Real Sounds Feature
Ed Addo - Video Interview
By Real Sounds
We had the chance to interview the very inspiring Ed Addo as he talks about his musical journey. Growing up in the UK and the...
We had the chance to interview the very inspiring Ed Addo as he talks about his musical journey.
Growing up in the UK and the Netherlands, with Ghanian and Lebanese heritage, Ed Addo brings forward a rich and dynamic sound that meets in the world of Hip-Hop, Jazz, Soul and RnB. With experimental curiosity for discovery and understanding of the world, this is felt sonically and is often laid out clearly with crisp impactful lyrics and compositions. Ed started playing trumpet at age 7, and over the years developed further his skills on percussion, guitar and electronic production. His skills have led him to play Jazz festivals in Europe supporting the likes of Madeline Bell, and in the UK various events supporting Kano, Shy FX, FKJ, General Levy, Channel One and many more. The multi-talented artist has released a number of singles to date and is set to release a number of mixtapes in 2023 showcasing cross-genre production and writing talents.
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Transcript
Hello, my name is Ed Addo and welcome to Real.
Thank you again for coming today. My first question for you was can you share the story of what inspired you to become a singer-songwriter and when did you write your first song?
So that story is quite a long story. So I'm the youngest of four siblings and I basically used to listen to all of my eldest siblings music and kind of got a little bit obsessed with all the different types of music they were listening to. So Grandmaster Flash, De La Soul, all of the old soul classics and I was just fascinated by it. So when I picked up the trumpet at seven, I created this fascination with music and then realized what you could do with lyrics and then started playing with poetry and that was probably around nine, nine, ten. And then it started to develop from there and I just had a fascination with wordplay and then realizing you could apply that to sound. And that was when sort of like the light bulb moment happened. But yeah, I was always inspired by what my parents were listening to, what my brothers and sisters were listening to. And that's just carried me forward basically. So I would say, yeah, late noughties is probably the era where I realized.
And can you explain more about like how the process of your first song was?
I would say the first song I wrote, it was around 12 and I had a project for WWF at school. I found an instrumental on YouTube and then basically wrote out a poem and sang that. And that was kind of like the first thing I wrote and then tried to play like a trumpet solo. At that time, I was like maybe grade two. Like the solo wasn't, I wouldn't want people to hear it now. I mean, maybe it's got some flavor to it. But that was pretty much my first song. And it was, I performed it at school. So I was like, yeah, this is cool. People liked it.
And how has the city influenced your musical journey?
I love this question. So London itself, I've always had family in London. So when I was small, I used to come into London for like, for example, Notting Hill Carnival when I was small and do the parades and stuff. So I always knew that London had a powerful musical influence on me. But when it comes to jazz, it was sort of later in life. So for example, my 18th birthday present from my parents was tickets to go and see Ramsey Lewis, who's like a contemporary of Herbie Hancock. Went to go see him at Ronnie Scott's. And that was kind of my first experience in a jazz club. So I knew that London was a powerful center for that. And then as I discovered and like explored more music, I discovered Kamal Williams and saw what they were doing. And then some of the other rappers and artists like Tom Misch in my early days of university, they were influencing and pushing little jazz, like subliminal messages into their music. And that's kind of fed into my music. And that all spurred from London. So that was kind of like the influence. And then just I followed the route with different artists and producers and rappers and things. That was kind of the journey.
What's the best piece of advice you heard which could help other aspiring musicians?
I think that's a very interesting question. Yeah, I actually discovered, I heard something the other day, which I'm obsessed with. It's literally become my new favorite quote and it is the magic you're looking for is in the work you're avoiding. It is really, really good. And the reason why, like, I used to have things just like, don't be influenced by external voices, always listen to your internal voice because that is the most authentic voice you're going to have. That recent quote for me is so relevant just because I think as artists you always have or overanalyze the work that you've got to do. And often that can stop you from doing things. Most artists are very ambitious. Like, they either want to get to, say, Glastonbury or they want to have an album that achieves some accolade or they want to do this and that. When you're not there, you're always thinking about, oh, what do I need to do? And actually, the magic is just in doing the work. So, like, for me, if I want to get to a certain point next year where I'm doing festivals and so on and so forth, what I have to do is just keep writing the music and keep writing things that people are going to recognize. So, the magic you're looking for is in the work that you're avoiding. That's it.
What was your favorite aspect of filming a music video? I saw that you had lots of music videos out there. What was your favorite aspect of that?
Your favorite aspect? I've done music videos in a funny way because I've done both styles of where you pay for a music video and have a production done. And then also the very organic, homegrown ones. I think one of my favorite parts of the process is the storyboarding because that's when the ideas are really, like, free. Yeah. But then also finding the locations. I love finding locations because that's kind of when you see something in, like, a kind of frame, you start to get all of the imagery and different ideas around it. So, that kind of is, like, a different aspect of, like, discovery like, finding places that are going to help tell the story. For example, like, Love Myself, I filmed that music video in Bulgaria when I was playing at Meadows in the Mountains and then we were in Sofia, me and my girlfriend were in Sofia, and Plovdiv before. And we're like, this is really cool. We should just film the video here. We brought the stuff out and then found, like, these really beautiful places and film. I was just like, this is so cool.
Did you film with your camera then?
At that time, I didn't have, so now I've got, like, a Sony camera, but before I was just using my phone. I think some of, like, the really cool videos I've done, like, All That I See and Love Myself. They were all filmed on a phone and a GoPro, a little GoPro. So, yeah, I love finding locations, which is also why people actually do that as a job. Yeah. Like, location scouts. Like, yeah, exactly. I love it. But for me as well, I do some of the editing, which I quite like, which is kind of a skill that I've developed from that. But I like the early parts of it.
If you could gain a new skill or ability instantly, what would you choose and why?
I have the ability to play piano, but I would love the ability to absolutely just tear it up. Like, if you rocked up to, like, a bar or, like, a pub somewhere and they've got a piano in the corner, just being that person where you can just say, like, yeah, I'm just going to play some tunes and all the amazing chords. Because for me it's a bit slow now to get the chords down. I can do it, but I can't perform. So that is something I would definitely love to be able to do.
If you could compare yourself to an instrument, what would it be and why?
What? Little curveball there. If I could compare myself to an instrument. Yo, that's a good question. I'm just trying to think now. I'm going through all the instruments. I mean, okay, so I'm going to go through this process. So, like, I would say I'm quite dynamic. I'm quite playful. I don't have, like, a super high register. I would probably say I'm, like, a bass guitar. Maybe. Like a five-string bass. So five-string bass that can hold stuff down. Like, it's quite, like, meaty, like, the low end. But also I've got, like, a few, like, high register bits. Versatile. Well, maybe a tenor sax, but I'll say bass guitar because I don't want to confuse the answer.
What made you want to learn it and include it in your music?
The trumpet for me goes all the way back to when I was seven. So when I started school, my eldest brother, he bought me Miles Davis Kind of Blue. So when he found out that I was learning trumpet at school, he bought this. Actually, no, it was my eighth birthday. And obviously I'd already started, but that was the motivation to pursue it. Because at that time I tried different instruments. Like, I tried the trombone. I tried saxophone. I started on guitar. And then my music teacher, Miss Tyler, Mrs. Tyler, wherever she is, I thanked her because she was basically like, no, you look like a trumpet player. And I can, I think you have, like, the build to be a trumpet player. Picked it up and loved it. And then it was reaffirmed when my brother bought me Miles Davis Kind of Blue. And I was just like, this is the coolest album. It's so chill. It's so, like, you feel like you're in the room with the players. And the way the trumpet spoke to me was just like nothing else. So that was kind of where I started with it.
What power does it bring to your music right now? Like, how do you include it in your original music?
Yeah It's interesting because I used to be very much like trumpet first. But then obviously I enhanced my skills as a vocalist as well and a producer. So I let those speak in the songs. But if I really want to take the emotional level of a song to a new height, that's when I can use the trumpet because it uses and delivers a different type of expression. Like the frequencies of it, the growls you can get, the different timbres you can get with it help to convey a message in a way that sometimes the voice can't or the beat can't. So I use it as a tool for like deeper expression of myself, basically. And it completely depends on the song. Some songs don't need it. Sometimes they do. But that's basically where I go with it. And then obviously you can enhance a live show by bringing out trumpet and extending solos and doing interplay with the musicians on stage and stuff, which is wicked.
Can you talk about any upcoming projects or collaboration or future goals that you have for your music? How do you envision yourself evolving in the coming years?
Yeah. I mean, so to answer the first part of the question, like projects wise, I'm kind of back into writing mode. So I'm releasing and working on a load of singles at the moment, which are going to be coming out. I'm planning a writing camp jam session at the end of the year where I'm going to be inviting loads of musicians that I played with throughout the year to come together, make some music live in a session and then record that into an album. But as I look into 2024 and beyond, the focus is to just build really beautiful bodies of work that I can then take to festivals, because I think that's really the next evolution of my journey is to start playing festivals and reaching larger swathes of people that can connect with the music and take something from it. And that in itself, it comes back to the very essence of what I started is that I just want to share music with as many people. The songs I'm writing at the moment, some of them are talking about like mental health, being aware of yourself, being able to express things and being concerned and not being able to express things when you're concerned about them with your friends and all that kind of stuff. There's really interesting messages that I think could…