Italy is known for many great things which until now, has never included soul music.. M w S are a songwriting duo from a small town in Italy with a fresh sound perfect for long summer evenings in the capital.
Unfortunately, there’s little hunger for Soul & R’n’B in Italy currently. Although the pair recount working with other talented musicians and producers, as well as support from premium Italian station Radio Capital, the scene is unquestionably stronger on the British Isles so a move was always on the cards. This turned out to happen on the day the U.K opted to leave the E.U, we spoke to the Italian duo about this move..
Hi M w S – Introduce yourself to our followers
We’re a R&B / Pop Italian duo based in London. We’ve been making music together for a few years now and feel that we finally found our ‘sound’. This is amazing, cause it’s a long process, but definitely worth it.
Who are your main influences?
Our main influences are both artists from the past like Etta James, Erykah Badu, J Dilla and Lauryn Hill and most recent neo soul / jazz contemporary artists like Masego, Tom Misch, FKJ and many more producers of the scene.
Talk a bit about your sound, there’s been a lot of new soul music coming through in the UK?
There’s a whole scene at the moment, so many new artists producing a massive number of great tracks every week. What’s really amazing is that from this ‘new soul’ influences each and every one of them can make incredibly catchy tunes.
How does the music scene in the UK compare to that of Italy?
There’s a big music scene in Italy at the moment, indie is doing great. The UK scene is much bigger and more international of course. There are so many things going on at the same time and, as we said above, the new soul / electro / jazzy one is the one we’ve been following and it’s great to be able to make music just where it happens.
You left Italy on the day of the Brexit decision.. Talk us through that?
We didn’t really expect it. We’ve been planning the move for a few months and on the day we booked our tickets we saw the brexit results. At first we were a bit worried but we felt very confident about how international and welcoming London is.
Feel you’ve made the right decision?
Definitely. After one year and a half we feel really blessed to be part of the London scene. London is the city we’re most listened to on Spotify, isn’t that amazing?
Talk to us about Island, your first time working with a producer from a blank canvas?
Island is the first track we wrote after we moved to London. It’s very much about how we felt: a little scared at first but also incredibly excited for all the new opportunities that we had in front us and could somehow ‘feel’. We worked with a producer (Aamir Yaqub) and picked together every beat and sound – so we could also create the right atmosphere to best deliver what we wanted to say with the track. We’re very happy with the outcome and the first reactions from our fans are great.
Where can fans catch you next?
We will soon announce new gigs on our socials, so keep following us!
The new single ‘Island’ is also available on Spotify HERE
