Interview with Musician Puma Blue - Interviewed & Edited by Emily Taylor

  • Original Magazine

Original Magazine: Hi Puma Blue, it’s great to get the chance to speak to you! Firstly, has your upbringing had an impact on sound, and did you always know you wanted to pursue music? Puma Blue: The pleasure’s mine, thanks for having me. Yeah, I definitely knew I wanted to pursue music from as young as 9 or 10. My parents blessed me with drum lessons when I was 7 and were always putting me onto cool music, but after I started finding more music for myself and finding my voice I couldn’t think about doing anything else. It honestly did nothing to help my focus at school, but that’s okay. O.M: You started to gain recognition after releasing your song, ‘Only Trying 2 Tell U’ on SoundCloud in 2014, and I think it’s fair to say your career has grown substantially since then. To be able to chase your passion is an exhilarating feeling, so looking back on it all, how would you describe your journey in music? P.B: Thank you. That was wild when people I’d never met started hearing that song, I think in a way I’ve never really gotten over or used to that. But I’ve just always had the goal in mind that it’s more about enjoying the process than attaining success. Course I’ve always needed to worry about paying the bills and finding a way of surviving, but I’ve tried not to ever do anything if it doesn’t feel right or make me happy. Sometimes you miss that, or have to do something for money that’s out of your comfort zone. But it’s truly been an incredible journey, even this far I’ve had more beautiful experiences through music than I ever dared to imagine when I was younger. In the words of Joseph Campbell, ‘you gotta follow your bliss.’ O.M: Tell me more about the process of creating your new album, ‘In Praise of Shadows’. How long did it take to produce, and did everything that has happened in the past year have an impact on your creativity? P.B: There are songs on ‘In Praise Of Shadows’ that are over 6 years old, but I really started working on it in 2019, mostly writing and producing ideas in cafes in Atlanta, in airports, on the floor of my partner’s apartment, or sometimes at home in London. I remember that Christmas feeling like I had nothing after a year of work, but then I listened through to everything I’d done and realised there was an album there somewhere. From January to March I was finishing shit up with my friend Harvey who was helping me break through some walls I’d run into, until suddenly we couldn’t work together anymore because the virus was in the news and before we knew it everyone was obviously in full lockdown. Luckily my partner was living in London with me at the time, so I ended up just finishing the album on my own over the next couple of months in our flat. I was so focused and determined last year. In terms of writing new songs though, I’ve never been less inspired. I’m looking forward to feeling like I have something to say again. O.M: You cited ‘In Praise of Shadows’, written by Japanese author, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, as your inspiration behind both the title and ideas behind your new album. It’s a delicate essay that highlights the significance of mindfulness of beauty that is reflected in the raw, emotive sound of your songs. How would you say it has impacted both the instrumentals and lyricism in the album? P.B: That’s an interesting question ‘cause I feel like I’ve talked a lot about why I chose that title and the themes from the book that influenced the album, but I haven’t really talked about it on a purely musical level. I actually feel like what Tanizaki has to say about negative space and shadow really drew me closer to the space and silence in music and trying to make the most of those moments. The space between notes rather than the notes themselves, you know? I got really into subtracting from my ideas and just being really cutthroat during my laptop sessions, just deleting layers without saving a backup. Taking away guitar ideas and realising a song was better off without some of the stuff I’d added. I hate having multiple versions to choose from too, so I try to only ever have two drafts maximum at any given time. I can be pretty indecisive naturally, so I think it’s kinda liberating for me to be this way and get back to the ‘less is more’ approach. O.M: The album opens up with ‘Sweet Dreams’; the song carries a melancholic tone which is introduced through the first line, ‘Oh, does it get better?.’ It’s a simple, yet touching line that many listeners who have been through a difficult time will resonate with. What made you decide on this as the first song on ‘In Praise of Shadows’? P.B: Thank you. It was the first song I consciously wrote for the album, so it felt fitting being the opening track. I also felt the message in the lyrics of striving to be graceful was something really important to me and something I for sure wanted to come across as one of the main themes for the album. The song is about knowing it’s over with someone, but wanting to let them go with grace and hold onto good memories of that person in your head. I guess also even though it’s got that positive message, it’s still a little sad because it’s a song about asking for forgiveness and the chorus is the image of two lovers laying with each other for the last time, so in some ways the song is a set up for the tone across the rest of the record, it’s the light and the dark together. O.M: Lastly, what’s next for you? P.B: Right now I’m finishing work on a short film I’m making about the live band with a bunch of behind the scenes footage I’ve had from over the years, and after that I think I’m releasing some outtakes that didn’t make the album. But once that’s out there, I would like to focus on writing some music in a new way for me, just come at the creative process from a different angle than I have before and see what happens. Interviewed and Edited by Emily Taylor @emilytaylor582