'And what does that S. stand for?' you might be wondering. Listening to this talented Surrey-based artist talking about his experiences in the music industry, one strong possibility comes to mind. Sacrifice. 'I’ve reached a very tough phase now. I’ve sacrificed so much for my music… my girlfriend has gone, my parents are tired of me living at home and I’ve lost touch with so many friends. To keep going, I’m working in retail fashion, busy in the studio, swimming and visiting the gym club when I get the time, walking in the park with the dog. I like to walk in this park area, near American-looking apartment blocks to inspire my ambition. My dream is to be standing on the stage in the Hollywood Bowl in LA or at Wembley UK, with thousands of fans singing my songs back to me. My style of music is in the same area as The Weeknd, Neo, Usher, Justin Timberlake and Michael Jackson. I can see it in my mind, but it’s hard to handle when the mental stress involved in getting there, leads to depression. You feel like you’re doing so much, and getting nowhere, so there’s nothing coming back, in return for all the hard work you’re putting in. It’s crushing. The demand for social media success on top of the music itself makes it even harder.'
'People tell me I look younger, but I’m 29 now and facing up to the reality of hitting 30 pretty soon. My journey so far has been a series of highs and lows, which has been quite difficult to handle at times. I studied singing at ACM, it’s a music college in Guilford. It was a one-year diploma course where I made some great contacts, including a producer who I worked with for two or three years, writing and producing songs. It was a positive relationship, but one that eventually fizzled out due to financial pressures for the producer.'
'So I took to the Internet to link up with other collaborators, and eventually teamed up with my current producer, who has worked in Germany, for companies like Universal Music.
We’ve been making tracks for over five years now, and have built up a strong catalogue of around 20 to 30 songs. I think we have some hit tracks in there, but I don’t just want them to be released for the sake of it. There’s no point unless they have some real promotion behind them. But I’ve struggled to find the right people to help me make my dreams a reality, and some of them have taken my money and done nothing for me.'
'When I was younger, I had no idea. The struggles you face during the period of getting there, are trusting the wrong people, being misled or being used solely for your money when funding your music, when the person may have given up on you or sidelined you. People you know around you like other artists but won’t help you reach your goals.'
'You face the subtle rejection of labels and people attached to the industry due to you not having a huge following even though they may really like your music but instead of putting the time and trust in to development an artist they only care about what money you are making now and if you’ll be profitable at that current moment for them to take on. '
'It can be incredibly disheartening and mentally draining, you lose a lot of your normal life when you sacrifice everyday normal things because your goal is to make it to the position you want but relationships, friends, normal life situations get missed out for this.'
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