Happy New Year reader! This year at pointblank Plus we aim to bring you more of the content you love. More tutorials, demonstrations, deconstructions, FFLs and interviews. The first of these is focused on one of our very favourite young producers, who is making big waves in grime and shows no sign of letting up anytime soon. That producer is Bamz, a 21-year-old South London beatmaker best known for her work with Nadia Rose including Station, Boom and the recent hit Big Woman. We recently invited her to our London school where she filmed some really exciting content that will be coming very soon. For now, we’d like to share a short interview from when we hooked up with Bamz at the tail end of last year.
Can you start by telling the readers exactly what it is you do? How would you describe yourself in music terms?
I’m a music producer/programmer & DJ. I also beatbox, song-write/rap occasionally but right now I’m focusing on music production and mixing.
What have you been up to recently? Any particularly exciting projects?
I’ve been going through all my unfinished Logic files, finishing up beats and organising them to either place, release or sell. Just doing some general prep for the new year!
Going back to the beginning, what was it that first got you interested in music?
Honestly, I’ve always been interested in music – the love for rhythm and sound has always been embedded in me. When I was young I’d always be vibing along to theme songs of cartoons and films, and my family’s music. I started beatboxing when I was 6 years old which lead me to get into production at 10.
You mentioned in a video that you got FL Studio as a gift pretty young. What were those early experiments with the software like?
It was nice to have access to a programme like that. I was never bored because there was always something new to play around with and it was just cool to think I was making my own music and people liked it.
You spoke about being homeschooled in the same video. How do you think this has affected you as a creative?
Being homeschooled I became very isolated – there were pros and cons to it. I was able to work more on my music and started freelancing and workshop facilitating at places like Southbank Centre. Plus I was doing beatboxing workshops which allowed me to get equipment to create a home set-up. However, having to adjust from being in a place filled with loads of people to being by myself was a challenge. But overall I was happier doing what I loved.
How do you think being from and living in South London affects what you do?
I love being from South London! It’s had its limitations but it’s that very same thing that makes us South Londoners who we are. The traffic is always crazy, the characters can be interesting, but South London offers a great spectrum of cultural and artistic juxtaposition.
You’ve mentioned that you work better alone – do you find that you make music without a vocalist in mind a lot of the time then?
At the moment I tend to work alone because I need to become more consistent with my workflow and how much I’m putting out. A lot of the time, as I’m making beats vocalists do spring to mind but my main goal really is to get it to a place where I’m comfortable to approach artists and/or sell my productions. As well as that, I’m still getting used to producing music in front of people: that’s a challenge I’ve gradually been overcoming. In 2018 I aim to work with more artists in the studio.
Obviously your best known for your work with Nadia Rose – How do you guys know each other or how did you start working together?
Nadia saw me performing at a show 5 or 6 years ago. I was the only act she liked so she hit me up on twitter the next day. We’ve been working ever since. She’s such a great friend and artist to work with. We understand each other when it comes to making music or putting together projects.
How does your creative relationship work? Do you tend to send her beats that are fully formed or will you work toward something together a bit more?
The creative process varies. Sometimes I’ll have beats that I’ve been working on and send it over as it is, and if she likes it we’ll build on it. Other times we’ll be in the studio and work on things together. Then I usually tweak the projects in my own time, if my laptop can take it!
What other artists have you been working with?
I recently finished 10 weeks at the Floor Sixx academy where I was a producer working with artists also at the academy. While I was at the academy I made tracks with Yus, Yung Bush & Jaz Karis as well as producing some beats for Dnzo. I aim to work with all the artists & producers that were at the academy. Away from that, I’ve got unfinished projects with Courtney Bennett, Santino Le Saint, a track with Nadia & Izzie Gibbs, Tiana Major9 and a few others. Now I’ve got more confidence to work with people, I’m going to be collaborating more.
If you could work with anyone, who would it be?
I would have loved to work with Aaliyah and Left-Eye! I’d really like to work with the production powerhouses like Timbaland, Missy Elliot, Pharrell and Wondergurl. And then I’d be interested in working with artists all over the world such as Kendrick Lemar, Drake, Rihanna, Stromae, Princess Nokia, Kamiayah, Molly Brazy, WizKid, Davido, Mr Eazi, Konshens, Popcaan, Giggs, Skepta, Dave, Ray Blk, Raye, Chxrrie, Lil Simz… so many to mention!
What have you got coming up?
I’ve got something cool coming with Native Instruments. I won’t speak too much on it, but it’s really big and I’m excited it for it to be announced! Other than that, I’m just focusing on building the catalogue with the intention of dropping some fire projects.
The new year is here, where would you say you hope to be by the end of 2018?
I have a lot planned for this year! I hope to have had my music featured in some adverts/programmes, dropped more than 3 projects, collaborate with more artists and producers, secure more DJ bookings and hopefully a booking agent. Plus more YouTube content and a lot more tricks up my sleeve.
Thanks Bamz!
We’ll be back with more from Bamz next week when we’ll get to know more about her creative process, as well as an inside glimpse at the make-up of one her biggest collabs with Nadia Rose to date. If you’d like to learn how to make your own tracks and beats then pointblank Music School can teach you everything you need to know. In London, we’ve got a huge range of production courses, including a fully accredited honours degree, our BA (Hons) in Music Production and Sound Engineering. Bamz herself uses Logic Pro, but with pointblank all our production courses are cross-platform, using your choice of Logic or Ableton. You can also study online and save 25% on our online courses until 12th January!
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