A relatively unknown artist coming out of Newcastle, going by the name Scapegoat Avarice, decided to drop five track project, ‘The Trash Days Compilation’, out of the blue last week. We gave the project a listen and it left us with more questions than answers – the main two being: ‘Who the f**k is Scapegoat Avarice?’ and ‘Why isn’t this guy getting more attention?’
Utterly impressed by the ambition and fearlessness of his first five tracks, we decided to take our questions to the man himself, with the intention of getting him the attention he deserves (or at least some of it).
Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Scapegoat Avarice…
Who is Scapegoat Avarice?
I’m just someone who loves to create music that has emotion and passion. I’m just trying to show the world who I am and what I’m about. Even if nobody listens, I’m not going away.
How would you describe your sound?
In short… I’m not sure. I’ve dabbled in many genres of music and I’ve always felt trapped by boundaries. In a metal band I can’t make soft songs, in a pop band I can’t make heavy songs. I feel that genres are flawed and limited by the expectations people hold for you to sound a certain way or act a certain way.
But with Scapegoat Avarice, I feel that I’ve finally found a perfect balance where I have no boundaries. I’ve got total freedom and I can make any kind of music I want to. If I want to rap I can rap, if I want to sing I can sing, if I want to scream I can scream. If I want to make a Ronin-esque trap anthem I can, if I want to make a beautiful melodic ballad I can. At the moment it’s hard to understand what I’m talking about, as I’ve only put out five very trap influenced singles, but hopefully when my next EP comes out it’ll be easier to understand what I’m talking about.
Who/what influences your music?
My musical influences are all over the place. I’m influenced mainly by artists like $uicideboy$ and Lil peep, but I’ve sampled Slayer, Dua Lipa and Ant & Dec in my music, to name a few. So, I’m a very mixed bag really.
You’ve just released your debut project, ‘The Trash Days Compilation’, how did that come about?
‘The Trash Days Compilation’ is my first five singles that I already had on Soundcloud, rolled into a nice ball for Spotify and iTunes. My first real full body of work will be coming out soon. It’s gonna be called ‘The Avarice EP’. I knew that I wanted to put it on all the major platforms, so prior to its release I thought I might as well put the tunes I’ve already brought out on the major platforms too – so that’s how it came about.
Tell me about some of the inspirations and emotions that influence ‘The Trash Days Compilation’.
I started making rap music for a laugh really. “Ice Cold” and “Chillax” were the first two songs I wrote, and I wasn’t taking myself seriously at all and that’s why the lyrics to those two songs are so stupid. I decided I wanted to take this kind of music seriously just before I wrote “Sike” and “Micra”. I was inspired to take myself seriously around about the same time I saw EUM’s video for “Long Roads”; I was blown away by that song and I was like “okay no more joking, I have to write real shit now”. I’m also really inspired by the aggression and bludgeoning energy of RoninClan. The first time I saw the video for “Yungry”, I was absolutely blown away by the energy and that’s why I wrote “Listen Up Dickhead”.
I’m also inspired to do what I do by the support I get from my girlfriend Molly and my best friend Andrew, who mixes and masters all my stuff and edits my videos for me. The constant support I get from them really pushes me forward. In terms of lyricism, I don’t really have hidden meanings to be honest, I’m pretty black and white and I think my songs speak for themselves. I just write what comes to my head, it’s as simple as that really. My lyrical content tends to be about being hopeless and unsatisfied with the world. Maybe I need to cheer up a bit hahaha.
You’ve got five tracks out now on the project, are you working on more music to be dropped in 2018?
Oh 100%. As I said, I’ve got my first proper body of work ‘The Avarice EP’ coming out soon and after that I’ve got a couple of collabs in the pipeline. One with Average Joe and one with KV$HNOODLE. ‘The Avarice EP’ isn’t even out yet and I’m already shortlisting beats for the next project. So, the answer to the question is yes, there’s no slowing down now, the pace is just about to pick up.
You’ve also got videos in the pipeline as well right?
Yeah, I’ve just brought out a video for my track “Bad Weather”, which is from the upcoming EP, and I’m gonna make another video as well for a track called “Temporary”, that track is also from the new EP. I think people will like that one.
What do you want to achieve by the end of the year?
100 likes on Facebook hahaha. A boy can dream!
Finally, the question everyone is thinking, what’s the story/meaning behind your name?
Well a scapegoat is basically a victim, someone who is always beaten down and unappreciated. Avarice is extreme greed and lust for material gain and power. So, it’s really about being nothing and wanting to have it all. That’s how I think of it anyway. I used to be called yung pengwin, but when I decided to take myself seriously I decided I had to have a serious name.
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