Alfie Templeman is currently on his Forever Isn’t Long Enough Tour, a ‘mini-album’ he released in 2021. It won’t be long until his next project – on May 27th he’ll be releasing his debut album Mellow Moon. This is the young artist’s first full-length record, since he started writing and producing music as a kid (yeah, he was only 7 when he started, and at the age of 10 he was making full compositions). Despite having been signed to Chess Club Records at the age of 15, and having released a considerable amount of music since, the artist has only put out short-form projects: multiple EPs and singles, as well as the formerly mentioned mini-album.
On March 7th I had a chat with Alfie over Zoom to discuss his career – looking at how he’s gotten to where is currently is, and what his next steps are with his debut album. We talked for just under 20 minutes and Alfie approached the interview with loads of energy and a big smile from beginning to end. We started the interview talking about his current tour, where Alfie expressed his joy due to the fact this is his first headline tour and he’s encountered, so far, a very engaged audience. “Everyone’s been singing the lyrics, word for word, not even just the choruses but the verses as well, so it’s super special”. That’s no small achievement for a 19-year-old’s first headline tour. To those of you who might not be as familiar with Alfie Templeman: don’t let his approachability and charisma fool you, the young artist is no less than a prodigy.
Alfie started releasing music at the age of 13. I was interested in how he transitioned from being a kid in his room writing songs to releasing his music under a label and growing an audience. He tells me that after two or three years of releasing music, he put out a song on a Friday (known to be the new music day of the week), and got put on the Spotify ‘Release Radar’ playlist. A guy who used to work at Chess Club heard it, liked it, contacted the label, and the rest is history. This was rather surprising to me – considering his success at his age, I would have thought he had access to either connections in the industry or professional education. It might seem like all there’s to it was a lucky strike, but random luck wouldn’t have taken Alfie Templeman to where he is. To the sceptical – Alfie is, except for the drums, a self-taught multi-instrumentalist. He is involved in every stage of music making: writing, recording, producing, and even mixing at times.
Alfie has learnt music and improved his craft through trial and error and by collaborating with other people and observing how they work. By listening to the greats he figured out how to make it work from himself; “it’s totally my own style, I just came up with my own approach”. When asking about his songwriting process, he explained it totally depends on the song. It can be a particular drum pattern he likes, or perhaps lyrics that he then puts a melody to, or even just noodling on his guitar. He even claimed to randomly hear songs in his head – in those instances the voice notes app proves to be handy, something any music-maker would agree on.
One of the most interesting aspects about Alfie Templeman is his hunger to make music in different styles and genres, still with an ability to adapt it to his own sound. There is a clear progress in his music, from lofi indie pop to sounding increasingly influenced by funk and disco, with his percussion and basslines becoming groovier, however still keeping a distinctive pop sentiment to the sound. Throughout time, his sound gets bigger, bolder, and brighter, especially on his EP Happiness in Liquid Form. His trajectory shows Alfie isn’t afraid of taking risks and experimenting. When asked about his desire to explore different sounds, he claimed to be inspired by a lot of different sounds out there, aiming to be able to adapt them to create something new. “I’m still figuring out my own sound, you know, and that’s why I keep changing, because I don’t think I’ve got ‘my sound’ yet, and until I’ve done that, I’m not sitting still”.
Alfie Templeman is someone to keep an eye on and he undoubtedly has a long career ahead.
Alfie described Mellow Moon as his first proper, full-length project, where he has the time to say everything he has to say and how he wants to. It’s curious to think he didn’t take the shortcut of making Forever Isn’t Long Enough his debut album. “You know, there was a pandemic, and I wasn’t doing too much, I wasn’t experiencing enough”. Alfie is ambitious in approaching his career with humility yet confidence. This self-awareness is something totally palpable in his music and artistic development. Once the restrictions got lifted, Alfie shared that he had a great summer – one of those teenage summers where he learnt a lot about himself, opened his eyes, and realised who he loved and what he wanted to do. And he wrote a lot of songs out of it. “All of those things are contended into the album and became a part of that process, and that’s why it all gelled together the right way and why it all felt so natural”.
Alfie has put out a lot of music before his debut, which has massively helped build both the conversation around his music as well as an audience. He doesn’t plan to slow down, though. He still has a lot of ideas in his head and energy to keep growing and moving. He’s mature when he speaks, something that comes with no surprise having tasted his songwriting abilities. However, Alfie is human and just getting started with his career. He’s claimed that he gets really nervous before shows, something he manages by going on walks, doing vocal warmups, and hanging out with his friends.
Finally, he had some words of encouragement for independent artists that are getting started. He claimed that it takes a long time, but artists must believe in themselves, “and if you love it, it will work, you will get there”. He tells me he has listened to his first, old songs and, while they’re not the best according to him, they had a special energy that something was going to come out of it. “If you have that, and you can feel that energy, then you’ve got it. It will come to you”. It surely came to him, with his work ethic, maturity and musical and writing talent. Alfie Templeman is someone to keep an eye on and he undoubtedly has a long career ahead. I’m excited to see him grow and I am ready to be surprised by what direction he decides to take on next.
