20 Questions with Bewlay!
Kaysha Louvain sits down with the very charming Mista Bewlay as they talk about his upcoming single ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ out on SWND Records May 20th!
Question 1) Hi, Before we start could you tell everyone a little about yourself? Especially where you got your fantastic name Mr. Bewlay from?
Heya, the name thing was super easy.
I’m a big hunk of a man, and ‘Big Daddy Bewlay’ was too much of a mouthful. So Mista Bewlay it was!
Question 2) What got you in to music in the first place?
I’m not sure, I’ve always been surrounded by music but never submerged. Music is a means for me to both create stories and perform, the medium itself is kinda accidental to be honest.
Question 3) What music did you grow up listening to?
I loved motown and post punk... two very opposing genres. I think that sums me up nicely though. That’s what I’d have written in my obituraries “keen eye for melodies, keen ear for weirdness!”
Question 4) Do you still listen to that music or has your taste in music changed?
I don’t listen to post punk as much as I used to, people tend to give you the eye when you put Tuxedomoon on at parties!
Question 5) Did you always want to be a musician/performer?
Oh yeah definitely.
You know how photographers see things differently?
Well everything to me is a performance. Playing characters, wearing outfits, creating stories I love it all. I breathe performance!
Question 6) What do you want people to take away from this new single?
I just want people to have fun. There’s a lot of dire things happening in the world at the moment, so giving people a single about my own feelings feels like such a drag. Instead ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ is two and a half minutes of escapism, maybe you’ll laugh, maybe you’ll dance, maybe you’ll just put it on repeat.
It’s a song about MILFs, I can’t stress how little seriousness went into this single!
Question 7) Have you got any exciting projects/events happening in the near future you can share with everyone?
I do actually!
Can’t say much about it at the moment but new music is coming sooner than you think, plus I’ve been dabbling at arranging my own events which have been exciting. Stay tuned to my social media sites for all the new updates!
Question 8) If you could share the stage with any musician/performer in the world right now who would it be? And why?
Confidence Man are really bringing a new kind of energy at the moment, fun songs and a really good live set.
I don’t think I could keep up with their choreography though.
Question 9) Where can everyone see you perform next?
I am playing a super special show at Club 29 in Cardiff in late June, details are yet to be announced but it’s going to be really special.
Question 10) What are your favourite aspects of being a musician?
Being a musician is really hard, however being able to imagine concepts and putting them into practice is always so exciting for me! When I was younger I would dream of cool album covers, or stage outfits or ways to interact with my audience and now I can do all that. It’s like a dream come true!
Question 11) If you had to pick between being a musician now or 30/40 years ago, what would you choose and why?
Lots of people assume that I’d prefer living in a time gone past, I guess my style and sensibilities reflect that.
But to be frank, being a musician in the 60s, 70s, 80s would have sucked!
Yes, people don’t buy music any more these days but at least I can record and release songs without having to sell a limb.
Question 12) I think sometimes we forget to speak about the great things about being a musician, what are some of the perks of being a performer for you?
Being on stage is the best feeling in the world. Having a whole room dance with you is an amazing feeling, and I love energy, I love movement, I love the dramatic and when you’re up on stage you can really feel that love bouncing back on you.
I have fun with even the quietest audiences, those are the ones who pose the most challenge.
Question 13) We’re so happy to have you on board at SWND, but why join a label these days when everything can be done independently?
I’ve had around seven releases independently now, and to begin with they were very rough and I was really trying to figure out what would work and what didn’t.
I think I've gotten quite good at it now.
One compliment I get often is how hard working I am, and it’s good to know that my releases are considered professional and engaging. However I am a sucker for trying new things and I wanted to see how far my scope could reach with a larger team behind me.
The longer I do this, the bigger my ideas get and nowadays it’s really helpful to be able to delegate some of the work to a team that is just as enthusiastic about my work as I am. SWND gives me the space to offload some of the more nitty-gritty admin elements so I can focus on my creativity.
Question 14) Is there anything that the music industry can do better, when it comes to helping grass roots musicians?
Taking more risks. I’ve been organising my own event the last few months and there's been a lot of hurdles I’ve had to overcome for something that will be over in a single night.
When it comes to organisations who are giving grants or providing funding it’s sometimes best to give a couple of those young people with crazy ideas a chance.
Question 15) Tell us about your experience playing Immersed Fest?
Immersed was a blast! Had loads of fun. The venue was amazing, the audience was great and the event ran really smoothly. It was also a little bittersweet as I said goodbye to my drummer Al Branton and guitarist Mia Duckworth, who are going off to do bigger and better things.
Question 16) Have you had a favourite gig recently? If so, why was it your favourite?
I played a rambunctious show in Cardiff in November.
I brought with me a big flag and handed out bottles of bubble soap for the audience to play with, people kept handing me drinks onto the stage and generally it was all a bit chaotic.
I had a little slap on the wrist due to some unfortunate results from some of my ideas. But you gotta try new things, even if they don't pan out exactly how you imaged them.
Question 17) As an accomplished performer have you got any tips or tricks to any young, budding performers?
Just Do.
Have a thought, then do it.. Don’t go around waiting for the right time or worrying that the specifics aren’t working out. Just Do.
I have some musician friends, who have been sitting on songs for up to a year, waiting for the right time to release them. And friends who talk big ideas but let them fade away every time.
It’s really sad to see, because they are cool ideas and would really add to the richness of the local art scene, but they don’t come about because people make excuses.
I always feel like if I get an idea, organise enough of it quickly enough so that you can’t back down. Whether you pull it off is another question, but at least you submerged yourself in the process!
Question 18) As a singer myself, I am very lazy with the vocal warm-ups and I don’t have any superstitions so I’m curious to know. Have you got a rigid warm up routine? Have you got any superstitions?
Not so much superstition, but I do have a warm up routine that I stick to.
The voice is a weird one, as it seems no one really knows exactly how it works. Every vocalist or coach I’ve met contradicts the others, and so I do what’s comfortable to me.
It does really surprise me how many vocalists don’t warm up though.
I guess that’s my theatre background coming through, I wouldn’t be allowed near a stage without at least some lips rolls!
Question 19) Where would you like to be in the next 5 years?
Right now I feel like I’ve got a really loyal and strong audience, I’m very grateful. So the intro stage is wrapping up and now I can start to play around with concepts. I’m in the process of creating multiple projects which will all eventually link up, that’ll hopefully be completed in a few years and I’m really looking forward to having those to look back on. But within the next 5 years I’m looking to expand myself outwards geographically, I’ve been playing loads of shows in Bristol recently that have been an absolute blast. There’s a bit of a worry playing a new town but everyone I’ve been too has been such a thrill!
Question 20) Lastly, streaming or physical? Do they both serve a purpose or do you wish we could only have one of them?
I do miss listening to my CD’s to be honest. They were a pain to transport around, but it was such a nice feeling looking up at my shelves and seeing a cover of an old classic and thinking ‘that’ll be my soundtrack for the day’. But Pandora's box has been opened, there’s no way that people are going to give up having all music at their fingertips for £10.
I hope soon there’ll be legislation to aid musicians to be paid fairly, but we’ll see. Right now I’m happy doing what I’m doing and I’m not planning on stopping anytime soon!