Do you often feel like music nowadays just tries to fit a playlist? That artists, especially new artists, are sacrificing their uniqueness to just cross the threshold of the music industry? If you’re an artist and are reading this, what contribution do you think you make with your work?
You don’t have to answer all of these questions now, or even ever. These are just some thoughts our #artist2lookout4 and I explored when we caught up. Though he’s still figuring out what his ultimate offering is, he says, “My job as a musician right now is just to always vibe with people, to always set the atmosphere.”
Say hello to South London-based artist, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, Solaariss.
Photograph by Fatima Kamara
With early influences in classical, jazz, African, and gospel music, it’s easy to understand why Solaariss describes his sound as Alternative R&B fusion. He seamlessly blends a variety of musical styles, keeping the listener captivated from start to finish. While he dabbles with many instruments, he is most notably recognized for his saxophone playing. He hopes, however, that as time goes on people will not think of him as only a sax player but more of an innovator, known artistically for all he can bring to the table.
He has composed for the BBC Concert Orchestra and has performed around Europe, most recently at the Lovebox festival and Birmingham Symphony Hall. While he hasn’t toured as of late because of COVID restrictions, he stayed busy last year reflecting (as we all did –amirite?) and creating music, eventually releasing his debut single ‘Up Until Recently’.
With this single, our artist creates a listening experience for both contemplation and release. “Only up until recently, did I know that you needed me” he smoothly sings :19 seconds in, diving into how his relationships have changed since the start of lockdown. The track is an upbeat melodic tune layered in deeper meanings. The message he wants people to take away? “...be there for your loved ones, for real. Friends, family, people who just might need someone, be there for them. Sometimes it might feel draining, be selfless for a sec, there’s a certain type of joy in helping people.”
It’s safe to say that all of his music carries the ethos of ‘we’, motivated by the idea of the collective. When creating he doesn’t consider what he enjoys or what the crowd loves to hear but rather what everyone will vibe to and funk with. A tall feat to accomplish for sure, but one he’s determined to tackle.
We talk about the inspiration behind his name, his start in music, what sounds he’s drawn to naturally, and what’s next for him.
What first got you into music?
From young, I’ve always wanted to be anything & everything, but I was coming up to the age where I realized that you know, you can’t. One thing that I realized in life, especially from where I was brought up, is that the chances of me being a musician in any sense or form or shape was close to zero. But then picture this, I'm young, barely two digits, probably ten years old, and I'm in trouble in primary school. I'm in detention – I'm the only one in class and I keep hearing some noises from outside my class, so I go check it out. Three of my classmates are in the library playing classical instruments. Two of them are playing the cello and one of them is playing the violin, and I was just watching them for a bit, and then they say, hey we're gonna go to lunch, can you look after our instruments? I’m like, ok, cool, cool, cool, cool, I'll make sure nobody plays it. As soon as they turned the corner, I jumped straight on the instrument, I just wanted to see how it sounded. I played it and I tell you, I sounded horrible. Absolutely horrible. But I loved how it felt. I loved the feeling, and I don't wanna say vibe, but I liked the emotion that you could bring out of the instrument, even though I didn't know how to play. So on that day, with my little hoodie up, looking like a little roadman I went into this classical after-school club and I said, hey, I would like to join. 12 years later, it got me here.
Where did the inspiration for your name come from?
So the truth is, there was this one game when I was young that I couldn’t finish: Sonic the Hedgehog (the 2006 version). It's known as one of the worst games of all time – you can even search it up, it's considered really bad because it's glitchy and has poor plot inconsistencies. But as a kid, I never knew that. When I was young, I thought the game was amazing, and that I couldn't finish it because it was too hard. Turns out it was just the game. So, the last boss was called Solaariss, and I loved that name. I was like, I want that name, but it has such a bad connotation to it. But also at the same time, I feel like your name is only as big as how you make it. So I decided hey, If I'm going to take this name and make it mean something, then I'm going to make it MEAN something.
What kind of sounds, vocals, tones are you drawn to naturally? How do they influence your music production?
A lot of the sounds and stuff that I use mainly come from two things: my personal experiences from my journey in life and everything I've been through, and also my limitations, my upbringing. Nigerians, we listen to a lot of African music from back home, a lot of gospel music as well. When I got into classical music I listened to a lot of Bach, Mozart, Tchaikovsky. When I got into jazz, I started listening to more Coltrane and Charlie Parker and all that jazz. But I’m from South London, and South London is like a melting pot of all cultures. You have the Portuguese ward down here, the Chinese strip down there – you've got where us Africans be, you've got the Jamaican shop around the corner. It's just a multicultural area for everything, and everybody's intertwined. I grew up there and sometimes I was just influenced by the things like, you know, playing in the park, hanging out in the summer, that one neighbor playing music out the window, you got someone playing EDM, dancehall music – it’s just all the things that I was brought up with that influence me. And then my limitations – I never really had much. I can only have as much as I can afford, or my family can afford. So, I just had to learn how to be very resourceful with the things that I have. Even with vocals, I couldn’t hit up everybody that I wanted when I was purely just a beat maker, so I had to learn how to do it myself. And if I wanted a certain tone, I’ve had to practice to learn how to get the specific vocal tone. So if I wanted it to sound like four people on the track, I’ve had to practice. It was just about using what I didn't have, and learning how I could make it work.
“I never really had much. I can only have as much as I can afford, or my family can afford. So, I just had to learn how to be very resourceful with the things that I have.” – SOLAARISS
How would you describe the music you create?
It’s all vibes. But the real fact is, the music is very double-sided. I’ve always been drawn to the song ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ by Foster The People. It’s about school shootings, and I didn’t know that until years later. But that makes it deep – I like that vibe, I like having good music that is easy, but if you actually want to sit and listen and ponder what is being said, there’s a space for you to do that. My thought is, as people, we gravitate towards music that we understand more. See if it sounds good, you catch it at first, but when you keep listening to it and you start enjoying it then it actually becomes a moment in your life. So yeah, all my songs sound happy, nice and exciting, but the lyrics and what I’m talking about are much deeper situations or issues that I’m going through in my life.
Which artists do you admire? Who would you most want to collaborate with?
Because I play saxophone I gotta collaborate with Masego. He brought a new energy when it comes to sax and R&B, which I think is really cool. I’d love to collaborate with Anderson .Paak. His tone of voice is very unique. A lot of singers who aren’t really ‘singers’ like that but sing have the most unique tones, and I love that. But above all, Labrinth, that’s my big inspiration.
Like most artists, you haven’t been able to perform live due to COVID. What do you miss most about performing on stage?
All the stupidity that I get up to on stage. I am a dumb guy on stage – a very, very dumb guy on stage. My friends can testify to that. Mainly just because when I’m on stage, it’s a big show and I’m not performing by myself. I always say I and the audience are performing together. So, if I’m performing a song and I see someone in the crowd that knows the lyrics, I’d be like, ok, hey you! come on stage, you’re going to perform right and I’m going to go into the crowd and cheer you on. Or I’ll do a skit in the middle, tell a story. Doing anything to make the whole experience much more fun. It’s a moment and I always want to make it a moment to remember.
What’s next for you?
Next is definitely new music, new merch maybe. When shows come back, definitely some more shows, some live stream shows – we're gonna play around with that. And the whole world that I'm trying to create with my music, I'm going to start developing and fleshing out bits by bits, so by the time a project does arrive it’ll feel like you've been on the journey and you’ve come to the final conclusion, and you’re part of the music, rather than it just given to you like, hey, here's my new song, stream it. But yeah, I definitely want to show you my world and the things that happen in my mind through my music. I think the contrast between the music sonically and the content lyrically - along with its meaning will be very interesting to experience.
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Interview by Rahel Tekle