![]() “I now make music in a totally different way to how I did before.” The thing of ‘what type of music do you like?’ is such a dated concept. “The messages I read from people telling me how much mean to them have changed my life,” he says, full-beam smile switched back on. It has been a process of creative catharsis that’s ultimately helped shift Gibson’s mindset from producer-for-hire to artist. On the album’s gorgeous single, Bleu, a ghostly voice sings “I just know that it gets better with time”.Įven as Actual Life 3 became more club-focused than its predecessors, naturally influenced by the last year of “playing out in raves again”, it maintains a sense of dancing through the pain. And write about something else.” Initially he assumed he would be able to neatly chart his process through grief with each album, ending in resolution, “but it’s not how this aspect of emotion works”. Actual Life 3, he says, is about “drawing a line in the sand … because I need to give myself permission to do something else. Later he mentions how difficult it was visiting hospitals during lockdown. ![]() “Essentially it’s about falling in love with someone who got very unwell and then …” He drifts off. Eloquent, thoughtful and buoyed up by a music nerd-like enthusiasm throughout our conversation, Gibson seems on less solid ground when discussing personal specifics, his answers becoming fragmentary. The trio of albums also carry an overarching sense of emotional purging, another big lockdown mainstay. “For a lot of people the albums are lockdown records,” he agrees, “but I was already right down the rabbit hole with it ”. With all the recordings compressed through his phone, and the tracks then finished on his laptop, there’s a palpable feeling of close comfort that reflects our months spent communicating remotely. ![]() “I’ve seen hundreds of tattoos of Carlos’ words on people,” he smiles proudly.While Gibson started thinking about turning his cache of recordings into a musical project pre-pandemic, Actual Life part one – subtitled April 14 – Decemand released in April 2021 – chimed with a collective sense of digital saturation post-lockdown. ![]() His exuberant, life-affirming phrases such as “we gon’ make it through” now adorn the bodies of Gibson’s fervent fans (his forthcoming three shows at London’s O2 Academy Brixton sold out in under a minute). A key character throughout is a construction worker called Carlos whom Gibson met in Atlanta. These are then cocooned in delicate piano, percolating beats and, when a specific mood can’t be found online, fresh lyrics sung in Gibson’s hushed tones. Formatted like a musical diary – his first two albums are similarly time-stamped – the tactile, deeply personal Actual Life series is not made up of big-hitting guests like typical producer-turned-artist projects, but a tapestry of ambient audio recordings, taken from Gibson’s phone, featuring friends and strangers, as well as viral social media posts and snatches of poetry. album, Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9, 2022). Gibson is in LA as part of a sold-out US tour ahead of his third Fred again. “I don’t want to shit on something that matters to people but it’s just so not why I do it.” He balks, too, at the super-producer tag (“That’s quite gross”), while mention of his Brit is met with a polite shrug. When I suggest he got the better deal vis-a-vis interview locales the 29-year-old south Londoner replies with a misty-eyed “I long for where you are”, which is too nice a thing to say about the south-east London suburb of Brockley. in 2021, the same year as spending 15 weeks at No 1 via two Ed Sheeran co-productions.īut looks can be deceiving. A year later he won the Brit award for best producer, before launching his own dance-leaning artist project, Fred again. Having overseen hits for everyone from Stormzy to Rita Ora, Ed Sheeran to AJ Tracey, Gibson was responsible for a third of 2019’s UK No 1 singles. Even dressed down in an embroidered oversized sweatshirt, Gibson’s Zoom screen-dominating smile suggests things are going Quite Well. Stretched out on the sun-dappled balcony of his fancy LA rental, Fred Gibson looks every inch music’s go-to super-producer.
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