Mansur Brown

Journey for me means a number of things. A lot of it has to do with exploring different styles sonically as well as being personal. The music embodies the overall path that I’ve taken from such a young age, when I first started creating music, up until now. It’s a fusion between instrumental and vocal tracks.
The lyrics explore the battle of loneliness and isolation, as well as self-acceptance. It's sort of like discovering or talking about love in a way that I would say describes loving yourself, and how that intertwines with loving someone else, and how they just can't exist without one another. I guess the beauty in that is definitely highlighted within the soundscapes — there’s beautiful, melodic instrumentation with nylon guitars, synthesisers, and it's super ambient as well. Overall, I think it’s an amalgamation of many things that encompass the journey.

When I started this album, I was on the path of writing music that was true to me, so I wasn't thinking about genre, or ‘would people like this?’, or trying to cater to a crowd. I was thinking, let me be as creative as possible in the most freeing way. I think that's what honesty means to me when making this record. I wasn't limited by what people would think, because I like the new direction, it's different, and it's a bit daring in places. That’s exactly what I wanted to go back to, that free spirit when I started writing music.

I think it was a combination of the music that I'm listening to plus going back in time and re-listening to all my favourite rock bands or R&B music from when I was growing up, rediscovering this music in a very innocent way. Because I think when discovering classical music or jazz, the amount of knowledge you need to have musically to do that can make you quite jaded. The complexities when you're navigating are in the peripheral of your subconscious when writing musically. So for me, the vocals were a way to help me rediscover what I like musically but, at the same time, also try to push myself. That was also influenced by all the new music that I was listening to, which predominantly had vocals.

There are a lot of similarities between these genres that can tie them together. For example, modern R&B and early jungle music both use pitched up vocals, even though there’s decades between them. I also think the ‘90s rock era influenced a lot of culture, not just musically but also aesthetically. Fashion has inspired a lot of people, so I think that's always there. For myself, I always write in a certain way, and once the different influences come through, the cohesion is always a given with the guitar at centre of my music.

I like to be challenged, so it was quite liberating and I felt that I could be creative to the fullest capacity with no one intervening. Collaboration is amazing, and you know as artists we’re always collaborating in different ways, either in the studio or live on stage. But sometimes, when making music, it can be tricky if there’s different taste or ideas. Whereas doing it all myself allowed me to go into full flow and fully realise my ideas in the truest way possible. Instead of looking at it as being overwhelming, I just look at it as being more challenging, and challenge is good because you improve, develop, and grow.

I think the juxtaposition between the lyrics and the instrumental really tells the best story. I think in music, when I've made beautiful soundscapes, I want people to be able to listen to that and tell their own story. I think with some of the lyrics on Rihla though, it's good to sometimes explain more literally how you're feeling emotionally, so that gives you both ends of the spectrum.

I would say the idea of futurism is probably just an artistic preference. From my standpoint as a single-minded creative, I really like those kind of films and the imagery behind them, so I think it’s more of a taste thing if anything, as opposed to a conceptual view. It’s a world where a lot of my creativity takes place out of preference.

It comes from a genuine place, just being into different types of music. I think if you're able to take influences from different places, you're going to be quite unique.

Just experimentation, being into different things, and then going into different genres. I used to be into blues, then I started playing rock, and then I was into metal. Those are my early influences. Then I got into jazz, and then then going into something like flamenco, and then taking all of that and adding drum and bass, or even rock again or indie.
You're taking all of those influences that pinpoint your particular, unique style. Obviously that’s on the guitar, but then taking those influences and using that perspective to another instrument, whether it's the synthesiser or whatever, you're gonna have a completely different way of doing it.
I think being self-taught was amazing because you don't have these rules or parameters. I think how I attained my signature sound, just genuinely being creative, not having any limits or not really caring what anybody thinks. Just do your thing.

I think it depends on the person. For some people, their whole identities are built on a genre, and some people just want to do everything and be super creative. I feel the problem is when people aren't allowed to just be themselves and do what they want.
In terms of this generation, I would say definitely genre is less important. I’m quite young, but I remember a time when rockers were rockers, hip-hop heads were hip-hop heads, the Bashment guys were the Bashment guys — they didn't really mix. But I think now you can do what you want and be creative.

Everybody comes from a scene. Some people stay there, others leave — it’s just about wanting to explore outside of your world.

The guitar is still there. If anything radically changed, I'd say it’s the sonic palette — it’s broadened, if anything.

I’m always thinking visually when I compose. I’m into a lot of  crazy cinematic stuff, epic cinema or visuals, as well as classics like Akira, Blade Runner, and Dune. That's what speaks to me.

From my artistic perspective, I hope it would be cemented in the listeners’ minds that there's a freedom to my music, that I’m pretty broad as an artist, and super eclectic in terms of my sonic palette. I just hope the record brings people peace and happiness.