Exclusive Interview with NTHN

NTHN is a British cloud rap artist, producer, and founding member of the indie collective eighteenSAINT, along with Fletcher, James, and Teorstan.

NTHN spent the most of his early years largely listening to emo and metal music, but later became interested by the utilization of samples and production techniques in hip hop music. By editing ancient records and street samples, he began to produce ambient instrumental hip hop, which would become the foundation of his sound as an artist. His dark ambient approach was influenced by Deftones and shoegaze musicians, as well as Cloud Rap and experimental producers Clams Casino, xxyyxx, and Shlohmo, though it took him some time to incorporate his own vocals into his tracks. Only after hearing emo rap artists such as Lil Peep and Brennan Savage did he realize there was a place for him as a vocalist inside a genre that incorporated all of his musical preferences. He began to incorporate vocals to his previously instrumental sound, which added another dimension of expression to his music through lyrics pertaining to his personal experiences that were real and honest. NTHN converts haphazardly captured street samples into layered, ethereal soundscapes using a technique he calls “cloudsampling.” His vocal style is influenced by Oliver Francis and 6LACK, and he utilizes music to combat the stigma associated with men’s mental health and shows of vulnerability.

Signs is a romantic emo rap/alternative R&B single that he created by re-sampling his own guitar and producing/recording it himself. It was inspired by the conversational phase of the beginning of a relationship. Check out the song and the exclusive interview with NTHN below:

1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?

NTHN: Hey, thanks for having me! So, I’m NTHN, I come from a small town in North West England and live in Liverpool. I’ve been making music in some capacity for as long as I can remember; I started learning to play guitar when I was 6 and then when I was around 14, I started recording cover tracks and playing around with new sounds. Later, I started re-sampling those covers and realised the direction I wanted to go in, and started to write my own music. The rest all just happened organically!

2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?

NTHN: I’m completely self-taught. I’m sure if anyone saw my workflow, that would be super obvious haha! I’m glad I did it this way though, it really allowed me to be creative and develop my own techniques and sound. Anything I’ve learnt has been trial and error, or YouTube videos and trying to work out how people achieve certain effects. Really trained my listening skills doing it this way!

3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘NTHN’?

NTHN: I grew up listening to a mix of rap and metal, so these genres have definitely contributed a lot to my sound. In terms of artists though, I have about three main influences: Clams Casino for his experimental production that made me fall in love with sampling, Lil Peep for showing me that there’s an audience for this genre and inspiring me to make the music I make, and Oliver Francis since he’s self-produced too and I love his cloud rap style and how self-sufficient he is as an artist.

The name NTHN is just my name without values – no crazy backstory, just wanted to be true to myself and it suited the honesty and vulnerability in my lyrics. Taking the vowels out just meant I could stylise it a little easier, haha!

4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?

NTHN: I would say the key elements nowadays are the lyrics. I’ve become really open and honest in my lyrics and I think that’s how I can really connect with listeners, through shared experience. I produce all my instrumentals though, so I always take a lot of care in those and feel like that’s another key element that’s important to me. The music I create is somewhere in between cloud rap and emo rap, but I call it ‘cloudsampling’ because my sound is really sample-heavy and constructed from sounds I record in the street and familiar environments.

5. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?

NTHN:

I think one of the best things about music is that it can be interpreted in whatever way the listener feels when they hear it, so I try not to over-explain my tracks or write in a way that’s only applicable to me for that that reason. For me, music is a bit of a coping mechanism, so I write about my experiences and feelings and hope to reach others or break down stigmas about talking about emotions.

6. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?

NTHN:

Music has been and always will be completely fulfilling for me. Of course, now that things are taking off, I’ve been feeling really motivated to keep going and proud of the direction it’s taking, but even if I had no listeners, I’d still be doing it. I think when you do something for yourself and truly enjoy it, everything else – the plays, comments, shares, saves, etc. – they’re all just an incredible bonus that comes with it. Knowing that just one person relates to my music and can get something out of it, that’s enough for me!

7. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?

NTHN:

My creative process doesn’t have a specific order, as I’m always writing lyrics in the notes app on my phone while I’m out, or making instrumentals in my spare time, so often what happens is either I’ll have an instrumental that inspires me to write, or I’ll be writing lyrics and realise what type of instrumental I want to create. Then, when I start to put them together, I tweak parts of the writing or the beat to suit the track and they start to all become one track.

I often work alone with my music, I tend to develop a vision for a track very early and like to work on bring this to life by myself at first. Then, if I can imagine one of my friends on the track, I reach out and see if they’re interested. I love collaborating though and I’m always working with friends I’ve made through music and doing features!

8. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?

NTHN:

I have dealt with quite a few things in my personal life that I’ve struggled with, which is clear from the lyrics I write, but honestly, I feel like I’m in a really good place at the moment. I still struggle with my mental health and still have my off days/weeks but I’m able to deal with it now. Music has really helped with that.

As for struggles with music itself, I think the hardest thing is getting heard and finding an audience; music is so competitive and nowadays, it’s easier than ever to distribute music and you don’t need labels and representation, or even studio access. I’m fully behind having those restrictive elements removed and I think it’s so good that anyone can release their music into the world – after all, that’s what allows me to do the same, but it does make it difficult to be heard with so many artists releasing new music every day!

9. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?

NTHN: I try not to focus too much on numbers, as it can make things too competitive and impersonal, however, I recently reached over 250k Spotify streams on a track and that’s absolutely crazy for me. Over a quarter of a million times that people have chosen to listen to a song I wrote and produced, that will never feel normal – 1k still feels like a lot to me! I’m also really proud of the friends I’ve made through music and the incredible people I’ve met through this. Some of the artists I’ve engaged with or found through creating music have become really close friends of mine and it’s really sweet feeling so supported, too.

10. With social media having a heavy impact on our lives and the music business in general, how do you handle criticism, haters, and/or naysayers in general? Is it something you pay attention to, or simply ignore?

NTHN: Thankfully, I haven’t got to that point yet! I’m not a big enough artist to be getting that type of feedback, so I’ve been feeling pretty sheltered from it. Don’t get me wrong, there have been a few, or harsh criticism when submitting my music to outlets, but to be honest, it’s really helped me grow and develop a style that I’m confident in. I try not to focus on the negatives, my music won’t be for everyone, but I’m just glad that some people do relate and enjoy it.