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Artist Interviews
Q&A: Trip
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 31 July 2009
After leaving school with a set of A-Levels that spelt out DUDE, Alex Child, aka Trip, began making music and performing on pirate radio. Through a series of chance encounters, he found himself supporting The Scratch Perverts and Killa Kela around the world. His debut single, ‘Who’s That’, caused a bit of a buzz, but instead of running towards it with arms outstretched, and risking becoming the next flash in the pan, he hid away in the studio. The fruit of those labours, Trip’s debut album, ‘ShortCuts’, is released on 3 Aug. Meanwhile, new version of ‘Who’s That’, produced by Does It Offend You, Yeah’s James Rushent, is out now. We caught up with Trip to ask our Same Six Questions.
Q1 How did you start out making music?
Mostly plinky-plonking around on keyboards in the music room at school and making drum beats on the tables in the canteen. I’d write silly little hooks for songs and then phone myself to leave them on my answer machine – so as not to forget them. I still do that. I guess pirate radio, free-parties, spoken word and open mic nights, as well as watching my mates’ bands in sweaty little venues, were all catalysts in me making my own music.
Q2 What inspired your latest single?
Being broke, sofa surfing, signing on, my family, my friends, things I like, things I hate, writers block, impatience, love, hunger, boredom. Oh, and Bono.
Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
I work with different producers. We spend a while getting the backing track into a reasonable shape. Then I take it away and work on the vocals. I always try to get the chorus first. For me that’s the spine of the song. The rest should follow in terms of the content and tone. Then I shuffle the verses and bridges about before recording it. If it’s cool, I’ll play around with different mixes, play it to those around me with good ears and then move onto the next one.
Q4 Which artists influence your work?
Bright Eyes has recently. He’s a rapper trapped in the body of a folk singer. I love it. His voice is so vulnerable. I like Bobby Womack cos he’s a badass. The Wombats are very cool. Ghost Face Killah can rap, as can Eminem. I love Blur, Sinatra, Muse, The Stones, Busta Rhymes, Dylan, The Pistols, Al Green…
Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Please come again.
Q6 What are you ambitions for your latest single, and for the future?
I hope to keep writing music on a daily basis, keep touring, and put a quality album out every year.
MORE>>www.myspace.com/tripskingdom
