Pryamid Vritra, aka Hal Williams, a member of West Coast’s dominant rap group, Odd Future, wants to step out of the shadows and start flying solo. “I can’t be fully creative with Odd Future”, says Vritra. Williams wants to branch off and do his own thing, creatively speaking. With his new album, Indra, he’s doing exactly that. Indra, due out February 8, explores space-age, avant-garde beats that surpasses nothing like I ever heard.
I recently sat down with him to talk Odd Future, his solo career, and his thoughts on Kanye West and the critically acclaimed Yeezus. Read on.
How did you end up getting into the music business?
In high school, me and this group called NRK (Nobody Really Knows) contacted producer Matt Martians from Odd Future and one thing lead to another. We ended up working together on the Jet Age of Tomorrow. That was kind of my first foray into the music business as a career.
Where do you find the inspiration to your music? It is very avant-garde.
Life, sunrises, sunsets, experiences. Mostly everything come from jam sessions and trying to put that into something audible.
Do you think Kanye West created a standard with last year’s Yeezus?
I don’t think so, really. I’m a huge fan of Kanye, but he’s interested in a lot of types of music and working with a lot of different people. Basically, he is so mainstream and popular that his music is packaged in a way that people don’t care about it.
Do you want to be known for your solo work or your work with Odd Future right now?
My solo stuff. It was my main reason for doing my own album, Indra. In Odd Future I am a producer. I can’t be fully creative in that. There are so many ideas that I have.
You rap and produce—which do you find most challenging and why?
More goes into producing, but there’s a more creative aspect to rapping. I found that it’s more interesting to challenge yourself with producing—I’m a producer at heart.
Do you think there is growth between the Story of Marsha Lotus and your new album, Indra?
Yes, I made Lotus the second year of high school. Even with NRK and Jet Age of Tomorrow was in the last year of high school.
How do you plan on promoting your new album?
I have a few shows and a few videos that will be coming out. I just see what other people do when they get up in contracts and such. I prefer doing things independently.
What are your goals for 2014?
I want to produce as much as possible and collaborate. I think have a certain style of music that could appeal to people. I want to work with people from all different genres.
