BBC Introducing

Welcome to A&R Factory, Kingdumb, we’re stoked to have you here as your latest hit, Weird, brings Bhangra, DnB, deadpan oddball swagger and outsider energy into one brilliantly strange orbit. Weird feels like a track built for anyone who has been called strange and decided to weaponise it. When did you first realise that your outsider perspective was one of your biggest creative assets?

It’s literally weird, I’ve gone through stages of massive extrovert to introvert and then back to extrovert at different points in my life. At times I’m clumsy, I tell it how it is, and am not scared of saying things that would conflict with people’s fixed beliefs. This sometimes puts me outside the box or in a box that doesn’t fit with conventional norms, but I’m ok with that coz the clever part of me understands that I think fairly logically. I’m pretty ok with looking or sounding like a goofball, because that’s me I guess. But honestly I am just a cool nerd, and the coolest type of nerd is a musician!

Your Indian heritage comes through in the rhythmic bite of Weird without making the track feel boxed into one cultural lane. How do you decide which parts of eastern and western culture you want to carry into your sound?

Thanks, that’s a hard line to follow. With eastern culture I take whatever feels right for the track. I love the sound of sitar, tabla and bansuri, so they do feature in my music – I just use them in an way that they wouldn’t normally be used, almost treating it like accenting my tracks rather than being the focal point. In terms of Western sound, I take influence from UK music. I have a. Love affair with drum and bass, so alot of my style comes through from that genre.

You’re beyond prolific and make 60 to 100 tracks a year. What does your creative routine actually look like when you are working at that speed?

I try to get in the studio at least twice a week, normally three times. Each time im in the studio I’ll spend around 2-3 hours creating the bare bones of a track. Every so often I’ll go back to stuff I made before and see if it still resonates or if I vibe with it. If it’s worth spending more time on, I will spend the time. In terms of routine somehow I go into a different space when I start production. Sometimes a track will write itself, sometimes I need a break to muster creative juice. A walk or grabbing a coffee helps with the latter.

BBC, Spotify and Adidas have already backed your work. Did that support change the way you viewed Kingdumb as a project, or did it simply confirm what you already knew?

Good question. It was more like a positive affirmation really. I kind of view it as reassurance. I didn’t always think I was amazing, in fact looking back, my production at times was shoddy technically. One of the biggest things though, that these platforms have given me, is having credibility to show to other people. It’s not easy to get but if you have a few different places supporting you it creates momentum and other people have more belief in what you’re doing. I think alot of people around me thought I was chasing a pipe dream, but music is more to me than that, it’s a way of life, it’s therapy, it’s joy.

Your manager has worked across a huge catalogue, with credits connected to Phil Collins, Coldplay, U2 and billions of streams. What has that level of experience taught you about thinking bigger without sanding down your weirdness?

Another good question. I think having someone of that calibre really helps you believe in yourself, which I struggled with silently for years. P.s. I’m not THAT weird!! Joking aside though, he helped me realise my own potential and that actually, I’ve pretty much got everything locked down creatively. In terms of thinking bigger he’s believed in me more than any other person I know. And that is monumental, especially when in your community (I have Indian heritage) doesn’t see this thing I do, as anything of any real value. So when people used to ask me when I will give up, or to settle for less in life, I remind myself that they’re projecting their own fears or limiting beliefs on me. And they can do one!

You’ve collaborated with a UK number 1 charting MC. What did that session teach you about holding your own creative identity around artists with serious commercial reach?

Again, it gave me a level of self-belief. I knew at that point I was capable of turning heads. I had been turning heads for a while but this was a new level at that specific time in my life. This session was good because, honestly, I was just being myself, and that made the connection and session authentic. Looking back, this MC (MC DT) was super kind to me and really down to Earth. I have learnt over the years that not everyone is like that, so I’m very careful these days with who and where I put my energy into.

You’ve been open about managing a mental health condition while making music for years. How has creativity helped you stay well when the odds were stacked against you?

Through all these years, music was my lifeline. It was there when I was happy, there when I was sad, there when I felt there was nothing left for me in life. So I owe music everything. When I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, music showed me it was there. I always tell people that doing music creates flow state, and someone actually told me that flow state repairs the brain. Also, Indian teachings tell us that flow is a state close to divinity, so it’s almost sacred.

Between spirituality, life hacks, exercise and high-output production, it sounds like you’re constantly building systems around yourself. What do you think people misunderstand about the discipline behind Kingdumb’s ridiculousness?

People think I’m living in Dreamland. They think I spend too much time on it. They probably also think I should stay stuck in the rat race and earn more money in a stable job. They probably think I just laze around tinkering with buttons. Like you say, it’s significantly more than that. No one actually knows the discipline side of things. I rarely drink, I don’t do drugs, I choose where I spend my time, I balance multiple spinning plates, I invest in myself, I make my environment conducive to all the things I want to do, I save time on small things to allow me to thrive where I want to thrive. I think misunderstanding sometimes is ignorance, or a lack of communication. If people are genuinely interested, they can ask! But I don’t let many people “in” these days, I know who my people are!

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Discover Kingdumb’s discography on Spotify. 

For more info, head over to the artist’s official website.

Interview by Amelia Vandergast