What are your names?
Khabs
What is the band’s name?
The Spy From Balzan
How did you come up with the band’s name?
I’m not actually too sure, it was originally a name I came up with when doing some non-serious vocals on some of my trappier instrumentals around 2017/18. Balzan is a place in Malta near where my Grandma grew up but aside from that I can’t remember!
What is your genre of music?
Good question, I would say alternative (whatever that is) as that kinds covers everything and is a nice cop out. It’s not something I really think about, maybe I can leave that to you guys!
Give us a little bio about you.
I’m originally from Hexham in Northumberland, I moved down to Manchester at 18 cos I wanted to get involved in the underground dubstep/140/grime/rap scene as a producer which I did for a good few years. Lucky enough to play across the country with some of my favourite MCs and even went across to barca for some shows then after lockdown I struggled to get inspired for ⅔ years until I just stopped overthinking it and made some songs!
What made you go into music?
It’s something that I’ve been obsessed with for as long as I can remember
Who are your influences?
I take influences from everything I listen to basically, I like hearing people take artistic risks. I think my biggest influence on my music was my old guitar teacher David Halton who was always trying to urge me to do stuff a bit differently, but also teaching me green day songs when i wanted to! 🤣
Are you a signed?
Nope 100% independent
You released your new single ‘Northern Rail’, tell us more about the single and the meaning behind the song.
This was the first tune I made after a long time of not writing anything, the instrumental came really naturally and was finished in about 1hr – but lyrics / vocals was something I’d not done for years and years. I took inspiration from MF DOOM and writers like alex turner in the sense that I just kinda went for cool 1 / 2 liners that sounded cool but didn’t necessarily have to convey a larger message and ended up with the tune!
Describe the track in two words.
Indie Landfill
What was the writing and recording process like?
A bit of a challenge with it being the first track I’d made in a while but all came naturally after a small struggle. Wrote and recorded it all in my room.
Who did you work with on the single?
For the tune no one but me, for the video my good friend George Eley helped me massiveky with that.
We also see a music a music video for ‘Northern Rail’, tell us more about the creative process?
I had an idea for a kind of Trailer Park Boys meets Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas style video when listening to the tune. I love films and stuff so had quite a lot of ideas for it but wasnt sure how best to execute them. Luckily I’ve got a really talented friend in George Eley who translated my ramblings into a plan which we managed to shoot in 2 days. It was all done on a GoPro, Drone and VHS camera and we then edited it together. Super happy with it!
We are also expected to see an EP drop can you tell us more about it and the inspiration behind it.
Yeah! So this kinda just came from 6 months of intense inspiration which takes the form of 7 tracks including Northern Rail. I just kept writing without any kind of body of work in mind and then chose the strongest / most coherent tracks and built around that. It was initially 4 tracks and i just kept adding more and more. They’re all quite different but work well together I think, its kind of just a culmination of everything ive ever y listening to in 7 songs.
Describe each track in two words.
Crazy Ghost
Beautiful
Cheese dreams
Skitzy Billy
Aluminium Daniel
Bop Bop
Big Dinosaur
Do you have any live shows coming up?
Not yet, need to work out how best to perform all these tracks first!
What else can we expect in late 2023?
The EP, a couple more videos, hopefully some live shows once I work out how to play the fucking things haha
Where do you see yourself now in 5 Years?
Hopefully in a place where I can quit my day job
What quote or saying do you always stick by?
Get two birds stoned at once
When you are at a gig, what are 5 things you cannot forget?
Keys wallet phone ticket shoes
Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
Yes!
Insta: @khabsmcp or @thespyfrombalzan
twitter: @khabs_ne
tiktok: thespyfrombalzan
