Coastline to Cityscape - An interview with Lazy Eyez
Cornwall meets Bristol and the route is reflective. Coastline to Cityscape is the new debut album by Lazy Eyez which was released by Green Brick Records on Monday. The production balances punchy Hip-Hop with laid back nostalgia. Running themes of friends and family shine over sunny instrumentals as Lazy Eyez walks us through his personal journey from the sea side to the city. It really feels like we’re stepping into spring with this banger!
We wanted to celebrate the recent release, so we caught up with Lazy Eyez for a couple of questions on Bristol’s Harbourside.
Congratulations on the new album, how does it feel at the moment?
Really good man. I think the opportunity to be on vinyl for the first time is something I’ve waited for, something I told myself would be a milestone for me when I was starting this whole thing, so to actually have it done and on a label I’m really happy to be a part of... yeah I’m really excited man.
How long has this project been in the making?
Some of the tracks are like two years old. We kind of got distracted with Pupils of The Clock. It was about a year ago when Ceri (Res) asked me to be on the label and that he would want an album. So I accumulated the best tracks from then and made a few more. I think there must have been about 25/30 tracks cut down to the nine tracks on the album. It’s really a long process man but it kind of sums up me and my time over the last couple of years.
Do you miss Tok?
He does feature on the album, it’s cool. I think we have a nice relationship where we made the Pupils Of The Clock project and the creative compromise got a little bit jarring after a while. It doesn’t matter who you work with, but sometimes not being fully allowed to express yourself could mean that the art doesn’t feel as personal to you. After that, I wanted to make my own album and be in full control of it. And now I’m like, 50% of it doesn’t sound too bad! But yeah, I’m ready to go back to POTC. We’re going to work on an album in the summer.
Anything else coming from Green Brick?
Yea I’ve got a collab with Res that we’ve been working on, we just need to jump in the studio. Once we find some time we’ll lay that down. I’m going to have a project with Badhabitz. Many things in the line for Green Brick man. Obviously there’s new signees - Mac Lloyd just signed to it recently, he’s going to be dropping an album. Hopefully Springa drops something. Yea I’m excited for everyone on the label. Everyone’s got a different flavour and I think it’ll be really good for the scene man.
It’s called Coastline to Cityscape, which sort of implies a journey. Is this what the album represents?
I think to an extent yeah. I think it’s the journey from a Cornish town where…. I don’t think Hip-Hop was supposed to come from. Not that I agree with that as a sentiment, but there wasn’t much Hip-Hop in my town when I was growing up. There was a couple of people like Ryze, and Jackal, and Ronnie C who were putting out music at the time. But for me to come to the city where, especially in Bristol, I think a lot of UK Hip-Hop is based, there was a journey in that sense. I wanted to have my Cornish mind state and bring that kind of rural essence to Hip-Hop. To me that’s the honest side of it. Whereas the city represents more of the Boom Bap and the real essence and sound of Hip-Hop. So it’s a combination of the two.
There’s a running theme of friends of family. Is that homely mind set embedded in the album?
100%. Yeah I love and admire my parents for everything they’ve done for me and I love and admire my friends just the same. I think you can’t do something without reflecting on the people that made you who you are and help you to do what you do and for me that is my friends and family. That’s why my parents are on the back cover of the album, why my friend did the hand-style for the album and all the features of people I know and that I’ve worked with. It’s really important to me to show the amazing talent that I have around me and the people that help me express myself and do what I do. It is a celebration of everyone's hard work and everyone’s dedication, not just my own.
It is safe to say that Lazy Eyez has made a good impression on the city, leaving his mark with a rich and honest debut. You can catch him live at UWE Amplify 2019 hosted by Wordplay Magazine and THTC on the 15th of March or cop his album from HERE!
Interview by Trippy Picture
Photos by Jess Daly
