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Birmingham born now Bristol-based Sorrow is an artist of whom many UK garage music lovers may have heard. His debut musical adventure was revealed in 2011, when he announced the release of his first E.P on L2S Recordings and has since released his well-received debut album ‘Dreamstone’ with Monotreme Records to the eager public. Working very closely with fellow musician Asa, the duo have made efforts to rejuvenate the grime scene with their fresh twist on the sound, gaining support from acclaimed producers along the way and securing remixes on their fellow Bristonian Joker’s imprint, Kapsize. Whatever the genre, Sorrow champions his versatility to adapt to the ever evolving electronic music scene, never refusing to elaborate on his already recognizable production style and breaking down the boundaries of genre pigeonholing. We managed to get some time out of Sorrow's recording schedule to ask a few questions:
INSP: Sorrow, first of all welcome to Inspected! We’ve obviously been talking back and forth for a while now but explain to all your fans how this relationship started.
SORROW: Well it started with myself and Asa’s remix for Boy Kid Cloud I think, then a few uploads to the Inspected Youtube channel. We’ve been in contact for a good while now and I think people just assumed I already had released with Inspected, but now I officially have which is good.
INSP: For those who’ve not heard any of your music before, explain how it’s developed over the years. From where it was right at the start to where you are now.
SORROW: Well I started out making grime when I was a teenager, I come from an urban background believe it or not so grime is a big part of my approach to things. Back then I wasn’t taking music seriously and it was before the rise of things like Soundcloud so I never put any of that stuff out. Then a few years later the whole Dubstep thing came to the forefront, and before that I was a big fan of the Dub Police label, tunes like Caspa - For The Kids, but that was when Dubstep was still developing. I remember scanning Boomkat every day looking for new music. Then there was the whole garage revival a couple years later. I guess this was a response to the definition ‘Dubstep’ completely changing to encompass what places like America were getting to hear later down the line. It was around that time when I started to put in the work and make tunes seriously.
INSP: From your experience what are the challenges that self starting artists face releasing music. Obviously with the advent of Soundcloud and Facebook/Twitter exposure it’s slightly easier, but there must still be some barriers?
SORROW: I don’t think there are many barriers in this day and age to get your music out there, it’s more a case of music is way too disposable and music releases are easily forgotten. There is a huge lack of quality control now, which I think is a huge detriment to music in general. I was probably responsible for this in my early days haha, but I know exactly what I want to do now regards to releasing music.
INSP: Let’s talk about your recently released EP, Search Of the Miraculous. How long has that been in the making and what were your influences and inspirations?
SORROW: I’d say the tunes span over a year from start to finish. I have to give lots of credit to Kasper & Funi for the artwork, and Deadskull for the amazing video he created, all these contributed hugely to the whole concept of the EP. The tunes weren’t specifically written for the purpose of an E.P, that’s not how I work. The process is usually just finding either finished tunes or unfinished ones and then find what tunes are the best and work well together. As I said previously I think quality control is incredibly important and personally would be what draws me to an artist.
INSP: We already want more, and we’re sure your fans do to. It might be a little early to start looking into the future but what has the rest of 2015 got in store. Any tours, more music or collaborations on the horizon?
SORROW: This year I would like to return to my darker roots, and play out more often. I’m really craving weighty subby dark tunes and I feel like this is something I need to move towards, and being the start of a new year I feel like I can recreate myself. I’ve always made music for myself so I have to satisfy what I feel like making and this is a direction I think I’m going to really enjoy. It’ll still sound like me though I won’t change in that aspect!
INSP: Thanks for your time Sorrow, we’re excited to have another incredibly talented artist on our label! We always like to finish with the following: Dream Collaboration? and Your Most Played Song This Year?
SORROW: Thanks for having me! Well i’m pretty happy with who i’ve had the opportunity to work with so far down the line. Would be cool to work with the KOAN lads again, had fun doing the Movember track. I don’t have a specific track but there is an artist that I’ve been listening to who’s called ‘Ago’ and he is absolutely smashing it, totally down my street.
We're incredibly proud to have Sorrow on our label and we can't wait to show you what he has planned for 2015. For all the latest news directly from the man himself keep an eye on his Twitter and Facebook profile. Search of the Miraculous is available now on iTunes right here.