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Interviews
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Blazin' Squad are pop's answer to the So Solid Crew. This ten-strong all male outfit of friends from East London are on the verge of chart success with their debut single 'Crossroads' (out Aug 19) - a slick mixture of R&B and pop.
dotmusic met up with Strider, Kenzie, Spike-E, and Flava during a recent break from their hectic summer roadshow schedule to find out how Blazin' Squad started, what it's like with ten members and what the future holds.
On starting out:
Spike-E: "We all started about three years ago MC-ing as a hobby. We progressed and got better and better. And a boy we knew was doing work experience at a studio so we decided to do a demo and got signed from that."
On getting into music:
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| Spike-E & Flava | ||
Flava: "Basically listening to the pirate radio stations. We just listened to that and developed our styles from there. Listening to rappers in America."
Strider: "Loads of different ones, Usher, Eminem …"
Kenzie: "We're influenced by a lot of rap and we grew up listening to a lot So Solid, Heartless Crew, Pay As You Go - the big garage crews. We're getting into a lot more rap now Dre, Nas, and Eminem. We enjoy all kinds of music."
On how two groups came together:
Flava: "We all lived in Walthamstow - five of us lived in an area called Highams Park and five of us lived in Chingford. There wasn't really rivalry but just mucking about with mates. When we found out we were going to make a demo we decided to go with the 10 best MCs in a big crew so we came together and went down there."
On initial problems:
Kenzie: "Obviously there were a couple of arguments but nothing major."
Flava: "We've all been mates from schools and have known each other for five year, sometime longer so there weren't any serious issues."
On the creative process:
Strider: "We all put ideas in together. We all go into the studio and think of a concept then we go away and write our own verses. We all put input into the tune. It always works out."
Kenzie: "Everyone gets their little bit on the song. We do it fairly."
Flava: "Even if not everyone's on one track, they'll be others."
On making decisions:
Kenzie: "It's a group decision, there's no leader."
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| Strider & Kenzie | ||
On balancing school:
Kenzie: "We got signed in December so we were still in school. We had a schedule and we weren't that busy. When it came to GCSE we knew when to revise. But as soon as we'd finished it all kicked off doing different things every day."
On the reaction of teachers and friends:
Spike-E: "Some were supportive and some didn't think it was going to happen."
On their parents reaction:
Kenzie: "They're probably the most enthusiastic and supportive of everyone."
Flava: "We had to pay £20 each to make the demo and at first my mum and dad thought they won't see that money again but they still said yeah and go for it."
On the single 'Crossroads':
Spike-E: "Our DJ, Tommy B saw it on the TV and thought it'd be a wicked track to cover. We kept the chorus and their bridge and wrote our own verses to it. It turned out mental so we kept it."
Kenzie: "It was massive in America but it didn't do much here so we thought we give it our UK vibe and our style, experimented with it and it turned out good."
On their goals:
Flava: "No.1 single and No.1 album. Everything you could want."
Kenzie: "We like to develop a big fan base as well but we're just taking things as they come at the moment. We don't want to expect too much."
On their future plans:
Kenzie: "Promoting the record and then finishing off the album. Then on the road for two weeks on the Smash Hits tour and we're really looking forward to that."