London-based SOLOMON has been experimenting with music since the young age of nine years when he started playing guitar. Instantly hooked, he began performing at 11 years old, and subsequently took his talent to the next level with production and songwriting. However, he only began releasing music in the past few years, sharing clips of his sound on TikTok. Always personal, he instantly formed an intimate connection with his listeners, who hear their own stories through his voice. Solomon has grown a global audience who continuously return to his page for serenades under the blue and red lights of his home-studio. One of these viral offerings is “sore loser”, and luckily for us all, he has officially released it now.
A fan-favourite before it even came out, “sore loser” saw grand success on TikTok and was a key catalyst for SOLOMON’s growing stardom. Following on the success of “Phases”, “sore loser” is the artist’s second release of the year and an absolute acoustic masterpiece of honesty and rawness. Solomon takes us through an insecure love, struggling to open up for a fear of loss, with beautiful and enchanting lyrics. This vulnerability — which runs through the veins of all his music — is further emphasised through the stripped back nature of the song. Without any excess production, “sore loser” lets us into its author’s mind and world.
We talk to SOLOMON about his songwriting process, fan-favourite release, his upcoming project, and the importance of vulnerability.
Stream “sore loser” now…
And now for the interview…
When did you start creating music and how have you gotten to where you are now?
So I started playing guitar when I was nine. My mum kind of just showed me my first few chords, and I kind of just took it and ran from there. I started doing some live performances and open mics and stuff when I was like, 11/12 in my locals and then started producing when I was about 14, and songwriting when I was like, 15/16. And yeah, since then, it’s kind of just been a lot of writing stuff in my room. And kind of just like producing demos. And I didn’t actually start really posting stuff until just after lockdown, like very end of 2020, start of 2021 is when I started posting on TikTok. Yeah, it was a quite fast transition from just like doing my own thing to showcasing it to the world.
How did you find your sound and how would you describe it?
I wouldn’t even say I’ve found a sound, I don’t even feel like I really have one. I just like to write good songs. It’s always come from a place of just me and an acoustic guitar. And I think that’s what resonated most with people. So it’s kind of a thing of, like, I’m trying to keep things as raw and to the essence of what it needs to be. And not flower things up too much with a lot of like production — I just want to keep things as raw and real as possible.
How do you typically write music? What comes first?
It’s usually like, I’ll just mess around with some chords that sound nice. And then I’ll kind of start weaving melodies. I guess melodies and lyrics start just falling into place at the same time, and then I find that it usually turns into a puzzle, just moving pieces around and seeing what lines fit where, starting to tell a story and figuring out what I’m trying to do and what I’m trying to say.
It’s usually based on an intense emotion. Something will happen — it could be sadness, it could be love, it could be anything — and my favourite songs are the ones that just fall out naturally as a response.
How are you feeling about the release of “sore loser”?
I’m excited. I feel like I’m overdue. I kind of had a little moment with it in December. And I was like, this definitely should be the next thing. And since then, it’s kind of just been a case of getting that ready.
How did you write it, what themes are present, and what was the production process like?
I was in an introspective space, thinking back to like past situations and things that have gone on. And it literally just came out. It wasn’t even a tedious process of putting pieces together. This one kind of just wrote itself. In literally maybe 20/25 minutes, I had that first idea and I posted it straight onto TikTok. And it feels like the songs that I write and just instantly post are the ones people pick up on, because they can pick up on the rawness and freshness of it. And it kind of does its thing.
Is this reaction why you decided to release it ahead of your EP?
It was definitely a solid response. I grew massively just from that clip alone. And I felt like it would have been doing a disservice to not get it out. Ideally, I would have liked to get it out sooner, but I’m just relieved that it’s finally coming out.
What does it tell us about your upcoming EP and what we can expect next?
I don’t know if it tells anything. The whole EP kind of varies. This first body of work is just me trying to make sense of all the plans and ideas I’ve had over the years — bridging the gap between the massive concept I have and want to get into, and all this stuff that I’ve been writing and people have been enjoying. I put a collection of songs together that makes sense and ties everything in and starts to allude to what’s going to take place.
It is such an honest track, as your music typically is. How important is vulnerability in songwriting, in your opinion, and how challenging is it for you to release that into the world?
That’s a really good question. I think it’s one of the most important things nowadays. I think people can really pick up on authenticity, and with the rise of AI and synthetic things, people really want to connect with something that’s real. People just want to feel something. And I think as long as you’re writing from a place of something that’s relatable to you, then you don’t need to worry about whether it’s going to be relatable to others — it will, there’ll be people that connect with it. People will ask me for songwriting advice and that’s literally my only piece of advice — to tap into how you’re feeling and write something that means something to you.
And it’s not always easy to be vulnerable and honest. It’s definitely something I’ve just kind of learned. But again, it’s also just been instinctive. My first ever song, when I was around 15/16, poured out at a time I was really pissed off. and I learned how that feels. Because when you’re writing from a place of honesty, it just writes itself. You just channel it and tap into what it is that you actually feel.
I want to start letting people into the process more. We’re looking to start up on Twitch soon and I want to start opening the door. I feel like there’s an air of mystery around the whole thing, which can be cool, but I just like to open things up to people a bit more and let people in and see how I do my thing.
Do you have a career highlight thus far?
I don’t know, maybe just the fact that it’s opened so many doors. So I’ve done a lot more travelling. I spent quite a lot more time overseas, in the US, for example, just working with people, meeting new producers and artists. It really is like a passport in itself. It’s just opened a lot of doors and I’m grateful for that.
What are you most looking forward to with the release of your upcoming project?
To be honest, I’m just relieved to be finally getting music out, because I feel like so many people are fed up with waiting. So I’m just relieved to finally start being more consistent with releases and letting people get a better idea of who I am. Because realistically, the songs that I have out don’t really showcase me as an artist fully. It’s such a small side and it goes so much deeper than that. So I’m just excited for that.