GET 2 KNOW: NEONE THE WONDERER

Photo by: Adama Jalloh

Name:

NEONE The Wonderer

(pronounced: anyone the wonderer).

Location:

Wolverhampton, UK

How would you describe your sound?

I guess the genre would be considered as maybe jazz-influenced hip-hop, but then… there’s a big influence of grime in there as well, so… jazz-hip-grime-hop? [laughs].

Could you tell us a bit about when and how you got started?

So, I first started exploring music when I got given a keyboard at the age of about 7 years old. I used to really enjoy trying to recreate some of my favourite things I’d hear, eventually, that was a lot of grime melodies which I’d try and recreate, play and almost DJ using the keyboard. Later on, I started writing lyrics because my brother used to MC – I thought it would be cool to try the same thing out.

I think my first lyric that I wrote, I was about… I remember being in the last year of primary, so that was, what, year 6? I remember going to a youth club and trying that lyric out, it was a scary thing to do but I went for it and thankfully it went down well!

There was production as well. Thankfully, all the background on keyboard meant I had a bit of an ear for how notes can string together. My first beat I made was on Fruity Loops, my cousin showed me around Fruity Loops and I tried to recreate X-Men but turned it into a grime riddim [laughs].

First music/artist that inspired you: 

I remember my first musical influences started with Sam and Dave ‘Soul Sister, Brown Sugar’ and James Brown with ‘Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag’ and ’I Feel Good’. I just ventured around the blues and soul for a long time, getting CDs off my uncle who used to burn them… (don’t tell anybody)!

There was also influences from my mom and my brother… My brother was listening to grime but back when it was called garage, so it had a bit more of a “bubbly-ness” to it and then it turned grimey later on. My mom was listening to r&b – I remember her really enjoying like Tony Braxton, Lauryn Hill, did I say she was listening to jungle? There was a lot of jungle […] and hip hop which was like, Busta Rhymes, Eve… Busta Rhymes was the main one for me – that was the most impactful, because he had an energy to him that I really enjoyed.

What influenced me on the actual creative side—I remember was Mr Oizo, with ‘Flat Beat’. First hearing it from the adverts and seeing the nodding puppet, that just drew me in ‘cos I was a child. I remember seeing it on tape and I thought—I’m gonna buy that! When I bought it on tape, I got to listen and hear the actual intricacies of the production—every 8 bars of the song introduces something new to it and I found that really fascinating. I used to listen to it again and again, and try and figure out what was different each time. It was just a vibe. There was a nice vibe that always made it feel new in every moment, and it was those changes—I think I took that with me when I started to explore music curation.

What are some tracks from the past year that you find yourself returning to?

The track from the past year that I keep returning to is ‘Empower’ by Steam Down. It’s a track that I have as [part of] my morning ritual, because, you know, you have those moments where you feel like you forget how powerful you really are. That song, the words are “…empower yourself with the truth that you are not powerless—you should know, you are powerful.”

The energy around the music itself and everything, it gets you really pumped and rearing to go, if it’s before a show, or just to, you know, get that motivation to go throughout the day, that is my go to song—every time—without fail.

Another for me is any thing by Sault. They have music that just really talks to the soul, really emotion-filled. I remember when I first came across it… I just remember hearing it and thinking that is really emotional, I could have almost cried just from the sound of it—so I dived deeper and listened to all their stuff. I could have all their music on repeat all day, it speaks to me—as a black person, as a person that has felt certain ways in society, it’s that comfort blanket to know that you’re not alone in those struggles.

The one tune you’ve got on repeat right now is…?

Has to be Skiifall with ‘Bloodclarrt Business’. I saw it on Colours and I was just like—yo! [laughs]. It drew me in instantly. I’ve been listening to him quite a bit recently, and yeah, I’m feeling his sound.

Given the times we’re currently in, what keeps you inspired and motivated?

I think, when the lockdown first happened, yeah it was a very scary time, a time of a lot of uncertainty, but I remember a moment in time during the summer where it felt really nostalgic and really peaceful—there wasn’t a car on the road and the sky was just clear—that in itself, I think for a lot of people, allowed them to kinda gain this inner-tuning, to get in tune with one self. Through those moments, a lot of it was family also, and just having those moments together.

It also allowed for more room and freedom to explore creativity.

So, what I started doing when waking up every morning, the first thing I would do was start making music and see what ideas come fresh to me, on a fresh mind […] the more I started doing it, the more I coined it—I called it ‘wake and make’—I gave it the slogan ‘consistency becomes habitual’.

I found myself sharing it on IG stories and people would enjoy watching it—I’d get feedback like ‘I enjoy watching your creative process’ so it inspired other people to then take the same approach with their music to gain that consistency, to keep motivated and it becomes almost like exercise, it’s just what you do with the morning.

What else was I doing… I was making music videos using computer games [laughs] because there was nowhere to be able to go to have the access to film a music video, so I thought—let’s make it with the tools I’ve got. That was quite cool. I made a video called ‘Never Die’, find it on YouTube.

One piece of advice you’d give to budding musicians?

Hm… the advice that I would give is, to make sure it feels right to you. It’s a common thing that musicians will say happens on their journey—they start becoming unsure about so many things and losing themselves in the process. I’d say it comes down to forgetting what you like, what you want to achieve, what it is to you. So—when you make something and you’re like ‘oh that sounds good’, it’s not looking for anyone else to think the same thing, it’s—‘I made this because I like it’.

If you hold on to that throughout everything you do, they’ll be no room for doubt—it’s just your creations that you are sharing and those who like it will like it, those who don’t, aren’t for you to please.

Lastly, any new projects you’re currently working on that we can look forward to this year?

So this year will be a good year for music. I’m working on quite a few collaborations with various artists such as Big Head Mode, Michael Bird, Call Me Unique, Lady Sanity and many more.

I’m also working on my own EP which is gonna be themed around the 70s blaxploitation era, it’s gonna be quite enjoyable. I’ve had fun working on it so I know people are gonna enjoy it.

Hm… there maybe even more after that, we’ll see how it goes.