Welcome to a new segment of navaio where we spend five minutes (or more) with some really cool creatives. This month we are excited to be collaborating with an amazing all-around creative known as davecreates.
Who is davecreates?
davecreates is a creative and artist - a God-loving human being who seeks to relate with others through art.
I say creative because, yes, I do music a lot, and that is my focus but it stretches beyond that. I love film and even photography. I feel like there are so many different ways or lenses in which you can express emotion, so, for me, being a creative enables me to do all of these things. Whether that’s through music, photography or film - all these elements are a part of who davecreates is.
Would you consider yourself as a 'Christian artist' or just an 'artist'?
I consider myself an artist and I also see myself as part of the Christian music community. I make predominately alternative hip hop music. I wouldn’t really define what I create as ‘Christian art’ as I feel that my art is for everyone, but I know people have different opinions of this definition.
Being under the label of ‘Christian artist’ can sometimes limit people’s expectations of you, and I want to be able to defy that.
I still respect those who refer to their art as such, but for me, I see myself as an artist who creates alternative hip hop music for people who also love that vibe.
At the same time, Christ is a huge part of my life and my relationship with Him is always going to be reflected when I express myself. My music is Christ-inspired art.
If you could change anything about the music industry, what would it be?
I would say there needs to be more appreciation for the niche sounds. I feel like there is a lot of great UK underground, and alternative hip hop music that doesn’t really get a lot of appreciation, and that’s even within Christian communities.
There’s a lot of love for the more traditional sounds, which is great, but there is also a lot of people who are pushing creative boundaries in other areas. If we look at it from a UK perspective, we love sounds that we are used to but when people try and change the game, we can sometimes be quite slow to keep up. So I would love for there to be more appreciation for these game-changing sounds and artists.
If you could collaborate with one artist on a track who would it be?
There are so many, but one person that I have always loved is Sango.
His vibe is amazing, I’ve enjoyed his music for a long time and it has really inspired me. He is eclectic with his sounds but also futuristic. He constantly innovates, brings in old feels and combines it with new feels. He creates different flavours and that’s what I’m about! He is definitely someone I would love to work with.
What is one message you want your listeners to get from your music?
Don’t give up on your dreams, there is hope. I really believe that God put us all here for a reason. That’s a big part of the message in my first EP ‘one day I will fly’ – just reminding people that although you may not have achieved your dreams yet, keep going. It is tough; it’s not always easy but keep going. I want people to understand that God has given us these visions for a purpose. Things may not go as we plan but there is hope, just keep pursuing that hope.
These photographs were taken by @keiology
Styled by @shanniiqua | @shannstyle
For photography and styling enquiries contact us at navaiocreative@icloud.com
