Everyday Grime Founder and Grime Producer Westy is one of the music pioneers of the scene. He’s had music licensed to Vice, Adidas, Puma and BBC. His track ‘Stars’ got signed to Sony and he’s worked with some highly respectable rappers including Hardy Caprio and Sox. We caught up with the man of the moment to talk about his journey so far, plans for a new app, album and offers Westy’s Words of Wisdom…

Hi Westy! I’ve been following your progress for a while, and your work ethic and persistence are 10/10. Can you give us an idea of how many hours a day you dedicate to music? What’s your schedule like?
Pretty much all day, most days – whenever I’m not doing other stuff like updating socials and sending emails for Everyday Grime stuff.

People often say the music industry is hard graft. What about it do you find especially difficult?
It can be hard to get into, as a lot of the scene usually gravitates towards people who are co-signed by others who they like. It’s not always the case though; you can simply work hard and make sure your name gets about, it just takes longer.

It must make everything worth it when you get the likes of Vice, Adidas, Puma and BBC paying and playing for your beats?
Definitely, I’ve still got a lot more to do though!

Are you on music and Everyday Grime full time, or do you work a job on the side to keep things ticking along?
Full-time, I just have to work extra hard.

Tell us about your Everyday Grime app, it sounds really exciting!
The Everyday Grime app will be a social platform all artists and producers can use to grow, collaborate, and do much more… Open beats will be released by the end of the year.

Have you had a lot more bookings lately, especially as festival season is here?
I’ve got a couple here and there, but I don’t have any booking agent so it’s harder to get them.

Westy Everyday Grime

Do you feel like you’re at the top of your game, and it’s just a matter of continuing to produce/release, or do you feel your sound is still developing and are you changing as an artist?
I’m definitely still learning and developing my sound, although some of my music has hit its top level – but there’s always much more to learn and more skills to develop.

What’s your reaction when you hear people say that Grime is dead?
It’s stupid; music always has waves of activeness and inactiveness. It’ll be considered popping and dead many more times no doubt [laughs].

 

What’s your personal favourite release and why?
I’d say ‘Stars’, the beat I made years ago, just because it gave me a feeling that it might be big, and was one of my first ever good beats. It also helped me a lot with Sox, Hardy Caprio and more, who used it and helped it rack-up over a million views. Then it got signed to Sony with the Hardy Caprio song which also led to the beat getting played on Channel 4’s ‘Celebs Go Dating’, as well as being played on ITV, BBC documentaries and more. It did a lot for me, for sure!

Can you ever imagine yourself becoming a radio presenter repping the grime scene on Radio 1Xtra or alike?
I’m not sure; it’s definitely not out of the question. It’s something I’d enjoy doing, although I don’t aspire to do it right at the moment, who knows what could happen in the future.

Are there any future collaborations you can tell us about?
I’ve got a lot of producer and artist collabs. I’m also looking to do an album, so there’s a lot to come, I just can’t confirm names at the moment.

Where do you see yourself in three years time?
I honestly don’t know, but in a good place with many more achievements, beats, and good people still around.

Lastly, please share with us some Westy words of wisdom…
Keep focused, cut down social media use for grafting time, and don’t quit.


Everyday Grime links:
https://everydaygrimeuk.com
https://www.facebook.com/EverydayGrime
https://twitter.com/everydaygrimeuk
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClgpbvI2zfGMs7u2kh7wecw