The experience of being a successful musician is multi-faceted, so there are bound to be parts that artists like more than others. For Slowthai, one of the least favorite parts of his job is actually one of the most important: Getting in the studio and recording his vocals.
He made this admission chatting with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. Slowthai explained that he doesn’t like recording because there’s often a disconnect between how he sounds in his head and how the recording comes out, which leads to him being self-critical:
“Music is my thing. Yeah, that’s everything. I could say weed, but that is just something that for that minute you’re numbing it for a second, and you’re numbing out and not thinking. But then sometimes my mind is overactive, and I’m just going crazy. So music is the one time I can really focus, and I know, yo, this is what I’m doing. It doesn’t matter if there’s 20 people in the room, 10, it’s me and the beat, and that’s what I need. I don’t lie. I’m one of them people as well. I hate getting in the booth. I love writing, and I love doing it over and over again. But then when it comes to the time to laying it down, I’m like, ‘Laugh.’ Yeah, I don’t know. I’m not hitting it the way… Because in my head, we all have that thing where we see it and hear it one way, and then you’re not delivering it, but then you’re self-critical, so you’re being extra critical. And then everyone would be like, ‘That’s the hardest thing ever!’ And you’re like, ‘I can do it better.’ So it will be like every song is a thousand takes.”
He also praised James Blake’s abilities as a producer, saying, “hH’s just hard as a producer. That’s what people forget, that he comes from a electronic background. As much as he can play and sing, and he’s got the voice of an angel, and he can play with your soul. His heart’s in it. But his beats, I think that everyone underestimates him as a producer. But when you see even his credits, man, the people he’s working with and who he’s worked with, I was speaking to him the other day and he was in studio with this person and that person. I’m like, ‘Bloody hell.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah this tune is hard.’ And he’s just showing me stuff, and saying this, and I’m like, ‘What the…’”
Check out Slowthai’s interview here.