Twenty Minutes with Devon — TWENTY MINUTES LATER

Apr 22

Apr 22 Twenty Minutes with Devon

Devon knows how to capture an audience’s attention. The UK-based artist is actively growing his fanbase from his home in the rural Forest of Dean to major global music markets like Melbourne and Los Angeles. His most recent track, “BULLETS,'' has amassed over a quarter million streams, and his upcoming single, “GIRLFRIEND SONG,” is already picking up a buzz pre-release. Twenty Minutes Later got the chance to speak with Devon about growing up in Forest of Dean, his most recent singles, what song he’d open with at Coachella, and more. Read our interview below.

YOU'RE FROM THE FOREST OF DEAN? ARE YOU STILL BASED THERE?

Yeah, that's home. I haven't left yet.

WHEN YOU WERE GROWING UP, WERE THERE A LOT OF PEOPLE AROUND YOU THAT WERE MAKING MUSIC?

It’s a weird scene in the Forest of Dean. If you’re in music, you're playing in pubs—in proper old boys pubs they call them. It’s just drinking and cover bands and stuff. It’s really limited to who’s in music. People are more into sports. There's not a lot to do around here, so it's a lot of rugby or football—not a lot of musicians.

DID YOU GET YOUR START PLAYING IN THOSE PUBS?

I did get my start in those pubs. I used to just cut about playing covers of classic old songs to try and impress the old boys drinking at the bar. And then I met a few young people through the scene and stuck with them. But I mostly did stuff on my own because no one around there really wanted to be in a band—or if they did, they just wanted to play music and then dip and do other stuff.

YOU STARTED RELEASING MUSIC ON SPOTIFY IN 2017. HOW HAS YOUR MUSIC CHANGED SINCE THEN?

I almost think I started too early—like I should have carried on writing in my bedroom for a bit longer. But you have to start somewhere. I was in a different headspace back then. I was much younger. I was impatient. I just wanted to play music. I didn’t know much production-wise. I didn’t know how to produce music in 2017. I started learning and getting better in 2019. That’s when I started producing my stuff, so naturally, the sound just completely changed.

WHAT’S YOUR WRITING PROCESS LIKE?

It sounds cliche, but it's different every time. It’s very easy to just sit and make beats all day because you don’t have to sit there wailing and singing nonsense. I can make a beat and transfer it into a song and it can turn into a bad song, or I can get lucky and make a good song out of it—but that rarely happens. I always say if I can’t boil the song down to acoustic guitar then it’s a bad song, so sometimes I start with guitar or piano and kind of build it from there. I like to add production in the later stages just to make sure the song is good.

WHAT WAS THE WRITING PROCESS LIKE FOR YOUR MOST RECENT RELEASE, “BULLETS?”

That was one of those ones where I was lucky, and I made the beat first. I always preach about making sure songs are started on Acoustic Guitar and then I write a track and it’s completely opposite from what I usually do. I spent most of the day making beats and nothing was clicking, which is what happens most days to be honest. I just stumbled into the piano chord progression and then I built the beat. I have a voice memo somewhere of me singing the chorus line and being like, “That’s different to what I usually do.” And then the next morning I woke up and listened to it and was like, “Oh, that’s still cool.” That’s usually a good test—sleeping on ideas. I was like “Okay, I’m going to finish this one,” and that’s what turned into “BULLETS.” I was really happy with the chorus and the lyrics at the time.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE LYRIC FROM THE SONG?

It's probably the chorus, the line “All these sharp blades give me back pains.” That's probably my favorite. It’s quite witty for me.

YOU HAVE BEEN TEASING A NEW TRACK, “GIRLFRIEND SONG” ON YOUR TIKTOK. WHAT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT FOR THAT RELEASE?

It's the second track of something bigger that’s coming later in the year. It's quite new ground for me. I’ve been saving these songs for ages, and it just feels good to get this one out. I wrote “GIRLFRIEND SONG” a long time ago, so honestly, I do feel a slight bit of detachment from the song, but I still love it a lot and am excited to show people.

IS IT HARD TO RELEASE A SONG SO LONG AFTER YOU’VE WRITTEN IT?

I think the gap between writing and releasing is always going to be there and it's something you have to trust the process of. There were so many points where I would look at these songs and be like, “Oh my God, they're not good enough.” And then I’d listen later and be like, “They’re still good.” It’s just an up and down constant thing.

YOU RECENTLY TWEETED, "If I ever got to play Coachella you know I’m asking “hands up if you’re an influencer” one song in just for my own little laugh.” SO I WANTED TO ASK, WHAT SONG WOULD YOU OPEN WITH BEFORE YOU ASKED THE INFLUENCER QUESTION?

You mean right before I get kicked off the stage? [laughs] I would probably open with a tune called “BELONG 2 U.” It’s the song we open our set with at the moment. So, I can imagine if we played a festival that might be the one to open with. I can’t tell now because there’s more music coming out, so maybe there’ll be another one, but at the moment I have to say “BELONG 2 U.”

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE PART OF PLAYING LIVE?

I love live shows a lot. I haven't done many because it’s so hard to get booked, especially with the pandemic. I’m working on getting a debut headline tour together soon.

ARE THERE ANY BIG CAREER MILESTONES OR THINGS THAT YOU WANT TO DO THAT ARE MUSIC-RELATED THIS YEAR?

There's dreams to do a lot of things. The classic UK thing would be playing Glastonbury or Reading and Leeds. Those are top of the table for me. I also want to sell out a tour. I haven’t sold out a show yet. I’ve been close, but I’m hoping on this new tour we can sell a few out. I want to get over to the US. It’s always been a dream of mine and most of my listeners are from the US. I just want to get busier gig-wise and start being able to show these songs to people on the road. I want to get a full project out and really cement myself as a full project artist.

WHAT’S ONE THING YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR MUSIC?

From day one, I've always wanted to cement the fact that I will probably end up doing different things genre-wise. My next song, “GIRLFRIEND SONG” is very different from “BULLETS” and the next thing after that is very different from “GIRLFRIEND SONG.” That's something I wanted to cement early on, so that in the future if I do change up, it’ll be quite natural.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FINAL PARTING WORDS OF WISDOM?

Make sure your songs are sick before you do anything. And don't play silly shows in pubs to no one. There are so many opportunities to play gigs, just make sure the song is good first before you do. It’s a youthful thing to want to go go go, but my advice would be to make sure the songs are really good first, so that when you do hit go, everyone is going to be like, “Wow. This is incredible.”

YOU CAN LISTEN TO Devon ON STREAMING SERVICES LIKE SPOTIFY AND APPLE MUSIC. GO LISTEN AND MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW @twentyminuteslater TO STAY UPDATED ON FUTURE POSTS.