Soul, funk and R&B seem to revive themselves every few years whether it be in hip-hop, electronica or indie music. It is a welcome longevity that doesn’t come as much of a surprise given the breadth of those genres’ influence. A batch of electronic producers from collectives like Soulection, HW&W and FlowFi have been leading the latest revival melding elements of EDM and hip-hop with soul and ’90s R&B influences in what’s been referred to as Future Bounce and Emotional Dance Music.
Over the last 6 months or so, UK producer Sunil Heera, aka XO, has been building quite the audience on his SoundCloud with his unique R&Bounce style. Although it certainly fits with the current direction of electronic music, his sound has broader influences in house and garage reflecting a diverse musical background. His latest single “Through the Night,” off his upcoming debut EP of the same name, serves as a perfect introduction to XO’s music. The bouncy, soulful and sexy production on the cut match RobLaw‘s voice to perfection in part because XO also works closely with his vocalists in the songwriting process.
Get to know this up ‘n coming talent in our exclusive interview below. Through the Night drops on December 1st and can be pre-ordered via iTunes HERE.
TMN: What is your first musical memory? And when/how did you get into making music?
XO: Hmmm, probably dancing around my living room to the Spice Girls with my older sister, I must’ve been like 3/4 years old or something, don’t judge me.
I’ve always been a music fanatic for as long as I can remember, so I guess the initial interest in actually making my own stemmed from there. I started producing casually in my early high school years, purely out of curiosity I suppose. The idea of creating music from my own bedroom intrigued me, so I thought I’d give it a little go! A couple of years later, once I’d reached a point of consistency with my production skills, I started out as XO and after a period of self discovery, here I am!
TMN: You seem to be pretty involved past just the production of your tracks. How did you go about constructing “Through the Night”? What’s your collaboration approach with vocalists more broadly?
My collaboration approach with most vocalists is similar to the one I’ve just described, I like to get an initial idea first of all, and then build and refine it with them. Although, there’s no set procedure to how these things work, every song you write or produce is different – going with the flow is the best thing to do.
