Harnessed with alluring bass whirs and sultry R&B grooves, the single is a bold statement of overcoming hindsight. Written about realising a situation was only awful once you’ve left it, “Wasteland” offers a dizzying soundscape to reflect the emotions surrounding feeling stupid for letting yourself be in that situation in the first place. 

Having toured with the likes of Metronomy and Christine and the Queens as one half of pop duo Klyne, Ferdous’ own project has already been garnering support from the likes of Billboard, The Independent, The Line of Best Fit, COLORS, i-D, Dummy, Earmilk and Rolling Stone India. As well as Spotify editorial support including New Music Friday and Fresh Finds, his tunes have also been picked up by Complexion on BBC 1Xtra.

What’s your story as an artist?

I grew up in the Netherlands, my family/roots are Afghan. I started making beats around 2003 when my older brother discovered music production software and showed it to me. I never stopped making music and eventually it took over my life. My career in music kinda kicked off overnight when I started doing Klyne, but my physical and mental health declined rapidly the years after that. I decided to start over again and turn back to my essence in music, which is to use it as an outlet to express myself in ways I’m not able to in daily life. I had to rediscover how natural and exciting it feels to create something and not worry about the end result or how other people will perceive it. That mindset helped and shaped me in every way, and it’s my only focus now in what I do.

What inspired this last release?

I wanted to put out a project where I show different sides of myself as an artist and a producer, and where I can be fully honest about how self-contradictory I can be. It took me quite some time to grow comfortable with releasing some of these songs, because weirdly enough it feels like I’m exposing myself. Some other important themes for me were dreams and escapism, that’s definitely something I was going for as a common thread in between these songs – I really tried to focus on atmosphere rather than song structures, and create moments where it’s clear that I’m trying to escape from myself and this world.

What are some sources of inspiration for your storytelling?

Can be any experience tbh, I want to write about stuff that feels very personal, other times I like to step outside myself and write from someone else’s perspective, about things I don’t necessarily understand but make me feel something.

Any funny anecdotes from the time you were recording or writing this?

Not really sry

What’s your favorite place or environment to write?

I definitely need peace and quiet when I write, pretty much zero distractions. For writing specifically I change my environment half of the time too. I try not to sit still in one chair or one room the entire time, I try to lie down somewhere else or pace a little so I can let my thoughts go freely.

What’s a record that shaped your creativity?

Holy shit that’s a good question. So many records that were rly defining for me, but Clones by the Neptunes is definitely one of the most important ones, it completely changed my view on what Hip-Hop and Pop could be when I was really young. Also I will never forget finding Daft Punk’s Discovery, it opened up my world to so much else, it almost made me abandon Hip-Hop lol.

Who is an artist or band you look up to today?

This is a hard one too but I think I’m gonna go with Aphex. 

Any future projects, ?

I want to start doing live shows in 2022!!! Please let me do live shows in 2022 covid!

What is your view on genres and music styles since you mix a lot of them in your music?

From a music lover’s point of view, I think it’s great that we’ve always had a system to categorise music, otherwise it would be really hard for fans to find their own community. But IMO genres shouldn’t be used to confine yourself to one thing and one thing only. I’d be miserable if I’d have to make or listen to the same genre of music over and over again.

What does music and art mean to you?

It makes my life worthwhile and it reminds me to feel.

How would you describe your act in one word?

Expelliarmus!