Listen to Poté’s New Song “Egosurf (For All It’s Worth)”
London-based, St. Lucian-born producer Poté is finding his voice.
Following the release of his excellent Over The Water EP (featuring standout single “Fall”), he experimented with sprinkling his own vocals into a throbbing, head-nodding track called “Fire For Fire.” Happy with the result, he does so again on “Egosurf (For All It’s Worth),” a gorgeous song that skillfully pulls his left-field eccentricities into an accessible, foot-tapping groove. It will appear on his four-track EP, Fire For Fire, due out February 10.
“On the surface, Fire For Fire is about the internal conflict between the brain and the heart,” Poté tells us of the upcoming EP. “It’s like fighting fire with fire. Two very powerful forces. It also delves into power struggles in every day relationships, which can be quite fiery.”
Listen to “Egosurf (For All It’s Worth)” on Spotify here or via SoundCloud below and continue for our full Q&A with Poté.
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Does using your own vocals (as you do on “Egosurf” and “Fire for Fire”) open up new possibilities for you as an artist?
Most definitely, it gives me the chance to express things I never really could when I was solely producing. It also adds a voice and vibe to my music, which makes everything a bit more unique to me.
How did you choose the vocalists to work with on this EP and what was the experience like? Does your approach change when you’re working with a vocalist?
It all happened really naturally, especially the link up with Kojey. I was over at Toddla T’s studio playing him some new music I’ve been experimenting on and played him this one beat, which I felt Kojey would fit perfectly on. Toddla T then linked us up via email saying we should work together, and not long after we did. We worked on a few different things before ‘Fire for Fire’ came about.
Carmody’s link was sent through from my management and I really loved the work she did with Tom Misch, so had to follow up. When we met up, we ended up playing each other different bits of music for a while before we did any work, that really helps getting to know one another. I had some ideas for Before the Lights but she really helped make it come to life.
How does St. Lucia influence you as a person and an artist?
Being born and brought up in St. Lucia has and forever will have an enormous influence on me as a person. The beach, the people, and the culture are things that have had a great impact on my personality, I think there is something about living next to a beach that makes me a calm and positive person. People also love a good party there and that definitely shines through me.
As an artist, it has influenced all my work with Portuguese indie Enchufada, as well as my Over the Water EP. I found the rhythmic elements in what I heard around me when I was a young child in St. Lucia and Enchufada’s sound really similar; I felt really at home immersing myself into that culture.
Why is the EP called Fire For Fire and what do you hope listeners take from it?
Fire For Fire dives into a few different things in my life at a point in time, it’s more or less a reflection of my mind state at the time. On the surface, Fire For Fire is about the internal conflict between the brain and the heart, it’s like fighting fire with fire. Two very powerful forces. It also delves into power struggles in every day relationships, which can be quite fiery. I hope listeners get a sense of enjoyment and exploration from listening to the EP. Most importantly, I hope it makes listeners feel that it’s ok to be free and creative with what you do and there’s not one set path for you to follow in anything. You don’t have to do one thing over and over because it worked once, people should feel free to experiment and express themselves.
