Ashton born artist talks his journey to music and new releases

Soul31, a musician creating an authentic sound in the Manchester scene, came to talk to us about his journey so far and what is on the horizon for this year.

Manchester is known for many things, but maybe above all it is known for its’ music scene. And the scene shows no signs of stopping, with many artists having come out of Manchester in recent years and many still appearing.

Soul31 only came into the Manchester music scene in 2020 but has been increasing his reputation across the city for some time. Having played at venues around Manchester for some time and with two song releases under his belt, Soul31 is becoming a known name in the city.

But this was not always the case, as Soul31 got his start in the dance industry. Speaking about this, Soul said “I was always one to struggle in school, as I was not good at the theory side of things. In about year nine I left school and was trying different things, music and football academy. I walked past my local community centre and saw a dance class, so I went in.”

The dance class was Soul31s’ beginning in the dance industry, and this lead him down the path of dance in many genres. “The first part was to try and get into college, so I went to Hyde Clarendon and me and my friends wanted to focus on street dance, they didn’t offer that but that lead us to the Arden school of theatre. Then we were learning the other styles, training ourselves in hip-hop and getting into the hip-hop and breaking scene. We were doing shows in university, going to the Z Arts centre, and we opened for Plan B, Rudimental, and Labrinth as part of university. I think subconsciously it inspired me musically as singing and rapping is what I started off trying. I remember the day after I was in Primark and I think it was the biggest comedown ever, being on stage in front of 60,000 people to being stood in Primark!”

His dance career then took him to multiple cities across the world, including the likes of New York and Reykjavik. The last show he did was in 2019, and it was after a bad knee injury and during the COVID pandemic that Soul31 turned to music.

“I was at the top of the dance ladder by then.” Soul said. “My achievements fulfilled my mountain and my journey. I started taking music seriously, I discovered my sound towards the end of lockdown one. We were playing around with sounds and genres, and I met my music manager from Manchester Music Group. I was playing around with tones and sounds and I was getting a lot of positive feedback from it. I went on a bit of a tirade where I was reaching out to artists and they would want to work with me, and it all snowballed into effect from 2020. It has been a bit of a whirlwind ever since.”

Soul31 has now released two songs onto Spotify, these being My Brother and Lights. Both have a strong production quality and it is clear that Soul has found his sound, having a raw and authentic powerful voice driving the music.

Looking to the future, Soul31 is looking to now try and break into more of a commercial pop genre, with the release of his next tune. This will be a new ground for Soul, but one that he is ready to break into.

To hear Soul31s’ latest releases and to hear his latest tune, follow him @officialsoul31