London-based 21-year-old Marlo recently released dreamy post breakup track ‘Time Will Tell’. The young songwriter wrote and produced the track in the garage of his parent’s home in Malibu which was then mixed and mastered by award-winning producer Anthony Resta (Duran Duran, Elton John, Blondie). Destined for a career in music Marlo grew up surrounded by musicians and instruments as his father, Nick Richards is best-known for his work as lead singer and founder of 80s band Boys Don’t Cry. Through this hunger for music Marlo wrote and recorded his first track “16 Day Dreams” at the age of just 15 which was followed by a music video co-starring supermodel Kaia Gerber. Shortly after this Marlo was preparing music for film scores and his track ‘Deep End’ featured in the short film ‘The Inheritance’ starring Peter Andre, performing all the instrumentation to the music himself. We caught up with Marlo to find out more...
Hi Marlo, how are you? What have you been up to? Hi I’m doing good! Well, recently I have just been mainly working on new music. I also started a band with a few friends, which is going really well. We just finished our 2nd gig two weeks ago, I’m really enjoying playing live music.
Undoubtedly you grew up surrounded by music due to your Dad, Nick Richards, and Boys Don’t Cry. Tell us about how this has influenced you? Like most kids they look up to their dads no matter what they do. So because my dad was a musician I automatically thought music was the coolest thing ever. Growing up, my parents always had music playing from David Bowie to the Rolling Sones I was exposed to it all at an early age which definitely had an impact on not only my musical taste but my songwriting style as well.
How are you feeling since the release of your debut single? I’m honestly feeling good since the release of Time Will Tell. I’m excited to see where this song goes, and what opportunities it brings. Successful or not I’m just happy that this song is out there for people to hear.
Who would you say are your musical icons? When it comes to my musical icons so many come to mind but the ones that inspired me the most have to be the Beatles, David Bowie, Bob Marley, Slipknot, 2pac and Sade.
The video for ‘Time Will Tell’ shows you wandering around London but you have also spent lots of time in the US. Do you think your music resonates more with the UK audience, or the audience in the States? This is a tough question if I'm being honest haha, I can’t really say which audience my music resonates with more I like to think it resonates with both audiences equally.
Tell us a bit about the concept behind your video. For the video, I wanted to make sure it matched the vibe of the song which to me is sad/hopeful. it’s a laid back track so I wanted the video to represent that as well. There wasn’t a storyline we were trying to follow or anything we wanted a more candid natural effect which I think we pulled of quite well
Which artists are you listening to right now? The artists/ bands I’m currently listening to right now are Rick James, Bill Withers, Anita Baker and Labi Siffre.
Do you have any plans for future releases, or shows in 2022? I hope to have one more song released before the end of the year. And for shoes, I plan on playing quite frequently with my band and by myself.
What are your hopes for your future in music? My hopes for my future in music is that I just stay true to myself, yes some success would be lovely! But no matter what happens as long as I’m making music that I love and makes me happy I’ll be just fine.
