Brighton-born producer El Train will take you into his dreamland with his new album And Then We Woke Up, available both on streaming platforms and in vinyl format.

The British-Zimbabwean artist has brought to life the follow-up to Puzzles, his debut album self- released in June 2019. This 13-track cosy project features some of his current favourite artists such as Kallitechnis, Kaisha, Jaz Lund, Fliss or Paal Singh and his lead single is no exception. Indeed, on his new track Feeling Blue, Byulah’s distinctive husky voice dances effortlessly on El Train’s mellow beats ornate with Jackson Mathod’s comforting trumpet that warmly picks you up to slowly ease you into the winter season. 

“I’d been in contact with Byulah for a while after hearing her track ‘2’ with Mom Tudie and I thought this instrumental would work perfectly with her voice. I sent it over. I had called it Feeling Blue before there were any vocals and I think that inspired the song as a whole. 

The first vocal take she sent over was just so perfect and raw that it’s what we used for the final track. I knew very early on that I wanted to get some horns on the track: Jackson is an absolute beast and what he added was even better than I could have ever imagined”, El Train reveals.

PRE ORDER THE VINYL HERE:  https://shimmyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/and-then-we-woke-up 

How did you become an artist?

I had lessons in a few musical instruments when I was younger, but I wasn’t really interested at the time. I think the first time I really started to take a proper interest in making my own music was when my sister brought home the first N.E.R.D. album ‘In Search Of’. The minute I heard that, I became obsessed with how the music was being made. I bought my first bit of audio recording software (which was Sony Acid Pro) and started recording myself playing guitar and singing my own songs (nobody needs to hear that though!).
 

How do you think And Then We Woke Up is different from your previous album?

I personally think that ‘And Then We Woke Up’ is a much more cohesive album than the previous one. It isn’t a concept album as such but the majority of the tracks explore a lot of the feelings that we all felt throughout the last 18 months. On my previous album ‘Puzzles’ I handle 100% of the production, however this was more of a collaborative album. I brought in other musicians such as somebody to record strings, Jackson Mathod on the trumpets, producers Paal Singh and J-Felix to elevate the musicality to the next level.

Favourite track on the record and why?

This is a hard one, like picking your favourite child! For me it changes all the time but I think that the one I always come back to is probably ‘IKWYW’ featuring NDO. I think production wise this is one of my favourite beats that I made, incorporating the hard-hitting drums with a bass synth sound that I absolutely love! Then you add NDO’s amazing vocals on top and to me she sounds like she’s just floating on top of the track!

What is your creative process when writing an album?

After I finished the last album I said to myself I’m not going to do this again for a very long time (that didn’t last very long though!). I’d already started working on new music with a bunch of artists, for my own projects and also for theirs, but it got to a point where I had maybe 5 or 6 tracks that I thought worked together really nicely. This was probably in the middle of the first lockdown and the idea of putting together a project encapsulating this time popped into my head. From that point on, I started to piece together who else I’d like to get involved and deciding which tracks would fit best on the album.

What’s a record that shaped your creativity?

I think there are two that have had a huge effect on me. The first one is one I mentioned earlier ‘In Search Of’ by N.E.R.D. The way they were able to combine elements of Rock music and R&B/Hip Hop really resonated with me at the time I started getting interested in making my own music. Secondly I’d say Kaytranada’s album ‘99.9%.’ I think that album is just the perfect example of what an album from a producer can be, the way he’s been able to create his own easily identifiable sound whilst continuously switching up the genre he’s producing is amazing.

Who is an artist or band you look up to these days?

I’d say Little Simz. Watching her growth over the last 5 years or so has been amazing. I remember hearing one of her first EP’s and just being blown away by how good it was. Her latest album ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’ is an absolute masterpiece and I truly believe she’s one of the best rappers in the world right now. Also a huge shout out to Inflo on the production on that album as well, his production takes it to another level.

Any future projects?

So I’m just in the process of putting together a remix EP of tracks from the album. I’ve got some of my favourite producers remixing tracks from the project which is going to be really cool. That should be coming out early next year.

What does music mean to you?

I think music is one of those things that I couldn’t really live without, almost all my memories are linked to music in some way or another. I love that you can hear a song and it will teleport you back to a place or memory of when you first heard it. From seeing my favourite artists at gigs, to that feeling of discovering a new song or artist that you instantly fall in love with, music is something that is really integral to my life.

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

I find this question so hard to answer but I always say that regardless of the genre of the music I make, it always has soul. There are elements of Hip Hop, R&B and electronic music, so maybe something like Future Soul would work…