I caught up with J Smirk ahead of his show at Newcastle's O2 Academy to chat about his slot at Hit the North Festival and his new exciting side project.
It's been a while since you've been on the blog. Welcome back!
You've not been making music for very long but you've already achieved so much! For the readers not familiar with you and your work - give them a whirlwind introduction.
I'm J Smirk, I'm a Newcastle based hip-hop/rap/r'n'b artist. I started making music seriously about a year and a half ago and it's just flown over. I've already had the opportunity to work with so many amazing people. At the moment it's all abut pushing forward and experimenting.
You've been selected to play Hit the North Festival. Although it's only in its second year, it has established an indie-centric sound. How do you feel about playing a the festival as an urban artist?
It's going to be interesting. I think it's really cool that the festival are giving a platform to other genres, rather than just your standard indie and rock groups.
It's also a great opportunity for us as performers because it's a whole new audience for us. People who wouldn't normally listen to us can see what we can do and that's really cool.
There's quite a few artists that make similar music to myself that are on the bill and the festival has definitely chosen some of the area's most promising urban artists. We're not the typical 'Hit the North Sound' but they've welcomed us with open arms and it's great to see that diversity. I hope they continue to reach out to other genres in future years.
Out of all of the UK, Newcastle is definitely the nicest crowd, they're open to anything really. If they enjoy your set, they'll tell you and its always a fun show to play.
In all honesty, any opportunity to meet other artists is fantastic, especially when I get to listen to other local acts , so it's just a pleasure to even be on the same bill as so many talented people.
As well as your music, you're in the middle of making a documentary series. Tell us more.
It all kind off started after having a loads of super deep conversations with people at gigs or studio sessions. I've met some really cool and inspirational people and I just felt like their stories needed to be shared. It's not got a finite plan, we'll release things as we go and we'll stop when we feel like it's finished.
It mainly focusses on mental health and defining what success is within the creative sphere and the various journeys of creating art.
We also talk to people who are creatives but have either stopped creating, such as people who trained or studied to be a professional creative but then didn't make it or life go in the way, and people who are on the journey to becoming a full time creative. We've spoken to people like myself who are in the early days of their creative careers. So it covers the whole spectrum of people who have pursued a creative medium professionally.
We also talk to people who are creatives but have either stopped creating, such as people who trained or studied to be a professional creative but then didn't make it or life go in the way, and people who are on the journey to becoming a full time creative. We've spoken to people like myself who are in the early days of their creative careers. So it covers the whole spectrum of people who have pursued a creative medium professionally.
It fascinates me to see the different outcomes of people's mindsets, there's some crossover but the way people process things are so different and varied that it's interesting to observe all these quirks.
There's no set career path and people's lives go off in so many different ways. You could have two equally successful people but one started their career at 14 but didn't make it until they were 52 and the other could have achieved a lot in their formative years. it's just facinating to see the variety within the creative sphere.
It's a real insight into what success as a creative really is and the mental health issues that are sadly so close to home for many creatives.
Creatives tend to put so much pressure on themselves to achieve a goal or to get to a certain place.
We're our own worst critic and You can want to share something but still see so many flaws. It's like nothing is ever quite good enough and you'll hate yourself for it but that negativity is just part of the drive that allows people to make art interesting.
My friend bought me a piece of art that's a Venn diagram with 'self loathing' in one circle, 'absolute narcissism' in the other and then 'art' in the middle - and it's just so true!
We're our own worst critic and You can want to share something but still see so many flaws. It's like nothing is ever quite good enough and you'll hate yourself for it but that negativity is just part of the drive that allows people to make art interesting.
My friend bought me a piece of art that's a Venn diagram with 'self loathing' in one circle, 'absolute narcissism' in the other and then 'art' in the middle - and it's just so true!
A lot of people have this perfectionist mindset but we've found that it has a different side when you're a creative. When it's art, you end up dedicating all your time into creating something with no real guarantee that it'll be accepted and do well.
It's such a varied and interesting thing to work on and hopefully it'll start important dialogues about mental health and how we can support people.
It's such a varied and interesting thing to work on and hopefully it'll start important dialogues about mental health and how we can support people.
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