like being at a certain home so you’ve gotta get used to how they work and how they function. I think I’m at my best place right now with the independent label cos they kinda let me do what I wanna do and let me be creative, let me put out what I wanna put out and be as consistent as I wanna be, not just shelf me and say “we’re gonna put just two releases a year” and stuff that major labels do. I think you get to be a bit more creative being with an independent label and have more fun with it.
MT: A lot of people I speak to talk about the creative freedom that an independent label gives them as being really important to them, but I suppose it’s nice to have the promotion and financial backing that a major can offer too?
Ironik: I think the independent labels can have the same connects as the major labels nowadays and everyone knows everyone. Obviously a major label has got a bigger budget but everyone’s doing it independent at the moment so it seems to be the new route.
MT: With regard to music that is out in the scene at the moment, are there any artists in the UK that you’re particularly enjoying or would like to work with?
Ironik: I really like Yungen, I think he’s good. Stormzy’s good too. There are still a few artists from back in the day that I wanna work with again like Chip cos I haven’t worked with him for a while so it’d be good to get back in the studio with him. Maybe on my next album or something would be good cos the last collaboration we had was for ‘Tiny Dancer’ so it would be good to do something again with him and also Wiley maybe. I think Skepta is making some good music lately, he’s one of my favourites. Just as a fan I love listening to Skepta, I love the way he’s bringing it back at the moment, proper getting back into the grime stuff.
MT: So we’ve got the EP coming soon but can people expect to see you performing live anywhere?
Ironik: Even when I haven’t really had releases out I’ve still toured and we’ve still had loads of shows; that’s the one thing that has been a blessing for me. Since ‘Stay With Me’ I’ve been touring and performing from that one song, not even including my other ones, so that has brought me around the world. I’ll probably have some live shows coming up to support this EP and these singles coming up so hopefully we’ll get some lined up. The main thing is just keeping it consistent like I said man, I don’t want no setbacks or anything holding me back, I just wanna go go go. I’m really hungry at the moment so I just wanna work man and just put out records, make good music and be consistent with it. I just don’t wanna let anyone down.
MT: Finally then, if you could choose one of your tracks from the last seven years that you feel best represents you, what would you choose?
Ironik: That’s a good question. I dunno…
MT: Cos tracks like ‘Stay With Me’ and ‘So Nice’ were huge…
Ironik: …But I didn’t like my style of rapping on them songs. I think I’ve got better since then so I wouldn’t use them as an example of me if I was to introduce someone. One of my favourite songs I’ve recorded is called ‘Slow Down’ and the remix featured Skepta and Scorcher. That’s one of my favourites and I think I was on point with that delivery wise and just the way I approached that record. So that one probably or maybe the new single ‘Die For You’. I still love my old catalogue but I just feel I’ve got better as an artist.
In anticipation for his upcoming EP Ticking Off Boyhood Dreams which is due out shortly, you can purchase your copy of Ironik’s latest single ‘Die For You on iTunes and make sure you follow the man himself on Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date with tour dates, release dates and everything else Ironik.
Matt Tarr
@MattTarrJourno
Matt Tarr
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