On The Rise: Gaspar Narby

For most of us, the stereo of mum and dad served as a pretty basic starter kit. Stuck in the back of the car, you might have heard some Fleetwood Mac, Queen, maybe a bit of Sade and some top-forty radio. But for twenty-five-year-old Swiss producer and songwriter Gaspar Narby, his parents went pretty niche.

“CocoRosie and Boards of Canada are definitely some of my childhood memories,” he smiles from his studio bedroom in South London. ““Beautiful Boyz” with ANOHNI was in the car at all times with my mum.”

Narby grew up in the canton of Jura in northwest Switzerland. “It’s probably the most rural and poorest part of Switzerland,” he explains. “It’s very young but it’s a very nice balance and privilege to be able to go back and forth between the intensity of London. I think if I stayed in Switzerland I wouldn’t push myself as much, and if I stayed in London I’d be even more depressed.”

At the age of nine, Narby saw his brother’s friend playing the guitar and was instantly captivated. He tried out lessons, initially hating it, but persevered. In his early teenage years he began to write “cheesy love songs”, and everything clicked into place. “The moment when I started being creative with it was the moment I was like, ‘OK, this is so fun,’” he smiles.

Luckily for Narby, his school came with its own Jack Black-inspired music teacher, who started a lunchtime class called The Rock Band. “We were six the first year, and we just selected an instrument, and then we covered Linkin Park. It was amazing,” he laughs.

Playing in the school rock band taught him how to collaborate, and by the next school year Narby was ready to move on. Partnering with two other students, they formed an acoustic group, creating harmony-driven pop covers. A local market offered them a show and encouraged by their supportive music tutor, they took the gig, earning enough money to record and press an album.

The group ended up selling one and a half thousand copies of their CD in Switzerland. Narby took his cut of the cash, bought a computer and interface, and began producing in his bedroom. “I turned into the bedroom producer with this gear, discovering the endless possibilities of sampling and electronic music,” he explains. “I feel like I’m playing a video game when I’m on Ableton or Logic, it’s just so entertaining to me.”

Narby took a place at Goldsmiths in London to study Popular Music. Already writing and producing, the course helped introduce him to a community of like-minded artists. “Growing up in my part of Switzerland, I was sort of the only kid who wanted to make music, so I felt really excited arriving at Goldsmiths to be surrounded by people who were so passionate,” he smiles. “There are so many people on that course that still today are very inspiring to me.”

It was at Goldsmiths that he met LEES, the guest vocalist on his debut track “Home”. A crisp and discordant drive of melting samples, the song picked up a rush of initial support for Narby and sparked an evolving run of singles and EPs, showcasing his enduring development and broad influences.

After graduating, Narby continued to write and release his own music while expanding his output by working on bespoke commissions, even managing to get a few shows in last summer when Switzerland eased restrictions. “The past two years have been trying to make music for theatre, make music for films, or doing sound design, producing for other people and as much as I can trying to work on this project,” he explains. “In the end I love what I learned at Goldsmiths, but it’s so good to just make music and focus on writing.”

Returning this autumn with new material, first track “Death & Other Things” is a stark departure from the warm and meditative electronica of his previous music. Taken from a new EP, due for release early next year, it swaps the Bonobo and Boards of Canada reference points for a hit of Sufjan Stevens and Death Cab For Cutie.

““Death & Other Things” is probably the first song that I can tell the influence of that acoustic harmony-driven band,” he explains, nodding back to his school project. “I wrote this song on guitar, which was completely out of my comfort zone. I was like, am I a folk singer now?”

Spacious yet intimate, the track opens with the startling confession, “Turned eighteen and told my dad I should end it. It’s downhill from there, I was an old-school romantic.” Narby’s vocal is tender and almost uncomfortably close. Across three and a half minutes he weaves an honest and compelling narrative with a dark wit, accompanied by delicately dynamic production.

For Narby, the track came surprisingly naturally. “I don’t want to be too romantic, but it felt like I wasn’t fully responsible for that one and I had to translate,” he explains. “Sometimes you’re in the zone and you’re like, wow. Then you listen to it the next day and you’re like, this is not leaving the room. But this was one of the surprising ones and it was just super natural and the lyrics came together really quickly. I was like jeez, these lyrics are intense. They’re pretty raw and brutal.”

Accompanied by a video using archive footage from Narby’s childhood, it cuts a powerful juxtaposition between hope and hindsight. Directed by longtime collaborator Theo Le Sourd, their partnership adds another dimension to Narby’s work. “I feel like we’ve been growing the same way but in different industries. We work on each other’s projects. There is overlapping but without the competition,” he smiles.

Alongside Narby’s girlfriend, Lena Vallat who worked as creative director, they shot videos for every song off the forthcoming EP across three weeks last summer in Switzerland. Hustling on a shoestring budget, they borrowed cinemas, swimming pools and even a llama.

Narby speaks quickly and with excitement on all that he has coming up, and if the first taste is anything to go by, he’ll be making mum and dad proud.