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Interviews

Fresh off the release of his new single, we caught up with Urple for a chat

Late last month, when Urple released his slick debut single Someone, we were immediately drawn into his rich, sultry sounds.

Now, fresh of its release, we caught up with the artist to chat about everything from recording in a kitchen to how playing in prog and metal bands influences his current music.

Fresh off the release of his debut track Someone, we caught up with artist himself to chat about the new song, recording in his kitchen, and his history playing prog and metal.

HAPPY: Hey how’s it going? What have you been up to lately?

URPLE: Hey! I’m well thanks. I’ve just been working to pay the bills, hanging with friends, and writing music pretty much.

HAPPY: We’re all really digging the new track… could you tell us a little bit about it?

URPLE: Thank you, I’m super stoked you guys dig it! Well it’s my first time with a lot of things, such as singing, guitar, songwriting, and lyrics that are personal. It’s been a revealing process. I definitely have a much bigger appreciation for solo artists now.

HAPPY: We were pretty surprised when we discovered you recorded the song in your kitchen… could you tell us about your home setup?

URPLE: I moved into a tiny one-bedroom house roughly 3 months ago, and the kitchen and the apparent ‘lounge’ room are connected. I don’t have a room or even own a TV, so it’s literally just a desk with my music gear and a kitchen. Convenient when I get hungry or thirsty as you can imagine haha… a very minimalistic house set up.

HAPPY: How are you feeling about the track now that its been out for a little while?

URPLE: I’ve had some really nice words given to me about it which is very warming. I really didn’t know and don’t know what to expect. Keen to polish off these other songs I’ve got hanging around and show the other sides of the project.

HAPPY: You used to drum in prog and metal bands, right? Do you feel like your time playing this genre of music still influences you?

URPLE: Well I know I can’t help but have some what of a post rock influence with tones, lots of reverb, ambient sounds and walls of sound… that stuff just resonates with me. I guess I do have a few songs with no repeating structure which is where the whole “prog” thing comes in but I doubt any fan of prog or metal will like this stuff.

HAPPY: What made you want to go in such a different direction for your debut solo track?

URPLE: I have always loved this style of music for such a long time but always talked myself out of doing something solo. Plus I have always been known for just banging the drums for certain genres which can create gaps between jumping genres and meeting like minded people sometimes. Hopefully this will show another side of me and like minded people can enjoy it. I’m super keen to show some more songs with different influences.

HAPPY: We’re also really digging the video for Someone… could you walk us through the process of making that clip?

URPLE: Well this was also a first time for me. I knew I wanted to do something fun and a bit chaotic with my friends and always thought a drunken robbery would be just that. I came up with the base story line and ideas and angles to film it, but sometimes we would just wing it and then something alright would come out of it. My friends Andrew and Josh Sullivan came up with some cool off shoots that tied the story a bit better. A lot of things just kind of fell into place for props, like the money thats being thrown around is from selling my camper van the prior week. My lovely friend Shan happened to be around with her 1960’s car, and friend Andrew just happened to really want to get into film. I think it came out okay for a super low budget clip. Lots of fun and thats what I cared about mostly during the process.

HAPPY: Are there any other plans in the works for Urple? Can we expect any more new music soon?

URPLE: I want to knuckle down and polish these songs off. I’ve got a bunch of songs that correlate done, but have decided to record some live drums to some of them. I’d love to have it out by the end of the year, play some shows and move to the next sound inside my head.

HAPPY: Cheers for the chat!

URPLE: My pleasure, thank you!

Someone is available now. Listen above.