Interview: BVDLVD [@BVDLVD] talks new project ‘LUNATIC’ and more
BVDLVD might not be on your radar just yet, but he’s making all the waves in the underground.
Despite being just 19 years old BVDLVD already has the wisdom that any modern artist with success as a goal should have. He already understands not only the importance of him being hands on in the creative aspect but also in the business elements too. With his latest release LUNATIC dropping on the 27th of May, it was the perfect time to see how he’s already 3 studio albums in after only having been in the game for just over 2 years.
Where did the BVDLVD name come from?
It just came about, for some reason i’ve always gone with “BAD(Something)” with all my different usernames over the years.
If you had to describe yourself in three words what would they be?
Unstoppable – Giving – Invested
Your style definitely stands out, what gave you the confidence to go with it?
It took a great deal of refinement in my work to know I’ve got it to a point that I’m happy with. That alone is enough to give me total faith in my own style. A long time ago I was told by a friend of mine that “To get anywhere with this music thing, you have to fuck with yourself heavy before you can begin to be confident in yourself.” Ever since then its been no sweat.
How did you get into music?
Back in school, I would listen to “X” (XXXTENTACION) to get through the stress of exams and life. So i’ve always been into the aggressive Hip Hop scene. But it was in 2018 that I went to my first gig ever that I felt the energy and kick you get out of being apart of the crowd. So I thought it would be even better trying to be the one allowing people to feel that way from my own music. – I can confirm, its mad.
You’re still pretty young and have just dropped your 3rd studio album, what’s keeping you so musically active?
I’m a “keep it moving forward” kinda guy. I don’t really know how to rest. Kinda obsessed with working. Might genuinely be a problem… Like, I would actually prefer to finish working on a music video than eat or sleep and my girlfriend is worried for my health lol. The grind is REAL.
With that you’ve already built a solid fan base, did you expect things to happen like this this quickly?
Honestly, did not think it was gonna be me outta my friendship group to have the highest numbers or craziest fanbase. I know a lot of people in my group who deserve more recognition than they get so I support them where I can and I’m not even bothered if they wanna piggyback off my s**t. All I wanna do is open doorways for people and help people do what they wanna do. Only a matter of time before my people are where I’m at.
People might not know this but you co-produce and mix your tracks as well as edit and direct your visuals, why are you so hands on?
I really wanted to do more than just hop on beats. I wanted my vision to be literally ingrained to every part of the album so for most songs on the album I asked for the stems from the producers and fucked with them to make them that much more detailed.
If you ask my videographer (Jack Whitfield) if I used to be easy to work with he’d tell you nah. We both learned videography together from scratch. We would get hella stressed at the start because I’m so precise with stuff. But it took that to get us to the standard we are at now. We got it on lock now. Power duo. And Jack’s now running his whole life from just videography and that’s insane.
What advice would you have to other artists just starting out based on how things have gone for you so far?
Music is now a two step process you got the music itself and the marketing behind it. Both go hand in hand. If you ain’t marketing, your music won’t get heard. If you ain’t making music, you got nothing to market.
Lunatic just dropped what do you want people to take away from the project?
I’m invested in the music itself. I wanna push the sound of the scene into new areas. I plan to ask all the producers I know to try and produce things like “Drill Metal” or “DnB Metal”, “Reggae Metal” etc, etc and send them to their biggest artist contact they have to really start a wave of new Trap Metal that isn’t just clashing snares and crippling distortion.
Did this lockdown effect the recording or rollout plans of the project at all?
It only really affected the music videos. Since I really wanted the London city vibe with it but with lockdown in place I had to get by with what I had. I bought a backdrop and some lights and made a small photography studio in my house and any outside filming was done no more than half a mile from my house. It was actually really fun working with constraints because it forced me to think of new ideas.
What is currently your favourite track on the project?
The whole thing! When I made the album, if there were any tracks that felt not as good as the last then it got worked on till it did. No excuses as to why one shouldn’t be as good as the last. (In my opinion).
When it’s all said and done, what will you want your legacy to be?
I hope to open a new lane within music scene that will eventually create a whole wave of uniquely stylised artists
You can BVDLVD‘s LUNATIC here.
