One of the most well-connected personalities in the music business is Fred Gibson, aka house musician Fred Again. He was mentored by Brian Eno when he was a teenager and established himself as a writer-producer on popular songs by artists including George Ezra and Ed Sheeran, Stormzy and Charli XCX, and Ed Sheeran and Ed Sheeran.
He was voted producer of the year by the British in 2020. He was the youngest recipient of the honor at age 26, making history.
He started as a solo artist around the same time, producing a trilogy of albums that mixed dance beats with real-world sounds and chats he had recorded on his phone.
His melodies are personal and heartfelt, in contrast to the escapism-oriented nature of most dance music. His Actual Life series’ first book, which is about coming to terms with the agony of losing a friend, was inspired by a similar event.
The third album, in which his world begins to open up again after the pandemic, debuted in the UK album charts at position four in October.
He claims that his interpretation of the album’s narrative arc is “probably a type of developing a connection with the loss.” But it now means many different things to various people. Which is undoubtedly a lovely thing.
Due to the effect of those songs, Fred Again came in second place on the BBC’s Sound Of 2023 list. Dua Lipa, Pete Tong, Sam Smith, and Emily Eavis all predict that Fred Again will become a mainstream success in the coming year.
He is in the top five, which also includes the electronic artist Nia Archives, the soul group Gabriels, and the singer-songwriter Cat Burns. The winner will be announced on BBC Radio 1 on Thursday.
Gibson was up in the south London neighborhood of Balham and displayed musical prowess from an early age. He began by studying the piano and tuned percussion instruments like the marimba and xylophone before progressing to drums and guitar, guaranteeing he could create full songs on his own.
At the age of eight, he began taping classical piano tunes onto his aunt’s tape recorder. Later, when he was sent to a boarding school in Wiltshire, he frequently skipped lectures to spend time in the music room.
When he was 16 years old, a family friend asked him to join a community a cappella group that just so happened to be directed by ambient music pioneer and producer Brian Eno, who also worked with David Bowie, Talking Heads, U2, and Coldplay.
After hearing a composition he had written called An Electronic Symphony, which included rappers, vocalists, and a 50-piece school orchestra, Eno took the young musician under his wing.
Pretty soon, Gibson was working in Eno’s studio, brewing tea, running errands, obsessing over vintage synths, and in between sessions, creating his music. Eno encouraged him to collaborate with him and Karl Hyde of Underworld to co-produce two albums in 2014.
Eno, however, denied that he “mentored” the adolescent and claimed that both of them gained knowledge from the other.
“I could see he was smart… he admitted to Apple Music, “but I didn’t really comprehend a lot of what he was doing. “It took me a while to realize that this is a truly novel approach to creating music.
“His writings are illogical. They lack the homogeneity that, for instance, you would typically find in loop-based music.
Gibson admits that he avoids the standard verse-chorus pop song formats, but he is unable to elaborate on why.
Perhaps it’s because I originally approached things from a classical music background, he muses. “It could be! But I’m not sure!
Electronic diaries
He was drawn into the verse-chorus genre as his popularity developed, though, and made well-known songs for Little Mix, Ellie Goulding, Shawn Mendes, and Clean Bandit.
Then, on the off chance that they would get along, the president of Atlantic Records suggested he collaborate with Ed Sheeran.
Gibson stated to Music Business Worldwide last year, “And we did.” “Even if you don’t feel at your best, we have a very similar attitude to working through it.
You can get through that point of feeling little crummy and fantastic things can just suddenly happen because things may be alchemical.
Gibson was credited with producing the majority of the songs on Sheeran’s No. 6 Collaborations Project and had worked on 30% of the top singles of the year at the end of the year.
He claims that working with those A-list celebrities taught him the importance of following his gut. He claims that Burna Boy is the best illustration of the power of instinct.
“It’s like he just lets it flow out of him, and I think most of the energy goes into making the conditions that allow that to happen most naturally. That is the thing that is worth safeguarding, regardless of where you are, who you are with, or anything else.
Eno was the one who persuaded him to leave the pop industry, texting him with the message: “Enough, Fred! It’s time to return to your work!
The musician didn’t require much prodding
As he recalls, “from when I was like 12 to 22 that was pretty much all I did, so it felt more like coming back!
Kyle (I Found You), his debut song, was released at the end of 2019. It captured the hazy sensation of bumping into someone on the dance floor and briefly falling in love. It was impressionistic and fleeting.
Poet MC Guante, whose work Gibson had discovered on Instagram, recites, “In the smoking mayhem, our shoulder blades kissed [and] I found you.
The absence of human contact during lockdown was the impetus for his breakout song. The song Marea (We’ve Lost Dancing) from 2021 included a recording of a conversation he had regarding the effect of Covid on nightclubs with “rave shaman” The Blessed Madonna.
“We’ve missed dancing and hugs with our loved ones and friends. All these things that we assumed were normal, she said.
“What comes next will be fantastic if I can make it through these next six months, day by day.”
Although it was a somber requiem for the life we had lost, tinged with optimism for the future, the song changed when clubs and festivals reopened last year.
Its ominous vocals and oscillating synths became a celebration, a catharsis, and a release. This music also influenced Actual Life 3’s more club-oriented style.
The trilogy’s conclusion has left what happens next a closely-kept secret. But Gibson has fully transitioned from being a producer for hire to a solo artist.
“The way that people have responded to the music has really altered me. 100%, he claims.
“Like, I now compose music for a different purpose. Since I’m at the correct place, I don’t think I can understand it, but I’m positive there have been significant changes.
And for that, I will always be grateful to those who made it possible.
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