Fred alone for albums

POINTLESS CALLING ON STAR MATES

THE mega producer behind hits for Ed Sheeran, Stormzy and Halsey has hit out at musicians who call on their big-name mates for collabs.

Fred again.., who won Best Producer at 2020’s BRIT Awards for working on Stormzy’s Heavy Is The Head album and Ed’s hit Beautiful People, has shunned big-name guests on his debut album Actual Life.

Fred told me: “I could easily make what are, to me, pointless pieces of art.

“If I’m going to make a song with Stormzy, it should be a great Stormzy song, not a Fred again.. song. It would be pointless making it as my song.

“DJ Khaled does it really well, because he has a persona and artistry that makes a song a DJ Khaled song.

“But some projects are: ‘Oh wow, we can get all these features and just put our name on?’

“That really undermines both your potential and the guest musicians’ artistry.

“I care so much that I don’t do that.”

Dermot Kennedy is the only famous singer on Fred’s album.

Forget Fred his superstar mates, is determined to make a star of a construction worker from Atlanta named Carlos, who inspired the start of Actual Life. The pair had a wild night out, which Fred sampled on the song Make It Thru. Fred, real name Fred Gibson, laughed: “I’ve tried making so many pieces of music from what that dude said that night. I want to put Carlos on every record I make.

“As soon as travel allows, I’m going to do my very best to hunt Carlos down, as I need to buy him a massive chain to say thanks for inspiring me.”

As well as more of his own music, Fred is working on new tunes with Headie One and The XX singer Romy’s solo album.

Fred enthused: “Romy’s album is going to be beautiful. It touches on a side of her that’s been totally unheard until now, and I’m really excited by it.”

Fred, who names Kanye West as the star on his production bucket list, was discovered a decade ago by Brian Eno.

The Londoner explained: “Just when I thought it was time to make my own music, Brian emailed me saying: ‘That’s enough, go back to doing your own thing.’

“That sealed the deal. Brian: ‘Yes, dad.’”

I told