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Every Monday we will be bringing you interviews with unsigned UK or Ireland artists for Independent Music Monday. Recently we caught up with Afnan Prince and Sam Cramer from unsigned band Future Humans to find out more…

AFNAN PRINCE

Where are you from and how did you first get into music?
I’m from the north east of England! And I first got into music at around 15. It was around those awkward teenage years when you’re trying to find out what your thing is… me and my buddies started a band that summer, I didn’t even know if I could sing… but I completely fell in love with it all from the beginning.

How did you meet, where are you from and how did you come up with the band name?
Me and Sam actually met in a writing session. It was one of those situations where we were in a room with a whole bunch of artists. Everybody was kinda pushing to get themselves heard and that’s never really been either of our thing. We both recognised each other’s vibe and started talking. We had an instant rapport and being the only two metal heads in that situation we decided to organise a little writing session just us two. The chemistry and friendship blossomed from the very first session. We wrote a whole bunch of stuff for a year and put together a live line up which chopped and changed a bit. That was before we started working with our management.

After we started working with vertigo I asked Andy to bring a couple of guys in for a live session we were recording. I twisted Andy’s arm into playing keys and as soon as we met John and Micheal, played our first rehearsal we were like… ‘yup… this is it, this is the line up’ the guys are all so talented it’s crazy.

The name credit goes solely to Sam. We had an initial phase where it was Future Humans x Afnan Prince (FHxAP) but as soon as we streamlined that down to Future Humans it all fell into place.

Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
I listen to a lot of music. Growing up I loved bands/artists like Incubus, Audioslave, Jeff Buckley, Bright Eyes and they’ve all stayed with me. 

This week though I’m really digging Phoebe Bridgers and the Japanese House.

How would you describe your sound?
I think the best way to describe it is Alt Pop. We touch upon a lot of genres, especially whilst writing it’s kind of a ‘what do we feel like doing today?’ thing.

What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
Our next release is ‘hot water’ and the rest of the D.r.e.a.m.s. EP.

The EP and title track are based on a lucid dream of mine which has manifested a lot of beautiful stuff in my life. We also touch upon the usual favourites of heart break, joy, melancholy and even one of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera’s shared lovers.

What’s your local music scene like?
It’s absolutely incredible! There are so many incredible musicians and artists here.

What do you have planned for the next 12 months?
We’re putting out a ton of music and are looking to get on the road to play shows ASAP.

Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
So many great acts come to mind. Justin Vernon would be great. I’m a big Bon Iver fan.

Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
Well there was that time at our first ever show that Micheal didn’t come in for the first bar of ‘I’m not in love’… nobody noticed apart from us and Mick (our manager) who nearly had a heart attack but safe to say we styled it out haha!

What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
This is just the beginning for us and that’s so exciting. It’s gonna be a crazy ride and we’re so glad you’re on it with us!

SAM CRAMER

Where are you from and how did you first get into music?
I’m from London! I’ve always been a music fanatic since I was a kid. I used to play in bands when I was a teenager and wanted to learn how to record our own songs, I figured the best way to learn how to record and produce stuff on my own was to make electronic music, which I ended up really enjoying, so here we are!

How did you meet, where are you from and how did you come up with the band name?
We met when we were both invited to a writing session with some other writers we knew at the time. We instantly clicked during that session and decided to try and write together separately, which ended up going really well so we just kept doing it! Future Humans was originally my name as a producer, but it eventually ended up just feeling right to call the band that. As for how I came up with that name in the first place, that’s one of the most heavily guarded secrets in the music industry.

Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
I listened to a wide variety of different artists and genres growing up, I’d say the main influences from back then are Seal, Robbie Williams and Pink Floyd, but the list is endless! Right now I’ve been listening to a lot of Tame Impala, Everything Everything and The 1975, but again, the list is a lot longer than that. Loving Taylor Swift’s latest stuff too.

How would you describe your sound?
I guess the closest genre would be indie pop, but we swing between different genres. I’d almost say that we have a rock side and a pop side, some songs sit somewhere in the middle, others will be all out rock songs or shiny pop. I enjoy being able to make whatever we want to make though, so we sometimes dive into completely unrelated genres for a giggle.

What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
Our latest release is called All My Fault, it’s kind of a good way of showcasing what I said about us swinging between genres, we wanted to make an electronic pop song that felt like it was made by a rock band. There’s a few influences but it kind of feels like it sits in its own lane! (Also Mike Shinoda recently said he liked it, so there’s that!)

What’s your local music scene like?
London is obviously a hub for new music! There’s a lot going on and I don’t know if you could even describe it as one local music scene, it’s more like tonnes of them all going on at once. It’s busy and chaotic but there’s a lot of talent.

What do you have planned for the next 12 months?
We are releasing ALL of the music. All of it. Oh and hopefully we’ll be back doing gigs soon, so loads of that too!

Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
I don’t really have a specific “dream collaborators” list like a lot of musicians do, I really just want to focus on who I’m collaborating with at the moment! But thinking about it, I would love to work with Taylor Swift, her last two albums have been on constant rotation for me and she seems like she’d be great to work with.

Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
During the guitar solo of a song called Cologne I use a whammy pedal which pitches the guitar up an octave, at one point I pushed it all the way down but for some reason my foot didn’t manage to pull it back all the way. It ended up pitching all of my notes up a few semitones making them TOTALLY out of key. I couldn’t figure out why everything sounded so ridiculously out of tune and had a panic onstage until I realised. There’s footage of it, but it hasn’t surfaced yet, I think everyone’s just trying to protect me from reliving such a traumatic moment.

What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
We’ve got SO much music to release that we’re so proud of, we’ve barely scratched the surface of what Future Humans is about, both in the studio and on a stage. I guess I want people to know that we’re just getting started and we can’t wait for what’s to come!

You can find out more about Future Humans via Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram, Soundcloud, Spotify, TikTok, Twitter or YouTube.