Words by Declan Whelan // Images provided by Universal Music Australia 

His third EP in as many years, Heroine is another glimpse at Col3trane’s potential as a future international r&b star.

Drawing influence from r&b (obviously), hip hop, soul, pop, dance music and beyond, Col3trane splices genres like he mixes London and LA slang. Speaking to him, the same can be said of his British accent which falls away on certain words, simultaneously catching you off guard and reminding you of his upbringing by American parents. It’s more humbling than disorienting however, and just one of the many reasons behind Col3trane’s international allure. Capable of churning out intoxicating melodies and memorable hooks, it’s a winning formula as he continues to grow and refine his already exciting sound. He took some time out of his busy schedule recently to chat with us about his new music, and all things from London, to LA and Kazakhstan. If you haven’t already, add Heroine to your playlist and read on for our full conversation with Col3trane.

First of all congrats on your new EP Heroine. How are you feeling about it now that it’s out there?

I feel great. I’m excited to tour it and play it for people and to just see people’s reactions. I think the response to it has been good so far, people are really liking it … I think, I hope [laughs]. Sometimes it happens where you’re sitting on – well it is for me, I don’t know how it is for other people but It might be similar – I just end up sitting on music for so long and after putting it out, it’s almost like a relief. It just feels like, and not in a negative way, like a weight off my shoulders and it feels like something that I’ve been holding on to for so long is finally not just mine, it’s everyone else’s. So I’m excited and I’m happy that other people finally get to hear these songs.

What did you get up to on release day?

I had a release party the night before and I performed all the tracks for family, friends, and fans. That was really fun but I actually had a shoot on release day, like a 12 hour shoot, which was also really fun. I mean, I was super hungover, obviously because of the night before, but it was actually super fun. Sometimes those things aren’t, but I enjoyed that shoot. It was all good. I was supposed to have that release party, a 12 hour shoot the next day and then an 18 hour video shoot the day after that! So that would have been a little bit crazy but yeah nothing too wild. Just working, and being with my family and friends.

You’ve got a bunch of different sounds on the EP. Obviously r&b, but you can also hear the influence of hip hop, jazz and some dance music as well. How would you describe the sound of this project and your sound in general?

I think that at the end of the day, these days, everyone is listening to so much different music. I remember when I was little people would ask what kind of music you liked and you’d have to be like, “Oh, I like rap music, or rock music, or dance music, or whatever”, but now it’s like I can wake up and listen to Kaytranada and Thunderkat, and then in the evening be listening to Miles Davis, and the next day be listening to Playboi Carti, so there’s so many different influences and so many different sounds that come into play when I make music and I’m sure it’s the same for other artists. For me, because I love listening to so much different music, I enjoy making different music and when I make a project it’s more about curating a mood than it is making a sound that’s universal or specific to a genre. So it’s a lot of different things. With what I do, it’s like, expect the unexpected I might make something that will completely spin your head.

You project an air of confidence on a lot of songs but you’re also open to sharing vulnerabilities. Is that something you’re conscious of tapping into with your music or does it just kind of happen naturally?

I think that when I’m making music there’s certain things, certain energies or vibes that I don’t necessarily want to output from myself in my everyday life that feels like a release and feels valuable to actually be able to put that out [on a track]. To be able to share that with people, and you know, share stories about confidence or vulnerability when I’m not so confident in sharing them in real life situations is a beautiful thing. I just like to tap into a part of me that’s not necessarily out there in the forefront in my everyday life.

On previous projects BOOT  and Tsarina, you had tracks titled ‘Tyler’, ‘Penelope’ and ‘Britney’, literally just named after people. Are they people around or do you just find it works for you to write around characters that you create?

Yeah so I like to making characters, and creating people when I make music. Even if I’m not necessarily talking about a person or a specific person. Like none of those are people, per se, they’re characters that I’ve made up that all represent different things to me. I just find it more personal when you connect a mood or a feeling or even a time, to a person and talk about it, and I feel like people can connect to that more.

You said before that you end up sitting on a lot of music. Where did Heroine start and how did you tie the project together?

So actually ‘Divine Intervention’ was the first song I made. I made ‘Divine Intervention’ the day after I handed in BOOT for mastering. So that was August last year. I think ‘Heroine’ was the second song that I made and that made everything make sense to me. From then on I figured out what the project was. Sometimes it’s not about sitting down and writing it out, planning everything, sometimes it’s just making something and everything else just makes sense.

One of the lead singles from Heroine is ‘Superpowers’ featuring GoldLink. How did that collaboration come to fruition? 

So I was just in London and I was in a club and my friend Tiffany – Tiffany Calver who’s a DJ over here, shoutout to Tiffany – she was like, “Yo, Goldlink is here”, and this was like time ago, maybe like a year and a half ago, and she’s saying, “Yo, GoldLink is here, he just played you on the radio yesterday. Do you want to meet him?” So of course I said yeah, for sure. I said what’s up, we kicked it for a sec and the next day I went to the studio. This was around the time he had just put out his album and he had just started working on his new album, he had the first couple of tracks, but I went over there and we kicked it. I played him some joints and I was like, “Yo, when I get the one, I’m gonna hit you”, and he was like, “Bet”. So when I made ‘Superpowers’ I already knew that was the one, and we just made it happen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_dMHgoRxoc

You also teamed up with DJDS and Raye and you work with a couple different producers on the project but once name that keeps popping up is J Moon. Who is J Moon and what’s your relationship?

J Money is the fucking guy. I need J Moon to make my sound. Me and J have been making everything together since the very beginning. He’s like family. Everything on this project is mixed by him, most of the songs are produced by him and a lot of the songs are just me and him. He is a character to say the least. I don’t know else to describe him, but he’s a funny guy, he’s the most talented producer I’ve ever met and a genius, for sure.

How old were you guys when you started making music together?

It was probably three years ago now. So l was like 17 and he would have been 18. Something like that.

Do you remember what you were listening to around that time?

Oh, what was I listening to around that time? I remember J was on a serious Mario flex, like “you should let me love you, let me be the one to…”, and he was really on that, and me and my boys, we thought it was a bit weird [laughs] but I can’t remember what I was listening to at that time. I don’t even know. This is one of those times where I just need to scroll back on Soundcloud.

Music moves so fast now. Stuff that’s just come out feels like it’s been out forever and music from 2017 feels like it came out yesterday.

Right. Exactly. Stuff feels like it dropped yesterday when in reality it actually came out like five years ago.

What’s life been like for you since then? You spend a lot of time between the US and the UK, what are your favourite things about LA and London? 

In LA the opportunities are just crazy, like the opportunity to meet people and connect with people. You’ll be in the studio and then such and such will be like, “XYZ is pulling up, or your favourite singer is pulling up”, and just like that you end up meeting one of your favourite artists and you end up kicking it, and being cool and shit, and that’s amazing. It’s a blessing. And obviously the more that happens, it’s just crazy, the more time I spend in LA the more amazing artists and producers and creative people that I meet. The bad thing about LA is that there’s a bunch of bullshit, a bunch of cap everywhere but that just is what it is. There’s a lot of distractions in LA, but in London I feel like I can really just hone in and be focused on what I want to do and lock in, and not really chat to anyone for a while, which is tough to do in LA because there’s always so much going on. But also London is depressing and rainy and shit. I feel like at the moment I get the best of both worlds.

What’s the most obscure or unexpected place that your music has taken you?

Definitely Kazakhstan.

What were you doing in Kazakhstan?

I shot a music video for my song ‘Britney’ in Kazakhstan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GlWwXYqSlA

Oh that desert scene? I’m with you.

Yeah. It was fucking crazy. It’s like Kazakhstan, right? It’s a beautiful place and the people were so nice and so welcoming, but it’s like, ‘Bro, where am I? I’m in Kazakhstan.” It was cool. The thing with that is, the only thing people know about Kazakhstan is fucking Borat. And it’s so not like that, obviously, and it’s actually a really really beautiful place.

Having checked off your third EP what’s your plan for the rest of the year? 

I’m just figuring out what I’m going to do next. I can’t really talk about it yet and I wouldn’t want to lie to you! But I’ll be touring. I’ve got a couple shows in America coming up which I’m very excited for. That’s going to be dope. And we just announced a European tour for the end of the year so that’s about to go up. But yeah, onwards and upwards; more videos, more songs, more music, more everything! More love and life and prosperity.