“It made me realise the goal and the journey isn’t too far, but you just have to keep on persevering” – In Talks with Switch OTR

2021 was the time for the Tiktok’rs of the world, more specifically for the emerging artists paving a career from the online space. Following what’s been a whirlwind of a year for the newcomer, Switch OTR has quickly solidified himself as an artist to watch for 2022! Although he’s been making music for just over two years, it was the teaser of his ‘Coming For You’ single that swiftly went viral on TikTok, and in turn caught the attention of many worldwide. Having now accumulated just under 40 million streams on Spotify alone, the promising talent is ready to shake up the music industry with his fresh and playful sound.

Mixtape Madness got the chance to catch up with Switch OTR just before Christmas for a quick chat about all things music, switching the pitch for the booth, his love for gaming, and more. Tap in below to see what he had to say!

Talk me through your upbringing and how you were introduced to music as a general consumer.

My upbringing was more based around Grime, it was only recently that it changed! I was always into football, so music was a new turn around that happened in the last three years. Just being around certain individuals in college helped me; them being into music and upcoming artists themselves, placed the impact onto me.

I know you just said you were influenced by your peers. At which point did you decided to switch the pitch for the booth?

More or less, I got injured in Football…

Oh no, did you have the classic knee accident? *laughs*

I actually did you know! *laughs* but I played in a Rugby match, so after that I took a break from sports for around two years before I entered college. Within those two years, I wasn’t really doing anything and took my studying seriously.

Were there any artists that inspired you musically or have helped to shape your sound along the way?

Nah, not really you know! In the last few months, there are a few artists that I have been listening to that I make similar music to, i.e., Central Cee, but there is no one else that has that impact on my music.

At which point did you decide that you wanted to take music to the next level?

Around two years ago when I started college. The feedback that I was getting from people in general, including my friends, when I was freestyling pushed me to take music seriously.

How would you go about describing your sound?

Erm, humble, ambitious, and cheeky! *laughs*

Let’s talk about ‘Coming For You’ – it went wild on TikTok! Talk me through how this single came about and how you found the hunger from TikTok?

‘Coming For You’ more or less came about when I lost my phone at Wireless and I was sat there doing nothing at home. After that wireless incident, maybe a day or two after, I was searching for beats on YouTube, and I managed to write it within 20 minutes. From there, having previewed the song it made me realise how quick the music industry is and how big of an audience you can grasp just off of one song. It pushed me from there! It made me realise it was possible and that I could make it. Even seeing certain individuals from the industry showing love, it made me realise the goal and the journey isn’t too far, but you just have to keep on persevering – I’ve been doing it for just over two years, it’s always been step by step I’ve never worked backwards!

At which point did A1 & J1 come into the picture?

The week after I posted the preview their managers were in contact, it was quite quick!

Did you get in the booth with them, or did you do it online?

Yeah! We originally met up to do some content together, just so that we could become familiar with each other and from then, both sides made the judgements and we decided to get it together. They did their verse through there engineer and sent it over to us!

I know you’ve been doing your fair share of shows recently! How have you been finding that?

The tour life has been good! Before ‘Coming For You’ had taken off, I had done maybe three shows before Covid hit! Before the tour I had a show with A1 & J1 initially and that acted as a warmup and helped for my shows. I had really good responses though, it was fun!

Are there any artists in the UK or overseas that you would like to collaborate with?

Lil Tjay overseas, definitely! I think the only other people are Central Cee and DBE, I guess I’m open to it but there isn’t really anyone that I would want to do a feature with directly.

Putting the music aside, what do you like to do in your spare time?

I do a lot of gaming! I play PlayStation quite a lot, in my free time I’m just messing about with my bredrin’s.

What’s your favourite game?

FIFA, for a fact! But recently, I’ve been playing a lot more COD. It’s something different!

Are you competitive?

Yeah! *laughs* I do like online competition still. I’m always doing FUT Champs on FIFA, but I wouldn’t say I’m on that level with COD yet, it’s a bit hard! *laughs*

What’s something in your playlist that supporters wouldn’t expect to hear?

Oh damn, let me check! I listen to your standard UK and US music, there isn’t really anything random! I think the only thing that would surprise people is Afrobeat’s, that’s about it I can’t lie.

What can we expect to see from you next year?

A lot more singles! I am going in hard and make sure that my name stays ringing! I also want to do a lot more content outside of music, I want to branch out into the entertainment side of things and be versatile!

Keep up to date with all things Switch OTR via his Instagram here.