Sunday morning. I was looking forward to scheduling an interview specifically on a Sunday morning. I could never imagine who it’d be with. I made a cup of tea and started the videocall; after a few rings, The Halfway Kid appeared on my screen. Saeed (aka The Halfway Kid) is an artist based in London. His music has gotten me through multiple events of my life since I randomly discovered a song of his last year. He’s managed to make a great mix of all his influences, starting off with hip-hop and ending up with folk. Some of the artists he loves is Nas, Bob Dylan and Nina Simone.
On his Spotify and YouTube channel description there’s a Gil Scott Heron quote: If you’re looking, I want there to be something here for you to find.I love that. That feeling of discovery, when you discover a new artist, a new sound, a new anything. And you feel like you found something underneath it for you. I wanted my music to feel like that, and I really wanted to hold onto that, because I really value that feeling.
We talked about a song of his new album Myths In Modern Life.
I don’t want a little, I want a lot of you
I had the idea for the song for a while but I didn't know what form it was going to take. I've written it because I felt like it made me laugh, and the feeling of like… when you're dating and you meet someone that you wanna see again, it feels like “I don't want a little, I want a lot of you”.
Lay your arms on my shoulders and I'll lay down my pride
I look for you on Sunday morning all the way to Saturday night
You want more in a situation, you want more from someone. Sometimes you realize it more when you're by yourself than when you're actually in the company of someone, especially in an early stage, so that's why the lyrics… in a sense they're like negative space lyrics, rather than positive space lyrics. But I think that's just true to the feeling and when you want to see someone again, it's because they're not there. They're not present.
Love isn’t something you have, love’s just something you do
I think that you have all these ideas from TV and film and life about what things are going to feel like, or what things are supposed to feel like, and then you sort of go outside and you realize that they're all wrong. And I just think it's true, it's an action thing, I'm probably the millionth person to say that but… talk is cheap. It's funny as a songwriter to say that but yeah, talk is cheap and it's more about action. It felt like I got lucky, I was really happy with that line because it's the set up to the big finale and you can't overthink that, you can't cliche that.
Faith doesn’t mean you believe, I think it’s something you choose
People think that faith means you actually believe, and I don't agree. I think it's something that you choose to believe. And that doesn't diminish the belief, I think it enriches the belief. Faith is an important concept in my music. Not necessarily religious faith, just everyday faith is an important thing I like to have in there somewhere.
Say my name again, make me brand new again
It's like when you hear someone say your name for the first time and they've never said it before, or you have that feeling when no one says your name for a few days and they say it… it's weird. I liked the idea of… someone new saying your name can make you feel new as well, and that being one of the refreshing things of being in love.
The song was recorded -in many ways- spontaneously, and when you listen to it you can really feel the energy flow. The process was Saeed writing it and then bringing it in to figure out an arrangement with his team in the studio. And so they did, but… it was so slow. And it sounded good but it was a bit boring. here was nothing about it that was like exciting, or… it didn't feel right. The team took a break, and when they came back from lunch, Saeed asked Miguel to do a Motown drum… Jordan's playing the piano and he’s amazing, and I was like, just play it. But to this feeling. And as soon as he did that I was like, that's how you do the song. That's the way it needs to be done. Gibbi, the producer of the project (along with Will) is so good at immediately locking in and figuring out what the song needs and we went from there. They’re such good musicians it becomes easy.
The lyrics had to change.,too. Really quickly I had to rewrite verses, because they really changed. But it felt right. I don't want a little, I want a lot of you, it's a spontaneous emotion, so the lyrics should feel spontaneous and they shouldn't feel overwritten. So, we just literally got that together really quickly. And I’m really, really happy with it. It felt like a real nice feeling or flavor to put on the album to really create a full picture of what's going on.
This song makes you want to dance. It makes you want to scream. It makes you want to love. Easy to relate thoughts, simple words and the capture of raw emotion. The experience of attraction and love from a very personal perspective. And at the same time, a reminder to take some time between moments to let everything sink in, and cherish each one of them. Whether it’s about a partner, a friend, or yourself. The purest, most honest and sweetest statement of all,
I don’t want a little, I want a lot of you.
: Anna Maria Louloudi
