Monthly newspaper and online publication targeting 18 to 35 year olds. The ultimate guide to the hottest parties, going out and having fun. Music, fashion, film, travel, festivals, technology, comedy, and parties! London, Barcelona, Miami and Ibiza.
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/407398
THANK YOU FOR TALKING TO US, IT SEEMS LIKE YOU'RE QUITE BUSY AT THE MOMENT WITH ALL THE PROMOTION - WHAT'S THE SCHEDULE LIKE AT THE MOMENT? Pretty much balancing [promoting the new single] and finishing off the EP and doing shows and stuff. I was in Cyprus over the weekend...it's fun. Better than being in an office all day! SO LET'S TALK ABOUT YOUR NEW SINGLE, 'DIE FOR YOU', WHICH IS DOING PRETTY WELL, GOT QUITE A LOT OF VIEWS ON YOUTUBE... IT IS INTERESTING BECAUSE IT'S QUITE DIFFERENT TO THE STUFF YOU GOT MOST WELL KNOWN FOR, IT'S A BIT MORE DRUM AND BASS-Y. WE WERE WONDERING, WOULD YOU CALL IT A CHANGE IN DIRECTION, AND WHAT'S INSPIRED THAT? I think it's a bit of a change in direction. 'Die For You' has got elements of my own stuff like the storytelling about relationships and stuff, talking about love but at the same time has got that drum and bass element which I feel like is the direction I chose to go to. When I was with my last label they kept trying to pressurize me into making dance music and EDM which is not really my kind of thing. I tried it out, but it wasn't really working. Once I left my label I thought about how I could approach this with making more up-tempo music, something that people can dance to, without going too leftfield. I THINK IT'S GOOD ON YOU THAT YOU HAVEN'T JUST DONE WHAT YOUR LABEL SAID AND GONE DOWN THE CHEESY AMERICAN EDM STYLE. I mean I've tried it in the studio but it doesn't suit me, that isn't why I started out making music. I have to like what I'm making, I'm not just going to make whatever people tell me. I'm with my independent label at the moment and they let me do what I want to do and people seem to like it. WOULD YOU SAY YOU HAVE ONE GIG FROM THE PAST THAT REALLY STANDS OUT? YOU PROBABLY GET ASKED ABOUT THIS A LOT, BUT YOU DID PERFORM FOR THE QUEEN WITH FLAWLESS... That was one of my stand out shows...it was cool but they didn't let us film in there so I haven't got anything to look back on...I can't show my kids and that when I'm older! That was a highlight for me of course, meeting the Queen, but apart from that I'd say MOBO awards 2009 was cool, national movie awards was cool I got to perform in front of Tom Cruise, Chris Rock...I do actually genuinely enjoy all shows, [whether I'm] in front of two people, ten people or seventy-five thousand, I just love performing. I WAS WONDERING, HOW DID YOU GET STARTED? 'COS YOU MANAGED TO DO DJING AND RAPPING AND THE PRODUCTION SIDE OF IT AS WELL, WHICH IS QUITE IMPRESSIVE. Well I couldn't balance it all at once, that would be too hard! If I'm focused on something I really gotta dedicate my time to it. If I'm working on my EP I have to dedicate my time to it, if I've got a girlfriend...with everything I have to put 100% dedication into it. It was always hard for me to do all three. I started out as a DJ when I was thirteen, fell into producing at fifteen, and then I was doing production for a lot of the MCs when they were coming up, like Chipmunk, Wiley, Tinie Tempah. Then one day when I was about eighteen I wanted to come to the forefront myself. I remember Tinie Tempah had a song called 'Wifey'...one of his first, a song for the girls, and it was like "yeah, this is what I wanna do, songs for girls". THEY'VE GOT TO [HAVE BEEN] THE BEST TEACHERS... We were all at school though, none of us were thinking about chart success or anything. None of us knew that we were all gonna be superstars! WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF THREE YEARS DOWN THE LINE? I think in three years, hopefully my second album will be out, few more major tours, hopefully an arena tour! MOVING ON TO THE CLASSIC GUESTLIST INTERVIEW QUESTION, IF YOU WERE AN ICE CREAM FLAVOUR, WHICH WOULD IT BE AND WHY? I: BUBBLEGUM! M: OKAY! NO HESITATION! WHY? I dunno why, it's just my favourite flavour. Or, Baileys, that's one of my favourites as well...it's tasty. I'm not saying 'cos I'm tasty... awks. OKAY, MAYBE YOU CAN JUST REFLECT ON THAT. THINK ABOUT IT DEEPLY. Yeah, cos ice cream can definitely tell you what you're like as a person...this is deep! Miriam | guestlist.net " It's so much more fulfilling now to create my own music and make my own decisions about things " follow @DJIronik We meet Tinashe, a force of nature who has already achieved so much, yet shows no sign of halting - this girl is reaching for the stars! 7 17 Issue 68 / 2014 HIPHOP / RNB guestlist.net INTERVIEW IRONIK