Repeating Islands

Elizabeth Davis interviews musical artist Chipmunk, the son of Caribbean migrants, for The Independent.

Music: On my iPod I’ve got a good variety – Adele, Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, Florence and the Machine, Jay-Z – even myself. Adele has just hurricaned – what I like about her music is there’s not too much going on. It’s just a beautiful voice. My cultural interests are very much of my parental heritage, which is Caribbean; good music and good food. I like urban music because it’s what I grew up on – hip-hop, grime, UK garage, reggae. I’ve been listening to a lot of Mavado recently. Also Chris Brown’s album ‘F.A.M.E.’. It’s got a lot of good songs on it, including “She Ain’t You”, “Deuces” and “Look at Me Now”.

Films: I saw ‘Twilight’ recently on DVD – I love it. I like Jacob because I love an underdog story. ‘The Dark Knight’ is very inspirational. The way it’s shot is very clever – it’s a film that deserves to be watched on the big screen. I like action films because they keep you on the edge of your seat. I never watch films on planes. I stay up the night before and then I conk out on the plane.

Television: The only TV I catch at the moment is ‘The Only Way Is Essex’. It’s just funny. Lauren makes me laugh – she’s got a good sense of humour. Most of my free time I spend watching music channels, and writing music because I see that as a recreational activity.

Books: The last book I read was when I was in secondary school. It was ‘Of Mice and Men’ by John Steinbeck. I hate reading because as a kid it was a punishment when I was bad. As for the book itself, the whole idea of struggling for your dream is something that I can relate to. I’m sure a lot of people can, especially in the areas where I grew up.

Chipmunk’s album ‘Transition’ is out now. He performs at Wireless festival on 1 July (www.wirelessfestival.co.uk)

For the original report http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/cultural-life-chipmunk-musician-2276044.html