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West London’s Metropolis Studios is one of the capital’s most sought after studio spaces, an audiophiles paradise adored by everyone from Kendrick Lamar to Manic Street Preachers. Between 2017-2020 (and a bit longer, if anyone’s counting) Clash Live and Metropolis Studios have partnered to host a series of stellar live shows, showcasing some of the best talent in the land.
It’s been quite a trip. IAMDDB played Metropolis Studios a matter of weeks before her BBC Sound Of 2018 nomination, international guests dropped in whilst touring, and new artists honed their chops in world famous Studio A. The full list of artists taking part veers from feral South London grunge to St. Lucian production and back again.
Renowned for their high-end audio fixation, Clash & the Metropolis teams recorded each set, and it’s built up into a library of some of the best breaking artists in the country. All rights to recordings are retained by the artists to add these very special live tracks to their own catalogues. The series returned in March with Delilah Montagu serenading a packed Studio A on International Women’s Day, followed by a gloriously rum soaked Hak Baker show in April.
Tuesday May 9th brings MasterPeace to the stage in partnership with the good folks Patrick and you’re invited. The experience is free for fans and guests to attend. Space is extremely limited and the demand is high so we are running a ticket lottery format via the sign-up form at the bottom of this page.
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CLASH LIVE @ METROPOLIS STUDIOS TUESDAY 9TH MAY 2023
Master Peace made his introduction to the Clash team like a sledgehammer going through a wall. We got the London artist down to play one of our parties, having heard a couple of demos. By the end, with sweat-drenched fans literally tumbling over his feet, the mic held aloft like the Jules Rimet trophy, we knew we’d met someone special.
Out now, ‘Peace Of Mind’ is a fantastic, thrilling, visceral EP, a blast of punk-drenched energy that simply refuses to cow-tow to outside expectations. “I’m buzzing!” he beams over the phone to Clash. “It’s been a long time coming.”
It certainly has. His first proper release for well over 12 months, ‘Peace Of Mind’ is a point of reintroduction. “I felt quite underrated for a while,” he comments. “I felt like people weren’t really taking me in as much. And I thought the best way for people to take me in was to just say what’s on my mind. It’s quite direct, it’s quite punchy. I just… stopped caring. And put what I actually wanted to the forefront.”
Master Peace has never sat in one lane, and that is particularly true of his latest EP. It’s undeniably indie – and certainly punk in ethos – but other elements creep in. In Britain we have this infuriating habit of pinning certain tags on artists, and this is particularly – sadly – prevalent for Black artists, and artists of colour more generally. Is Rachel Chinouriri an R&B singer? NO. Is Master Peace a rapper? NO.
“I feel like a white artist making this music would find it easier to be taken in. I’ve been stereotyped a lot. People would say: oh Master Peace, great rapper! I’ve never dropped a rap song in my life. It’ll come, though – it’s slow and steady.”
“The lead singer of easy life – would you call him a rapper? Probably not. But on every song, he more or less raps. People are judging with their eyes, and not their ears. If you look at my Spotify, there’s not one rap song on there. It’s alternative, it’s indie.”
“I’ve never really been one to complain… I just got on with it,” he reflects. “Making this EP, though, I found myself in the mood to complain! So I didn’t hold back. I dealt with everything that’s happened to me as a young Black artist. I just said my shit.”
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EP highlight ‘Veronica’ was largely one-take, the work of someone moving with momentum. “It’s mad because I never do that,” he laughs. “I’m very precious about my music. But the mindset I was in at the time… I just didn’t care. What you hear is what we did.”
“You’ve got to care about the art,” he says. “But I got to a stage where I thought… people don’t give a shit about the art. A lot of it just feels like trends. The way music has gone is sad – it’s service, it’s all taken in. People don’t care.”
The process of crafting this EP, it seems, has brought Master Peace closer to his true self than ever before. “I really understand the music I’m trying to make more than ever before. I just finished making my debut album, and I took it over to a friend’s place so they could listen to it. It feels complete. I understand what I need to do.”
“I used to be someone who over-thinks… and I still do,” he says. “But I don’t regret anything. I feel like everything has to happen the way it happens for me to get here. It’s all coming together. It all makes sense. I was always going to end up here. Things happen for a reason.”
“I believe in my fate,” he finishes. “And I know what we’re trying to do here. I think a lot about longevity… and nothing good comes easy.”
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