Five Minutes With: S.P.Y

Today sees the launch of What The Future Holds… The long awaited debut album by S.P.Y. With a C.V that glitters with the very best imprints in the game – Metalheadz, Liquid V, Soulr, Spearhead, RUN DNB, 31, Critical and Quarantine – he’s finally settled at Hospital, a label who nurture the very best albums out of their artists.

Does What The Future Holds maintain Hospital’s longstanding tradition of enduring artist albums? Of course it does! And S.P.Y’s pretty happy with it too…

Wicked album! How does it feel?

“Amazing man, it’s so good. I’ve been waiting so long to write this. I was so pleased because I sent Hospital all my songs and they loved every one of them.”

Props! How long did the whole project take from start to finish?

“Off and on, almost two years. I got a little caught up with the whole concept at points, though. I was worried what people would think or what the label would think. But you have to remember to just be free and write. It’s too easy to get lost but when you relax and write tunes for the love that’s when the best stuff happens.”

Nice. What was the most challenging track?

“What The Future Holds was a real step up. It’s played by real musicians. I had a sketch of what I wanted – something really soundtracky and cinematic – and they helped me realise it. The way it came together was incredible. It’s a huge learning curve and a privilege to work with classical musicians.”

Did you have any film in mind when you sketched it?

“Loads! I watch so many films. But it’s hard to concentrate watching films because the minute the soundtrack comes in I get totally sidetracked by the audio and not the visuals! It’s inspired by a lot of different films, all sad, emotional scenes. It conjured up moments in my life too. All the tracks have moments inspired by times in my life.”

Which times in particular?

“Mainly moving to the UK. That was such a big change. And not great to begin with. I couldn’t speak the language, I thought I was fully prepared but I wasn’t at all. I worked as a cleaner, I worked in McDonalds, I was a waiter. I had three jobs pretty much all the time. I saved for a year in Brazil and it lasted two months over here.”

Wow. How long ago was this?

“About 2003 to 2008. A long time. Full time, every day; hoovering, cleaning, serving… Whatever I had to do to survive and live over here. It was a massive change; I loved my job in Brazil as a graphic designer, I had a car and a house and everything. But I had to do this, I had to take it back to basics. It made me a better person.”

Nice! That’s an incredible story. If only you knew what the future held back then!

“Exactly! The thing is we all worry too much about the future. I worry about the future all the time; I need to work in a particular way or I need to make my sounds in a particular way. I need to just relax and not worry about the future, just live in the now. I don’t know what the future holds but I need to relish the present. That’s the whole concept. Don’t be afraid of the future. Don’t obsess. Even when I was signing to Hospital I was worried… It’s such a big label! I didn’t know if their fanbase would be into what I do. And whether I’d sell as many records as the other artists. And all this type of stuff. Then I thought ‘no, let’s just go with the flow, see what happens’.”

That’s the best way! Let’s wrap things up now… It’s time to tell us something you’ve never told in an interview before…

“Oh man! What can I say? I’m pretty open during interviews so there’s nothing to hide. How about the fact that I’ve never had any musical training? I’m totally self taught. The first track I ever signed was made in Garageband.”

What the devil?

“Yeah, crazy, right? Metalheadz signed it! Goldie called me from America and told me he was going to sign it. I didn’t have a clue what he was saying. I couldn’t speak any English at the time. All I could hear was ‘blah blah blah track’ and ‘blah blah blah don’t give to anyone’. I said yes, put the phone down and thought ‘I think he wants my track!’”

Amazing! Thanks for the stories dude, see you in the future…

What The Future Holds is out now. Listen and download.