When Troy. and Três Chill met back in 2021, they clicked instantly. They were on the production team of an album for Azekel, a long-time friend and colleague of both, and realised they shared quite a lot. “We decided to collaborate on music and within a year, that evolved into Afterz,” they share with us.
It wasn’t until last year that they started to put out music together, and now, that fruitful collaboration has bloomed as The Midnight Cafe, a seven-track EP that’s as sensual as it is experimental. Or, as they put it, “captures our very essence. It’s about how we feel, think, and see the world around us. It’s our music.” Today we sit down with them to discuss their creative process, Voltaire, improvisation, and future projects.
Hey guys, nice to speak with you. To break the ice, could you please introduce each other to get to know you?
Troy. is a British-Nigerian singer, songwriter, rapper and multigenre record producer and software developer. Três Chill is a Ghanaian/Nigerian/British visual artist, creative director, singer, songwriter, rapper, multigenre record producer and DJ.
When and how did you two meet? And how did you come up with the idea to work together as Afterz?
We met in 2021 whilst working on Azekel’s Analyze Love album. We were both part of the production team for the album and realised we had a lot of creative synergies. Naturally, we decided to collaborate on music and within a year, that evolved into Afterz. We’re both very experimental musically, and we wanted to create a sound that was both original and authentic.
I find your music quite sensual. It’s soft, soothing, and I want to listen to it in a dimly-lit room with nice leather sofas and people smoking around me. Do you feel there’s an ideal way to listen to it?
(Laughs) We couldn’t agree more! A lot of people have mentioned that the music is quite sensual and ethereal. Although of course we would want listeners to be able to enjoy listening anywhere and anytime, the music was originally designed to be played at any after party.
On the other hand, what’s your perfect setup to work, both when you’re writing at home or when you’re recording in the studio?
We work mostly in our studio in West London, but we’ve produced and recorded in different locations. For example, we made Priceless whilst we were at a party, and we worked on Voltaire remotely — Três was in London and Troy. was in Barcelona, but the idea for the track came to us whilst we were on the phone and we had to lock in.
Tell us more about the creative process of putting The Midnight Cafe together. When did you first think about making it, and what’s the process been like?
The Midnight Cafe is a conceptual body of work that captures our very essence. It’s about how we feel, think, and see the world around us. It’s our music. It’s Afterz music. We worked on the project over the past year across different cities. Every track is based on our experiences, and is very personal to us. The goal was to translate our ideas into something experimental and unique to us. One of the key concepts was to merge sounds and genres that wouldn’t intuitively fit together. For example, Acid (Florentina) has an R&B feel to it, with indie guitars, Latin guitars and afro house drums.
We usually like to begin by making the instrumentals, and then write and record the lyrics afterwards. We collaborated with Hugo Cottu from the band Yuuf on six of the records, and we spent a lot of time working with him at his studio in London. Hugo played an important role in the creation of the sound for this project. Another person we coproduced with is Nurse, who did some really interesting work on Unusual Suspects. He has a unique approach making music and it’s always a lot of fun working with him. J Rick also added some production to Midnight Cafe, which really elevated the track.
We had the idea for the project a year ago, and we spent the following months refining and improving the sound. It has undergone many different iterations over that period of time. It has been a very exhausting but rewarding process: we made over twenty songs for this project originally, before cutting it down to seven. We worked for many hours on every detail from the snares to the artwork, which was designed by Haya Morowa, one of our favourite artists.
We usually like to begin by making the instrumentals, and then write and record the lyrics afterwards. We collaborated with Hugo Cottu from the band Yuuf on six of the records, and we spent a lot of time working with him at his studio in London. Hugo played an important role in the creation of the sound for this project. Another person we coproduced with is Nurse, who did some really interesting work on Unusual Suspects. He has a unique approach making music and it’s always a lot of fun working with him. J Rick also added some production to Midnight Cafe, which really elevated the track.
We had the idea for the project a year ago, and we spent the following months refining and improving the sound. It has undergone many different iterations over that period of time. It has been a very exhausting but rewarding process: we made over twenty songs for this project originally, before cutting it down to seven. We worked for many hours on every detail from the snares to the artwork, which was designed by Haya Morowa, one of our favourite artists.
How much does improvisation come into play when you’re working and performing? Are you more strict planners or free-flow-ers?
It’s honestly a bit of both. We love to take our time to plan and execute ideas, but sometimes our music creation is also very spontaneous. In the end we always arrive at the same result, but we tend to lean towards spontaneity because that fits our personalities and our erratic ideas. Working between different spaces and locations is also a catalyst for improvisation.
For example, we really like our friend Noemi’s voice. Whilst we were visiting Spain, we thought it could be interesting to have her record some words in Spanish for the intro of Acid (Florentina). So we recorded her, and her section really helped to give a cinematic feeling to the song.
For example, we really like our friend Noemi’s voice. Whilst we were visiting Spain, we thought it could be interesting to have her record some words in Spanish for the intro of Acid (Florentina). So we recorded her, and her section really helped to give a cinematic feeling to the song.
One song is titled The Unusual Suspects. I don’t know if it’s related to that, but there’s a tendency for racists to comment on videos of Black (or other POC) people committing crimes or not behaving ‘well’: “The usual suspects,” implying that it’s always non-whites who commit crimes. So I guess you’re trying to subvert that. Am I close, or way off?
To be fair, thinking about it now, we can see how you could arrive at that conclusion. However, the title comes from us being counted out, not being included, and people trying to make us feel like we’re not enough. As we’ve been putting out more records, we’ve noticed that people are starting to relate to our music. Not a lot of people expected us to make the music we’re making right now, and that’s why we feel like the unusual suspects. We’re also both big movie nerds, and the title is also a reference to the movie The Usual Suspects, which is one of our favourite films. There are also a couple other subtle cinema references on the EP as well.
The song was the first single off of the EP. Do you think it encapsulates the record’s spirit the best?
Absolutely. One of the main themes of the song is the idea of highs and lows in life, and we wanted the journey of the EP to cover a wide range of emotions. Musically, Elodie’s melodies and lyrics capture the wider indie rock influence of the project’s sound.
Another song is titled Voltaire. After the French author? What connection do you feel to his work and philosophy?
Yep, it was named after him. Voltaire was one of the best writers of his time, and we were both happy with how we approached this song lyrically. We wanted to give the track an iconic title. Três spent time growing up in France as well, so there was also a connection there. We definitely relate to his work in that he was very versatile, and that’s something that we always try to channel and embody with our sound.
Let’s discuss the features. You’ve worked with Azekel and Elodie Gervaisie. What attracted you to them, and how do you feel their sound enhanced your own?
Azekel is a friend and long-time colleague. We’ve worked with him on a lot of music and creative projects over the past few years. He’s carved out his own lane musically, and we thought it would be interesting to work with him on Priceless, as it’s a sound that is different to what he usually puts out.
We believe Elodie is one of the best songwriters and musicians in the game right now. We’re huge fans of her work and we connected with her over our mutual appreciation of each other’s music. It was great to make Unusual Suspects with her, as she was able to bring the level of vulnerability and rawness needed for the record.
We believe Elodie is one of the best songwriters and musicians in the game right now. We’re huge fans of her work and we connected with her over our mutual appreciation of each other’s music. It was great to make Unusual Suspects with her, as she was able to bring the level of vulnerability and rawness needed for the record.
Do you have plans to present The Midnight Cafe live?
For sure. We’re working on something special — watch this space.
The duo is quite new — you started releasing music together just last year. What’s this partnership been like so far, and how would you like to evolve and grow in the future?
Honestly, what makes it work is that we both have different sets of ideas, and we actually don’t initially agree on a lot of things. However, in the end we always arrive at the same conclusion and the music is always better because of the back and forth. It has been a fruitful and entertaining partnership so far, and we feel like in a short period of time we’ve managed to achieve a lot together.
Going forward, our plan is to keep working on music and continuing to iterate and develop the sound. We have a lot of music in the pipeline that we are excited to release. We’re currently putting the finishing touches on The Midnight Cafe Part 2! We’re also working on an Ebo Taylor remix, and collaborative projects with Dee Traits, Haroldo Bontempo and Brxce.
Going forward, our plan is to keep working on music and continuing to iterate and develop the sound. We have a lot of music in the pipeline that we are excited to release. We’re currently putting the finishing touches on The Midnight Cafe Part 2! We’re also working on an Ebo Taylor remix, and collaborative projects with Dee Traits, Haroldo Bontempo and Brxce.