Joel Compass

Tucked in behind West London’s Portobello Road sits Sarm Studios airy confines, and on the basement couch sits 20-year-old South Londoner (Penge raised if you must know, not Brixton) Joel Compass.

We’ve been told this is his first ever interview, but if he was at all nervous, his incredibly relaxed nature is the perfect disguise. The Black Butter signed artist/producer first came to our attention earlier this year with ‘Back To Me’: a gritty yet slick R&B infused number whose falsetto vocals and thumping beats were accompanied by a heart stopping, glitchy video.

With his debut EP Astronaut waiting in the wings, and a full length album already underway, there is a wild, fire-y excitement behind Joel’s eyes as he begins to share his beginnings, aspirations and inspirations.

When did you first start getting involved in music?

I was at a car boot sale with my mum when I was younger and I saw this little mini keyboard. We took it home and I started playing around on that. Then when I went to secondary school, in our music class, we had this competition where the teacher would play something and you had to play it back to him. It would start off with like one key, then two keys, then three and then all of a sudden it there would be loads of different things going on and I was the last one in the game.

Then I remember, when I got home that night, he called my mum who cam to me and said “I got a call from your music teacher…he says you’ve got perfect pitch – you need to get a piano for him.” My mum was like “Oh My God, I don’t know what that means but that’s amazing.” So I got this piano and I played that.

Then when I got older I heard someone around school beat boxing, and I was like, I’ve got to learn how to do that. So I started beat boxing. Then ended up turning into Beat Box Boy around the school, we’d be in the playground with like circles, me in the middle and people just coming into rap and stuff – that is kind of how music came to be the predominant thing in my life. Through beat boxing and piano.

When did you realise it could be a real thing for you?

That whole breaking bands thing, what people don’t realise, is that it’s not an overnight thing. I see it as a lot of hard work, a lot of late night sin the studio, a lot of work. It’s not just one. Hopefully, I think Wireless will be that moment for me.

How did the Black Butter Records signing come about?

Well I started getting into production, and I was just making beats. Then one day I had this one song that I just thought – I need someone on this, but I couldn’t find the right singer. It either had to be a girl or a guy with an abnormally high voice. So I was like, ok, I wanna try this, at least then I’d have the vocal arrangement so when I found the right person it would be easy for them to just do it.

I recorded it showed a couple of people and they were like: “This is really good, you should put it on Soundcloud.” So I thought, alright, why not – so I just put it on there to see what happened and in the end a scout from Polydor came across it. Then Polydor put me in touch with Black Butter and I ended up signing on that one track. They just got it. They know what they’re doing, they wouldn’t have taken me on without having an idea of just what they were going to do for me. I mean I produce all my own stuff, so creatively I’m set but they take care of everything else.

How long have you been working on Astronaut?

As a producer I wanted to work with everyone so I was making R&B, dub step, drum n bass, left field atmospheric stuff but I needed to find my own sound. It took like 6 months of kind of infusing them all to find that, then the EP came together quite quickly over 2 months towards the end of last year. I’ve been working on my album since, which will hopefully be out early next year..

Who else has been involved in the recording processes?

At the moment, it’s mainly been just me, but I do want to get in touch with the american side of things. I’m doing Wireless Festival this year so I hope after that when I’m a bit more established I can get in touch with those guys.

What do you feel is at the core of your music?

There was a time in my life when a lot of things were going on and I just used to kind of zone out of it,so I think that is a lot about what this record is, about zoning out.

A lot of your lyrical content is quite dark, what experiences do they draw from?

When I first signed it was all about the beat. I wasn’t really thinking about the song, as long as the beat was amazing, that is what mattered. Then over time that changed. A friend of mine, who knows about my life, said to me, you have so many things to write about – why don’t you start writing? I was unsure because they’re personal stories you know, and I’m quite a private person but she explained that is probably what is going to sell, my stories and experiences because they’re genuine you know.

So I write about real things, things that are happening, things that have happened, sometimes I’ll write about them in a universal way, so other people can relate. Back To Me was initially about a relationship I was in, but if you like look at the video it becomes about something completely different. The album won’t be all the bad things that have happened, but the cool things too.

People often compare your sound to the Weeknd, how do you feel about that?

I don’t really mind you know, it’s just a way of summing up something and I guess it’s not really that far off to be honest. I’ve only ever listened to his first mixtape, which I really liked.

When I listen to music, I listen to it quite briefly – never for more than a track or two. I know if I avoid overly listening then there is no way I can knowingly replicate it. I don’t listen to whole albums, I’d rather get a feel for someone than accidentally have their own ideas stuck in my head. By then it’s too late you know, it’s like someone teaching you have to drive wrong, you’ve got to completely relearn everything.

What do you think separates the UK R&B scene from the US?

I think a lot of American music that is slightly left field is slightly left because it takes from an English sound. I’m just thinking about that ‘Take Care’ track Drake did with Rihanna that was produced by Jamie xx. I feel like they do look towards London. But then in the UK a lot of people take American music too literally so it becomes exactly the same. They don’t make it there own.

Was music always what you wanted to do?

I saw some people from school recently and they were like ‘you’re the only one who is actually doing it.” I don’t believe in one person being better than someone else, I think it’s all about pursuing something. I knew I was never going to do anything else, I was planning on going to University before I got signed, but I knew at some point I was going to get here. Not in a boastful way, I just knew.

Where do you see yourself going next?

Well immediately up next is Wireless, which will be my first real performance, which is kind of crazy. Well I’m doing one in Soho first actually, which has even more pressure behind it because all the label will be there, but when I worry I worry in the moment, so I’m not really thinking about it right now.

Then once the album is done I want to start getting into producing properly. I need to establish myself as an artist first so people will know what they’re getting when they bring me on board to work on a record, that will be my body of work, my show reel.

Joel Compass has just announced his first ever show will be at The Scotch, in London on 10 July. Tickets are available here.