Recently, Bermuda native and respected artist Fiyah Marshall sat down with us to speak about life as an artist in the music industry. Having spent over a decade in the industry at this point, he has certainly learned a thing or two and continues to hone his craft in pursuit of greatness. His style, though wholly unique, is reminiscent of a variety of different genres which he draws influence from to create music that is going to make people turn their heads the moment they hear it. By the time you’re finished reading this, he could very well be on the verge of something bigger than anybody could expect.
What inspired you to do music?
I was introduced to music at a young age. Always had a passion for being creative and music has been that outlet for me. Whether it’s been the writing, the recording, producing, getting on the stage and performing it’s every part of it I love.
What would you say is your biggest accomplishment thus far as an artist?
I have had many cool accomplishments in my career thus far including attending the Grammys and Latin Grammys and putting on my own major music festival the Syzygy Festival in 2018 in Bermuda which was actually the world’s first international music festival that utilized blockchain technology based ticketing, big shout out to my friends at Eventchain for partnering with me on that. Even though that was an awesome accomplishment I think working with some of the artists I looked up to when I was younger and admired has to be it for me. From recording tracks with major artists like Jadakiss, Cassidy or Marlon Asher to touring with legends like Sizzla Kalonji it’s that surreal experience of going from being a listener appreciating what music they did to becoming my peers and working alongside them. Not a lot of people can say they have accomplished things like that. So learning from and collaborating with the greats definitely is a dope accomplishment for me.
What is your writing process like?
It can vary upon the situation. Sometimes you get a track and you have to write on the fly or in the studio on the spot and hop right in the booth. Other times you can live with the instrumental for a little longer and listen to it one day, leave it alone to marinate and then you come back the next day and you have given yourself that time to vibe with it and see what manifests. It can be an out of body experience because you project what you hear the song to become. Either way I usually start with building the hook/chorus, once that’s nailed down it makes the rest a lot easier to flow once you know the vibe and subject matter of the song. Then come the verses or bridges. Once you lay down those vocals come back in with the ad libs. Then polish everything off and perfect it til it sounds right.
Describe your music style
A mash up between Caribbean vibes of Reggae and Soca combined with an ever expanding variety of genres. I am from the island of Bermuda and I love putting the Caribbean flavor in the mix with different styles so depending on the song it can be an R&B vibe, an Afrobeat vibe, hip hop, latin, or even some EDM. Caribbean vibes tend to fuze well with many genres and that fusion is what makes my musical style unique.
What are the pressures of being a singer in the industry?
So many, while you don’t need to always be the biggest or best or have the hottest song it is always important to stay consistent. I have been on a short break from making music as of late and coming back it’s like damn here we go again. You always have to know there’s a ton of other artists or songs that’s going to be competing for radio airplay and the listeners attention. You have to treat this as a business and make sure you do all the right moves and put out good content consistently, and market yourself effectively. Marketing I find the hardest part because you have to stand out of the crowd and make your voice heard above the competition. The music industry is arguably one of the hardest to make it in. You also have to take into account as an unsigned independent artist you are competing with the major label machines and their massive infrastructure and marketing budgets. Being independent you have to push yourself that much harder to earn your stripes and get ahead of the rest of the pack through innovative guerilla marketing. Stay different, stay true to yourself and the fans will follow.
What is the project (single/video) you are currently promoting & the motivation behind it?
The new single and music video is called ‘Gunna Get It’. It’s produced by multi-platinum super producer Duane DaRock who I have collaborated with on a number of songs. We recorded it in Bermuda at Just Platinum Studios and shot the video in the beautiful island of Bermuda also which I actually edited myself. The video is risqué and “hot” so you should definitely check it out. It’s available on all streaming services to listen iTunes, Spotify, Tidal etc. and you can watch the video on youtube and a variety of other video outlets including Tempo Network across the Caribbean. Any DJ’s wanting to get a copy of the record you can get it from your favorite record pools like mp3waxx.com or inavator.com.
The motivation behind it was I wanted to make a comeback record that was smooth and sexy. The beat definitely had that vibe with a little afrobeat going on and it just sounded perfect for some sexy lyrics to be put on top. If you check the video part of it was shot in a sex dungeon so that’s where the “hot” and “sexy” comes in. It’s meant to make the listener feel some type of way. Help the ladies get in the mood you know…
What projects do you have coming up?
Working on my sophomore album ‘Smoke Signals’ at the moment so stay on the lookout for that. Have another single ‘She’s Dangerous’ dropping soon also. Many other things including some NFT projects in the pipeline being developed too but can’t speak to them yet so stay tuned for more news.
What do you want your legacy to be?
I just want to continue making music that people can vibe to. Music makes you feel all types of emotions cuz what is life without music as the soundtrack to our lives. If I can make people feel good through what I do then I am happy. Just want my legacy to be to continue to grow my fanbase and become more and more popular as time goes on. Would love to get a Grammy one day even but we will see. For now I just would love to be some peoples favorite artist. I think that’s a good goal. Everything else is all blessings. All love and positive vibes.
Listen to Gunna Get It on all major streaming platforms.
Find Fiyah Marshall on…
