[FEATURE] VIPER PRESENTS: DABIEH

CLOUD X founder and executive producer DABIEH’s debut project comes out today, get to know him with his VIPER interview…

What five words define your sound?

Keep Your Mind Open Always.

Which song of yours would you like people to hear first?

Whichever one finds them in the right mood. If I have to pick, then: ‘lose control’ – it’s a philosophy.

What inspired you to make that song?

I was researching the life of Albert Camus. He’s one of my favourite philosophers and wrote some amazing essays on the absurdity of life.

What’s the most vulnerable you’ve allowed yourself to be when writing/making music?

I wrote a song called ‘do you think about me’. It became a bit of a cult classic in our area, but to me it was written outta a confused mess of emotions. Chorus bangs tho, can’t lie…. 

Have you performed your sounds before? If so, what is your favourite song to perform?

Only once in Peckham with a friend of mine called J Love (he now goes by Common Goldfish)! We sold out the venue quick and without much expectation! We’d produced a beautiful bath of sound called ‘Feet off the Ground’. It ebbs and flows and takes the listener on a loop that gently rocks them into a melancholy pool. I could feel peoples hearts sinking and rising with every beat, like shallow breaths. That harmony with the room felt so ordinarily human and rare at the same time. I’d like to do it again sometime soon.

What’s the best/ worst experience you’ve had/ seen on stage?

Best: 070 Shake live in Paris at La Cigalle. One of the artists we work with, Santino Le Saint, was supporting her European tour. She turned that venue into something spiritual. It was like everybody was levitating, melting, creating in unison. She slid between melancholy soundscapes to riotous mosh pits . Simply put it was a magical human moment. 

Worst: None. I’ve learned and felt something every show and that’s what matters to me.

Which artist/song/album made you want to make music?

2Pac and Han Zimmer – in no order.

What’s the meaning behind your name?

Dabieh translates loosely from Twi as “something of the future.”

If you weren’t involved in music, what would you be doing instead?

Building a school where the focus is meaningful and practical self awareness in every action and truly critical thought about the world around us. I’m inspired by the discipline and purposeful lives of the samurai way of life – it feels honest. 

What’s success to you?

Feeling free to be completely me. To know myself. To keep on learning. To be surrounded by the people I love and to love them back to the best of my ability. 

What moment in your life/career forced you to change direction?

My birth. My first real romantic love that still feels like a summer romance three years later. My death. 

Where can people keep in touch with you?

@dabieh on IG and TikTok.

Photo by @cosmorush_