“Mabel” is one of our favorite tunes of 2014. The vocals are sweet but not saccharine, the production is tight and surprising. From start to finish, “Mabel” is the brainchild of 24-year-old UK producer TJ “Lil Silva” Carter, but it doesn’t necessarily represent where he’s been—or where he’s going. With roots in grime and UK funky and soca (despite his aversion to genre labels), Lil Silva’s work has always borne a plurality of influence, starting with the reggae, funk, house, and UK garage that soundtracked his childhood and influenced his first EP, at age nine.
We probably only see 10% of the music Lil Silva produces. He’s always humming and singing into the recorder on his phone, constantly amassing melodies and ideas, but he’s meticulously editorial with his output. It seems to be his approach to most aspects of his professional life. When there was a delay on getting Silva’s end of this interview, his manager explained apologetically, “he wants the answers to be good, not just rush through them.” The artist's entrancing collaborations with Banks are beginning to nudge the producer into the popular consciousness, but Lil Silva is focused intently on the work in front of him.
My process wasn’t really set yet; I was still learning my craft and what I wanted my sound to be. I feel each release has been a steady progression into finding my sound. What I’m listening to and the influences around me change the music I’m writing. That’s why my early stuff is a lot more dancefloor-centered, whereas recently I’ve gotten really into love songs and using my voice. But my music always has elements of the sounds I used in my early production. That never goes away.
Can you talk a little bit about the way you’re able to so nimbly traverse different genres? How do you think about “genre,” if you do at all?
I’ve never liked “genre," I’ve never been able to categorize my music. Genres and subgenres all become one big blur and, honestly, just make it easier for the consumer to pigeonhole your music and say, “You are this type of artist.” I can safely say I have been put in a lot of different genre cate
We probably only see 10% of the music Lil Silva produces. He’s always humming and singing into the recorder on his phone, constantly amassing melodies and ideas, but he’s meticulously editorial with his output. It seems to be his approach to most aspects of his professional life. When there was a delay on getting Silva’s end of this interview, his manager explained apologetically, “he wants the answers to be good, not just rush through them.” The artist's entrancing collaborations with Banks are beginning to nudge the producer into the popular consciousness, but Lil Silva is focused intently on the work in front of him.
ALICE HINES: What music was influential for you growing up?
LIL SILVA: I grew up listening to a lot of my Dad’s collection that ranged from reggae to funk to soul classics. My brother, who was a DJ, got me into garage, house, and grime really early on. So that gave me a pretty wide influence when it came to making my own music. When I heard “Shrapnel” that was like, “OK, I wanna make something like that.” (Thank me later if that becomes your new tune to get crazy to).
My process wasn’t really set yet; I was still learning my craft and what I wanted my sound to be. I feel each release has been a steady progression into finding my sound. What I’m listening to and the influences around me change the music I’m writing. That’s why my early stuff is a lot more dancefloor-centered, whereas recently I’ve gotten really into love songs and using my voice. But my music always has elements of the sounds I used in my early production. That never goes away.
Can you talk a little bit about the way you’re able to so nimbly traverse different genres? How do you think about “genre,” if you do at all?
I’ve never liked “genre," I’ve never been able to categorize my music. Genres and subgenres all become one big blur and, honestly, just make it easier for the consumer to pigeonhole your music and say, “You are this type of artist.” I can safely say I have been put in a lot of different genre cate