MacD on Music: Belly of the Beast

The music industry has changed a lot in the past few years. Streaming has made it easier to get music out there, but a lot harder to actually make money from it.

This week, I'm talking to an artist who has taken a stand against the streaming giant. Whozyerman? (aka Paul Savage, formally of O Emperor) has been releasing music under his new identity on all major platforms but Spotify for the past four years.

In recent months, he has released a string of singles from his upcoming second album ‘Belly of the Beast’ (out this Friday) that “challenge societal expectations, artistic pressures and the pursuit of success as an independent artist”.

I caught up with Paul recently to talk about his music and his continuing boycott.

We started with his musical origins: “It’s kind of cliché enough. I started when I was young. When I was about twelve, I got a guitar from my parents. I did music in secondary school and made friends in that class. We went on to form a band and kind of carried it on in different guises throughout our early twenties. O Emperor was the first main band I played with: all through my twenties, and that reached its natural conclusion in 2018 with our last album. I’ve been doing Whozyerman? since 2020, and I put out the record [‘Blink’] in 2022.”

I asked about the origins of his new name: “It’s a bit of a colloquial phrase that you might hear. ‘Who’s your man?’ ‘What’s he up to?’ ‘Who’s your man up there playing?’. It’s a bit tongue in cheek, I suppose. It’s a phrase we’ve all said at some point.”

Moving on to ‘Belly of the Beast’: “This new album, it’s a slight departure from the first one. The first one was done during COVID, or maybe pre-COVID, so it was very much a solo effort. I recorded all the instruments myself in the house in a very systematic way, one on top of the other. That was a nice approach after coming from playing in a band. There was a bit more of a solitude nature to the record, thematically as well. More introspective, I suppose.”

“This record is the complete opposite of that. I’ve gone back to wanting to play in a room with other musicians. All the songs were kept as loose ideas, and I brought them into a practice space with other musicians, and we fleshed it out, so it’s very much a band playing on the record. It’s kind of, in a way, going back to the older, O Emperor stuff.”

Next, we moved onto his Spotify boycott: “I wish I’d maybe have done all streaming platforms. If you were to be a purist, you’d say that all of them are bad news for the industry. They serve a convenience. Fast food is also a convenience, but it’s not necessarily good for you all the time.

“There’s definitely a balance to be struck. Spotify, because it’s the market leader in that area, it does need to be curtailed because it’s becoming so ubiquitous, and so insidious into all aspects of the creative process. It’s already affected how you release stuff, because Spotify is putting this carrot in front. We all knew it was bad before, but now with AI, with the introduction of podcasts, and suddenly it just wants your attention.

“It does not give a s**t about music. It doesn’t give a s**t about the art and the importance of it. It’s purely data driven, and I don’t think people should be beholden to it all the time. I know it’s pissing in the wind, and I’m a realist as well, but I think more people do need to start to think.”

And that’s it from Whozyerman?. His new album ‘Belly of the Beast’ is out this Friday on most streaming platforms, including his Bandcamp page whozyerman.bandcamp.com.

Now, onto other business. First up, we have Cloidna Conway, with her debut single ‘Whiskey for Water’. Cloidna is a recent graduate of the London College of Music, and her debut single will be released via Louise DaCosta’s DaCosta Rocks label. There will also be a launch party in the Gweedore this Friday from 6.30-8.30.

Next, we have the latest from Reevah, who has recently announced her second album ‘Lucky Stars’. The album will be coming in February, but before that is the latest single ‘I’m Just Fine’ (out now). Reevah says of the song “I wrote this track about the journey of losing and finding yourself: questioning the life you’re living, the passing of time and whether the path you’re on is really the right one for you”.

‘I’m Just Fine’ is out now on all good streaming platforms.

Lastly, we have one of the most anticipated local releases of the year. This Friday, Seventh Heaven will be releasing their debut EP ‘The Motherland’ and will be launching it with a gig that night in the Nerve Centre, with support from Milligram and Wilde Rose. Tickets for the gig are £5 and available via the Nerve Centre’s website. Doors are 7pm and its ages 14+.

‘The Motherland’ will be available via all good streaming platforms.

Finally, time for the socials. Seventh Heaven can be found on Instagram @seventhheven_band_, Wilde Rose @wilderose.band, Milligram @milligramband, Reevah @thisisreevah, Cloidna Conway @cloidnamusic and Whozyerman? @whozyerman.