Talking Passions: George Ed

Adam first heard one of George Ed’s songs on The Bristol Music Show on BCFM, courtesy of the wonderful Harriet Robinson, and was an instant fan. He decided there and then that he was going to interview George and so a couple of weeks ago pinned the soulful singer/songwriter down for a chat about his passion for music.

Adam Chisman (TP). “As a young boy what did you want to be when you grew up and how did you get to where you are now?”

George Nyandoro (G). “Sports, like any other young boy would. I’m from a big family but specifically I have two older brothers and a younger brother, and most of them were into sports. So when I was growing up I really wanted to play sports, I really wanted to do things like that which was of detriment to me because I think I concentrated so much more on sports than I did in school, and all those little things you do when you’re a teenage boy growing up. So yeah, that was my main thing but I always wanted to do music while I was doing that as well, so it was a case of sports and music. They were the two battles in my head, and I think once I got a bit older and wiser and realised what I was actually good at. So music I think stuck more when I was 17 or 18 and I started taking it a bit more seriously.”

TP. “Fantastic. So did you study music at all?”

G. “No. I did in school for a very short while. I did drama and music in school, quite low-level curriculum stuff, nothing high-end, as in going to university to study it, but I knew the concepts of it and I come from quite a Christian background so there was a lot of music, and gospel music, and singing in choirs and stuff like that. All those little lessons that you get when you’re just in a church, surprisingly enough. Obviously most of the artists like Prince and D’Angelo get their inspiration from church so I always thought to myself that church was my singing lessons. I used to always go there every single Thursday and do my choir rehearsals before Sunday. Those were my lessons.”

TP. “And that helped shape your wonderful voice. Amazing. Well I love your music, it remind me of MNEK and Dornik. Can you describe your sound for those who don’t know?”

G. “It’s so hard. I think I’ve been asked that a few times. I think I always end up veering into neo-soul, and the reason why is it’s such an open genre. I’m not saying pop isn’t open or anything like that, but I’ve always seen it as not like a stamp of r’n’b, electronic, pop.. neo-soul combines a lot of different elements of music. As you can tell with some of my music, you can sometimes hear a bit of house influence, sometimes a bit of r’n’b influence, sometimes a bit of soul. I think neo-soul embodies the whole collection of trying to get all the different elements of music, including hip hop. That’s another one of my things, and I kind of mix it all into one. So I kind of fell into that genre and stumbled into it and that’s why I kind of stay with it.”

TP. “Yeah, I can hear that. You have quite a versatile voice, and I really like the garage remix of heartbeat.”

G. “Thanks, and that was quite last minute. So the guys I work with, T2W, in London where I was from, they brought that one last minute and it became this massive dance song. Now whenever we perform it it’s quite an exciting thing and something people like to listen too.”

TP. “It definitely gets me going. Now we all have people in our lives that help us on our journey and shape us as a human being. Can you tell me about the most inspirational character in your life?”

G. “It’s so hard to thing of one. I feel like there’s so many that end up contributing, but I would probably start off with the top of the chain, my mum, as being the most influential person, as most mums are in everyone’s life. Then we’d go to my brother and his partner, because I lived with my brother from when I was thirteen to an adult, and he’s shaped my morals and values of how I am as a person, because I grew up under his guidance. I ended up shaping my manhood, or shaping myself under his tutelage. There’s other people I could go for and speak of, but I think another important character is my partner currently, because we have a lot of in-depth conversations about life in general, and what happens in society. That actually shapes the music that I make, so I think that she’s also been quite influential towards the character that I am now and the music, especially the music that I’ve recently made. There’s been a lot of conversations in music that’s derived from those conversations. I’d say those are the characters. I know it’s not one person but they are definitely the people that have shaped what I do now.”

TP. “And you said earlier you recently moved to Bristol. Has that influenced your sound?”

G. “When I think of Bristol I think ‘open’. No disrespect to London, there’s a lot of artists from London that I appreciate and like, but London is so closed off in terms of they wanna hear something catchy and they wanna hear it right now. If it’s not on the radio they’re not really gonna appreciate it. Whereas in Bristol you can perform your own original songs anywhere and people are very accepting of something new. I feel like in London they want you to already be established. So I think Bristol’s opened my mind to being open to ideas of other genres, being able to listen to a folk band, and then go and listen to a jazz band, and then listen to rock music. You start hearing all these different sounds and they then influence what I end up doing and all the new projects I wanna do. I’m getting ingratiated and open to listening to all different types of music now, and knowing that I can use all these elements and make my own sound, and make my sound even better, because of how open the city is to accepting my music.”.

TP. “Nice. It’s a good place. Have you collaborated with anyone here?”

G. “Recently, yeah a few friends. There’s a good friend of mine called Luke who introduced me to a friend called Louis who’s also just recently moved here and his friends. They’re all people here in Bristol that I’m going to be working with on the next project. I’m still working with my friends back home in London, and trying to make something new, something a bit different from what you’ve probably heard on Soundcloud. In Bristol that hub has started to grow for me now to start working with different people.”

TP. “Awesome, and it sounds to me like you’ve really found your passion and calling. What is it about music and performing that you love so much?”

G. “I love telling stories. As you can tell on Gabriella it’s mostly a story, and then when I perform it I love getting a reaction, even if I’m in a crowd of a hundred people and I can see five of six people dancing to the song. That makes me happy to know that I’ve connected with those five people. I mean I’d love to connect with the other ninety five people, don’t get me wrong... but even if it is that small percentage it still makes me happy to know that my music has made you feel a certain way, made you wanna dance, made you wanna bop your head. That to me is what music is all about, just trying to get a connection with people. That’s the reason why I love doing music.”

TP. “And I love listening to your music.”

G. “I appreciate it man, it’s so nice to hear.”

TP. “Well I know, as a fellow creative, that sometimes it’s just nice to know you’re doing something that people are enjoying. Finally then, what do you have in store for us over the next few months?”

G. “Personally, for me, the next project that I’m gonna do is gonna take some time but I’ll probably be on a few friends projects. The most recent thing I can think of is.. so the guys who predominantly produced the latest EP I did, they have an EP coming out in about a months time. With that I think there’s going to be a showcase for it, which I think I’ll probably be performing at, and there will be a lot of things happening after that. Plus the shows that I have with the collective of people I mentioned earlier, that I met in Bristol. It’s more a case of performing the music that I’ve just recently made, and also performing on other peoples projects and just getting more involved with other people, trying to network and get as many inspirations that I can add to the next project. And eventually , hopefully, having a world of different inspirations for the next project, so that people will be able to hear it, and listen and identify with it. Nothing substantial in terms of my own music, but there will be a lot of music that I’ll be writing and collaborating with a lot of people on.”

Here’s a feature on Bristol24/7 called Talking Passions. It’s a Bristol-based interview series that hopes to inspire your creative side by interviewing passionate individuals in Bristol’s arts and music scenes. The driving force behind the series is a belief that within each of us is a creative soul with untold capabilities. It’s not always easy to follow your dreams and try to make it work, and it should be celebrated! 

Started by local journalist Adam Chisman, and with links to various Collectives in the city including Liquifyah, The Coconut Collective, as well as Irish online magazine Ceol Caint, Talking Passions comes in two weekly parts, with brand new written interviews on talkingpassions.com and Bristol24/7 and audio interviews on BCFM’s The Bristol Music Show and Soundcloud.  

If you’d like to get in touch with George about his music you can contact him via Facebook or Soundcloud.