SEIZEN is my stage name and it has 3 meanings:
4 Seasons- the process of change
Seasoning- to believe in yourself, in your sauce and what you bring to the table
Seize the day- no matter what happens, seize the day. However your day starts, be sure to make the most of it
Background
My love for music has existed since I was a little girl. I used to say to myself that if it wasn’t for my dad, I wouldn’t love it as much as I do. Though nowadays, I’m starting to believe that no matter how it started off, my passion for it would be there. My dad was an avid music listener, playing songs from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and even the 2000’s in the house and in the car on our way to places. I remember whenever him and my uncle would talk about music, they would ask each other if they recall particular songs and their reference would be humming or singing a line from the song. Now here I am, showing my experience with music.
It wasn’t until I was in year 9 in secondary school that I realised my talent as an artist. Back then, I would write songs from scratch, have little jabs and puns here and there when laughing with friends. One of my fondest memories was creating a WhatsApp group chat called Busta Rhyme where me and a couple friends rap battled each other and bantered lyrically. It’s funny though because originally, I planned to do music on the side and be a songwriter whilst pursuing sports. I even thought I could do both at the same time but judging from this, you can tell which route I chose.
Journey
I’ve been recording music for about 5 years and so far I’ve gone to about 5 studios in my search for a place or places I can go to record. My current home is Question Studios in Bow Church, East London founded by producer Qis accompanied by my producer Pb and J3. As an artist, going to just any studio isn’t going to cut it because you have to find sound engineers and producers that suit your sound and can mix your voice well. Mixing is the process of recording an artist singing/rapping to a production, fixing the notes that wasn’t fully achieved in the recording and adding effects. This is why live music and recorded music differ from one another. Recorded music is manipulated, making it perfect whilst live music is raw and performed in real time. Making music means having to deal with disappointing results such as not having the best final mix of your song, having to spend a lot on recording and production knowing that not all of your songs will gain traction. If you do not have the passion for the process, it will always feel like a waste of time because you will not consistently get the results you want.
Process
I’ve known Pb (Producer Boy) for almost a year and we have a great artist-producer relationship, but I also see him as a big brother. It feels like we’ve known each other longer than that. The process we go through for each song in each session is synonymous to meeting up with a friend. Pb has free reign with production of my music as we both share similar personalities and approach to music. Introverted is one word I’d use to describe him and I. It is also one of the reasons why we understand each other so well.
Whenever people ask me what type of music I make, I get stuck with my answer as I am not tied to just one genre. I am versatile which is not a typical occurrence within the music industry. My sound ranges from Afroswing, Afrobeat to RnB, UK Rap, Hip Hop and more. Pb’s versatility in his production has honestly improved my work as an artist. Many people who are on the outside looking in may not know how important it is to have a working relationship with other creatives within your field; in every sort of business, relationships can make or break it.
As I mentioned earlier, I used to write songs from scratch without any production to write to. After some time, I started looking for instrumentals I liked on YouTube with the intention of recording the finished product. Nowadays, I make my songs with Pb. I have melodies here and there that I would record on my phone and whenever I’m lost for melodies during sessions, I listen back to them for inspiration or to include them in the track.
Control?
I believe that artists and producers have more control over their creativity than ever before. It is easier for musicians to gain recognition without the need of belonging to and relying on a record label. Social media plays a significant role in this as it allows access to different types of audiences. There’s room provided for people to be very original and creative. Me and Pb once talked about the rise of independent artists and record labels not being as popular as they used to be. Record companies can no longer decide what is good music and what isn’t.
Having control over music makes it possible to gate-keep and in this case, the process of making it. BTS (behind the scenes) content of studio sessions serve as a bonus to fans, it makes them appreciate the craft more. On the other hand, gatekeeping and deciding to not show certain aspects of music can have its drawbacks. It can let people potentially run with the narrative that what we do is easy and attainable when in reality, it isn’t. Pb once explained:
“Music is subjective, but there has to be objectivity with the subjection”.
What he meant by this is that people can decide what type of music they want to take interest in. In the same breath, even if you don’t listen to certain genres of music, it doesn’t stop you from recognising whether a song belonging to it is good or bad.