A few days ago, I had the honor to interview Switch The MC live for Earama.
Always willing to interact with his loyal fans and new ones, Switch The MC appeared, as usual, relaxed, smiling and available.
We talked about his latest single 'CH4' and the freshly released video on YouTube. From the creation of this track, to the recording of the video in this complicated period, Switch The MC answered all our questions!
I invite you to watch this interview (translated below), as fun as interesting where you will discover an accomplished and passionate artist as well as a human being with unlimited compassion and kindness.
First solo live interview for me, it was a great pleasure and an unforgettable memory!
Thank you so much!
Jenny - So we are here today to talk about your latest song. We went to listen to it and see the video.
First of all, congratulations!
Switch The MC - Thank you! Thank you very much!
Jenny - Let's talk about the video first! Wasn't it too complicated to shoot the video with the virus?
Switch The MC - It wasn't as complicated as some people think, or as I thought because a lot of the people in the video were friends of mine. So they were around and didn't really have to travel far. So it was very easy and where I live, we're very relaxed about how much... how many people can be together etc.... It wasn't really in that kind of... eh I mean, the police didn't come, you know, bust our balls or anything. It was pretty chill!
Jenny: Oh, lucky you! You looked like you were having a good time with them, doing that!
Switch The MC - Yeah, it was a really cool adventure. We did it in one day. It only took us a day to film, then the editing and grading and everything else was done in a week. So it was filmed, edited and released in a week or less. So it was, you know, really really amazing for us!
Jenny: Oh yeah! So are you happy with it?
Switch The MC- Yeah, I'm really happy with the result. I'm happy that it's a nice continuation of my song from before, and uh... I'm not sure about "Treat You Right", I don't know if you've seen it or if anyone else has but it was one of the best music videos I've released so far for me. So to have something that follows it up on the same momentum, that kind of goes the same way and everything is done perfectly, I really enjoyed it!
Jenny - That's cool! When we watch the video, really, we can see that you're having fun! You're having fun with your friends and you love what you're doing, we can really feel it!
So I was pretty sure they were friends of yours because we could feel that connection between all of you.
Switch The MC - I think for me it's like I always try to incorporate people I know into the music videos because it makes it so much easier to work with other people and so much more fun! I still have some friends in England who are in the video, but it's all my friends from France who are in most of my videos. And I always try to keep it that way so that we can always have that kind of more... More similar. It's easier for everyone to have that connection and understand what we want to do, stuff like that!
Jenny: Exactly and you can feel it when you look at it! It's really perfect!
So let's talk about the song! How did you create this one? What was the first idea?
Switch The MC - Huuuum .... The idea for this song... A beatmaker contacted me on Instagram and said "I got that beat" and sent it to me... I remember riding my scooter, my electric scooter and I heard the beat and I don't know, the first lyrics that came out were "Yo Yo your girl so clapped" and yeah okay, that's how I was going to go with that song. So I started to go more in that direction and it all came out, I didn't really think the words or what I was saying, things like that, I was just... The beat told me "You need to tell people to stop talking shit all the time, your girlfriend is not far away, nobody is after your girlfriend, relax! Now stop talking so much.". And I was saying that to myself like it gave me that kind of energy, so I think my words described it or I hope they did!
Jenny: Yes they did! That's very interesting! Is this how you work all the time? How do you do it most of the time?
Switch The MC - For me... I don't know how people do it but for me, every instrumental has a feel, every instrumental has its own... without any rap or vocals, it already has its own story. So... when you get an instrumental from someone, when you're working on an instrumental and you're like, you know... you've finally heard the whole instrumental, you kind of have an idea of what the song should be about. And so for me, when I hear an instrumental, I'm always "oh this story"... "this direction with it", because the instrumental should, like it's an artist, the instrumental should kind of lead you, show where you should go, and then you as an artist complete the whole, the whole piece, that's how I play.
Jenny - That's interesting, so when you're writing, do you write straight through or do you, I mean, do you write part of it and then go back and work on it or do you do it in one piece?
Switch The MC - Um, it depends, so um, CH4 was done in one go, the lyrics just came out of me in one go, um, sometimes I end up working on 2 different songs at once, and then I have to take a break on one song because it starts sounding like the other one. So I feel like I have to take a break and work on something else. So what I try to do, well if I can, is work on the whole song at once, if not, I usually take a week or something just to work on all the lyrics because I want... whatever I want to say, I want it to make sense, I want it to fit something. So, um, I always really want to work on my lyrics and then once I work on my lyrics, it's also about placement and timing...
Jenny - You have an amazing flow so... When you write I mean... I'm really admiring it, really because I'm impressed! You have so much flow, I mean it's... so many lyrics to write, so to get something beautiful like that, it must be really hard work!
Switch The MC - It's... um... I wouldn't say it's a lot of work, it's um... Maybe it sounds like I really need to push myself, but for me it's really just um... it comes easily. Like, sometimes I write a song, like for example the song: 'Treat you right', um, I'll use that one as an example, it took me longer to write than 'CH4', because it was a song that I loved, but I just couldn't... I didn't get the words I wanted, and so it was harder to work with. So sometimes I have songs and it's really easy to get the words out and I know what I want to say, and other songs I have an idea of what I want to say, but I have to think about how I want to say it, and it gets a little bit more difficult.
Jenny - Yeah I understand, that's always the problem in art, every creative thing is really like that, it's the process...
Switch The MC - Yeah, the way to present something, or the best way to present something. And sometimes, you know, it makes it easier like one day you could be working on a painting and it could be the easiest thing you could have ever done in your life, and the next day it can really take your head off to make a painting and you're like "Why am I taking so long now?" But it's something I have to remember; it's a normal thing that happens to everyone in this world.
Jenny - Anyway, this one is a beautiful piece of art!
Switch The MC - Thank you!
Jenny - I invite everyone to go and watch your video, it's really beautiful, I loved it! Personally, I really loved it! Um... I wanted to ask you, did you talk about what you're going to do next, are you working on any new songs?
Switch The MC - Yeah yeah, I am, I am! I'm working on a new song, I'm working on a few new songs actually, because I have a new song that's going to be, made only by myself, that I hope to release soon with the video... I don't want to put a date on it, but let's just say in the next few months, and after that I have 2 songs that I'm working on with various artists. One of them is Sam Kays, so he and I are working together on a song right now. I'm hoping it will be released immediately after it's created. So this year, my plan is to release at least 10 songs; that's my goal. So I want to deliver a lot of work this year, quietly release a lot of songs, so I've been planning everything. I'm also working on a compilation with some beatmakers, where they're just going to send me their instrumentals and then I'll write a song for them.
Jenny - It's still a lot of work but it's going to be a lot of fun doing all this, I'm sure!
Switch The MC - I'm really excited to do this, yeah! Because I also -I think my visual side has gotten a lot better this year, and so for me- in terms of music, I really want to push myself, work on new things and touch new spectrums and genres and stuff...
Jenny - Does this crazy virus situation make you think a lot, and therefore react differently about music?. I mean, do you create more, because you look more inside yourself?
Switch The MC - I would say that I'm maybe creating less, because a lot of the music that I've been creating for example, like when I was recording my whole 'Self Medicated' album, it was all recorded at a friend's house, because he has a studio and works as a sound engineer and stuff like that, and so because of the virus, we haven't really been able to see each other as much as we'd like to and that's been slowing down a lot of my future releases and working on the music itself. So right now I'm working on a lot of music at home where I am and we're seeing each other to put it all together, but hopefully in the next few months we can start seeing each other more and working more.
Jenny - I hope for you! I hope for all the musicians!
Switch The MC - Fingers crossed!
Jenny - You need it, we all need it! Thanks for the new song, thanks for working on new things. As we said recently on Earama, music can't be silent! And what is happening in the world today gives us the need for more music, more dream, more... all these creations you offer us, it's really oxygen!
Switch The MC - Everyone is stuck at home. You can't go out and see and eat with others, with your loved ones, your family, etc. And it's so important to have something... Something to stay connected, even if it's not music, if it's like maybe, drawing, painting, I don't really know what people are doing, it's really important for people to have something in their field, to really focus on the energy that you're living with and getting through this difficult time right now.
Jenny - So, on behalf of Earama, we want to thank you, for the time you spend with us, for all this new music, for always being in it. Because people always need new content, and to hear new things. Like I told you, it's oxygen for everybody; so thank you for doing all this, it keeps the music strong!
Switch The MC - I appreciate and also thank you for always being there to support every artist you work with and for always giving us fun things to do like little challenges, questions, etc. It makes us musicians a little bit more fun, and that's something unique and it helps us a lot too so we really appreciate it.
Jenny - Thanks! That was the idea, that was really the idea, to keep it fun and to keep in touch with people and with the musicians... And there's a lot more to come!
Switch The MC - It's good, you know, it really helps us, because a lot of musicians are probably lost with what's going on right now... They're really lost and they're not sure which way they should go. So people like you who are there to help and support artists and give them things to do... And giving musicians a platform to talk about themselves and promote their music and so on. It's really, really important and we really appreciate it!
Jenny - Thanks! If anyone has any questions, now is the time!
Switch The MC - I have a question, actually! I'd like to ask you, how did you get your name?
Jenny - Earama? It's a mix, really it's a mix between "ear" and rama that came from the encyclopedia (I wanted to say panorama but I was a bit surprised by Switch The MC's interest in our name). We were thinking of a name and it just came up! We liked it that way and then it stuck!
Switch The MC - It's really unique, I love it!
Jenny - We wanted something that people could remember, something easy to remember, that's all.
Switch The MC - It's a very unique name, it's very different, you know, it's easy to remember too. So it won't be forgotten anytime soon.
Jenny - That was the thing, that everyone could remember it easily, go there and see everyone, every new musician, like we have a lot to showcase! TV and radio don't help you so we wanted to do it. So we wanted to give the world a chance to discover all the artists because there are a lot of great musicians in this world and people don't know them. It's a real shame so we wanted everyone to be able to share their music and their art with the world!
Switch The MC - You're kind of like our spokesperson, because there are hundreds and thousands of musicians all over the world who are, you know, like in the shadows and not really, even though they're extremely talented, they don't really have the light to show their talent! So yeah, it's a shame!
Jenny - Exactly! So thanks again for the time you shared with us.
Switch The MC - No worries, thanks again for inviting me and I look forward to talking with you again.
Jenny - Thank you so much! Have a great day and again, everyone, go check out this video, it's really amazing, great song! So go for it! Thanks again!