On The Matt Wilkinson Show on Apple Music 1, Matt picks his top ten artists to watch for 2022, and is joined by special guests including Apple Music’s own Elton John and Rebecca Judd, plus PinkPantheress, Wet Leg, Dan Carey, Kenny Beats and dvr, who also premieres his brand-new single ‘Drugs’.
Matt’s Top 10 Artists To Watch For 2022, as well as key quotes from the show, can be found below. Listen back to the full show on demand with an Apple Music subscription here: apple.co/_MattWilkinson
Matt Wilkinson’s Top 10 Artists To Watch For 2022
- Wet Leg
- PinkPantheress
- dvr
- Omar Apollo
- Gabriels
- ENNY
- Yard Act
- Jockstrap
- Spacey Jane
- Shygirl
KEY QUOTES:
PinkPantheress
Rebecca Judd Tells Apple Music About Discovering PinkPantheress…
So I first heard of PinkPantheress on the place where I literally spend hours of my day, every single day, and that is TikTok. Which was actually the first platform that she ever put her music out as well. I remember hearing her songs and being like, “Who is this?” They were absolutely blowing up on there. Then of course, I got her on the show as an Ascending Artist, and she was just so lovely. She was currently still at uni when we spoke as well. And it just sounded like she was having so much fun experimenting with music, and seeing how far her sound would travel all around the world. And I do think that 2022 is going to be a really good year for her as well. Because she is making music like nobody else right now, which is always very refreshing to hear. And she’s still got so much on the way as well. We still need projects, collaborations, touring, and festivals. I think it’s a really exciting time for her right now.
PinkPantheress Tells Apple Music About Receiving Support From Billie Eilish…
I don’t think I’m ever getting used to it. Because one thing about me, I do not deny it for a moment, I’m the biggest celebrity… Like I love celebrity. I love pop, pop culture. I love meeting celebrities. I just love the whole thing. When I’m in the presence of someone that I consider to be famous, I get sweaty hands. I get sweaty palms. To be fair, Billie Eilish posting about my album or my mixtape, sorry, on her story was absolutely nuts. Especially because I didn’t know that she’d kind of heard of me at that point. So I was really, really shocked.
PinkPantheress Tells Apple Music About Enjoying Relative Anonymity…
I’m really happy with it. Yeah. There might get to a point, 100%, where people do end up knowing more than I probably want. I think there are some things you can control putting out, but some things are just down to someone leaking your name or whatever, da da da da da. But right now I’m loving it. Very happy. Couldn’t be happier.
PinkPantheress Tells Apple Music About Anxiety Around Her First Live Shows…
I was very, very nervous. And even on the stage I was nervous. Genuinely. There was a point where I was like, “Okay, I’m going to have to run off this stage and everyone’s going to film this. It’s going to end up on TikTok.”
Gabriels
Elton John Tells Apple Music About Why He Admires Gabriels…
We’ve been playing Gabriels on the Rocket Hour for a long, long time. In fact, they’ve been guests on my show. “Love and Hate In A Different Time” was just one of the greatest records of last year. It combined Motown with gospel, and it was just incredible. It’s like a record that you’d heard all your life, but it suddenly was a new record. When we had them on the show, it was incredible because there’s a wonderful gospel singer from Compton, a producer from LA and a producer from Sunderland in the Northeast of England. They make wonderful records. They make different records, and I can’t wait to hear everything they put out. For me, Matt’s choice of Gabriels is right on the money, and I think they will go on to do wonderful things and make even more special records.
dvr
Kenny Beats Tells Apple Music About How He Discovered dvr…
I first heard about dvr on my Twitch stream. Everybody in the chat, all of my moderators, everybody who works for me to help run the Discord, all hit me up at once saying I had to hear this kid, Dillon. I had to hear the 17 year old from Scotland. I played his music on my stream without having ever listened to it or reviewed it. And everybody lit up in the first 30 seconds. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. We all heard a song called ‘Muscles’, and I think we all knew what we were witnessing in those first couple seconds of that song.
Kenny Beats Tells Apple Music About What Makes dvr Unique…
But what I think makes dvr such a special and interesting artist is not only does he represent an even younger demographic than all the young artists were used to. When we first heard his music, he was 17 years old. He’s in Scotland. He’s someone who inspires so many young creatives from around the world, who aren’t necessarily from the biggest town or from London or New York or wherever, that your music can make it through. Dillon makes great music. And somehow in my community, my Discord, we found this genius and it shows that if you do make great stuff, it still will find its way to the light. And I think in 2022, that’s super inspiring.
Kenny Beats Tells Apple Music Why He Predicts 2022 Will Be A Big Year For dvr….
I think 2022 is going to be an amazing year for dvr, because it’s his first year realising his superpowers. Last year, he made his first EP that he ever made and he put it up on a Discord and all of a sudden he signed to XL Records, all of a sudden he’s here on Apple Music, all these different things are happening. I think this year he’s going to finally be able to dig in and realise, okay, now people are listening to my music. What do I really want to make?
dvr Premieres New Single ‘Drugs’ And Tells Apple Music What Inspired It…
I got pretty sick in winter last year. I had this chronic pain issue that really messed me up but, not only that, people around me. This is just detailing all that. Because this was recorded as I was experiencing everything. It was like my way of catharsis. ‘Drugs’ is probably the pinnacle of just everything going wrong. Then I just blame it on these pills that I’m taking, so that’s what you’re about to hear.
dvr Tells Apple Music About His Relationship With Kenny Beats…
He’s a mentor. He’s the one who introduced me to my A&R from XL and got that whole ball rolling. His manager is my manager now, and he’s just putting me in with the absolute greatest people, to be in the most secure and artist-friendly position I could be in, so I can just do what I want to. I’m really grateful for it.
Wet Leg
Dan Carey Tells Apple Music What Makes Wet Leg So Unique…
They’re such an interesting band because they’ve absolutely nailed lots of different things at the same time. I mean, they’ve got the punky/post punky rhythm section, really angular guitar and super tight drum and bass, they’ve got that absolutely down. But then they’ve also got Hester’s really super melodic guitar on top of that, that just gives it another dimension because it’s so hooky in the riffs. And then the vocals, the lyrics are… They range from being really funny to being really tender and dark, but all at the same time. Then the melodies in the lyrics are so hooky and catchy in themselves. So you’ve got such a spectrum of things that just makes it really multidimensional and really interesting.
Wet Leg Tell Apple Music About Announcing Their Album In Their Local Paper…
Matt Wilkinson: I love the way that you announced it, which was with an advert in the local Isle of Wight newspaper. Whose idea was that?
Rhian Teasdale: Well, it just has to be done really, doesn’t it? Of course that’s where you’re going to start. Start at home, the County Press. Whole page.
