D Dark - The Quest

He began his music career during the early days of the Grime era where he made music alongside veterans such as Wretch 32, Chipmunk and Tinie Tempah. He is known for his comical approach to music that aims to entertain as well as relay real life issues which he considers as ‘expression in an artful way.’ D Dark is a musician from London who has been developing his craft since the age of 17, he has just released his video The Quest via Youtube which has accumulated over 20,000 to date, he is also set to release his début EP later this month.

The Quest is a brief synopsis of D Dark's music career to date illustrating the reality of musicians giving up along the way but asserts that he is in the scene for the long-haul to a point where he's not evening resting on a Sunday. 

He recalls listening to Nasty sets on pirate radio and then perfecting his craft to a point where he performed in local raves, pirate radio stations and then Channel U and BBC 1xtra where he became a part of the collective U Entertainers which featured artists such as Triple Threat, Bruza, Royal and Krucial. Soon the collective soon fell apart as  they all had their own ideas of making success, some are still doing music and some have ventured off in other directions.   

I thought I’d catch up with D Dark himself to find out more.

‘I've been doing music since I was 12. I always took it seriously but it wasn’t until I was about 17 that I really started seeing things moving which made me take it up as a career’ explained D Dark, when asked how he made the transition between music as a hobby and now a career. He continues ‘I've always loved music and I don't see the point in working your ass off in a job you don't even like.’

I’ve made many sacrifices for my career; I hardly ever go out clubbing, hardly take holidays and have lost contact with quite a lot of people because I’m in studio making my dreams come true. I don't really have any regrets because being successful in life is where true happiness really lies for me and I believe hard work does pay off as all the greats would say.

’My audience are people all over the world who are into all types of music as I fuse many genres together. I appeal to people who like something that sounds original and like to dabble in all types of music. He mentions ‘hip hop, pop, grime, house, RnB and dub-step’ as some the genres he plays with.

’My alias represents me as a person; I use my personality to get my stories and ideas across in songs.  My humorous side comes out a lot in my lyrics, and so does my serious and focused side. I don't turn into another person, I’d say it’s still me but I’m just singing and rapping lyrics of what I see around me and express it in an artful way.
   

 ’I’ve worked with artists such as Tinie Tempah, Wretch 32 and Chipmunk when they were coming up and I’ve also worked with Xploder who is my brother and is doing big things at the moment.’

I think the industry is always changing especially with all the technology we have today. I think it’s a good time for artists in the industry because many are being signed.  We can use the internet, especially Youtube to build a fan base and get our music out there, so it’s easier to do things in today’s music industry. It maybe be harder to get noticed because there are so many people doing it, but not many people have the passion or last long, so it’s all good. If you believe in yourself you can make it happen.

’I have so many inspirations I’m inspired everyday by artists’, he names Lil Wayne, Michael Jackson, Wretch 32, Eminem, Drake and Chimpmunk as a few who have inspired him. He confesses ‘if I name all of them it would be to much, but he continues ‘Nero, Chase and Status, Frank Ocean, Wiz Khalifa, Tinie Tempah, Snoop Dog, Ludacris, Biggie, Cory Guns, Timberland, Dr Dre, Labyrinth, Taylor swift, Red One, Pharell, Ray charles, Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Ryan Leslie, you get the gist, I could be here for days naming artist who inspire me.

D Dark is yet drop his EP at the end of the month which he says will have ‘a lot of great music to come.’ He continues ‘my fan base will naturally expand as i keep doing what i love and continue to create great music for the human ear’

You can now follow D Dark via Facebook , Youtube and Twitter. 

Chey'Elleise - The Neo-Soul Singer Songwriter

Chey'Elleise is a Neo-Soul singer and songwriter from North London who has been experimenting and expanding her craft since she was a child. Currently she is studying a Level 3 Diploma in Music at college, which she hopes will enable her to forward her career and bring something new to the current music scene. 'As Neo-Soul doesn’t sell as much as it used to, I’m going to be singing on more commercial instrumentals' whilst 'keeping Neo Soul vocals’ she said when asked why people should listen to her.

I thought i'd catch up with Chey'Elleise to find out where her career started as well as what she has in the pipeline for 2011 

‘When I was younger I went ‘Susie Earnshaw’s Theater School every Saturday,’ which was initially the beginning of her career. This is were where she learnt ’poetry, street dance, drama, improvisation and performances skills’.

Unlike most teenagers who were interested in going to the local park to play with friend at the time, she took it upon herself to start, or should I say forward her career, she explained, ’ I looked through the yellow pages whilst my mum was out and to find a vocal coach near by. As soon as my mum came home I told her that we had a meeting so we gotta go now! We went along to Michael’s studio - the vocal coach - and I sang ‘Hey big spender’ by Shirley Bassey.

‘He told me he didn’t really coach young kids because they usually are times wasters, but he said he saw potential in me and offered to coach me. I went to his studio every Thursday after school for lessons for two years. Once I’d finished my GCSE’s I started a  Level 3 Diploma in Music at college and have taken of from there’

Like most in any industry she has faced difficulties along the way, but she has managed to learn from them in order to make her a better muscian.’ I always thought I couldn’t sing, so it made me really shy. I wouldn’t sing for anyone, even my own family had to wear eye masks when I sung in the same room as them. But college made me realized I had to be confident in front of an audience. So I started to open up and sing more freely.’

Although, she is a fan of Chase & Status, Nicki Minaj, Wiz Khalifa and Kid Cudi her idol is Erykah Badu because of the 'depth in her lyrics‘ and the 'way she writes her songs'. She is also 'really into my hip hop'. and she 'loves tracks she 'can just sit and vibe to'.

When asked what we can expect from her in 2011, she says 'it should be a very exciting year for me, I can’t say much at this moment, but big things are going to be happening' 

Keep your eyes and ears peeled for more of Chey'Elleise, you can also contact her via Facebook .