HAVELOCK: THE CHANGING MAN
Channelling exploration and a liberation of musical genres, Havelock makes sure it’s all on the table
Only very occasionally you come across a piece of art or a song that really captures the world at that very moment. London’s Burning by Havelock is such a song.
Released as Government figures unveiled a growing financial crisis in the wake of the pandemic, the song felt bang on cue.
“London’s burning, every inch of my earnings, like gasoline,” sings the west Kent-born artist.
The song speaks of a very palpable fear that what money grafters in the capital bring home now barely covers the rent. And it’s something that Havelock himself battles almost daily.
“For the past two years, my whole life has been constantly moving around, trying to minimise costs essentially,” he explains. “I’m trying to balance between making enough money in a job to just get by so I can maximise my time doing music.”
Having previously been a waiter for luxury events, Havelock (a traditional Scandinavian name, he informs me) moved into retail only to lose his job selling headphones at Westfield just before Covid hit, forcing a period of couch-surfing and a stint back in his native Tenterden.
“In London, if you’re not earning good money then there’s no quality of life,” he says. “All my friends have stable jobs now and I’m the bum musician that everyone buys pints for.”
It’s a problem that many creatives experience, but it’s to Kent’s benefit, with so many moving here to find new beginnings.
“I feel like I found my identity as soon as I stopped trying to force it”
Similar to how our interview with Havelock was conducted, the artist has been using the power of video calls to find a new revenue stream using his considerable skills.
“I’ve been doing these song-writing lessons, which has been quite lucrative and people have loved it,” he says. “That’s what has been getting me through, really. It’s rewarding.”
It’s not really a surprise to us here at ‘Cene. We have been following Havelock for a couple of years now and from the moment we heard his track Pig Latin in early 2019 we knew that there was something special. There isn’t a track since that hasn’t demonstrated a different genre of music, whether it be the beat, the melody or even a complete change in vocal style.
“I’ve been writing songs since I was 15 years old,” he explains. “From that moment, it was full speed ahead. I didn’t take interest in anything else, I was kind of obsessed with it to the point where I was just writing all the time.”
London’s Burning takes on a slower, reggae-style melody, while previous songs such as Pheromones have an RnB tip, or there’s the emotive and provocative Oh My Word, which is more alternative pop where Havelock changes his vocals to a more Jamie T estuary English-style delivery. There is absolutely no chance in pigeonholing him into a style.
“Some of my favourite bands, like Gorillaz, for example, do that,” he says. “They will have a song that is totally different to the next. It’s something I really admire because they have a complete sense of freedom in the way they make music.
“If they release one album, the next album doesn’t have to be reminiscent of that. They can reinvent themselves, and I want to be able to do that. But it is still a very fine line between getting it right and getting it wrong, and that’s still something I’m trying to get to grips with.”
This year has seen Havelock ramp up productivity, releasing the five-track EP Try B4U Buy, which featured the softer but memorable tale of a confused relationship on Scrambled – that has taken more than 1.1 million plays on Spotify alone.
Single releases Oh My Word, Help Me Grow, London’s Burning and LSD have followed suit and will make up a second EP before the end of the year.
But while they are all incredibly different, you can still tell it’s him.
“It was a long process to find my identity, musically,” he says. “I went through loads of different phases. I started out making singer-songwriter folk music, then through an indie rock phase, and I played in a neo-soul band. I was basically trying to imitate artists for so long.
“I feel like I found my identity as soon as I stopped trying to force it.”
The incorporation of varying styles into each single, merging pop with hip hop and ragga, has something familiar about it. And a chat about favourite CDs while growing up turned up a huge influential source.
“One of the first CDs I owned was Justified by Justin Timberlake,” explains Havelock. “We listened to it a lot. But then I forgot about it until I stumbled across it and listened to it again recently. “It was weird because I realised just how much of an influence it had on me at an early age, because the stuff I’m making now is really reminiscent of it, with playful soully pop vibes. I keep coming back to it because there were so many bangers.
“I honestly feel that if it was released today, it would still be really fresh. It’s kind of annoying that no one is making that kind of music right now.”
Enter Havelock and a fan base that is topping 90,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.
“For sure, I love the fact that people have been so accepting of the different styles and blends of music in these latest releases,” he says. “There’s been kind of a song for everyone, and people have been really supportive of that.
“For the past two years my schedule has included me seeking out or getting hooked up with different producers. That’s probably why a lot of my songs are very different production-wise and stylistically, too, because each producer has their own unique stamp on it.”
Havelock has been on a learning tilt during lockdown, trying to ‘master’ music production, with the aim of releasing a completely self-written and recorded project… potentially for a first album?
“I have got songs scheduled for every month all lined up now,” he says. “I held off releasing music for three or four years. I released an EP a few years ago and I realised that I wouldn’t listen to it. I think it’s really important to fully love what you make. I took it down from Spotify and went into hibernation and said I wouldn’t release anything until I knew it was right.”
Releasing each track as a single has definitely allowed more freedom of creativity and moved Havelock away from any form of specific categorisation.
“I just let the creativity come naturally, I wouldn’t try and steer it,” he adds. “I would just let it go wherever it was going.”