Spotlight Interview: UK Singer Songwriter Archie XN Trick

Thank you for taking the time to do this interview with me! Please tell us a bit about yourself and what you do currently…

Not a problem, I find Interviews pretty fun. Open ended question I like it. I grew up just outside London, school was too serious for me and I had trouble reading and writing so weird how things turned around. I was kinda the class clown and just loved to joke around with my mates. I also remember teachers saying ‘don’t encourage him’ ah the good times. I mean a lot of my life is evolved around the music, if I was too be blunt I could even go as far as to say this is the reason for the interview. Studio, Corporate gigs, seminars, busking, music therapy and pitching songs to name a few. I also sell a few vintage books for display purposes, some people don’t really get it but I don’t mind as it all goes into the music anyway.

What inspired you to start creating your own music?

I lived on a mini farm set up and used to have a donkey in the field. I remember my first song being about Adam the donkey, singing along to pre-programmed songs on the keyboard. I’m not suggesting you need a donkey to get your kids creative but it did work. I picked up the flute pretty early and which helped me make my own melodies. From then on it was listening to rap music and using loop stations to make tracks and layer them up, spending days stuck in the ‘loop’.

What has been your biggest achievement so far?

Perhaps I’ll start with a more philosophical answer. In life so far I would say living in a foreign country and learning the language, sorting out my addictive tendencies and focusing that energy elsewhere and travelling while cutting ties to certain things in the past holding me back. Its all a work in progress, kinda like the music.

I was luckily enough to be part of a competition called UK OPEN MIC, where I won Most Original Song in the UK. Its a prize i’m pretty happy with as it suggest originality which is what I’m hoping for and also beating 9,000 applicants is a pretty big deal for me. As I my stage name is Archie ‘XN TricK’ I was last to perform and after a day of waiting to play infront of an audience of 4,000 people the who situation was as surreal as it was exciting.

Oh of course releasing my debut single ‘My Darling’.

What do you have planned for this year?

I will be raising the stakes and just doing all the right things to get my musical crafts as tight as possible and get the music out there. Live performance is important for me so scouting out great venues is a must. I may even go to India for a week to meet up with an Ex out there, the inspiration behind my debut single ‘My Darling’ but we will see.

If you could get the perfect help from an online tax return service, what would they do for you?

Wow, Yes creatives and accounts don’t go. Ok I won’t tar everyone with the same brush. They would be scrolling my social media for all the gigs and taking note. Then I would send them a bin where I had thrown all of my receipts into for the year. Then they would sort the rest out, perhaps a little far fetched but just putting it out there……..

Who are the top 3 celebrities/artists you’d love to work with? And why?

Dead or Alive? Well I’d have to say Eminem, I even tried selling his cd’s aged 8 years old at school so I suppose I was always going to be in the music industry someway or another. l love his lyrical abilities. Mic Righteous is a really great rapper and grime artist who would be wicked to work with.

Lastly a bristolian artist Lady Nade would make a really nice hook as she has a really retro sound, and totally different from my influences but after seeing her live, she’s great.

Take a moment to close your eyes. Where do ideally you see yourself in 5 year’s time?

First thing that came to my mind was a beach, that must be common right?

I see myself with a few tours behind me if i’m honest with a great team around me, creating something that perhaps has not been done before.

I’m not normally one to join the dots but I have found 2 quarters on British streets so America might be calling.

Playing and seeing new places, but still with the same goals and even more focus would be ideal. You have to believe you have something special and of value, so I’m hoping to show that on a much larger scale.

Can you give our readers 2 key tips for staying creative?

A great piece of advice I read was, leave your creative project when you are still enthusiastic about it. That way you are excited to get back to it and have not drained all your resources.

I listen to a lot of motivation videos, as for me I can get blockages that ballon even the smallest task out of proportion. Set time to be creative, turn off all connections to the big wide world they can wait a little while.

If you were stuck on a desert island and could only bring 3 things what would they be?

Some rope, I love climbing and may have to make a hammock high up to protect myself from carnivores, I’m guessing this island is pretty exotic and could have some dangerous animals and creepy crawlies.
Maybe a book on buddhism that way I could just meditate any pain away. A guitar to play some spanish chords while watching time fly.
I would take my chances making fire with wood.

How do you describe yourself in 5 words?

Eccentric- clue is in the name.
I don’t really like this describing word, but i’ve been told I’m likeable.
Funny
Ambitious
98.6% Broadly European (According to my DNA Test Results)

Thank you for taking the time to do this interview with me! Where can we find and follow you online?

Thanks for getting to know me and the great questions. Good luck with staying creative and all your projects folks!

You can check out my stuff as Archie ‘XN TricK’ below.

https://www.facebook.com/ArchieXNTricK/

http://www.thepictaram.club/instagram/archie_xn_trick

Youtube Archie XN TricK