KiLLOWEN - DECEMBER 2023

( Digital Covers ) - Friday 8th December 2023

Words by Isaac Solanki. Photography by Harry McCulloch (Creative Opportunities). Styling by Elis Haddock (Creative Opportunities) using pieces from Fridge. BTS by Sam Fenner. Thanks to Jessica Lamb (DSTNCT SPACE).

Wrapping up the year in style with our digital cover star for December, KiLLOWEN stood by his car on the corner of Greenwich Park, overlooking the big smoke. Following a successful release of popular singles including TikTok sensation Sober (5.3M+ stream on Spotify alone), the talented British rapper recently released his debut EP titled Pub Therapy, a 9-track diary of his both personal and relatable journey from adolescence to adulthood. From a young age KiLLOWEN looked up to his DnB obsessed brother for lessons, before deciding to pave his own path, delving deep into the realms of production to create his own unique garage-rap sound, something that he’s developed incredibly across the past decade through pure dedication and practice. He’s now creating music that resonates so deeply with his ever-expanding fan base, no clearer to see than at his recent career-sculpting Reading set where his lyricism played out to a Radio 1Xtra tent overflowing with people.

As we look towards 2024, it is inescapable that KiLLOWEN is on the verge of transitioning from a promising newcomer to a beloved fan favourite. The other week I had the pleasure of working alongside a fantastic team of talented creatives on this shoot before catching up with the laidback and humble lyrical genius again (the day before Man United beat Chelsea at Old Trafford) to talk through all things KiLLO, reflecting back on what’s been a crazily successful year of progression for the lifelong Chelsea fan.

So, where did the KiLLOWEN story start? A lot of young creatives nowadays dream about making music that resonates with people… what made you commit to making this a career as supposed to just keeping it as a hobby?

“I was always playing instruments as a kid, before my oldest brother got into DJing; he loved DnB, so he was DJing everyday upstairs in his room. Blaring music, crazy loud but in the best way, I took a shine to it - he’s my older brother and I think you just wanna do what your older siblings do, right? So, he taught me how to DJ, I naturally always gravitated a bit more towards the slower 140bpm, dubstep, garage sort of sound and I had a huge love for grime at the time - people like Skepta around the age of 13/14. After DJing for a few months, I decided that I wanted to make the music myself, as supposed to just playing other peoples stuff. That then lead into production with me making beats but listeing to grime artists and British rappers - I wouldn’t say I was into rap but I discovered American hip-hop at a pretty cool time. I was the perfect age, when My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West came out, before Watch the Throne. Cruel Summer too, there was this whole period where I became obsessed with that side of music, Kendrick Lamar etc. I feel like I just landed in hip-hop/American rap during the most amazing year. I had all of this amazing music to listen to and quickly realised that I wanted to start rapping over these beats I had been making. Instead of making beats for DJ sets, I started making them to rap over. In terms of saying stuff that people relate to, I just naturally over time figured out how to be myself - I’ve always thought that the more authentic you put yourself across and the more you speak about what’s going on in your life in your own way, it just becomes relatable because you’re not just making shit up. That’s how I’ve got to where I am today, just through spending so much time doing it, making music because I love it. I do feel like I’ve finally cracked the code, not every part of the journey is fun but sharing the music with other people who connect with it, is an amazing thing to be able to do now.”

I have to ask… what’s the meaning behind the name and the way it’s written?

“So, my name is Owen and my nan is from Ireland, from a place called Cork. When she left Ireland, there wasn’t a lot to go back to, it was never a typical family holiday for us but when I went back there last, when I was about 12, I remember seeing towns like Kilkenny on the map and there was actually a very small parish, not even big enough to be a village, called Killowen right near where my nan grew up. I think it’s more like an English rendition of what used to be Gaelic or something but I chose it because it felt like me. Being someone from both English and Irish decent, I also felt like moving forwards with a name like that, I was paying my respects to my heritage. In terms of the way it’s spelt, it’s kind of 50/50 - I thought it looked cool but also, from the age of about 18, I realised that a lot of the music I make/write isn’t all about me, me, me - it’s more about what’s going on in everyday life collectively. So, the lowercase “i” represents that it’s not all about I… or me.”

Talk to me about your sound and how it’s developed/led up to the debut EP “Pub Therapy” as well as how it’s helped you build the whole KiLLOWEN brand…

“The sound right now, if I had to put it in a box, which I guess no artist likes doing haha… but I won’t be pretentious about it - I’d say it’s garage rap. I’m making beats at 125-135bpm, or around that tempo, having said that, there’s some stuff on Pub Therapy like About Last Night… which is a bit more jersey, or The Butterfly Effect which is a little more hip-hop. I only really think about it when I have these conversations but I feel like you could look at it and think that I randomly landed on the sound one day and I was good at it so I just kept making more, which I kind of did but the reason I like to mention the DJ stuff when people ask is because I didn’t just randomly decide to make garage one day. When I got a bit older, I listened more to the likes of King Krule and Tame Impala - there’s some songs right at the start of my Spotify that are a little more guitar heavy. I think the main thing with everything that I’ve done is that it’s always been authentic to me and been inspired by what I’m doing, listening to and feeling at the time of writing. Looking at it now, it’s almost been like a full circle moment - I started at the age of 12 making music to the same kind of tempo beats but now I’m doing it with 10 years of practice and industry experience. I think the core will always be the same, who I am and how I approach certain topics, how I make certain beats and write certain lyrics. the sounds can definitely change, I like to do my own thing. you can’t make 10 albums of the same sound, people won’t stay listening, so I think the songs will definitely evolve, perhaps as supposed to change.”

So, a lot of work and a lot of years have gone into “Pub Therapy” - in your own words, what’s the debut EP all about?

“In a nutshell, it’s essentially just my journey from adolescence to now, from 16/17 to where I am today. It’s almost like my journey into becoming an adult, all about learning to deal with responsibilities, understanding that sometimes you have to deal with things you don’t want to face and that there’s consequences to your actions. I don’t mean this in a negative way either, it’s more just like oh this happened , so I’m going to write about it. I’m not saying that going to the pub is a good or bad way to deal with things but Ido feel like it’s a way that a lot of people deal with stuff. Not just British culture, this EP explores that whole concept of life and how a lot of us deal with the different things we face day to day.”

What do you find so therapeutic about the pub? A lot of young people go, just sitting down the pub with your mates having a pint, chatting about random stuff - I suppose you don’t realise how much that helps you as a young person when you’re there..?

“Exactly that. You’ve hit the nail on the head. I don’t just think it includes young people though, you’ll see the older generation sat down the local after the football too and it’s probably doing them great too. I’m not saying the drink is good for you but it’s the socialising environment that’s subconsciously acting like therapy. If you’re working in the rat race, Monday to Friday, 9-5 - those 2 or 3 hours you get down the pub to talk about life with your mates is probably what’s saving your brain. I feel like without something like that, it can be quite bleak. It’s conversational, you’re sitting around a table dishing it out, breaking the cycle…”

Talk to me about the KiLLOWEN writing process. Do you find it hard to write? Do you enjoy it? Why do you think your lyrics and beats have resonated with so many people?

“Do I find it hard to write? It depends, some days it is, some days it’s not. I often find that the ones that are hard to write, don’t end up being the best songs for me because you're struggling to find things to say. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes, you take longer to write a song because you’re thinking about each and every word, when you’re struggling to find things to say, that’s often when it goes wrong. For me personally, I find that the beat comes first - I very rarely come into a studio with the exact words I want to say. Normally, the beat pulls it out of me. I don’t walk around thinking about how I can turn my feelings into song lyrics everyday, it would be very taxing. I think about a lot of stuff, so does everyone but it’s more specific moments that’ll come back to me when I hear a new beat. The music will bring out the lyrics and the theme for me. I feel like the more I do sessions and work with bigger artist and producers, I realise that we all land on the same thing - you could make a song that’s fit for radio that you think will go off but no one likes it because its so controlled and often unrelatable. Whereas this random song you write that means a lot to you, people can feel it's real. If I was sitting here with you right now, feeding you a load of bullshit, you’d be sat there thinking what on earth is this guy on about, which you might be anyways haha but the point is that when things come from the heart, people can tell and I think that’s what makes it relatable. I don’t mean that everything has to be deep but if a song has a personal meaning behind it, it’ll more likely resonate with other people. It’s just about being true to yourself and trying not to put yourself into a specific category if that’s not you, which isn’t really me or wasn’t really me at the time of writing.”

Now, let’s take that music that you’ve written and talk about playing it live. How does it feel? (especially with the recent 3 night tiring tour), do you find it rewarding? Do you get nervous? How was it, seeing your words resonating face to face with fans?

“It’s definitely hugely rewarding. To be honest, it’s probably one of the most rewarding things in music I think. There’s two parts to music that I think really matter, there’s the actual making of the song and then there’s the playing it live in front of people part. When you release something online, it’s great; you get positive feedback from people, you put in all this time and effort and get to see all of these followers, monthly listeners, likes, comments and stuff in return… which is cool and validating but it’s not real. I could have 200,000+ monthly listeners but I can’t visualise playing to 200,000 people - it doesn’t reflect the same way. When you go and play and you see these fans excited, taking time out of their lives, singing the words back to you and wanting to take photos in with you, that’s when you really see what the music is doing. I don’t think I really get nervous - it’s more this weird mix of anxiousness and excitedness. I’m not scared, it’s more just like an hour of adrenaline before a show. Then, with shows like the Reading one recently… that’s when I was definitely nervous but I feel like that’s a bit different haha. That’s not even real, playing to that many people. I can’t even really describe it because it’s just not normal.”

What’s next for KiLLOWEN? I know 2023 has been a bit of a crazy tiring year but 2024 now has the potential to be huge for you. Is there anything specific you’d like to have achieved by this time next year?

“In terms of specifics, it’s hard to say. We did a lot of the stuff we wanted to do this year, so I think 2024 is kind of just about doing the same thing - being consistent, executing well and just doing more of everything but all on a bigger scale. We did a small tour, a record and a festival run this year, I can’t promise anything but I’d like to think all of that stuff will happen again next year but bigger, to even more people with what I hope will be even better music.”

To finish… who would be your top 3 celebrities or inspirations to join you on a Pub Therapy night out? Maybe some dream collaborations or some people who have inspired you across the years.

“On a pub therapy night out… first one is gonna be Jme. Reason being, Skepta is my favourite British rapper but I just feel like Jme would bring some proper jokes. Skepta feels a little more introverted, not that I know either haha but I feels like Jme would be bringing out some mad subjects for conversations. Next, I have to sat, Jose Mourinho. Pretty self explanatory. Some unreal chat and he’d probably drink me under the table. Then, lastly because she was in my top 5 artists this year, I’m gonna say SZA. I think she’d add something a bit different. Maybe after a few drinks, she could bust out a little a cappella and we could get a bit of a pub karaoke going. I’d be down for that yeah, Jme, Jose and SZA.”

Love it, sounds like a good night out that. You never know, we could be sat here this time next year with you telling me all about it!

“Could you imagine. Despite me being a musician, the one I’d be most excited to meet out of the three would be… Jose, I love that guy.”