A deep dive into the philosophy behind his latest release and the journey shaping his sound.
Q – You’ve just released your brand new single, Our time. What does this track mean to you personally, and what do you want listeners to take away from it?
A – To me, Our time is about seizing opportunity, overcoming obstacles in life, personal growth and becoming the person you want to be despite setbacks.
Q – The concept behind Our time is about being in three places at once, the past, present and future. Where did that idea come from?
A – I suppose the concept kind of materialised as I was writing to be honest, the first verse is looking through the lens of the vision I have for the future and talks about what my mission is. It starts off talking about being in a hard place but looking into a better future, not knowing where to start but knowing that my mission is an important one even though it will be difficult, my destiny is an inevitability. Then the second verse is present & future me looking back at where I was, where I’m at now & where I will be and seeing the growth I’ve been through and am still going through now. It’s kind of like present me talking past me when I started and future me talking to present & past me all at the same time and reflecting on each stage of the journey. It’s partly wishing I had the tools and knowledge back then that I have now and partly accepting the past as part of my journey and recognising the skillset, tools and knowledge I have now and continue to build on. How much I’ve changed but still fundamentally the same kid with the same vision.
Q – If you could go back and speak to your past self, what would you tell them now that you know what you know today?
A – There are a lot of things I’d say, some of it is what I said in the end half of the second verse, just about believing in myself, the vision and the skills I have and always being myself and never letting outside influences change or control me too much. Obviously as humans we adapt to our environment and naturally change with it but at the same time we should stay true to ourselves and what we believe in. Sometimes I look back and wish I could tell the past me who started to wait until I’d built a better level of skill in music before I put myself out there but at the same time, if I hadn’t put myself out there when I did I may not have gotten the same opportunities and things could’ve played out differently so I’ve learned to accept the past, good and bad and just try to focus on the future and present!
Q – The past can shape who we become, while the future can influence the decisions we make today. How do you balance the two without losing sight of the present?
A – That’s quite a profound question and it’s interesting because that is very true we are all shaped and effected by our past but I don’t think many people realise how shaped and effected we are by our plans for the future and by who we want to be and who we are becoming! But yeah it can definitely be difficult to not lose sight of the present when we are so focused on the past or the future so I try my best to balance it by taking time to live in the present every day, I practice mindfulness whenever I feel overwhelmed and I like to meditate when I can too, I find it to be a very good way to ground myself and keep myself centred.
Q – Was Our time written from personal experience, or did the idea develop more as a creative concept?
A – Ourtime was definitely written from personal experience, just like most of my music there’s a piece of me in there, I tend to just write what feels right when I’m inspired in the moment and I trust the process. Sometimes I build from a key word aswell like with Ourtime I heard the instrumental and where it goes “It’s Ouuuurrrr Time!” I just kind of used that as a start point and went with it and when I was finished and looked at the bigger picture I had a whole concept.
Q – There’s something quite powerful about the idea of existing in the past, present and future simultaneously. What does “our time” mean to you?
A – Well time is relative so the past, present and future are all abstract concepts, some thinkers would say that the past and the future don’t exist and that there is only the present, different versions of ourselves living in the present in different situations. And I kind of like that idea because it means that if our time was then and our time is yet to come, then our time is always now! It really makes you want to seize the moment!
Q – CeeMax produced the track. What was the creative chemistry like between you and CeeMax during the making of Our time?
A – Well, Ceemax is a very talented producer and a great lad as well but due to the wonders of modern technology we were never actually sat in a room together during the creation process, I chose a few of his beats that spoke to me and Our time was the first one to be finished. When he heard what I’d written he said it was fire and he seemed excited for the song to come out, I think our styles complement each other quite well and I look forward to working with him again!
Q – Royzy Rothschild executive produced the single. What did Royzy bring to the project that helped shape the final record?
A – Royzy is the man behind the scenes pulling the strings to make it happen, he’s the one who sent me a list Ceemax’s beats to choose from and write to. He engineered my studio session and gives me advice or pointers on vocal tones or vocal inflections where needed, which to be fair is needed less these days depending on how complex the song is. He also gave me the idea for the ad-lib in the second verse where I say “… to forge me in the rubble that I came from” and after “…came from” I say in the background in the little pause “Liverpool lad” so those little creative ideas he has are always valuable and adds some more quality to the end product! But also, Royzy has mentored me since I was 15 and taught me how to rap properly, how to develop my skills independently and taught me about the industry. He also shot the music video as well. Basically if it wasn’t for Royzy the song probably wouldn’t exist! To be fair if it wasn’t for his mentorship I wouldn’t be where I am today anyway so none of my recent music would exist in the first place.
Q – When you first heard the finished production, did it sound the way you imagined Our time, or did the song evolve into something completely different?
A – Actually it did, it does happen often where a song turns out different to how I first heard it in my head when I wrote it but this one actually turned out pretty much exactly how I wanted/expected it to, which is always nice!
Q – The music video is now available on YouTube. How important was the visual side of the project in bringing the past, present and future concept to life?
A – Well I think music videos in general are always a brilliant way to visually bring a song’s concept into the light for the listener and adds a bit more of your personality into the project for people to see and enjoy. With this video specifically, I had the idea to have shots where there’s two versions of me and each verse is being rapped by one version of me to the other. Those shots are some of my favourites, and not because it was my idea but because it perfectly visually illustrates the concept of the song being kind of like a conversation between two versions of myself.
Q – If you had to describe the Our time music video in three words, what would they be, and why?
A – Simple but effective.
Q – Music can often capture a moment in time that you can return to years later. What moment in your own life would you want your music to preserve forever?
A – That’s a good question and quite a difficult one to answer, I’ve had a lot of moments over the years of my musical journey that I would personally like to preserve and remember myself but I feel like the big moment that I want to be preserved in all time for the world to see is yet to come.
Q – Do you think your past experiences influence the music you make today more than your hopes for the future do?
A – It’s hard to say, I think it depends on the song to be honest. I have written and will write songs that are purely about my past and songs that are purely about the future, among other things of course. But that’s what makes Our time interesting because it’s kind of about both and is shaped by both my past and my future.
Q – What have you learned about yourself through creating Our time that you didn’t know before making the record?
A – That’s another good question and again, difficult to answer because I feel like my identity and self belief is already quite set in stone. But if I had to pick one thing I’ve learned, maybe it’s that no matter how good or confident you are, there’s always room to grow and improve. Like I said in the second verse of Our time, “I thought that I was better now I’ll never get those hours back, now I’m mad, I didn’t have it then but now I have, looking back, I never thought that I’d amount to that”. And that’s basically kind of saying that back when I started I thought I was better than I was and that I can’t get back the time I spent thinking that when I didn’t have the skills I do now at that time. But I think I could probably apply that to any point in time as well because even though I’m confident in my abilities now, I am still improving and in the future I might feel the same way about current me that current me feels about past me if that makes sense.
Q – Finally, if Our time is about past, present and future, what does the future look like for Donno? What can fans expect next?
A – In broad terms, people can expect to see me continue to implement my plans for a better future for all, promoting peace, unity and enlightenment through my music. Specifically, I’m currently working on finishing my first proper album, of which Ourtime will be a part of. Then after the album is out I’ll be working on bringing out an Irish language (Gaeilge) EP and hopefully with that branching out and doing some shows with the EP in Ireland!
DONNO – OUR TIME (MUSIC VIDEO)
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