We introduce emerging R&B star and fresh prince of the slow jamz, Barnaby.

So summer has drawn to a close but before we wardrobe away our bikini’s and sunnies, we thought we’d transport you back poolside with R&B enigma, Barnaby.

Sexy slow jamz that are more adhered to the likes of Chris Brown or Usher vocals, enhanced alongside a slick pastel palette backdrop all feature within the self-released debut ‘Fresh Made Lemonade’. Wonderland caught up with the newcomer to find out more about his mysterious nature as well as nabbing an exclusive remix of the track via Vacant.

You seem to be somewhat of an enigma. Tell us a bit about yourself?

I’ve spent the last four years or so working behind the scenes, self-developing my music; I wrote this song and it just felt right, so put it up on Soundcloud – the track kind of took on a life of its own. Since then I’ve been working with other producers and writing plenty of new material. Radio One have been playing the track, I have a music video and I’ve been featured on some pretty huge blogs and websites. It’s all still pretty surreal at the moment really…

What’s the scene like in Southampton? Are there any other emerging talent that we’re unaware of?

There is definitely a good musical buzz around there. I’ve kind of missed out on a lot of exploring the local scene over the past few years, by spending them in my little studio set-up, and even now that I’m ‘out there’ it’s been pretty full throttle and I now don’t ever find myself with the time. A good friend of my though – who goes by ‘New Mantra’ – has been picking up steam with his latest single.

Who were your musical heroes as a teenager?

The first three albums I remember asking for, for Christmas one year, were; Linkin Park, Dido and So Solid Crew. Since then I’ve listened to a fairly varied mix of; rock, pop, folk, R&B, post-hardcore, along with plenty of other stuff.

Where do you prefer to write and what has been the main inspiration behind the new tracks?

It doesn’t really seem to matter where I write so far.  The most important thing for me, when I’m writing, is getting into the right mood for the song. Generally if the music is really feeling right, the song will come pretty naturally. I tend to find myself writing about girls most of the time; the highs and lows of all that supply plenty of need for a medium to vent through – songwriting is my catharsis in that respect.

Tell us a little bit more about the single ‘Fresh Made Lemonade’?

Well, I guess it came about through wanting to write a chilled out, summer song initially. I remember being sat outside and the mood striking; I started messing around with an idea and Fresh Made Lemonade just came through pretty naturally. My mind wondered off to the idea of being away on holiday somewhere and seeing a girl by the pool; I’ll let the lyrics explain where that story goes next…

When can we expect more and how is the EP sounding?

We’re letting the writing be pretty open to experimentation at the moment, with tailoring it more towards a cohesive album idea being the next step. I would feel pretty confident about saying that you can expect it to be R&B in essence though, with plenty of my other tastes and influences in there as well.

Any dream collaborations expected on the record? Who would you love to work with?

At this point, there are several UK producers I would really love to work with; Two Inch Punch, SBTRKT, Jamie Woon, Dev Hynes (Lightspeed Champion/ Blood Orange), Jamie XX and Dave Okumu are just a few of the many. In terms of other artists I’d love to collaborate with, I’m a huge Banks fan at the moment – she is incredible.

What does the remainder of the year hold for you and by this time next year what would you have liked to achieve?

Well, Fresh Made Lemonade being released, on October 14th, then we’ll start work on the second single. By this time next year, I would like to have played a few festivals over the summer and have my debut album due for release. I have big ambitions and aspirations for my music, so I’m looking forward to really getting out there and taking myself as far as possible.

‘Fresh Made Lemonade’ is released on October 14th

 

Words: Shane hawkins