We were lucky to catch up with Hounslow recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hounslow, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

This project that I am currently working on will eventually be presented as my first ever solo EP. Since 2019, I have been working with other independent artists and producers to help them create their projects. Doing so, I have gathered certain techniques that have helped me create, what I would consider, sonic individuality. I’ve been nurturing this project since 2021 and now, in 2024, I am ready to start releasing pieces of this project which will create a full sonic story. I am hoping that the interpretation of the story will differ from listener to listener.

This project is very important for me as it is my first solo project.

My first solo EP will be kicked off with my new single, “Lie To You” which will be available March 5th, 2024 and released on ALL PLATFORMS! This will be the first song to kick off the start of the project and my first song of the year! Be on the look out!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma but raised in Oklahoma City. Music came into my life on my 3rd birthday when my Mimi decided to have a little fun at my parent’s expense and bought me a little child’s drum kit. I’ve been playing the drums ever since. When I turned five, my parents moved my younger brother and I to Oklahoma City.

Growing up I was obsessed with music, both listening and playing. I’ve been singing since I was a little guy. In fact, my mom told me that when I was born, the doctors thought that I had a heart murmur, but they soon realized I was only humming. It wasn’t until the 4th grade that I discovered my love for the piano and classical music which encouraged me to begin playing the keys.  I always loved rock and metal, so eventually I started playing guitar in high school.

I’m a fan of many genres of music, but it was in middle school that I developed a huge love for hip-hop and RnB. I started writing lyrics and eventually made the instrumentals for those lyrics. When I was 13, my dad brought home an iMac, and that’s when I started learning to produce using GarageBand. A few years later, I started using Logic which is the DAW I use to this day. Although I am planning to make a switch to Ableton.

Anyway, around that time I had a little friend that liked to rap, so we started writing together. I was producing beats for him and we made an album in my living room in like 2-3 days. And I promise, no one will ever hear it! For good reason too, it’s terrible! But that’s when I truly fell in love with producing which would inevitably bring me here to ATL!

2018 I pack my bags and move 800+ miles to Atlanta, Georgia. I started my time at AIMM (Atlanta Institute of Music and Media) where I studied the drums. At this school I truly became a better musician, all while building my skills as a self-taught producer and song writer. Nowadays, I work with a roster of incredible independent artists and songwriters. I’ve also had the opportunity to work at a few different studios in Atlanta. Through the trials and tribulations, my art has taken me all over the U.S. where I have gotten to meet and work with some amazing people.

This past year I have shifted my focus toward becoming a performer and I have begun performing a live solo set! It’s a multi-instrument mad house and I love doing it! Follow my instagram for updates on live shows: @hounslow_music

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Truly, my only goal is to create music that tells a story. If not lyrically, then sonically. Or somewhere in between. I believe I was put on this Earth to create/tell stories. That is my biggest driver, my urge to create storylines and to share them.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Stop trying so hard to make everything great, stop trying so desperately to make a “perfect” piece every time you sit down to work.

The biggest reason it has taken me this long to release my solo project is because for years I was waiting to create a “great” song; dare I say the “perfect” song (at least for me). And that is what has been holding me back the most. Now there is nothing wrong with striving for greatness, but when it becomes an obsession, or a “must do,” it becomes a hindrance on your potential “greatness.”

Observe, analyze, practice; I believe these acts can lead to peak performance. But as soon as you expect yourself to do something great, you are automatically putting yourself in a judgmental state, wherein anything less than great is unacceptable. Let’s be honest, most of us can’t make something great every time we sit down to work, that is just unrealistic. So I say; observe, analyze, and practice… Just do so from a non-judgmental, un-emotional mindset. Which is a skill in and of itself, it must be learned and practiced.

For example, if you just finished what you believe to be your best song yet, but tomorrow your favorite artist comes out with a song that sounds way better than yours does, what can you do? The emotional/judgmental mind might say something like, “Your song sucks compared to this song…”, “You’re not good enough to sound like this artist…”, “No matter how hard I try I can never get it to sound like this!…”, etc. Whereas the mind that has trained itself over time to be less judgmental and unemotional will observe saying things like, “I can hear that this track is significantly louder than mine…”, “There is much more clarity to these vocals…”, “The bass is very prominent, my track’s bass is flat…”, so on and so forth. These are not direct critiques to your ability, however they are simply observations on what is different. Then you can analyze. For me, that largely involves asking questions to my self. Such as, “How can I bring up the bass without drowning out other parts?…”, which then leads me to listen more critically to the track that simply feeling it is “better” than mine. Searching for external resources like teachers or YouTube videos are good options, but in my experience, my ears have been the greatest teachers. Practice by experimenting with different EQs and plug-ins, comparative listening between your track and others, letting your ears guide you. Tweaking EQs, plug-ins, and levels until your track starts to sound more like the track you are comparatively listening to. Over time, that compounds into a better sound and understanding.

The harder you try to achieve greatness, the harder greatness becomes to achieve. Don’t focus on being the best, focus on being you.

Much easier said than done, but hey,  just some food for thought.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1tWn3I2bo4zIYEUXopLDsQ?si=37A89iZASaWOHGzhi6RqPw
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hounslow_music/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@hounslowmusic5692

Image Credits
Mars Deli, J.M. Wenzel, Jorge Suta, Caleb White, Hannah Milsap