Prod By: Ebz’s Choice #4

As we step into the fourth edition of the ‘Prod By: Ebz’s Choice’ series, a fresh batch of four producers join us in the telling of their careers so far. Expect to see heavyweight names from all across the UK music scene and how they tie in with the experiences and tales of our producers for this edition. Tap in below to see who Ebz picked!

Morts

The 21-year-old from Chesterfield, who has only been doing music for one year, began his journey way back at the age of 10-years-old as most do, playing drums and showing interest in Rock music; the Foo Fighters and Arctic Monkeys were his go to bands at the time. Morts began his production career going through the nitty-gritty on FL Studio, the melodic style he carries somewhat stems from ‘modern day legend’ Nick Mira,“He’s got a very melodic vibe in all of his beats, and I think he was into rock music and playing guitars. That’s how it comes across in my beats as well.” Some other influences for Morts are Timbaland, “He’s more of a subconscious choice because of upbringing” and Ghosty, “He’s the GOAT of drill… for me anyway”, he stated.

When it comes to his strengths in sound, Drill production is more of where Morts’ powers lay. It’s the sound he practices most,“It’s only natural”, he commented.  However, when it comes to finding artists regardless of what he makes, “I want you to hear my beats and say you’ve not heard that before. I want to work with artists that like to do things differently”. Journeying back to his first and only placement thus far, Morts had sent a pack of beats to a publicly posted email on Twitter and later saw a TikTok preview on Mixtape Madness from Billy Billions. Contact was made to Morts saying he should keep an eye-out, but it was when he saw on KO’s snapchat that a video over one of his beats was being recorded by Billy Billions, that was the birth of “Tizzy”.

As far as Morts goes for 2021, his goals just lay in his placements “If you wanted me to put a number on it, 3 before the end would be sweet but I just want to keep enjoying and making good music in all honesty. Things I can be proud of”. Lastly, he leaves us with a hint, “If I could get my R&B beats out to the right artists, there would be some hits” . So, will Morts continue obtaining the sought-after placements? We hope so!

Scratcha

Hailing straight from East London, 15-year-old Scratcha first downloaded FL studio during year 7 in secondary school, “I couldn’t make a good beat back then”, so he revisited it a year and a half later mid-way through year 8 and finally made one. When discussing why Scratcha produces beats we got a warming, “I used to trade exclusives, but I really wanted to make music with artists, meet them and even help them elevate”. In regard to his production influences “I can’t lie… the list is so long” , the beat-smith listed K6, Itchy, Bkay, M1onthebeat, MadaraBeatz, 808melo, CZRBeats, JM00, R14, and more. All the producers named dabble in drill production which is also his favoured sound and strength at this moment in time.

So far, Scratcha’s placements include “No Games” by Double Lz and Kush, “No Cap” by Clavish, “How High” by DigDat, CB’s ‘Plugged In’ Session with Fumez The Engineer and more, alongside a recorded and previewed track with Y.CB and Bizzy Banks. Scratcha’s two favourite placements lay with DigDat and CB, “With CB, at the time, I didn’t really deep it at all until 4-5 months later and I was like damn”, the ‘Plugged In’ now boasts 2.7 million views! As far as DigDat goes, during the first quarantine, he managed to get in contact with a member of DigDat’s team and sent a beat of his over to them. One day, Scratcha wasn’t happy, “I was lowkey so annoyed this day but then I went onto Instagram and hear DigDat rapping on the same beat and releases the song… I was like rah”. Before we step on to Scratcha’s goals, one key piece of advice he has for producers is, “Get into sessions with artists if you can, force yourself. The first session I had was the one that opened doors for me”.

Exploring his set goals, the East London producer would like to lock in with artists in studio sessions a lot more in order to build and solidify relationships going forward. More collaborations with fellow producers are to be expected! Scratcha signs off with a big shoutout to Ryder and his manager MadaraBeatz for all their help so far!

Zimmz

Bigging up his South London home in Croydon, we are met with 18-year-old producer and engineer Zimmz. Zimmz’s awareness of wanting to involve himself in music came as little as age 4/5. He began playing the guitar around the age of 7 before picking up several other instruments during secondary school, “There was a time where I was playing 6 instruments at once. The music’s always been in me from young”.  When Zimmz finished secondary school, he came across Finesse Foreva at age 16 and managed to work for the label as an engineer, “I was 16 earning £30 per hour in a session… I was like WHAT!?”.

When talking about his Drill influences, “I don’t even like making Drill but a lot of what’s out there is Drill and that’s what I’m known for”. His influences range from Gotcha, R14, and most of the Finesse Foreva producer camp, “My beats weren’t that great ‘till I got over there. I started learning how they made stuff, their work processes and just applied it to how I work”. Less genre specific influences range from The Neptunes, Timbaland and Pharell, “I like the old school producer especially when they’re heavy on the percussion and the groove of the beat”. One of his favourite sounds right now is R&B, “Recently, I’ve been in all of these social media group chats and they’re mentioning Odeal, Gabzy, Jvck James and I was like I need to listen to these guys in depth… heard Jvck’s EP and said, yep I’m a R&B producer now”. In regard to his placements, you may recognise his work from “Might Be” by KFromKway, “3+4” by AM, Lil Sykes x Sykes x Young Sykes with “1st 2^nd 3^rd” with X10, “VV” by DigDat, “Petrol Station” by Kwengface x PS and many more.

Charting and going Silver is one of Zimmz’s main goals this year, “I’ll be real though just seeing a song of mine on the website is enough for me. Top 100, right? Yeah, baby steps work best.”  Going on tour with one of the artists he’s produced for is another, “It would be great but it’s hard with Covid this year”  and lastly, working with more R&B artists! Will 2021 be the year of Zimmz? Lock in!

Swidom

We have another international producer contributing massively to the UK scene next; 22-year-old beat-smith and reputable melody maker, Swidom, from Denmark. When it comes to musical practice for Swidom, his parents have a piano in the house for him and his brother to play whenever, and he began playing it from the age of 5. Swiftly picking up drums and other instruments during high school, Swidom only began taking his career in production properly during the latter parts of 2019, “My brother downloaded a DAW on his PC and I watched him work out everything and I went from there” . We spoke to Swidom about what he believed is his strength in sound, “When it comes to Drill specifically, I feel like there’s such a blurred line. I’d say my strengths as a whole lay in the melodies because I’m able to make melodies for almost anything”, he commented.

Getting into Drill was quite smooth for Swidom, he sent some loops over to Ghosty when he asked on social media, his loop was used in a YouTube beat alongside him, and was shortly messaged by Mason and Tefo, “Yeah, they’re my guys for sure. Tefo really helped me at the start to get placements and Mason pushed me to do well”. Swidom already has some great credits to his name from the Groundworks 2020 Cypher, “Tie Up My Face” by 98s, “Swing It” by Kwengface, “Ambition” by V9, “Page 45” by Midas the Jagaban and Teezandos, “Cheerleaders” by AJ Tracey and many more. Being the high-quality melody maker he is, he has also written melodies for Digga D, Northside Benji, M1llionz, Unknown T and more – impressive right? The “Tie Up My Face” 98s placement is quite the family tale. Swidom’s first-made melody pack, containing a melody which he sent to Kazza later became a YouTube beat. The instrument contained an Ariana Grande sample. AJ Tracey had found the beat through Kazza and used it, but the sample led to many uncertainties for a full release. After a swift remake, we were gifted with “Cheerleaders” produced by Kazza x Swidom on AJ Tracey’s chart-topping ‘Flu Game’ album. 2021 for Swidom could be very juicy!

Goal wise, “I don’t like putting a time on goals in general, for life I would like a #1 single. For the rest of 2021? I just wanna work with a lot more US artists and land placements over there”. Making good music and growing with those close to him are the things Swidom believes will help him get to where what he wants. What do you think?

Make sure you check out the first, second and third edition!