From BIMM to Brighton, Slowe isn’t slowing down

Originally from Chepstow and now based in Filton, Slowe is a producer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter whose neo-soul sound has ganered the attention of fans and record labels across the UK.

Music runs in the family for the artist whose relationship with music is tied closely to her dad: “My dad’s a musician, he’s a drummer so we’ve always had the kind of vary quite musical relationship, always going to gigs.

“I’d always go and watch his band play and sometimes go and sing with them when I was a youngster. It was like, my first introduction to performing was doing karaoke with my dad’s band in the pub.”

This lead to the singer applying and, subsquently, studying music industry management at BIMM Institute in Bristol.

After performing with friends and family in bands, Slowe transitioned to producing music during her time at college.

“For the last five years or so I’ve been recording and producing my own tracks, which led to me releasing my first song in 2020,” she tells Bristol24/7.

Writing and producing music under the moniker Slowe, the singer produced four tracks which she sent off to record labels which led to her debut album being released via Brighton label, Tru Thoughts.

“I was never expecting to a make an album, it was just never something that I was aiming for or thought that would happen,” Slowe tells us.

“But one of my friends from Brighton suggested I send the demos to Tru Thoughts, a label I’ve been a fan of for a while and listened to for years. They replied and wanted to chat and it was mind blowing but they’re really great.

“There’s only ten people on the team and I know them all and they know me and it feels really personal thing. I wouldn’t be able to do it with a big major label, I think it would be too too impersonal and too corporate so I feel lucky.”

The ten track album, titled Where the Mind Wanders, shows off the artist’s heart-warming blend of neo soul alongside her stunning vocals.

It’s no surprise when listening to her work that she names the likes of Laura Marling, Jeff Buckley and Erykah Badu as influences for her music.

Slowe collaborated with visual artist Gina Tratt to create the album artwork. photo: courtesy of Slowe

The album was recorded in the studio at the singer’s house throughout several lockdowns. Due to the pandemic, Slowe’s friends provided the backing instruments via recordings and videos.

How did she find working on such a project by herself?

“I’m very much a homebody. I’m an early to bed, early riser so it definitely suits me,” she laughs.

“I think I want to branch out for the next album and do some more collaborations with musicians in person, because as much as I could just sit in my room alone forever, it’s probably probably not the best way forward for me. But for this album, it’s been great.”

Where the Mind Wanders is not yet released and Slowe is already thinking about the next one.

“As soon as I’d handed in this album, I felt so free so I’ve been writing more songs recently, just because that kind of pressure and deadline isn’t there anymore,” the singer explains.

“So I’m hopeful it won’t be too long before the next album comes out. But who knows?”

With the debut album being a perfectly formed solo project, Slowe hopes to invite some others onto the next album for collaboration.

“I’d love to have an MC on a song as well because hip hop is a big influence for me so that’s definitely on my bucket list, to find a rapper.

“And then there’s some amazing female vocalists in Bristol that I would love to reach out to because my passion is actually not like the singing part, it’s the production so when I get to produce someone else’s vocals, that’s when I have the most fun!”

It’s a well-known fact that breaking into the music industry as a grassroot artist is incredibly hard. A lot of the time, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.

Slowe is also fully aware of this fact: “One of the things that I didn’t like about university was the fact that they just kept saying, ‘you have to network’ and as an introvert, I was oh, no, well, I guess I’m never gonna get anywhere.

“But in a way, it has been the case, for example, I did this internship with another label in Brighton and one of the people I worked with, they were the one that sent me the contacts for Tru Thoughts.

“So if I didn’t do that, I wouldn’t have had that contact and then I wouldn’t have sent my email and then album wouldn’t have happened. You can put all the work in and know everyone but a lot of it is just luck and timing as well.”

Where the Mind Wanders will be released on July 28 on all major streaming services.

Main photo: courtesy of Slowe

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