ATI Magazine Issue 3 (July/August 2015) by Charlotte Wagstaff

ASPIRE TO INSPIRE JULY 2015

ISSUE 3

DOC

BROWN Up close & personal...

IN THIS EDITION Issue 3 of Aspire to Inspire - Featuring Humble The Poet & Inkquisitive Illustration.

4. Humble The Poet 8. Ben Bailey Smith A.K.A Doc Brown 12. Kieran Alleyne 16. Cashtastic 22. Nego True 26. Nathan Grisdale 30. DJ Ironik 34. Aman A.K.A Inkquisitive Illustration Aspire to Inspire Magazine is back with itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s third issue. I hope in some way this magazine inspires you to know that your dreams are reachable and nothing is unattainable and that if you work hard and believe in yourself, anything can happen. Magazine Designer & Editor - LILCDESIGNS (www.lilcdesigns.com) Copright LILCDESIGNS 2015.

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One of the world’s finest Spoken Word artists Humble The Poet is currently travelling the world on ‘A Trip To Unicorn Island’ the world tour with YouTube sensation Lilly A.K.A iisuperwomenii and we caught up with him for ATI. If you had the opportunity to get a message across to a large amount of people, what would your message be?

you are a great writer don’t think you can take a break from it and revisit it later. Never stop writing if you want to be a great writer”.

My message would be for people to continuously focus on perfecting the art of being themselves. I do not think anything is more beneficial than people being able to live authentically as who they are.

So I took that advice and I stuck with it, even when I was working a job as a teacher. If I were not an artist, I’d honestly want to be a pilot, that would be cool to travel non stop, I love travelling so I would be a pilot if I was not a Spoken Word artist/creator.

How did you get started with your spoken word/poetry? And if you were not a artist what would you want to be doing? I was writing ever since I was in Grade 3, I published my first story in class and I always enjoy bringing idea’s to life. I had an English teacher in high school who said “If you think

What or who keeps you motivated and inspires you? It is simple every time I do something, the overwhelming support I get from people, the new experiences I have and the new lessons I learn keep me stimulated and keep me wanting to do more.

“Focus on perfecting the art of being yourselves.” LILCDESIGNS.COM

What is the most memorable experience of your life/career so far? And what have you learnt from it? The most memorable experience of my career so far, probably just being able to tour India. A lot of it has to do with the travelling and the friends I have made. It has let me learn that you can’t stay in one corner of this planet and expect to understand life. You really have to get out and travel, it’s the best education you can ever receive. Every time I hop on a plane, I don’t come back the same person, whether I’m gone for six months or a weekend. Would you go back and change anything in your journey so far? (If no, why) I would, I wish I had started earlier. I wish I had made more mistakes and I wish I had more time to fix them. In the next two years what do you ASPIRE to have done? I aspire to have seen more of the world I haven’t seen, including countries like Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Eastern Asia. I’m hoping to bring my idea’s to life on a larger scale, that probably means working on a feature length film that I wrote. I want to bring that to life and publish two more books.

What is next for you/your plans for the next year? I’m working on my second book as well as working on a short film which is a follow up to a short film I finished up last year called Barber. As well as this I will be doing some touring Internationally, as well as touring North America and trying to focus staying in shape and enjoying life. What would your advice be to those out there who want to live out their dreams? Realise that you living out your dreams does not mean happiness. It probably means a lot of anxiety, a lot of stress and a lot of work but you’re going to have that no matter what type of life you have, so you might as well have it pursuing your dreams. Nothing is more important then your work ethic, if you work your ass off nothing will get in the way, talent doesn’t mean shit nor does your attitude, you have to work. Keep working. Lastly, where can people follow your career? You can follow me on humblethepoet.com and on all social media’s @humblethepoet - I am on there a lot so you can keep up to date with me and what I am up to, my future releases, everything you need.

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Aspire to Inspire caught up with the talented comedian and TV Star Doc Brown for an exclusive interview and here is what he had to say. If you had the opportunity to get a message across to a large amount of people what would your message be? Don’t pigeon-hole a person because you never know what they might bring to the table. What I try to do is spread a message of equality. I try to be as entertaining as possible and as universal as possible in everything I do. I hope that people can see the message underneath my work and that is you shouldn’t pre-judge anybody. How did you get started with your music?

In around 1999 people would put up a fiver and we would battle for cash, then I started hearing about, where they did it in clubs for £200, so I started going down to those and entering those. I was about nineteen years old and your name just gets out there. The first thing I actually won was a thing called ‘The Jump Off’, a battle thing they use to do in the West End it’s still going now, I was three times champion at that. Back in the day it was real basic rappers versus rappers and I won a few of those. If you wasn’t a comedian/actor what would you be doing?

Docbrown

Same as anybody really, I wrote rhymes and I didn’t know how to get them out there. I would rap with my friends and we would start doing cyphers and street battles for money.

I’d probably be a Youth Worker still, I look at that job with a lot of fondness because it worked really well with what I was trying to do artistically. For me, young people, teenagers especially, they just got the most

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imagination, their not tied down to what the world tells you, you have to do. They don’t care about that stuff because they’ve still got that raw energy. They are for me, the best people to work with. What keeps you motivated and inspires you? I think it’s the need to make a living on a very base level, I need to make money, I have kids to feed and mortgages to pay. I am very driven by just making a living and I want to make a living doing the things I love. What messages have you internalised through life? Just enjoy it. If you love your job, you really love it and you enjoy getting up in the morning and going to do it, then you going to do it well and other people are going to want to be a part of it. Enjoy yourself, enjoy what your doing and that’s the most profound message I’ve ever internalised. Would you go back and change anything in your journey so far? (If no, why) I’ve got a hundred regrets there’s so many things that I did wrong when I got over excited about my own importance. Some people get a huge sense of self importance when they achieve things on what they see as a higher level. Sometimes people react to me like ‘WOW’ your that guy from that thing and I just think, I don’t know what you are seeing but that’s just me doing my job.

I’m no different from you or anyone else. How much of your life influenced you to become a comedian/artist? I’d say probably 100%, everything that entertains people or anything that people enjoy about my work is based on something from my life, or where I’m from, or the energy of my experiences or my friends. My work is never fully make believe, everything comes from or is based upon an experience that I have had or something that I have felt. Who would you like to collaborate with? I would love to spend sometime with someone like Richard Prior, to be able to sit down and ask him how he brought his life to the stage, and how difficult it must of been to tell as much truth as he told. In music terms, I would love to do a verse on a Nars tune or Kendrick Lemar and just be in the studio and see those guys put that shit down because when I listen to their records, I love their songs but in a totally different way to other artists. If you are a fan of Doc Brown or want to know more then for the rest of this exclusive interview, you can head over to www.lilcdesigns.com and you can watch the full interview online. You can follow Doc’s career on Twitter @DocBrown88

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If you had the opportunity to get a message across to a large amount of people, what would your message be?

What is the most memorable experience of your life/career so far? And what have you learnt from it?

My message would be to never give up on your dreams and to keep chasing no matter what gets in the way or what try’s to stop you from being who you are.

First one would be getting signed out in America and also in the UK… Then flying to Las Vegas to have a master-class with the Jabbawockeez dance crew. From being signed, I learnt that people believed in my project and believe in me as an artist. From the Jabbawockeez I learnt that I have great potential to be really good dancer, if I put my mind to it.

How did you get started with your music? And if you were not a musician what would you want to be doing? I actually started when I was thirteen, when I got into a musical called Thriller Live in the West End, that started me as a singer and performer. Since then, I have just been building who I am as an artist, finding my sound, finding who I want to be as a performer and that has got me to where I am now.

Would you go back and change anything in your journey so far? (If no, why)

If I wasn’t an artist I would be a basketball player, one hundred percent that was what I was focused on before I started singing.

In the next two years what do you ASPIRE to have done?

What or who keeps you motivated and inspires you? Family are definitely a massive part of me wanting to make it.They kept me on the road when things were going bad, as everyone goes through bad times and they definitely helped keep me where I needed to be, kept me focused with music and stop me from giving up when times got bad.

I’d go back and tell myself to get a grip when times get bad, I’d be like look your going to be alright you just need to chill, don’t give up yet just keep going.

I aspire to play at festivals, have a track in the top ten, be played on Radio1 and Radio1Xtra constantly, and being out in the states, doing some stuff out there as well. How much of your life and background have influenced you to become a songwriter/musician? With music, the best way for me to be a songwriter is to talk about past experiences, so failed relationships or

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times with family. It doesn’t even have to be about you, if someone in your family has been through something, you can see and experience it and put yourself in those shoes because you’ve seen it happen. That’s helped me become a better songwriter than I was when I started, you have to write about things that mean something to you, as it has more impact. If you could have a song to be the soundtrack to your life what would it be and why? A song to be the soundtrack to my life, would be ‘smile’ by Michael Jackson because you always have to keep a smile on your face and to never let things hurt you. What lyrics mean the most to you? The most important lyrics to me would be “Gone Too Soon” because it’s obviously about losing a family member and when I listen to it I think about family members I have lost, like my grandad. It touches me when it say’s the lyric “Like a sunset dying with the rising of the moon” and that is the most important lyric to me from that song. If you could collaborate with anyone who would to it be and why? I want to collaborate with Tori Kelly because her voice is so good and I think our voices would match. Drake because we would bring fire to the session, Justin Timberlake and USHER.

What is your motto in life/what do you live by? Keep striving no matter what gets in your way. What are your biggest dreams? and what are your biggest fears? My biggest dream is to be a worldwide artist and sell out Madison Square Garden and people to listen to my music worldwide, and to appreciate my passion through my music. My biggest fear is to lose music, losing my voice etc. What is next for you/your plans for the next year? My EP has just been released and my single ‘Be Around’ has just come out. I will be working towards my album doing a lot of live events, touring. One day I hope to do a world tour, you never know. I’m hoping for the best. What would your advice to be to those out there who want to live out their dreams? Keep Pushing. Don’t let anyone break you. Keep trying and never give up. Lastly, for those who don’t know where can people follow your career? My social media handles are all @KieranAlleyne so follow me!

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Aspire to Inspire caught up with the talented artist comedian Cashtastic and TVwho Starhas been Doc Brown makingforananimpact exclusive on the interview music scene and heres overwhat the last he had few years. to say. If you had the opportunity to get a message across to a large amount of people, what would your message be? My message would be; The more stars you see is the more stars you’ll see, the more positivity and love you spread the more positivity and love will spread worldwide. You may think that you can’t change the world, but changing the world starts firstly with changing yourself, operate your household and your community how you would want the whole world to operate. Be the change that you want to see. How did you get started with your music? And if you were not a artist/musician what would you want to be doing? I got started with my music primarily by falling in love with the process of making music. Knowing that thoughts in my mind can organise themselves in a rhythmic rhyming pattern then go out to the world and inspire somebody is crazy! So before any shows, fans, magazines or labels got involved, I started my music by falling in love with the process of making it.

If I wasn’t an artist/musician what would I want to be doing? God knows best so l will never be able to answer this question accurately, however, I can say this, God willing my music will live on for an eternity but I don’t plan on doing music forever so if I wasn’t doing music I would want to be doing something that helps people. What or who keeps you motivated and inspires you?

Firstly myself, you know how they say you can’t love somebody until you love yourself? Well in my humble opinion you can’t be motivated or inspired by anyone if you don’t inspire or motivate yourself. Secondly I’m Willia inspired and motivated by myThaddeus Mrs, my nephews and nieces, my cousins, and brothers, my mother and father, grandparents, my friends, the average work a day man and women, other artists, positive people and negative people, the negative people inspire and motivate me to not be like them. What is the most memorable experience of your life/career so far? And what have you learnt from it? The main experience on my mind I

Photography - Thaddeus Williams

ams

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Photography - Thaddeus Williams

would say was when I was removed from the UK. I learned from it eventually that time, will tell you everything you need to know if you pay attention. In the next two years what do you ASPIRE to have done? I aspire to have remained positive, remained faithful, remained loyal, remained inspirational, remained hungry to learn more, remained humble, remained loving and remained alive. Anything else I achieve in the next two years other than all of the above will be a bonus God willing. How much of your life and background have influenced you to become a songwriter/musician? All of it. From my imperfections to the things that I am applauded for, they all contributed. f you could collaborate with anyone who would to it be and why? Lauryn Hill because I can only imagine what the ambiance in the studio would be like, I picture us having a deep conversation for hours then writing and recording a song about the conversation we just had *Laughs*. The second person would be my unborn child, just to have him or her utter some words or sounds on a record with me would be a dream come true.

What is your motto in life/what do you live by? It changes all the time, today it is “Treat people how you want to be treated”. What are your biggest dreams? and what are your biggest fears? My biggest dream changes on a day to day basis, today my biggest dream is being able to provide for my unborn children and make them and their mother happy. My biggest fear is having fear for anything or anyone other than God. What is next for you/your plans for the next year? To release new music and build upon my current following. I want my music to branch out to other countries in order to build a stronger and bigger support system. I plan to release my third solo mixtape entitled ‘UKBA’ which stands for ‘Understanding Knowledge Brings Answers’ at some point this year. What would your advice be to those out there who want to live out there dreams? In the words of Jimmy Cliff “You can get it if you really want but you must try, try and try, try and try, you’l succeed at last” Follow me @Cashtasticmusic

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Aspire to Inspire caught up with the hottest Spoken Word rap artist in the UK Nego True to get the latest from him and what he is up to. If you had the opportunity to get a message across to a large amount of people, what would your message be? I think my message would be for people to be themselves. Be yourself and enjoy life! How did you get started with your music? And if you were not an artist/musician what would you want to be doing? I got started when I was in my second year of university. I studied Business & Accounting I was working in finance for a year before I quit to do what I am doing full time. I would probably go back to doing that if I wasn’t doing this. People see the numbers and think that was a dream job, that was a dream graduate job but you don’t have life, Monday to Sunday, 9am to 9pm if you are lucky. It’s not life you want to be living. Find something you love and do it, so that’s what I’m doing now. What or who keeps you motivated and inspires you? My little sister and my mum definitely. People around me to be honest, just talking about how we was raised, we raised us. What is the most memorable experience of your life/career so far? And what have you learnt from it?

We will go for career, there’s been a lot of experiences in life. I think it was my first sold out show in London last summer, at a beautiful venue. I saw my mum there and that was the first time she had ever come to see me perform, It was a beautiful experience. I love my friends and family and my home so for them to all be there. This August we are doing a UK tour and a US tour. So hopefully that will top it. Would you go back and change anything in your journey so far? (If no, why) No I couldn’t or I wouldn’t have anything to write about. I’ve made a million mistakes. I make mistakes everyday. I’m a terrible human being but I love it, I don’t think people get it, I think people think because I write such things that my life must be all together. The only way I can write like I write is because my life is everywhere. I wouldn’t change anything. In the next two years what do you ASPIRE to have done? This summer we are doing a US and UK tour so that is done. Hopefully release a strong body of work that hits Top 40, hopefully do a world tour as well as the US and UK tour. There’s so many things still to be done, even when we do chart it’s onto the next thing, that’s how we work in our team at TTF onto the next thing.

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How much of your life and background have influenced you to become a songwriter/artist? All of it. Everything we’ve been through. If you could collaborate with anyone who would to it be and why?

What lyrics mean the most to you? Young Jeezy and Keisah Colee. I played that everyday when I went through college that was my life. What are your biggest dreams? and what are your biggest fears?

The funny thing is I have collaborated with a lot of my favourite artists already I just have not released the songs yet. Ed Sheeran is probably one of my main musical influences since I started, back in college, I didn’t even do Spoken Word then so Ed Sheeran definitely.

My biggest dream is to enjoy life and put my family in a position that we can relax. I’m not one of those people who want a mansion, I just want a nice house, items that I can pass down to when I have children and be able to put my mum in a good position so that’s what I work towards. My biggest fear is that I cant save everyone.

What is your motto in life/what do you live by?

What is next for you/your plans for the next year?

As long as you ain’t dead then your alive. One of my friends died in 2008, 24th August. Me and my friend Jerome came up with this phrase as long as you ain’t dead then your alive and that helped us go through everything. It was sort of like what do you have to complain about you have a shot.

The tour this summer, releasing the EP and releasing a book all before the end of this year. Before the end of 2015. When the book comes out, hopefully we get a best seller by next year!

What is currently on your play-list? I am currently listening to, Ed Sheeran ‘Thinking Out Loud’, Gigs has a new song. Couple Rick Ross tunes, Favlous new mix-tape. Just the typical mix of ignorant rap and good music.

What would your advice to be to those out there who want to live out their dreams? Do it. If you can’t do it, you’re not made for it. I’m going to live my life if you don’t want to join me. Lastly, where can people follow your career? @NegoTruee www.negotrue.com

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nathan grisdale

Aspire to Inspire caught up with upcoming talent Nathan Grisdale, who is set to make a big impact on the music industry in the next few years. If you had the opportunity to get a message across to a large amount of people, what would your message be? If I could get any message across to young people out there I would say don’t care what people think, it’s your life so live it to it’s full potential and prove people that doubt you wrong. How did you get started with your music? And if you weren’t an artist/musician what would you want to be doing? My music career started with me posting original videos on social networking sites and it just took off from there. If I wasn’t doing music I would of loved to be an actor or footballer that would be awesome. What or who keeps you motivated and inspires you? My fans keep me motivated and my inspiration is artists like Ed Sheeran that start from the bottom and make it to the top. What is the most memorable experience of your life/career so far? And what have you learnt from it?

My most memorable experience so far would have to be going on tour seeing all my fans smile and listening to how I helped them in their life, that felt so good. Would you go back and change anything in your journey so far? (If no, why) I wouldn’t go back and change a thing in my career so far. As I have had ups and downs but learnt from it to improve and get better as both a musician and individual. In the next two years what do you ASPIRE to have done? In the next 2 years I would like to have achieved a top 40 and sell out big venues to see more and more fans. How much of your life and background have influenced you to become a songwriter/musician? I write songs about my background and I feel music helps me overcome certain situations and also helps people out there that can relate to my songs and make them feel better about themselves, that makes me very happy.

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If you could collaborate with anyone who would to it be and why? If I could collaborate with anyone it would be Elvis. He was amazing and such a legend to inspiring artists. What is your motto in life/what do you live by? My motto in life is to be yourself because everyone else is taken. What is currently on your play-list? My current jam is Cheerleader, but I do love Dock Of The Bay still even though its old ha-ha. If you could have a song to be the soundtrack to your life what would it be and why? Dance With My Father, as I hardly see my dad so I can really relate. It proves everyone has their ups and downs, you have to live every moment with your loved ones like its your last.

What are your biggest dreams? and what are your biggest fears My biggest dream is to sell out a huge arena and my biggest fear is heights, wow they scare me. What is next for you/your plans for the next year? The next plan is singles, music videos, tours :) so much is to come I’m so excited. What would your advice to be to those out there who want to live out their dreams? My advise to people wanting to achieve their dream is to make it happen like you don’t have a choice, want it as much as you need to breath. Lastly, where can people follow your career? For those who don’t know me, Nathan Grisdale on everything.

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Aspire to Inspire caught up with MOBO Awards nominated artist DJ Ironik to find out the latest, to see what he is up to this Summer and more. If you had the opportunity to get a message across to a large amount of people, what would your message be? Be yourself, do what you you feel is right for you. If you have a dream then pursue it and don’t let anybody stop you. How did you get started with your music? And if you weren’t an artist/ musician what would you want to be doing? I started out as a DJ at the age of 13 then went onto producing at 15 and then eventually started

writing my own lyrics at the age of 17 and wrote my first song ‘So Nice’ which was received really well on TV and online. If I wasn’t making music I would still be somehow involved in it - wether it was the business side of music or being an A&R at a record label. Music is what I’m here to be involved in, no matter what it involves. What or who keeps you motivated and inspires you? My mum first and foremost keeps me motived and inspired. Always pushing me to try harder and the first

to let me know that this is what I was supposed to do! Secondly I’d say my fans, if it weren’t for them I might have stopped putting out records a while ago. But they are so supportive and always driving me to make more. I do this for them too! What is the most memorable experience of your life/career so far? And what have you learnt from it? I have a few memorable experiences, for me, some of the most memorable experiences so far would probably be performing for the Queen at Buckingham Palace and receiving a letter

from her saying thank you for the performance. Also being nominated for Mobo awards and also performing on the same night. Growing up watching Mobo Awards that was a big deal for me. Also just being able to inspire young kids who want to do what I do! Would you go back and change anything in your journey so far? (If no, why) I wouldn’t change anything, everything I’ve achieved so far is much more then I ever imagined I would have ever achieve. I’m very grateful. In the next two years what do you ASPIRE to have done? In the next two years, I want to really get deeper into music, finding new talent, starting a record label and launching up and coming acts that are talented. We’ve already started my label 3Starz, it’s just about giving it a big launch and finding the right acts to push it. Hopefully that would be a great platform for young artists to be heard.

How much of your life and background have influenced you to become a songwriter/musician? Growing up my parents were really into music, I just remember them blaring garage tunes every weekend in the evening, so that was a big influence for me to get into the DJ side of things. Especially being a big fan of garage music and the whole DJ culture at the time. My uncle was also the owner for a garage promotion called Twice as Nice so that played a big part in getting me into music. And then eventually going into producing and then writing lyrics myself. If you could collaborate with anyone who would to it be and why? I’d love to work with Adele or Alicia Keys, singers with a bit of soul and meaningfulness to what they sing about. Maybe also a different kind of artist like The Kooks or Coldplay would be cool too!

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What is your motto in life/what do you live by? Find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. What is currently on your playlist?

fresh up and coming talent from the UK. I have no fears, I’m ready to take on whatever comes my way in life. What is next for you/your plans for the next year?

A lot of RnB and Hip Hop. A lot of Drake. And also a lot of my own music, new material which will hopefully be out next year and also my latest EP ’Ticking Off Boyhood Dreams’.

I will continue to keep putting out new music and content. Just keep working hard and try to be more consistent online with music and videos. And hopefully by the end of this year or beginning of next have a new album out!

If you could have a song to be the soundtrack to your life what would it be and why?

What would your advice to be to those out there who want to live out their dreams?

That’s a hard question to answer, I always try to think of a particular song but I’m so into music I listen to thousands every day it would be hard to just choose one lol.

Be yourself, do what you you feel is right for you. If you have a dream then pursue it and don’t let anybody stop you.

What are your biggest dreams? and what are your biggest fears My dream is to own my own record company which is based on finding

Lastly, where can people follow your career? Twitter - @djironik Instagram - @IronikDJ

Soundcloud - Ironik

If you had the opportunity to get a message across to a large amount of people, what would your message be? My message would be in terms of everything ‘consistency’. Be consistent about what you do, as an artist I think it’s important to be consistent. I also believe in daring to be different. I think this is a massive thing. There is no point in doing things that have been done already, no ones going to pay attention to it. Allowing yourself to believe that imperfection is beauty. I feel like people take too much time, to put a mask on, and rubbing things out and worrying about how things look. Rawness is appreciated by the real people off this world. So those three things are the messages I would like to send to a large amount of people. How did you get started with your illustrations? And if you weren’t an artist what would you want to be doing? I’ve always been into art as a kid, I use to draw on the walls of the house and my mum use to tell me off (laughs) and then throughout school to high school to college I was committed to art. In college I

did Graphic Design and then when I went to university I did Graphic Design for three years. In my third year I discovered Illustration, my course was called Graphic Design and Illustration my BA. I then decided to do my masters in Illustration. So that’s how I discovered what Illustration was and started experimenting. The style I have now is based on experimentation and having accidents with inks and realising I could do something with brown paper and colours, so it kind of worked out well. If I wasn’t an artist, I would probably... actually I don’t know. When I was a kid I wanted to be a pilot but with all this touring I do not like flying as much. Maybe I would be someone who sits at a museum or curates someone. Something to do with creativity still, that’s something I would always want to absorb myself in. What or who keeps you motivated and inspires you? I feel music has a massive source of inspiration, I feel like that dictates a lot of the artwork I do. The colours I use and the way I do things and the lines I draw. I also believe life in general. I get asked a lot who’s your inspiration and I feel like people

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always refer to humans, which they are, many people inspire me. I feel like ONE OF THE BIGGEST things that can be inspiring, IS THE WORLD WE LIVE IN from cracks in the pavement, to birds flying, to coffee stains on a mug. I think all these things can hold inspiration, I make stories out of stuff like that. I would say those kind of things. A massive motivation to me also, is my DAD. When I was a kid I used to watch him play the piano or watch him do calligraphy, I use to try and do it the way and really badly failing at it but from such a young age I was picking up a pen, and trying to be creative. That was my opening to the creative world.

at staring inside and seeing all these people who could’ve been anywhere and they chose to come and see my Artwork and that’s just a moment. I often under estimate the people that are following my artwork and I’m mean now I’m starting to release there are quite a few doing that and I really appreciate it. So that would be a memorable experience, another would be LL COOL J owning one off my art pieces, I’ve been a big fan of LL COOL J so that was special when he tweeted me and used my artwork as his display picture..

What is the most memorable experience of your life/career so far? And what have you learnt from it?

Probably not, I think everything happens for a reason and if I went back and changed anything things may be different for me now, maybe this interview wouldn’t even be happening so I like the way things have happened and mapped out. Everything happens for a reason, everything’s a blessing in disguise if it’s not there too be seen. I cant complain where I am right now.

I feel like touring with your Artwork and exhibiting globally, is a massive experience and it’s also the most memorable for me. I mean there are so many things that’s happened from celebrities tweeting me and people owning my artwork, but one off my massive memorable experiences has to be touring, especially when I went to Australia in January. The reason being, at the end of the day, I’m just a guy who produces Artwork in my studio, but when you hold shows across the world and they are sold out there’s no words to explain that feeling. I remember turning up to the event an hour or so after the doors opened, I remember stopping outside

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Would you go back and change anything in your journey so far? (If no, why)

In the next two years what do you ASPIRE to have done? I get asked this question so often and I feel the best way I can answer this is I don’t know. The reason is I never knew I would be touring the world with my artwork, I never knew I would have over 100,000 people following my artwork, I didn’t realise I would be able to work with the people I have

been working with or have these people tweet me. I never expected any of that, I feel like the second I put rules and regulations on what I want to do and what I want to have done in two years that might shatter my journey. Though I do have personal goals, like I want to release a clothing line, I want to release my children’s books, these are things I want to do but I don’t want to dictate that journey to much, going with the flow just like ink. How much of your life and background have influenced you to become a illustrator/artist? I feel like because I am Sikh I have a massive richness of culture and heritage, stories, that’s always been something that fascinates me as a Illustrator. I also want to bring Illustration to life, through the stories I know about my religion. I also believe that, my dad’s been a massive inspiration knowing he’s been into the creative world, being artistic in some way. I feel like that’s been a boost, picking up a pen when I was a kid could’ve changed everything, had I not, I would of been doing something else. It’s been a massive boost to have that influence from my dad from a young age. Even my mum and sister, the conversations we have, we are all very imaginative, so it’s wonderful to be amongst them. So I would say Family especially.

If you could collaborate with anyone who would to it be and why? That’s a good question. You know what that’s probably the same as my answer in what I want to do in TWO years. I feel like people I have collaborated with I use to be fans off and now I’m working with them or they are my friends. It’s really strange how things have mapped out, I have so many collaborations and people I would like to collaborate with, I feel like the second I start naming them, maybe they won’t happen. I look up to many people, JCOLE, Drake, The Weekend, knowing that they’ve seen my illustrations and liked it or spoken about it, is just amazing on it’s own maybe we can collaborate who knows. What is your motto in life/what do you live by? The first one being consistency is key, dare to be different, imperfection is beauty. Wonderful things I live by. What is currently on your play-list? I’m a massive fan of a German DJ called Paul Van Dek and he plays electro/trance music which is my favourite genre of music. He just came out with a new album called politics and not only did he tweet me this week which was a fan boy moment, the album itself is amazing. That’s whats on my play-list.

If you could have a song to be the soundtrack to your life what would it be and why? You have caught me off guard, but I think it would be a track by Paul Van Dek, a track called Reflections or In Between. I don’t think it is something people will know, but just his music alone is very emotional and it allows you to be free with what you think. I would love people to have that viewpoint of me, to allow people to think about what they want when they think about me. So those two tracks. What are your biggest dreams? and what are your biggest fears My biggest dreams I think I would be to continue touring, to conquer and tour as many countries as I can. I think that will be a dream come true, to go to as many countries as I can. Travel whilst you are young and whilst you can. That’s what I am trying to do. That would be massive to look back and see all these documentaries from all the tours that I’ve done, would be incredible. My biggest fear is losing my imagination, losing that aspect of creativity, losing that feel off being

different. I love being different, I love knowing I can make a story from a stain on my coffee mug, I love knowing that. I love knowing I can make a conversations from birds flying and what they are talking about and I feel like the second I lose that, I lose everything so that’ll be my biggest fear. I also have fear of being feared, like becoming scared of what people think of my work. Right now I’m quite blind too that, I don’t really care as much, because that’s my voice and that’s what I believe in. I am very thankful people can connect with it, the second I get a fear of what I am producing. I’ve overcome that in last four or five years. What is next for you/your plans for the next year? What’s next for me? I have my first UK tour coming up, which is in December. Next on the plan is to tour, Dubai, and then 2016 will be Asia and will be bigger. It’s going to be a lot of travelling, I want to travel a lot in the next one, two years. On top off that I have a clothing line I want to release and some books and yeah, it’s exciting times.

What would your advice to be to those out there who want to live out their dreams? I know I’ve mentioned it twice, being consistent with your passion. I don’t produce Artwork for people unless it’s commissioned but what I mean is on a daily basis, I produce art for myself. I still keep going. I could turn around and be like, I keep going because that’s the thing with art some people connect with something I don’t like or do like, it’s crazy. That’s the hidden language of art. My advice would be to be consistent with what you do, people give up to early, or when they are so close to achieving what they want to achieve, so keep going, keep going. Lastly, for those who don’t know where can people follow your career? I am on all platforms, I go by the artist name of Inkquisitive. I’m on twitter, Facebook, YouTube, you can check me out there. Thank you for having me.