MASTER PEACE ON "SPIN THE BLOCK"AND THE INDIE REVIVAL

WORDS ROB CORSINI

Master Peace is always three steps ahead. When he dropped his first album in 2023 - a fresh take on the electroclash scene of the early 2000s - no one was talking about indie music. Less than six months later, all anyone cared about was indie sleaze. His first album brought him a world of success - a European tour, a slot at Glastonbury, an Ivo Novello for Rising Star - but for Master Peace, it was only the start of his ambitions. 

He wants his albums to be the reference point for future musicians, he wants to create a cultural moment that will usher in a Gen Z revolution, and he won’t stop until he’s the biggest artist to come out of the UK. For someone with less self-belief, these would be impossible dreams. But for Master Peace? It’s just another day’s work.

With his newest single, “Spin the Block”, released last week, Master Peace talks to F Word about what he’s listened to as he’s created the project, how the success of his first album has changed the way he writes, and what his slogan for the revolution would be. 

Rob Corsini: If you were introducing yourself, at this point in your life, how would you do it? 

Master Peace: Peace Okezie The Magician 

RB: You’ve talked about how you played it safe with your first EPs, but forced yourself to push the boat out for your first album - what’s the energy you’re bringing into your next album? 

MP: I think this album is definitely more about finding comfort in the madness. It goes to so many different places but then is also still familiar which is perfect for me, massive juxtaposition. 

RB: Have your inspirations changed this time around? Who are the people that you’ve been listening to while you’ve been working on this project? 

MP: I wouldn’t say that these artists have necessarily influenced the album, as this feels like it has my authentic stamp on it, but I’ve been listening to a lot of Bar Italia, Dean Blunt, Omar Apollo, Audrey Hober, Royel Otis. I also think that going through two break ups in two years helped write this album lol!

RB: You’ve just released your new single ‘Spin The Block’ - what’s the story you’re wanting to tell with it? 

MP: It just reflects how I feel right now - when I’m done with something I’m done with it. I want to stay true to myself and not do anything that doesn’t align with my spirit and journey of where I’m trying to get to. I’m not going to ‘Spin the Block’ whether it be in my personal or work life.

RB: If you were going to draw ‘Spin the Block’ as a picture, what would it look like? 

MP: Probably a picture of me running forwards at pace and not looking back. If I look back I turn to stone lol!

RB: What’s the best way for someone listening to experience a Master Peace track? 

MP: I think it’s changed over the years. It used to be in the club, but I think that’s been the most obvious answer. I reckon now I’d say in a cab with wired headphones on the way home after the afterparty, having anxiety about what slip ups you may have made throughout the night. 

RB: You’ve talked in the past before about being inspired by artists like Oasis and Arctic Monkeys - bands that are making music for people who are going through shit but living for the weekends - and how you could relate to those ideas. Now you’ve won an Ivor Novello and had a tonne of success - has it changed how you have to approach making music? 

MP: Sometimes yeah, because I was writing from a place of feeling stuck with not knowing where the career path of being a full time musician was going take me. But now I feel like there’s a lot more to talk about because my life has changed drastically. It definitely becomes a bit more braggadocious in story telling and how I could be perceived with my lyrics - which I’m not mad at - because it shows development and shows where I’m at in my life. But then if you strip back the wins and the accolades and success I’m still the boy from Surrey who felt like he had a point to prove and still thinks he’s got a long way to go. I feel there’s still loads I haven’t said which relate to the people and I want that to come out on the next album cause the people got me here and I always wanna feel like one of them, cause I am.

RB: You’ve described yourself as a dark horse in the industry - has the way people reacted to you changed since you won the Novello? 

MP: Yeah of course, they take me more seriously which is interesting but I’ve always had to wait my turn and work even when no one gave a fuck, so I think to myself my work ethic and my hunger hasn’t changed, if anything it’s made me more hungry. I’ve never got complacent. I’ve always known the music industry is survival of the fittest and I work like I don’t have anything which has kept me motivated this whole time.

RB: You once said that you want your albums to be the kind of albums that people reference when they’re making their own records - what are the things you’d like to see from the next generation of music? 

MP: Stop copying trends and make what’s true to you. The first album I made was a 2000s indie electroclash record in 2023 before all the hype on indie sleaze revival and stuff dropped in the beginning of 2024. Even though no one even knew what that meant, I made it because it was something that was true to me. I dropped it before any eyes were on that pocket of music and now it’s like the new cool thing. It’s funny because that’s how culture works, but the point I’m trying to make here is that I didn’t make it to fit the mold, I made it cause it was true to me and no one had done it before in my generation of artists.

RB: One of the things that I really love about your music is that it doesn’t sound like anyone else out there, there’s a singularness to its vision. What’s your advice for creating a sound that’s uniquely your own? 

MP: Echoing the last point where I kinda say that, I’ve always been 10 steps ahead of how I present myself to the world and I’ve always known how I wanna be perceived in my music, I want it to always stick out, sometimes I listen to my songs and feel like “omg am I playing too safe or does this sound too generic” and I’ll scrap a song or parts of an album which I’ve done twice before. The Master Peace project I either want someone to really love or really hate, if they just like it then I’m not doing my job properly.

RB: I know you didn’t grow up wanting to be a musician, so if it didn’t play out this way, what do you think you’d be doing? Where would you have ended up? 

MP: Probably a key worker (someone who mentors bad kids in schools and keeps them from the troubles in the outside world) I had one myself and it benefited me greatly and I wouldn’t be here without my key workers guidance when I was younger.

RB: You’ve got this incredible self confidence that is present in your music but also when you talk about your ambitions - it feels like you almost knew you’d be a success. Where did that belief come from? 

MP: I would say that came from my mum, it’s a blessing and a curse. My mum came from an unprivileged background and worked so hard to be successful in her own field. Growing up seeing a single parent achieve the things my mum achieved and the ambitions she had for herself made me feel like I wanted to carry that trait. Like if I got a C in English and my mate got an A, my mum would motivate me to do better next time to match where my peers were at in a tough love way, which has helped me in being relentless in how much I’ve always wanted to win or do better than my peers. My mum would always say whoever is ahead of you they don’t have the brains, they have one just like you so if they can do it, so can you, which always sticks with me when I feel a goal is impossible or hard to reach. It works both ways, sometimes it makes me wanna go so hard but then sometimes it leaves me unsatisfied with stuff that people would dream of being in the same position as me in, it’s a double-edged knife.

RB: Looking back at your successes, have you ever had any moments in which you couldn’t believe that this was your life? What were they? 

MP: I’d probably say having two songs on the FC 26 football game, which has always been a dream of mine. l always loved the game and the happiness it’s brought me to then having two songs on the video game is mind blowing. I used to buy this game before school and get in trouble for being late and now my songs are on there - and I’m only 1 of 5 artists that have ever had two songs on the game at the same time, which is mental in itself.

RB: You’ve said you want to be the biggest artist in the world and that you want your records to create a moment that changes the way that Gen Z thinks. If you had to give us a slogan for your revolution - what would it be? 

MP: Keep being a stupid kid, you never know where it will take you. 

RB: What’s your favourite F Word? 

MP: Flamboyant

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