Interview: Denmarc Creary
Jamaican, Leeds based music artist Denmarc Creary has hit 2021 hard, releasing multiple singles with the promise of more to come. After hearing tunes such as Risk It All and Late Night, we reached out to discover more about Denmarc’s music achievements, as well as forthcoming exclusives.
Denmarc began his music journey in high school, learning to become a producer before he became an artist. After his friend Dwayne aka Wonky Logic introduced him to the software, Denmarc began practising and perfecting his production methods more frequently. “I don't know if you remember the Spongebob Riddim?” asked Denmarc. “It was a viral thing that went around, he produced that - I just got intrigued and he taught me how to use some of the software which got me more and more into it.” It wasn’t until college that Denmarc decided to try lacing some rhymes over his beats, as he struggled finding rappers or vocalists that he felt suited his productions aptly enough. “Locally, I couldn't really find anybody that I thought could do what I wanted on the beats,” sighed Denmarc. “I had a couple artists that I was working with, but separate from that I couldn't find anything else.” This made Denmarc experiment with his own vocals, leading to the journey he is on today.
2011 saw Denmarc release his debut as an artist, using Soundcloud to upload his music at the time. In 2012, Denmarc released a song and visual called 'I'm From Space' - “I won a music award for it,” recalled Denmarc. “So that was kind of sick.” A local company called ChapelFM teamed up with Leeds International Film Festivals, presenting Denmarc with multiple awards for his music accomplishments, providing Denmarc more recognition of his talent. “I think it ran for a good amount of years as well,” said Denmarc. “At the first one I got put forward for the award and I ended up winning, then I think I won two more maybe after that two years apart.”
Although Denmarc was taught to produce by Wonky Logic, he has essentially come up in music on his own, without the assistance of a group. “Yeah, it has pretty much been on my own,” confirmed Denmarc. “Even now, I call myself a D.I.Y. artist. So from the silence to the writing, recording, mixing & mastering, graphics - anything I have learnt and figured out how to do over the years which I enjoyed, I just kept on doing it.” An artist driven by his own passion is most admirable, however the inevitable worry is that Denmarc might eventually run out of gas, if he continues working on everything by himself. “I am starting to realise though that the journey can't be like that, you get me?” added Denmarc. “I am going to have to get more people involved in it, man.”
Nonetheless, Denmarc has hit 2021 strongly, with a string of single releases and accompanying visuals. Last year Denmarc intended to create a project, however with the uncertainty of lockdown still swinging like a pendulum, he has decided to be patient with it. “It depends on the timing of everything,” in Denmarc’s own words. In the meantime, Denmarc is also building up content-wise on social media. “I am just using singles to try and build in a sense,” continued Denmarc. “I have started doing freestyles on things like Instagram, TikTok as well.”
One track which Denmarc is particularly proud of is Risk It All, a single he believes is his most important to date. Created whilst Denmarc felt he was in unfamiliar headspace, he channelled his energy into music which helped him re-discover it’s therapeutic benefits. “It was the first burst of me realising how therapeutic this music stuff really is, you get me?” said Denmarc. “All these years I have been saying, 'It's therapy why I do this,' but that was a very real example of it.” Re-energising his passion, Denmarc was able to record multiple singles off the back of making Risk It All. “The majority of them probably won't ever be heard,” continued Denmarc. “Those are for me, but Risk It All was one I felt I could release. It is quite deep man, one of my favourite tunes that I have ever done.” The video was filmed by Lewis Browne aka Lewbi, Mills Visuals & edited by Denmarc himself. “Lewbi actually shot my first music video as well,” added Denmarc. “So it has kind of gone full circle.”
Another single Denmarc recently released a visual for was Late Night, with a simple yet layered narrative underpinning it. “It is almost like directing a movie in a sense,” mused Denmarc. “You know, writing a story in that way. So each character has these unpredictable things that might, or might not happen - you don't quite know as an audience member watching, then it kind of just builds and builds.” As previously mentioned, Denmarc also has multiple more singles awaiting release. “The next tune I am dropping is definitely more of the rap vibes,” said Denmarc. “It is kind of just spitting basically, that is dropping next month, towards the end maybe.”
Coming from Yorkshire, it is difficult to receive viral recognition for music talent. Denmarc plans to stand out with his consistency, without allowing the quality of the music to suffer as a consequence. “My plans are mostly content driven,” confirmed Denmarc. “I know consistency is key in this thing. So I am just being consistent, with different types of content. I do this thing, it is called 'DCODED' where I break down songs in interesting ways. Then obviously I do music videos and the freestyles, bringing different types of content and keeping things as interesting as possible.”
Our final question for Denmarc: Were there any artists in Leeds on the come up that he wanted to shout out? “Yeah, there is obviously quite a few talented people in Leeds,” replied Denmarc. “People that you might know of: Graft, Mya Craig - she is a female RnB singer, Cole LC, Temz, D5... I hate naming names man, I always end up forgetting people.”
Denmarc Creary, thank you for your time.
Words by Evo
Photography by Mills Visuals
SOCIALS
Instagram: https://instagram.com/denmarccreary
Twitter: https://twitter.com/denmarccreary
LINKS
Spotify: https://smarturl.it/DCMUSIC/spotify
YouTube: https://smarturl.it/SUBYT
Apple Music: https://smarturl.it/DCMUSIC/applemusic