DARFOULDS | 'BRAND NEW DAY' - An Interview
With full autonomy over his music and career choices Darfoulds has continued unabated in delivering solid tracks that have captured the hearts of many. He's long since been on my radar to interview and I'm delighted to bring you this today.
Darfoulds aka Glenn, is a producer/singer from Chesterfield UK, After years of producing for other artists Glenn felt the time was right to get his own material out, this spawned the project Darfoulds.
Glenn’s love for 80’s inspired Synthwave/pop music certainly comes through in his tracks, but Glenn manages to give his music an up to date, modern touch. What makes Darfoulds stand out though, is his distinct, extremely dynamic, emotive vocals evident in the 14 singles he's released to date including the incredible 'I'll be waiting' which was dropped on the 7th February to great acclaim.
Forged is excited to have interviewed this man today, it's a great one, take a look!
Thank you so much for coming onto Forged today and congratulations on your new single, ‘I’ll be waiting’ it’s an absolute stomper. Are you pleased with how it’s been received so far? How do you think the release went overall?
Thanks so much for having me. Yes the single has had a great response, you may not know but this song ‘I’ll be waiting’ was released just over a year ago with the same music video, I just wasn't happy with it, it felt like it had so much more to give so took the old version down and completely change the feel to it then re released.
The video that accompanied the track is exceptional. Tell us about the processes behind it and the ideas you had
Thank you. The concept for the song and music video spawned from lock downs during the pandemic, the idea came from people not being able to see their loved ones because of the rules. The story is about a man in the distant future set in a dystopian world, he’s trying to get back home using portals that open at certain times, he’s notified the location by a device but keeps on missing them by seconds. The whole video was shot in a day using locations near my home town of Chesterfield UK, I filmed and edited the whole thing.
For the benefit of those who’re just discovering you, tell us a little about how DARFOULDS came to be?
I started writing and producing my own stuff years ago as a hobby but then started producing other artists music and charging for it, I built my own studio at my home and decided I wanted to do this for a living, to pay the bills while building my empire :) I sang at the weekends singing cover songs, I absolutely hated it, I had no time at all to write or produce for myself, fortunately after a few years my producing started to earn enough for me to stop singing at the weekends, this gave me time to concentrate on my own project…Darfoulds.
What would you say is the most distinctive aspect of the music you create?
Its really hard these days to have a distinctive sound that separates your tracks from others so I guess it has to be my voice? Most of the feedback I get is compliments about my voice which is weird because I can't stand to hear it.
What would you say is the biggest problem you have encountered in your musical journey?
Remaining inspired I think, as do a lot of artists these days I do everything from start to finish…including filming and editing the music videos, take ‘I’ll be waiting’ for instance, this started with an idea (usually the chorus hook) on piano, then I’ll start messing with sounds and a concept for the music, this can come immediately or can take a few days, once that starts rolling I try and finish a verse and chorus musically and lyrically, I find lyrics hard so occasionally my wife helps me and we bounce off one another until finally the guts lyrically of the track is done, then finish the production which normally consists of my wife and kids having to endure 20 odd drafts played on the sound bar in the kitchen, when the wife starts saying “Glenn, I cant tell any difference anymore” that's when I’ll concentrate on mixing and then mastering.
Then starts music video ideas, once I get a concept I can arrange the logistics and locations, I film and edit everything myself including VFX and stuff, once that's finished the track gets uploaded with a release date then starts the pushing and marketing on social media, this kills me…I hate it, then there’s the release…along with that comes the pressure of how it will go down, at this point I've already started on another song and it all starts again. so yeah, doing all that along with producing other peoples stuff and keeping inspired is pretty hard. In fact the last couple of months I've burnt out, kinda back on it again now…phew!
We’re all over here listening to Darfoulds naturally, who are you listening to at the moment?
I have a really diverse taste in music, right now I'm listening to season 14 of Coke studios sessions in India, the production is incredible…really inspiring, I’m not religious at all and I can't understand the language but it doesn't matter, there’s a track called ‘Tu Jhoom’ I swear if by the 4th minute you're not moved by it you’re dead haha. But yeah obviously at heart I’m an 80’s synth guy.
What made you decide to pursue a career in Music?
I never decided…it was a given from being young.
What would you say is the most cherished memory of your career to date?
I think being on stage and singing my own original music for the first time, it was quite recently, people looking at you and taking an interest was quite overwhelming, I felt quite emotional, at one point and had to pull myself together.
Of your entire discography to date what is the one track you’re most proud of? Why?
I have a track called ‘Back in time’ in the track is a vocal loop I created from my daughters aged 5 and 6 singing a melody I composed in the studio, now they are 16 and 17, It’s just nice to have them involved in that way, they still get dragged in the studio and sing backing harmonies to some of my tracks now.
The one movie you’d watch over and over again?
Thats easy…. Bladerunner!! Bladerunner 2049 I love too but yeah the original just has something about it, the music, the feel, oh man I love that film.
Can you tell us a little about any current and future projects you have in the pipeline?
Currently working on new releases but really concentrating on sorting out some live shows, I need to get out there, not sure what format band wise, I don't want to be just a guy behind a keyboard you know?
A message to your fans?
Who’d have thought I had fans, so humbling, I still get giddy when I see people listening to my stuff on the Spotify for artists app or get a notification that someone has paid actual money for one of my tracks on bandcamp so yeah, to anyone who listens and enjoys my music thank you so much, I cant put into words what it means to me, there is a lot more to come!
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