No Limits

Interview by Jevarn Bediako-Wiredu

The way I felt stepping into this interview was mad. One, I've never done anything like this and two, I'm a supporter of M1. He's hard. As a producer and rapper myself, I’ve freestyled over his beats, so speaking to him now was crazy. When we started talking, I realised that we actually had a lot in common and I felt relaxed to begin the interview.

First of all, how are you?

Yeah, I’m easy man. Everything's nice fam.

I've always been a musician init, before I even wanted to take music seriously. My dad is a really good musician. He plays the piano, saxophone and guitar. On top of that, he can sing and play trumpet. He can build speakers from scratch. I've seen it with my own eyes. He can build bare musical equipment; like he can make drumsticks.

I got involved with music at about age 12. My sister taught me how to play the piano. Since then, I’ve always played the piano just for my own therapy, I guess. When I was young, I was just playing for the sake of playing.

After school, college kicked in. It’s the same procedure basically. I left college early because I wasn't enjoying it, so I wanted to take music more seriously. Actually, no, let me not lie. They kicked me out, bro. Something happened with another student and because I was bad at the time, they thought it was me and they kicked me out. They invited me back when they realised I hadn't done anything, but they handed me one bag of work, so I said, "You know what, let me just try something else". After college, I picked up a laptop and started taking beats seriously.

I only started realising that I wanted to take the beats seriously when ‘Take That Risk’ went global. That's when I knew music was the lane for me.

What other instruments do you play?

At first, I was learning to play the guitar with my dad, but you know when you play the guitar it bloody hurts your hands. It’s long man, but big up all the guitar players. I tried to play that, but I wasn't really on it.

I also used to go to drama school. I’ve always tried to get my head into something.

Would you say FL Studio is the software that helped you to create your sound?

Well, yeah. 100%

Why do you feel that way?

Well, yeah. 100%

Why do you feel that way?

The first question I would like to ask you is, can you tell me a bit about your career journey and

how you got into the music industry?

When I hopped on the sound, I didn't really have an intentional sound that I wanted to go with. I was just doing it because I was bored. I think the way that FL is, the drums that you can get from it and the way it works, just shapes you as a producer.

Is FL Studio the only software that you use?

I tried to use Logic before FL, but I feel like it's a bit technical when you want to do certain things, so I tried to use something else. I didn't know that FL even existed when I was doing all this stuff, so I had to learn FL. It was good though. It's a bit easier than other software.

When you start making a beat, what's the first instrument you start with?

So naturally, I start with a melody and “What instrument would I use?”. It would be a piano. I have a lot of experience and control with a piano, but if you were to give me a book with the notes in it I wouldn't know how to play it. it's all up here. I can start freestyling because I have control over it. I know exactly where every single note is. If there were 30 notes on it, I could hear every single note, but if I was using a pad to start with, I wouldn't really necessarily hear everything. I mean I would, but it just makes things harder.

After I do it with a piano, I just change the sound from there. I change the instrument and then boom! I have a more detailed melody. That's advice as well; like if you start making a beat bro, start with the piano because you can hear everything, then when you switch from a piano, to let's say a synth, it's better.

How do you know when a beat is actually finished?

Good question. I actually don't know. If it ain't got too much in it. I'll make sure there aren’t too many sounds clashing at once.

What are the struggles or obstacles that you deal with within the music industry?

I wouldn't say it's a struggle, but it's a graft. Certain things are an easy walk, but for other things, you have to push and shove. I'd say trying to show a vision to people. If I tell someone, “Oh, yeah, you can do this”, they might not believe it. It's just how things are designed right now, so you have to be strong out here.

What drives your passion for producing?

You know when you sit and listen to music and zone out, it makes you forget about bare stuff. I think that's about it...that feeling. That's what I live for. Before I even knew I wanted to be a producer, I was making beats, just for that. Just for that feeling there.

Do you feel like you've made it yet? Or, do you think there are more aspirations and goals?

Deffo ain't made it. It depends on what your interpretation of “made it”’ is, init?

A lot of people would look at me and say, "Yeah M, you've made it", because certain goals are where we are right now...but because I've got big aspirations, I wouldn't say, "I've made it". It's just how people perceive it.

So maybe I have "made it" but maybe I haven't. I'm on both sides of that one, you know what I'm saying if I'm talking from the perspective of other people as well.

What goal would you have to score for you to feel like that, to feel as though you have “made it”?

Probably release like five tapes. I don’t even know. Not even that you know. It’s to make sure that everyone around me is rich.

Is there any advice that you would give your younger self?

Be a bit more focused, be more aware of people. Listen more and have more sympathy, all that stuff.

I think it depends on what region you're in. It depends on what music you're making. It depends on what your end goal is.

Most people in the industry say, "Keep working hard" and all that stuff, all that sob story. Nah, bro. Man has to go to the club and find the litest DJs. You have to be on side missions. You have to be out there. You've got to live it. You’ve got to live like you’re a producer. Got to manifest that man, before you even touch any keys or anything.

You've got to get your mind right and get your head in it. If your head is in it and you're taking losses, you'll know that it's part of the game. If your head is not in it, then when you take losses you'll be like "What’s going on?", so you've got to use your imagination and that's just one thing. There's a lot to it.

If I was to give someone proper advice, we'd be here for an hour. We'll be writing stuff down. It's a serious thing. I'm due to start something like that you know.

It's just the fact that I've gone through so much that I wouldn't wish on anyone else, yet I still have the strength to make people feel alive. Seeing people feel like this, off of my music, just going from no one believing in you to all of a sudden everyone believing in you. It's just stuff like that.

I have no expectations of people, so I've never asked or begged people for support. I'm the type of person who if I ever had a song or beat, I didn't do those broadcasts or anything like that. I didn't care. It’s a serious blessing because at first I didn't care for music. I didn't make music to try and be big. I was only doing it to zone out because when I was young, about 16 years old, I was living by myself.

When you're living by yourself at such a young age it's boring as hell, so I was making music but it was never man's full-on intention. My advice for anyone is to not take things too seriously. I didn't take music too seriously [pauses] Actually, take it seriously but with precaution. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.