Grove has been on my list of favourite Bristol artists ever since I moved to the city. They seamlessly blend dancehall and hip-hop into fiery tracks that speak on liberation in hyper-symbolic lyrics (Babylon rotten and I’m bringing heat/we chopping off the hydra, go the lyrics in ‘Babylon Rotten’).
When I meet them at Dareshack, they come in for a hug. During our entire conversation, they won’t stop smiling, especially when they speak about their projects or Audre Lorde. It’s easy to get swept up in their enthusiasm. It’s easy to find their open, friendly and slightly intense personality within their music and see how authentic it all is.
Grove recently finished a residency at the Bristol Beacon and went on tour across Europe. When we meet, they have just come back from a show in Berlin. One wouldn’t blame them if they needed a break. Instead, they excitedly tell me they are working on a new album.
But first, we spoke about their latest project.
You recently did a remix of Hydra, called Hydra Verions. How did that come about?
Hydra is my main project. I got five remixes done by Diessa, SKRS, and NVST, who all have personal stories with me, and I’ve done two remixes myself. It’s always so fun to reframe these tracks that I sat with for a while.
What’s it like for other people to remix your work?
It feels amazing. When I got the first version back from them, I’m like a giggly little kid. It’s fun people delving into your brain, picking little bits out, stretching little bits, it’s a fun interplay.
Diessa is the first person who I started making music with back in 2015. We grew up in Cheltenham together. It was really nice to have their interpretation. With SKRS, I went on this tour in October last year. SKRS was part of the crew, we went to each city as part of a big gang. It really opened my mind of what touring should be, more of a community exercise. He’s a gorgeous, warm light of a man. He makes incredible music.
I know it’s a difficult question but if you had to describe your music, what would you say about it? What inspires you?
It’s music that’s rooted in sound system flavour and oscillates between political and social, using bass, bit of garage, bit of sugar spice and everything nice.
I’m really interested in dub mixing techniques. Being really hands-on with the production and using guitar pedals, putting that through a mixer, putting drum machines through it, various synths, seeing how live I can make a production. Maybe I’ll do a 20-minute jam and whittle that down to a 5-minute tune. I’ve been in a bit of a rut before where I’d sit down and think: I need to make a song, craft a song out of nothing. That can be a very convoluted and not enjoyable process.
Lyrically, there is this essay I read by Audre Lorde, called uses of the erotic. This essay contextualised why I do a mixture of the political and the sensual. She says what we can use as essential fuel to want to change the situation we are in, we have to tap in to the deep pool of love, sensuality and enjoyment as fuel for that change. Not really joy as resistance but joy, love, the erotic as the fuel for change and resistance.
Do you see it as instead of using hate and those dark emotions to use those lighter emotions to elicit change?
There’s definitely an element of that. When making political music it’s so easy to say: fuck those people. It’s important to tap into anger, I think anger is a really important emotion, it’s like an alchemiser, a catalyst. But the ultimate root of it being a deep love for people and the world is something I try to lean into more. It’s easy to fall into hopelessness when anger is so high up on the emotional meter.
I think especially in these times when there’s so much hate online and everyone is shouting at each other, it’s almost like tapping into love can be revolutionary in its own way?
It is not necessarily revolutionary in its own right, but revolutionary when that love is acted upon, when people want to engage with their community more, when people want to build something outside of themselves. I reflected on a few years of touring I’ve done and I’m not sure how much I’ve done for the broader community. I’ve done a lot for Grove the artist but I’m thinking: what am I doing in St Paul’s in Bristol, how am I building bridges there. How can I extinguish the seeds of hate before they get watered? If we’re all in communication with each other, aside from the little black mirror, we can really tap into our human nature, which for the most part is to nurture and care for each other.
How do you think that plays into your music when you write?
I’m really trying to balance frustration and vulnerability. Some of the releases I’ve had before were just frustration, without sharing too much about myself. I think what I’m tapping into now, as I heal more, is bringing that vulnerability and context to why I think what I think. As humans we love stories, storytelling is the oldest, most beautiful art form and I want to become a better storyteller to connect to people more.
You’ve touched on being a part of Bristol. How do you feel as part of the scene here?
I love the music scene here. I love all the little nooks and crannies, I love Strange Brew, I love Trinity Centre, I love Jam Jar. There are so many different spaces, they each have their own musical communities, beautiful committed crew of people who run them all. I truly believe everyone in these spaces feels the love of it.
Are there any Bristol artists you are listening to who you want to shout out?
t l k, they’ve got a project in the works and it is some of the most incredible music that’s come out of Bristol in a long time.
What about you, are you working on anything?
I’m working on an album, which has been a long process, it’s been years. I’m slowly chipping away at it. I’m finally honed into a slip stream of direction, concept, creativity that’s really exciting. Even talking about it now it’s giving me goose bumps. Hopefully it will be out by the end of the year.