Interview: All Eyes On Blizzard

On his new EP, Testing The Water, Blizzard embraces his vulnerable side, balancing maturity and emotional heaviness with his trademark personality and witty-one liners. The result is a kaleidoscope of organic and synthetic stream-of-consciousness coupled with tongue-twisting bangers held together by the undercurrents of his surroundings. The Manchester-born rapper and producer has already garnered buzz on the strength of his chart-topping debut EP, Sooner Than Never. The son of a “punk rocker and Irish lover,” as he calls his parents, the 20-year-old is proving to have staying power, as evidenced by his new single “Kids Of The Night,” which recently had a major boost from Chris Brown.

The song explores a common plight: “It’s a really upbeat tune but the whole undertone is about darkness and nocturnalism,” he explains. Blizzard is far more than another emerging rapper, but if you’re trying to get to the bottom of who he is, that’s probably the best place to start. But such depths can’t be discovered easily, which makes him even more intriguing. We spoke with the artist-musician born Bradley Green about his musical influences, the cathartic experience of Testing The Water, Chris Brown, and his desire to create a timeless album.

RESPECT.: Hey, Bradley. Where in the world are you right now?

Blizzard: I’m currently at my mom and dad’s place in Manchester. I was at my girlfriends in London but I’ve just come back and started doing some writing.

Do many people still call you by your birth name?

It kind of depends on the people who I am with. Obviously, my folks won’t be like, “Blizzard, go to your room.” I introduce myself to everybody as Brad unless I’m around other rappers. I like to be formal like, “Hey, I’m Brad. Good to meet you.” I’ve heard people in the street shout, “Yo, Brad.” I usually expect them to be a former school friend but it ends up being someone telling me how much they like my music. It’s always a bit confusing to me, because I wouldn’t call Eminem “Marshall” in the street [laughs]. But it’s cool though, it’s amazing.

Where did the name Blizzard come from?

Seven, eight years ago I was rapping with my cousin and I realised the adjective to describing something positive was cold. For example, you’d say, “That’s a cold lyric or those are a cold pair of trainers.” It just came to me that a blizzard is cold and a few years down the line I realised the letters of my actual name goes into Blizzard, which I thought was cool. That’s where it came from and it’s stuck ever since.

What is your response to somebody who asks, “Are you related to rapper Snow?”

No. I’ve actually never had anyone ask me that before [laughs]. But someone did ask me recently, “Are you MC Snowstorm?” I thought it was really funny but I don’t know if it was intentional or if they were trying to take the mick out of me, but I actually said, “Yeah, that’s me, man. How’s it going?”

What was your musical background like growing up?

My dad’s music was the main outlet in my house. I’ve got his collection near me which has a lot of Johnny Cash, The Smiths, Lou Reed, Velvet Underground, Bob Dillon, Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks, and a lot of David Bowie. My mom’s side of the family is Irish, so she was into Irish music. A lot of those influences were directly reflected onto me and I kind of went oblivious to it until later. Rap was always around me and a lot of kids in school use to listen to Eminem and LL Cool J. But when I started doing music as a course in school I started to listen to more genres and I went back to the older stuff and from then most of the music I listen to now is actually quite older than me.

Do you think that your music is misunderstood? Do people sometimes undermine what it is you’re trying to say?

I think it’s kind of hard to give you an answer —I never really know what people expect of me until I speak to them. A lot of people will assume that I rap and that’s the end of it, but there are other things which I incorporate into my material, like, I do my own mixing, production and I can play the drums. I guess it’s part of cementing yourself as an established artist, you know what I mean? It’s only when you dive into someone’s history that you’re able to see their catalogue and what their capable of. If I’m honest, it was a year and a half ago that I decided to broaden my horizon and make music that is more versatile.

Would it be fair to describe you as determined?

I’m very determined. I’m an itinerant worker in the sense that I work on the go, but I can also work when I’m still. I’m hungry for success but not in the sense that it would absolutely rule my life. I just want to excel and to make music that I can be proud of in a few years time. I think the key to being an artist is being able to perfect a product and that’s something I’m still working on doing. Testing The Water is the most perfected project I’ve done so far but I know there is so much more room for improvement. At the end of the day, I’m only 20-years-old, and I’ve still got years and years to learn. Even if it takes me four years to make an album but along the way I learn a new skill that can make my music more technically pleasing, that’s something that I will do, definitely. I’m a student of the industry.

Tell me about the song “Kids Of The Night.“ What inspired that?

This was my attempt to make a radio friendly club track which I think worked. I’m happy with it. I think it’s hard to explain —when I hear club music I don’t feel it has any soul or emotion in it, but with “Kids Of The Night,” I wanted it to sound triumphant, yet quite dark. It’s a really upbeat tune but the whole undertone is about darkness and nocturnalism. I like to call myself the kid of the night because I have the worst body clock known to man.

I’m curious, there’s something you say in the song: “When the sun goes down and the moon comes up, crucial time for creating.” What does that mean? Are you out creating mini-Blizzards?

No [laughs]. If I could I think I’d be a howl or a bat because going on night walks is something I use to love doing when I was in college. I use to walk to a river that was close to my house with a pen and just write and take in the ambiance of my surroundings. In fact, I wrote most of Sooner Than Never on a little bench in that same spot.

Is there anything that you have not been able to write that you would really like to write about?

One of the things I struggle with is cross referencing. When I focus on one topic I run with it and a lot of my music has been like that, especially with “Kids Of The Night” being about nocturnalism. I hope eventually I’ll be able to bring two topics together and make them intertwine, so with the album I’m hoping to tell a story on one track and then tell the other side on another track.

What is the nature of your acquaintance with Chris Brown?

Somebody inboxed me and said, “Hey, I don’t know if you’re aware of this — Chris Brown is a fan of you.” I was sent a picture of Chris’ Vevo page with “Kids Of The Night,” just there on his Playlist. I have no idea how he found the track but it’s such a cool little hook-up. I’d love to work with Chris on a record.

Were you at all nervous about the process of releasing your Testing The Water? I mean the success from your debut EP, Sooner Than Never, must have made you quite apprehensive?

Yeah. I think with the success of Sooner Than Never, it was a bit scary this time round because we felt the need to match the success of it. We were very unsure if we were going to achieve that, especially with such an experimental project. With the first project I was very stuck to the hip-hop and grime medium but it was afterwards that I started to explore and take things more seriously. I never know what people are going to like until I drop it, so it’s always a case of trial and error.

Many things have obviously happened to you since the making of that project, but it seems like you’re now in a much better headspace. Was there anything in particular that you learned from making this EP? What did you get out of it?

It was me coming out of a bad headspace and coming into a new one. I know this is me being my own worst critic but when I was looking at things on the grander scale I was becoming a bit frustrated with what I was capable of doing. I guess, I’m the kind of person who dwells on a lot of things and I see feedback which could sometimes get to me. When I use to see things I’d get upset and want to prove to people that I can do more and with Testing The Water, I felt it was make or break for me. It was very stressful to make because there were a couple of tracks that I thought were amazing but when they were finished I didn’t like them so much. We made about eleven tracks but ended up picking seven for the EP.

I’m happy to say that we picked the best seven. I’m proud of it. It’s very rare for me to say that because I tend to listen back to my music after it’s recorded and mastered, and then end up getting sick of hearing it. I don’t know why but my head changes quickly. With every project you go back to a different headspace. I want my album which I’m working on at the moment to reflect that because I don’t have any restrictions or anyone telling me what I can or can’t do. Everyone that I work around believes in me. I feel like I’ve grown now and that’s what the new project feels like. I’m in a good position at the moment.

You sound like someone who likes to please others. I don’t know if I am reading too much into that?

Yeah, I totally I am [laughs]. I think that’s the main thing I want to do before pleasing myself. I guess that also reflects in my actual personality. I wasn’t great at telling people how I felt in certain situations so growing up I would just write things down. I’m quite selfless and if I can make other people happy that’s fine with me.

Which of the seven tracks on Testing The Water would you say best encapsulates you as an artist?

I think “Testing The Water.“ The reason I named the EP after that track is because I think it probably is the best example of my personality.

You seem to really express yourself on “Testing The Water“ while channelling a lot of emotion. I’m wondering what that experience was like for you.

I think at the time it really reflected my state of mind and without sounding dramatic I was a bit self-destructed and was kind of attacking myself for my decisions. On that track I talked about being sick of thinking of questions I don’t know how to answer. That was a reflection of me dwelling on random, small things annoying me to the point that I feel that everything I have is destroyed. But in the chorus I say that’s just how it goes, like, this is me accepting this is my personality and it’s something I’m going to have to control. One of the most real human emotions is grief and if I’m feeling a certain way, I think people who listen to my music have a right to know that.

What’s your secret ambition?

To record a classic album that will never be forgotten. A record that will echo through the ages. In the UK, Boy In The Corner, Home Sweet Home by Kano, Radiohead’s OK Computer and Definitely Maybe by Oasis — inspire me because those albums are stream of consciousness.

Testing The Water is out now.