Following on from a string of impactful offerings throughout the last few years, Parisian rapper and producer Downfvll continues to ascend with his emotive new single 'Hellos And Goodbyes'.
Bringing back more of that broad and electrifying aesthetic he is known for, 'Hellos And Goodbyes' makes for an incredibly raw and driven listen. With his progressive flow layered across a captivating production from start to finish, he is returning to the fold with one of his more anthemic efforts to date here.
So with the new single available to stream now, we sat down with him to find out more about his origins and what has been inspiring him most over the years.
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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
Started playing the piano back when I was 4 years old, and I just loved it so much. I loved how complete of an instrument it was, and it gave me the ability to start playing around with my own compositions very early on.
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
Well back when I was a little kid, I remember liking a lot of latin music, and classic French songs like Claude Nougaro, Edith Piaf, Michel Berger, Bernard Lavilliers. When I got the ability to listen to more music on my own, around 10 or 11, I got heavily into the French electronic scene with Daft Punk, Martin Solveig, David Guetta, Bob Sinclar and then a bit later got caught up with US and French rap and fell in love with it.
What was the first album you remember owning?
That would be Discovery by Daft Punk, I listened to it a lot for sure.
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
There’s quite a few, it’s hard to say just one, but it would probably have to be ’Shape of my heart’ by Sting. The guitar gimmick is legendary and the lyrics don’t feel dated at all, this song’s one of my biggest inspirations.
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
I want to give a boring answer and say not really, I do get a lot of ideas when outside though. Most of my more impactful lyrics stem from ideas that I’ve gotten either while on the train, or running.
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
At the moment, I’m really really into cinematic ‘epic’ music so musicians like 2WEI and Hidden Citizens, they make tracks that are just awe-inspiring to me.
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
Hard one to answer, right now I’d go with Daft Punk but more realistically, I’d go with NF. His music deals with themes that are similar to mine, and I have nothing but respect for him.
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
Sometimes when you’re in the middle of working on a song, and it’s been like hours and hours of trying to get it to sound right, and you’re about to give up and suddenly it just ‘clicks’. That moment when you can finally feel the vision you had for a song come to life, the joy at that moment is just unparalleled. I feel like it’s such a privilege to be able to feel something of the sort, it’s really something I couldn’t ever give up which is why I feel like I’ll always be making music.
And what is the most frustrating part?
Frustration is rarely something I feel when it comes to music, I would rather say it’s disappointment at times. Especially when you pour your heart in a song, and you just watch it flop terribly and not do well at all. Then again it all gets better as soon as I get a message from someone telling me they relate to the song deeply, in the end I'm just happy to get the song out there!
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
‘Stop giving a fuck’. I remember my earlier songs, I was so inhibited and ashamed to write and have fun with it. I struggled a lot with feeling legitimate as an artist in the beginning, and even today I don’t really like referring to myself as an ‘artist’, somehow it sounds off to me. But as time went on I got less and less concerned with what people thought, and it allowed me to be more authentic not only in my lyrics but also in my music as a whole.
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Downfvll's new single 'Hellos And Goodbyes' is available to stream now. Check it out in the player below.